Deaths in December 1988

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December

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The following is a list of notable deaths in December 1988.

Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.

December 1988

1

• Martin Hinds, 47, British scholar of the Middle East and historiographer of early Islamic history.
• Włodzimierz Mazur, 34, Polish international footballer.
• J. Vernon McGee, 84, American Presbyterian minister and radio minister, heart failure.

2

• Karl-Heinz Bürger, 84, Nazi German member of the SS.
• Armand Niccolai, 77, American NFL footballer.
• Lloyd Rees, 93, Australian landscape painter.
• Zofia Szczęśniewska, 45, Polish international volleyball player and Olympic medalist.

3

• Károly Lakat, 68, Hungarian international footballer and Olympic coach.
• Florence Senanayake, 85, Sri Lankan politician, first female member of the Ceylon Parliament.
• Thawan Thamrongnawasawat, 87, Thai politician and Prime Minister of Thailand.

4

• Osman Achmatowicz, 89, Polish chemist (Achmatowicz reaction).
• Gerd Arntz, 87, German artist (woodcuts). ^[1]
• Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry, 85, Pakistani nuclear physicist.
• Sir David Trench, 73, British Army officer, Governor of Hong Kong and the Solomon Islands. ^[2]

5

• August Lenz, 78, German international footballer.
• Alan Lind, 75, Australian politician, member of Victorian Legislative Assembly.
• Erik Lundin, 84, Swedish chess master.
• Subodh Oraon, 35, Indian politician, member of the Vidhan Sabha of West Bengal.
• William Everett Potter, 83, American engineer and military officer, Governor of the Panama Canal Zone.
• Dave Ryan, 65, American NFL footballer.

6

• Roy Orbison, 52, American singer, songwriter and musician, heart attack. ^[3]
• George Shaw, 57, American triple jumper and Olympian. ^[4]

7

• Christopher Connelly, 47, American actor (Peyton Place), lung cancer. ^[5]
• Ted Voigtlander, 75, American cinematographer, cancer.

8

• Ivan Bonar, 64, American actor ( General Hospital ).
• John Joe McGirl, 67, Irish republican, Sinn Féin politician and Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army.
• Gene Quill, 60, American jazz alto saxophonist.
• Anne Seymour, 79, American film and television actress, heart failure. ^[6]
• Ulanhu, 80, Chinese founding Chairman of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Vice President of People's Republic of China. ^[7]

9

• Rafael Calvo, 76, Spanish actor ( Miracle of Marcelino ).
• Maria De Matteis, 90, Italian costume designer.
• Kainikkara Kumara Pillai, 88, Indian teacher, actor, short story writer, essayist and playwright.
• Ludmila Polesná, 54, Czechoslovakian slalom canoeist and Olympian.

10

• Dennis Arundell, 90, British actor, director and composer of incidental music. ^[8]
• Richard S. Castellano, 55, American actor ( Lovers and Other Strangers , The Godfather ), heart attack. ^[9]
• Dorothy de Rothschild, 93, English philanthropist and activist for Jewish affairs.
• John Baker White, 86, English politician and amateur spy, Member of Parliament.
• Lawrence Wien, 83, American lawyer, philanthropist and real estate investor, prostate cancer.

11

• Kari Kairamo, 55, Finnish chairman and CEO of Nokia Corporation, suicide by hanging.
• Marcus Knight, 85, English Anglican priest.
• Frank S. Pepper, 78, British writer of comics.
• Nagendra Singh, 74, Indian lawyer, President of the International Court of Justice. ^[10]

12

• K. K. Chen, 90, Chinese-American scientist, pharmacological researcher at Eli Lilly and Company (ephedrine). ^[11]
• Dick Clair, 57, American television producer, actor and writer ( It's a Living , The Facts of Life, Mama's Family ), AIDS.
• Anthony Provenzano, 71, American mobster of the Genovese crime family, heart attack. ^[12]
• Joe Reichler, 73, American sports writer.
• Rudolf Schündler, 82, German actor and director, heart attack.
• Loudon Wainwright Jr., 63, American writer, colon cancer.

13

• Brynmor John, 54, British politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence.
• María Teresa León, 85, Spanish writer, activist and cultural ambassador.
• Muhammad Mangundiprojo, 83, Indonesian soldier, revolutionary and civil servant.
• Bill Nichols, 70, American politician, member of U.S. House of Representatives, heart attack. ^[13]
• Brian Sinclair, 73, British veterinary surgeon and novelist, heart attack.
• Betty Snowball, 80, English women's test cricketer, international squash and lacrosse player for Scotland.
• Roy Urquhart, 87, British Army Major General.

14

• Charlie T. Black, 87, American college basketballer.
• Narciso Busquets, 58, Mexican actor of theatre, film, television and radio.
• Win Oo, 53, Burmese actor, singer, director, writer and publisher, colorectal cancer.
• Evald Schorm, 56, Czechoslovakian film and stage director, screenwriter and actor.
• Jean Schramme, 59, Belgian planter, mercenary in Belgian Congo.
• Stuart Symington, 57, American businessman and politician, U.S. Secretary of the Air Force. ^[14]

15

• Leonid Andrussow, 92, German chemical engineer (hydrogen cyanide).
• Harry Hunter, 64, British sailor and Olympian.

16

• Anna Jean Ayres, 68, American occupational therapist and educational psychologist, complications of breast cancer. ^[15]
• Frank Bonham, 74, American author of Westerns and young adult novels. ^[16]
• Cyril Easthaugh, 90, British Anglican bishop.
• Tom Eastick, 88, Australian Army artillery officer during World War II.
• Joe Hatten, 72, American Major League baseballer.
• Hunter "Stork" Hendry, 93, Australian test cricketer.
• Babe Pratt, 72, Canadian NHL ice hockey player, heart attack.
• Sylvester, 41, American singer-songwriter, AIDS.

17

• Jerry Hopper, 81, American film and television director, heart disease.
• Ursula Krone-Appuhn, 52, German politician, member of the Bundestag.
• Gisella Perl, 81, Hungarian-American gynecologist, providing assistance to prisoners at Auschwitz.

18

• R. Arumugam, 35, Malaysian international footballer (Selangor, Malaysia), car accident. ^[17]
• Niyazi Berkes, 80, Turkish Cypriot sociologist.
• Ottó Boros, 59, Hungarian water polo player and dual Olympic gold medalist.
• Milt Gantenbein, 78, American NFL football player.
• Ka. Naa. Subramanyam, 76. Indian writer and literary critic.

19

• Robert Bernstein, 69, American comic book writer, playwright and concert impresario, heart failure. ^[18]
• Lotta Dempsey, 83, Canadian journalist, editor and television personality, cancer.
• Umashankar Joshi, 77, Indian poet and writer, lung cancer.
• Seánie O'Brien, 69, Irish hurler.

20

• B. Jayamma, 73, Indian actress and singer.
• György Marik, 64, Hungarian international footballer.
• Alphonse Ouimet, 80, Canadian television pioneer, president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. ^[19]
• Max Robinson, 49, American broadcast journalist, co-anchor on ABC World News Tonight, complications of AIDS. ^[20]

21

• Bernt Carlsson, 60, Swedish diplomat, Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Lockerbie aeroplane disaster. ^[21]
• Paul Jeffreys, 36, English rock musician, Lockerbie aeroplane disaster.
• Willie Kamm, 88, American Major League baseballer. ^[22]
• Dave Ruhl, 68, Canadian professional wrestler.
• Bob Steele, 81, American actor. ^[23]
• Nikolaas Tinbergen, 81, Dutch biologist and ornithologist, Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, stroke. ^[24]
• Bill Townsend, 65, English footballer and manager.
• Venus Xtravaganza, 23, American transgender performer, strangled.

22

• Franziska Boas, 86, American dancer. ^[25]
• Chico Mendes, 44, Brazilian trade union member and environmental activist, murdered. ^[26]
• Tucker Smith, 52, American actor, dancer and singer, cancer.

23

• Gerhard Adler, 84, German analytical psychologist. ^[27]
• János Boldóczki, 76, Hungarian politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
• Carlo Scorza, 91, Italian Secretary of the National Fascist Party.
• Walt Uzdavinis, 77, American NFL football player.

24

• Blanche Barrow, 77, American member of the Barrow Gang, lung cancer.
• Whitney Bourne, 74, American actress (Head over Heels).
• Leif Cassel, 82, Swedish politician and lawyer, Member of Parliament.
• Mary Cavendish, 93, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth II.
• Joe Kresky, 82, American NFL football player.
• Jainendra Kumar, 83, Indian writer.
• Evelyn Pinching, 73, British world champion alpine skier and Olympian.
• Alfred M. Pride, 91, American admiral of the U.S. Navy. ^[28]
• Noel Willman, 70, Irish actor and theatre director. ^[29]

25

• Bunny Bell, 77, English footballer (Tranmere Rovers, Everton).
• Jan Białostocki, 67, Polish art historian. ^[30]
• Terence Dudley, 69, British television director, producer and screenwriter for the BBC, cancer.
• Evgeny Golubev, 78, Soviet composer.
• W. F. Grimes, 83, Welsh archaeologist.
• Denis Matthews, 69, English pianist and musicologist, suicide.
• John Ulric Nef, 89, American economic historian. ^[31]
• Shōhei Ōoka, 79, Japanese novelist, literary critic, lecturer and translator of French literature.
• Edward Pelham-Clinton, 68, English lepidopterist and military officer, Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne.
• Frank Thomas, 58, English Roman Catholic bishop.
• Napoleon Andrew Tuiteleleapaga, 84, Samoan lawyer, author, amateur poet and musician, myocardial infarction.

26

• Herluf Bidstrup, 76, Danish cartoonist (Land og Folk). ^[32]
• Alex Hastings, 76, Scottish international footballer.
• Julanne Johnston, 88, American silent-screen actress.
• John Loder, 90, English-American film actor.
• Glenn McCarthy, 81, American oil tycoon.
• Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, 41, Indian politician, member of the Indian National Congress, assassinated.
• Charles Smith, 68, American actor.
• Pablo Sorozábal, 91, Spanish composer.
• Tao Zhiyue, 95–96, Chinese military officer and politician, lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army of China.

27

• Hal Ashby, 59, American film director ( Coming Home , Shampoo ), pancreatic cancer. ^[33]
• Joseph Beam, 33, American gay rights activist, AIDS.
• Walter Crook, 76, English international footballer and manager (Blackburn Rovers, England).
• Ken Hoole, 71–72, English railway historian.
• Freda James, 77, British tennis player and Wimbledon Doubles champion.
• Khin Kyi, 76, Burmese politician and diplomat, Burmese Ambassador to India, stroke.
• Donald Laycock, 51–52, Australian linguist and anthropologist.
• Henry de Menten de Horne, 92, Belgian equestrian and Olympian.
• Jess Oppenheimer, 75, American radio and television writer, producer and director, heart failure. ^[34]

28

• Alberto Armando, 78, Argentine businessman and football manager (Boca Juniors).
• Karlfried Graf Dürckheim, 92, German diplomat, psychotherapist.
• Björn Kurtén, 64, Finnish vertebrate paleontologist.

29

• Émile Aillaud, 86, French architect (La Grande Borne).
• Mike Beuttler, 48, British Formula One driver, complications from AIDS. ^[35]
• Peter Nellen, 56, German politician, member of the German Bundestag.

30

• Faber Birren, 88, American writer, consultant on colour theory, stroke. ^[36]
• Jan Baalsrud, 71, Norwegian Resistance commando. ^[37]
• Yuli Daniel, 63, Soviet writer and dissident (Sinyavsky–Daniel trial). ^[38]
• Takeo Fujisawa, 78, Japanese businessman, co-founder of Honda Motor Co., heart attack.
• André Germain, 85, French cinematographer.
• Lyle H. Lanier, 85, American experimental psychologist and writer.
• Ernesto Lazzatti, 73, Argentinian international footballer.
• Isamu Noguchi, 84, American artist and landscape architect, heart failure. ^[39]

31

• Yara Amaral, 52, Brazilian actress ( Mulher Objeto ), heart attack from drowning.
• Christopher Andrewes, 92, British virologist who discovered the human influenza A virus. ^[40]
• Ahmet Arvasi, 56, Turkish writer and philosopher. ^[41]
• Oliver L. Austin, 85, American ornithologist. ^[42]
• Nicolas Calas, 81, Greek-American poet and art critic. ^[43]
• Wes Flowers, 75, American baseballer, Major League pitcher. ^[44]

Unknown date

• Johann Kupferburger, 55, South African tennis player.

References

1. GERD ARNTZ. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
2. "Sir David Trench, Diplomat, 73" . The New York Times . December 6, 1988. p. D 26. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
3. Brock Helander (1999). The Rockin' '60s: The People who Made the Music. Schirmer Books. p. 274. ISBN   978-0-02-864873-6.
4. "George D. Shaw, 57, Track and Field Star" . The New York Times . December 7, 1988. p. D 24. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
5. "Christopher Connelly, Actor, 47" . The New York Times . December 9, 1988. p. D 18. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
6. C. Gerald Fraser (December 13, 1988). "Anne Seymour, 79, Stage Actress Known for Work in Radio Drama" . The New York Times . p. B 16. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
7. "Ulanhu, 82, a Mongol Who Rose To High Posts in Beijing, Is Dead" . The New York Times . December 9, 1988. p. D 18. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
8. Dennis Arundell. Opera Scotland. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
9. Who was who in America. Marquis-Who's Who. 1989. p. 65. ISBN   978-0-8379-0217-3.
10. "Nagendra Singh, Judge At the World Court, 74" . The New York Times . December 13, 1988. p. B 16. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
11. Ko Kuei Chen: A Pioneer of Modern Pharmacological Research in China. ResearchGate (death year only). Retrieved 1 June 2024.
12. Robert D. McFadden (December 13, 1988). "Anthony Provanzano, 71, Ex-Teamster Chief, Dies" . The New York Times . p. B 16. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
13. "Rep. Bill Nichols, 70; Led Pentagon Inquiry" . The New York Times . December 14, 1988. p. B 15. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
14. Eric Pace (December 15, 1988). "Stuart Symington, 4-Term Senator Who Ran for President, Dies at 87" . The New York Times . p. D 26. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
15. Anna Jean Ayres. Britannica. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
16. Frank Bonham Papers. University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
17. The Straits Times, 19 December 1988. Newspapers SG (The Straits Times). Retrieved 26 May 2024.
18. "Robert Bernstein, 69; Founded Music Series" . The New York Times . December 22, 1988. p. D 23. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
19. "Alphonse Ouimet, Broadcaster, 80" . The New York Times . December 22, 1988. p. D 23. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
20. Jeremy Gerard (December 21, 1988). "Max Robinson, 49, First Black To Anchor Network News, Dies" . The New York Times . p. D 19. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
21. Lost on Flight 103: A Hero to the Wretched of the World. L.A. Times. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
22. "Willie Kamm, Baseball Player, 88" . The New York Times . December 24, 1988. p. 1 32. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
23. "Bob Steele, 82, Actor In 'F Troop' and Films" . The New York Times . December 23, 1988. p. A 28. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
24. Paul Patrick Gordon Bateson (May 30, 1991). The Development and Integration of Behaviour: Essays in Honour of Robert Hinde. Cambridge University Press. p. 464. ISBN   978-0-521-40709-0.
25. Franziska Boas Collection. Library of Congress. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
26. Walton Beacham (1993). Beacham's Guide to Environmental Issues & Sources. Beacham Pub. p. 2977. ISBN   978-0-933833-31-9.
27. Adler, Gerhard, 1904-1988. John Bulow Campbell Library. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
28. Glenn Fowler (December 29, 1988). "Adm. Alfred M. Pride, 91, Dies; Pioneer in U.S. Aircraft Carriers" . The New York Times . p. D 19. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
29. Wolfgang Saxon (December 26, 1988). "Noel Willman, Director, Was 70; Staged 'A Man for All Seasons'" . The New York Times . p. 1 64. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
30. A Reminiscence about Jan Bialostocki (1921-1988). Heidelberg University. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
31. Wolfgang Saxon (December 27, 1988). "John U. Nef, Economic Historian At Chicago University, Dies at 89" . The New York Times . p. A 19. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
32. Biography. herlufbidstrup.com. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
33. "Ashby, Hal". Who was who in America : with world notables, v. XI (1993–1996) . New Providence, N.J.: Marquis Who's Who. 1996. p.  9. ISBN   0837902258.
34. C. Gerald Fraser (December 30, 1988). "Jess Oppenheimer, 75, a Creator And a Producer of 'I Love Lucy'" . The New York Times . p. A 18. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
35. Mike Beuttler. Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
36. Faber Birren, 88, Expert on Color. New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
37. The great escape of Jan Baalsrud. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
38. Yuli M. Daniel, a Russian Writer Tried as a Dissident, Is Dead at 63. New York Times. Retrieved 3 Jun 2024.
39. Michael Brenson (December 31, 1988). "Isamu Noguchi, the Sculptor, Dies at 84" . The New York Times . p. 1 1. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
40. "Christopher Andrewes, Virologist, Dies at 92" . The New York Times . January 4, 1989. p. B 9. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
41. Seyyid Ahmet Arvasi Hoca’yı kaybedişimizin 29. yılı (29th anniversary of the loss of Seyyid Ahmet Arvasi Hodja). turkiyegazetesi.de. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
42. "Oliver L. Austin, 85, Ornithologist, Is Dead" . The New York Times . January 4, 1989. p. B 8. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
43. Nicholas Calas, a Poet And Art Critic, Was 81. New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
44. "Wes Flowers". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2023.