Deaths in April 1989

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The following is a list of notable deaths in April 1989.

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.

April 1989

1

• Roy Francis, 70, Welsh rugby league footballer and coach.
• Paul Jappe, 91, American NFL footballer.
• Jan A. Rajchman, 77, Polish-American electrical engineer.
• George Robledo, 62, Chilean international footballer, heart attack.

2

• E. Chambré Hardman, 89, Anglo-Irish photographer.
• Daniel Spry, 86, Canadian Army officer during World War II.
• Zainon Munshi Sulaiman, 86, Malaysian educator and politician, member of the Malaysian Parliament.
• Inez Clare Verdoorn, 92, South African botanist and taxonomist.
• Dingiri Bandara Welagedara, 73, Sri Lankan politician, Governor of North Central Province.

3

• Mustafa Çağatay, 51, Turkish-Cypriot politician, Prime Minister of Turkish Cyprus, traffic accident.
• Pinchas Hacohen Peli, 58, Israeli Orthodox rabbi, poet and scholar of Jewish philosophy.
• Norman Wooland, 79, English character actor.

4

• Gerard Casey, appr. 29, member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, shot.
• Woody Crumbo, 77, American artist, flute player and dancer.

5

• Frank Foss, 93, American pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist.
• Bill Gunn, 54, American playwright, novelist, actor and director, encephalitis. ^[1]
• Bill Hampton, 85, New Zealand lawn bowler.
• Harold Hayes, 62, American journalist and writer. ^[2]
• Kurt Lischka, 79, German SS official, Gestapo chief and commandant of the Security police.
• Bill Mehlhorn, 90, American professional golfer.
• Karel Zeman, 78, Czech film director, artist, production designer and animator.

6

• Tufton Beamish, Baron Chelwood, 72, British Army officer and member of Parliament.
• Elizabeth Becker-Pinkston, 86, American diver and dual Olympic gold medalist.
• Pannalal Patel, 76, Indian author, brain haemorrhage.
• Michael Reusch, 75, Swiss gymnast and Olympic gold medalist.

7

• Hassan al-Amri, 68–69, Yemeni lieutenant general and Prime Minister of the Yemen Arab Republic.
• Cheng Nan-jung, 41, Taiwanese publisher and pro-democracy activist, suicide by immolation.
• Evelyn Finley, 73, American B-movie actress and stuntwoman, heart failure.
• Basawon Singh, 80, Indian activist.

8

• Albert Bormann, 86, German Nazi Gruppenführer, adjutant to Adolf Hitler, brother of Martin Bormann.
• Mario Chiari, 79, Italian production designer and art director. ^[3]
• Joseph Crouch, 55, American politician, heart attack. ^[4]
• Lloyd Francis MacMahon, 76, American judge of the United States District Court, cerebral hemorrhage.
• Charles A. Mobley, 92, American politician, mayor of the city of Flint, Michigan.
• A. M. Rajah, 59, Indian playback singer and music director, train accident.
• Bus Saidt, 68, American sports writer.
• Windsor Utley, 68–69, American musician, artist, teacher and gallery owner.
• John Wyer, 79, English automobile racing engineer and team manager.

9

• Friedrich Ritter, 90, German botanist.
• Carl Wessler, 75, American animator and comic book writer.

10

• Joan Barry, 85, British actress.
• Gennadi Bondarenko, 60, Soviet footballer and coach.
• William H. Brett, 95, American director of the United States Mint, pancreatic cancer. ^[5]
• George Genereux, 54, Canadian trap shooter and Olympic gold medalist.
• Nikolai Grinko, 68, Ukrainian actor.

11

• Emil Grosswald, 76, Romanian-American mathematician.
• Hiram Sherman, 81, American actor, stroke. ^[6]

12

• Gerald Flood, 61, British actor of stage and television, heart attack.
• Abbie Hoffman, 52, American political and social activist, suicide by overdose. ^[7]
• Willie McNaught, 66, Scottish international footballer.
• Sugar Ray Robinson, 67, American professional boxer, heart disease. ^[8]
• Tilda Thamar, 67, Argentine actress, car accident.

13

• Philip Joseph Furlong, 96, American Catholic Bishop.
• Terry Miller, 46, American businessman and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, bone cancer.
• Bill Putnam, 69, American audio engineer, songwriter and producer.

14

• Valdemar Laursen, 88, Danish international footballer.
• Bob Mathews, 76, Australian rules footballer.

15

• David Cuthbertson, 88, Scottish physician, biochemist and medical researcher.
• Hu Yaobang, 73, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, heart attack. ^[9]
• Bernard-Marie Koltès, 41, French playwright and theatre director, complications from AIDS.
• Alita Román, 76, Argentine film actress.
• Connie Simmons, 64, American professional basketballer.
• Charles Vanel, 96, French actor and director. ^[10]

16

• Jocko Conlan, 89, American baseball umpire.
• John Dighton, 79, British playwright and screenwriter.
• Harald Edelstam, 76, Swedish diplomat, Ambassador to Algeria, cancer.
• Wilhelm Ehmann, 84, German musicologist, church musician and conductor, Nazi Party member.
• Kaoru Ishikawa, 73, Japanese organisational theorist and a professor.
• Hu Juewen, 93, Chinese politician, vice chairperson of Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
• C. K. McClatchy II, 62, American newspaper publisher.
• Dominic Olejniczak, 80, American real estate broker, politician and football executive, strokes. ^[11]
• Hakkı Yeten, 78, Turkish football player and club president.

17

• Ken Gee, 72, English international rugby league footballer.
• M. S. Kariapper, 89, Sri Lankan politician.
• Charles Lampkin, 76, American actor, musician and lecturer.
• Villano II, 39, Mexican Luchador enmascarado (masked professional wrestler), suicide by hanging.

18

• Adil Atan, 60, Turkish wrestler and Olympic medalist.
• Hilde Benjamin, 87, East German judge and Minister of Justice.
• Alexander Barrett Klots, 85, American entomologist.
• Julia Smith, 84, American composer, pianist and author on musicology.
• Candan Tarhan, 46, Turkish football manager.

19

• Dame Daphne du Maurier, 81, English novelist, biographer and playwright, heart failure. ^[12]
• George Paxton, 75, American big band leader, saxophonist, arranger and publisher, apparent suicide.

20

• Maurice Nyagumbo, 64, Zimbabwean politician, suicide by poison.
• Martin Ragaway, 66, American comedy writer.
• Lou Riley, 79, Australian rules footballer.

21

• Princess Deokhye of Korea, 76, last princess of the Korean royal family.
• Lou Gregory, 86, American long-distance runner and Olympian.
• James Kirkwood Jr., 64, American playwright, author and actor, AIDS-related complications. ^[13]
• Paul Mitchell, 53, Scottish-American co-founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, pancreatic cancer.
• Frank O'Keefe, 76, Australian politician, member of federal parliament.
• James N. Rowe, 51, United States Army officer, assassinated.
• Nicolaas Steelink, 98, Dutch-American labour activist.
• Paulus Svendsen, 85, Norwegian professor and literary historian.

22

• György Kulin, 84, Hungarian astronomer.
• Emilio Segrè, 84, Italian-American physicist, Nobel laureate in Physics.
• Tommy Thompson, 70, American NFL and CFL footballer, brain cancer.

23

• Marc Daniels, 77, American television director, congestive heart failure. ^[14]
• Hamani Diori, 72, Nigerien politician, president of Republic of Niger. ^[15]
• Hu Die, 81, Chinese actress, stroke.
• Imre Hódos, 61, Hungarian wrestler and Olympic gold medalist.
• Kurt Jung, 64, German politician and architect.
• Stefan Korboński, 88, Polish-American politician, lawyer and journalist, aneurysm.
• Howie Krist, 73, American Major League baseballer.
• Harry Bolton Seed, 66, British-American geotechnical earthquake engineer, cancer. ^[16]

24

• Franz Binder, 77, Austrian international footballer and coach.
• Clyde Geronimi, 87, American animation director. ^[17]
• Charles Grant, 82, English Roman Catholic bishop.
• Joseph Jarabak, 83, American orthodontist.
• Li Jingquan, 79, Chinese politician and Party Committee Secretary of Sichuan.
• Lee Roberts, 75, American film actor.
• Federico Saiz, 76, Spanish international footballer.
• Edgar Sanabria, 77, Venezuelan diplomat and politician, interim President of Venezuela, stroke.

25

• Dee Boeckmann, 82, American middle-distance runner and Olympian.
• George Coulouris, 85, English film and stage actor. ^[18]

26

• Lucille Ball, 77, American actress and comedienne, ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. ^[19]
• Carl Monroe, 29, American NFL footballer, accidental overdose.

27

• Howard Brookner, 34, American film director, AIDS. ^[20]
• Jack Devine, 70, Canadian ice hockey administrator and radio sports commentator.
• Konosuke Matsushita, 94, Japanese founder of Panasonic, pneumonia. ^[21]
• Breda Pergar, 36, Yugoslavian middle distance and long distance runner.
• William Arthur Smith, 71, American artist.

28

• Jack Cummings, 84, American film producer and director. ^[22]
• Géza von Cziffra, 88, Hungarian and Austrian film director and screenwriter.
• Pinchoo Kapoor, 61–62, Indian actor.
• Esa Pakarinen, 78, Finnish actor, singer, accordionist and comedian, cancer.
• Ralph H. Wetmore, 97, American professor of botany at Harvard University.

29

• Donald Deskey, 94, American industrial designer. ^[23]
• Marlene Elejarde, 37, Cuban sprinter and Olympic medalist, car accident.
• James Nobel Landis, 89, American power engineer at Brooklyn Edison Company.
• Richard C. Lord, 78, American chemist. ^[24]

30

• Yi Bangja, 87, wife of Crown Prince Euimin, last Crown Prince of the Korean Empire, cancer.
• Edwin F. Kalmus, 95, Austrian-American music publisher.
• Gottfried Köthe, 83, Austrian mathematician.
• Sergio Leone, 60, Italian film director, producer and screenwriter, heart attack. ^[25]
• Stumpy Thomason, 83, American NFL footballer.
• Taiji Tonoyama, 73, Japanese character actor.
• Guy Williams, 65, American actor, brain aneurysm.

Unknown date

• Doug Smith, 71, English jockey and trainer, suicide.
• Harry White, appr. 73, Irish republican paramilitary.
• Philip Waggenheim, 74, American mobster.

References

1. C. Gerald Fraser (April 7, 1989). "Bill Gunn, Playwright and Actor, Dies at 54 on Eve of Play Premiere" . The New York Times . p. D 20. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
2. "Service for Harold Hayes" . The New York Times . May 2, 1989. p. B 6. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
3. "Mario Chiari, Costume Designer, 79" . The New York Times . April 11, 1989. p. B 12. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
4. "VA. DEL. JOSEPH P. CROUCH, LYNCHBURG REPUBLICAN, DIES". Washington Post. December 31, 2023. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
5. "William H. Brett, 95, Former Mint Director" . The New York Times . April 13, 1989. p. B 12. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
6. C. Gerald Fraser (April 13, 1989). "Hiram Sherman, Actor, Was 81" . The New York Times . p. B 13. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
7. John T. McQuiston (April 14, 1989). "Abbie Hoffman, 60's Icon, Dies; Yippie Movement Founder Was 52" . The New York Times . p. D 17. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
8. Dave Anderson (April 13, 1989). "Sugar Ray Robinson, Boxing's 'Best,' Is Dead" . The New York Times . p. A 1. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
9. Nicholas D. Kristof, Special To the New York Times (April 15, 1989). "Hu Yaobang, 73, Dies in China; Led Communist Party in 1980's" . The New York Times . p. 1 10. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
10. "Charles Vanel, Stage And Screen Actor, 96" . The New York Times . April 16, 1989. p. 1 36. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
11. "Dominic Olejniczak, Sports Executive, 80" . The New York Times . April 17, 1989. p. D 15. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
12. Herbert Mitgang (April 20, 1989). "Daphne du Maurier, 81, Author Of Many Gothic Romances, Dies" . The New York Times . p. B 13. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
13. Constance L. Hays (April 22, 1989). "James Kirkwood, Author of Book For Musical 'Chorus Line,' Dies" . The New York Times . p. 1 33. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
14. "Marc Daniels, 77, Dies; Directed 'I Love Lucy'" . The New York Times . April 29, 1989. p. 1 10. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
15. "Hamani Diori, 72, the Founder Of an Independent Niger, Is Dead" . The New York Times . April 25, 1989. p. B 10. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
16. "H. Bolton Seed, 66, Expert on Earthquakes" . The New York Times . April 26, 1989. p. B 5. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
17. "Clyde Geronimi, 87, An Animator at Disney" . The New York Times . April 30, 1989. p. 1 40. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
18. Glenn Collins (April 27, 1989). "George Coulouris, 85, Is Dead; Actor Relished Villainous Roles" . The New York Times . p. B 16. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
19. Peter B. Flint (April 27, 1989). "Lucille Ball, Spirited Doyenne Of TV Comedies, Dies at 77" . The New York Times . p. A 1. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
20. Stephen Holden (April 29, 1989). "Howard Brookner, 34, Director" . The New York Times . p. 1 10. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
21. Steve Lohr (April 27, 1989). "Konosuke Matsushita, Industrialist, Is Dead at 94" . The New York Times . p. B 16. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
22. "Jack Cummings, 84, a Producer at M-G-M" . The New York Times . April 30, 1989. p. 1 40. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
23. Suzanne Slesin (April 30, 1989). "DONALD DESKEY, INNOVATIVE DESIGNER, DIES A 94" . The New York Times . p. 1 40. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
24. "Richard Lord, 78, Professor of Chemistry" . The New York Times . May 6, 1989. p. 1 10. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
25. Peter B. Flint (May 1, 1989). "Sergio Leone, 67, Italian Director Who Revitalized Westerns, Dies" . The New York Times . p. B 8. Retrieved March 24, 2024.