Deaths in May 1983

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The following is a list of notable deaths in May 1983.

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.

May 1983

4

• Shūji Terayama, 47, Japanese avant-garde poet, dramatist, film director, and photographer, ^{[1] [2]} cirrhosis of the liver ^[3]

5

• John Williams, 80, English actor, heart disease ^{[4] [5]}

7

• József Romhányi, 62, Hungarian screenwriter, poet, and translator ^[6]

8

• John Fante, 74, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter ^[7]

9

• Marjorie Beebe, 74, American actress. ^[8]

14

• Miguel Alemán Valdés, 83, Mexican politician, served as the President of Mexico from 1946 until 1952, his administration is credited with the Mexican Miracle of rapid industrialization ^{[9] [10] [11]}
• Roger J. Traynor, 83, American lawyer and judge, served as the Chief Justice of California from 1964 until 1970, ^{[12] [13] [14]} several of Traynor's decisions were credited with transforming California from a conservative and somewhat repressive state into a progressive, innovative jurisdiction in the forefront of American law ^[15]

15

• Rodolfo Gucci, 70, Italian actor and entrepreneur, shareholder in his family's eponymous fashion house Gucci ^{[16] [17]}

16

• Will Ahern, 86, American vaudeville entertainer ^{[18] [19]}

17

• Jake Day, 90, American sculptor, photographer, naturalist and illustrator, designed the character of Bambi for the 1942 animated feature film Bambi . ^{[20] [21] [22] [23]}

18

• Frank Aiken, 85, Irish revolutionary and politician, served as the chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the Irish Civil War ^{[24] [25] [26]} , later served as Tánaiste from 1965 to 1969, death from unspecified "natural causes" ^[27]

21

• Gladys Blake, 73, American character actress ^{[28] [29]}
• Kenneth Clark, 79, British art historian, museum director and broadcaster, arteriosclerosis ^{[30] [31]}
• Boris Stepantsev, 53, Soviet animation director, animator, and book illustrator, he served as a vice-president of the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) from 1972 until 1982 and as the creative director of the Multtelefilm animation department of the Studio Ekran from 1980 until 1983, ^{[32] [33]} heart failure ^[34]

22

• John Barrett, 73, British actor ^{[35] [36]}
• Albert Claude, 83, Belgian American cell biologist and medical doctor, his collective works established the complex functional and structural properties of cells. ^{[37] [38] [39]}

23

• George Bruns, 68, American film composer, he served as an arranger, composer, and musical director for The Walt Disney Company from 1953 until his retirement in 1976, ^[40] heart attack ^[41]

25

• Cy Hungerford, 93, American editorial cartoonist, produced daily cartoons for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 1927 until his retirement in 1977 ^{[42] [43] [44]}
• Idris of Libya, 93, he served as the only monarch of the short-lived Kingdom of Libya from 1951 until his deposition in 1969 ^{[45] [46] [47]}
• Kay Williams, 66, American actress, heart failure ^{[48] [49]}

27

• Lilita Bērziņa, 79, Latvian actress ^[50]

28

• John C. Howard, 52, American film editor ^[51]

29

• Arvīds Pelše, 84, Latvian politician and historian, Chairman of the Party Control Committee from 1966 until 1983 ^[52] , head of the "Pelše Commission" which investigated the assassination of Sergei Kirov, ^[53] cardiac arrest ^[54]

31

• Jack Dempsey, 87, American boxer, world heavyweight champion from 1919 until 1926, ^[55] heart failure ^[56]

References

1. Tate. "'I am a Terayama Shūji' – Conference at Tate Modern". Tate. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
2. "Tony Rayns on Terayama Shuji". Art Forum. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
3. Sorgenfrei, Carol Fisher (2005). Unspeakable Acts: The Avant-garde Theatre of Terayama Shūji and Postwar Japan. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN   978-0-8248-2796-0.
4. Folkart, Burt A. (May 8, 1983). "Gentlemanly Actor John Williams Dies" . Los Angeles Times . p. B1, 5. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
5. "John Williams Is Dead at 80; Stage, Screen and TV Actor" . The New York Times . May 8, 1983. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
6. "Alkotó · Romhányi József". Moly. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
7. "John Fante". New York Times. May 13, 1983. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
8. Wollstein, Hans J. "Marjorie Beebe". AllMovie. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
9. "Miguel Alemán | president of Mexico".
10. Cline, Howard F. Mexico: Revolution to Evolution 1940-1960. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 157-58.
11. "Mexico - World War II, 1941–45".
12. "Past & Present Justices". courts.ca.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
13. Les Ledbetter, "Roger J. Traynor, California Justice", New York Times , 17 May 1983, B6. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
14. D.J. DeBenedictis, "Traynor dies at 83: led state court in progressive era," Los Angeles Daily Journal, May 17, 1983, pg. 1
15. D.J. DeBenedictis, "Traynor dies at 83: led state court in progressive era," Los Angeles Daily Journal, May 17, 1983, pg. 1
16. "Rodolfo Gucci Is Dead at 71; Brother in Leather Goods Firm (Published 1983)". The New York Times. May 16, 1983. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 12, 2020.
17. Moore, Claire (January 6, 2006). "PrimeTime: Gucci, Glamour and Greed". ABC News. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
18. Slide, Anthony (March 12, 2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 4. ISBN   978-1617032493.
19. Cullen, Frank, with Hackman, Florence, and McNeilly, Donald. Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, Volume 1. (New York and London: Routledge, 2006).
20. "Maurice E. Day, Animator, 90; Drew Deer for Movie 'Bambi'". NY Times. Associated Press. May 19, 1983. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
21. The Miami News. May 17, 1983. Maurice Day, animator for "Bambi", dies.
22. Hrehovck, Steve (May 1, 2016). "Damariscotta's Favorite Son Maurice "Jake" Day". Discover Maine. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
23. Hallet, Richard (October 3, 1942). "THE REAL BAMBI". Collier's. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
24. Síobhra Aiken et al. (ed.), The Men Will Talk to Me. Ernie O'Malley's Interviews with the Northern Divisions (2018), pp. 205–206
25. Lewis, Frank Aiken's War, p. 197
26. Henry Boylan, A Dictionary of Irish Biography, Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1998.
27. MacEoin, Uinseann (1997), The IRA in the twilight years 1923-1948, Argenta Publications, Dublin, pg 913, ISBN 0951117246
28. "Gladys Blake (actress) profile". Omnilexica. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
29. "Gladys Blake biography". MoviePictures.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
30. Stourton, p. 398
31. Piper, David. "Clark, Kenneth Mackenzie, Baron Clark (1903–1983)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, retrieved 14 June 2017 (subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required)
32. Giannalberto Bendazzi (2016). Animation: A World History: Volume II: The Birth of a Style - The Three Markets at Google Books, p. 287, 77
33. Sergei Kapkov (2006). Encyclopedia of Domestic Animation. — Moscow: Algorithm, p. 615—616
34. Curiosity Is My Teacher interview with Anatoly Savchenko at Animator.ru
35. "Deaths". The Stage (5328): 22. May 26, 1983. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
36. "Obituaries – John Barrett". The Stage (5331): 8. June 16, 1983. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
37. Altman, Lawrence K. (May 24, 1983). "DR. ALBERT CLAUDE DEAD AT 84; WON NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE". The New York Times. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
38. Claude, Albert. "Albert Claude – Biographical". www.nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
39. "Claude, Albert". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. The Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
40. "Oregon-born composer dies". The Oregonian . May 25, 1983. p. B7.
41. "The Original Mickey Mouse Club Show: Big George". Originalmmc.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
42. "Cy Hungerford biography at The Pennsylvania Department". Info-ren.org. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
43. "Cy Hungerford biography at". Lambiek.net. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
44. AP (May 27, 1983). "Cyrus C. (Cy) Hungerford obituary, New York Times, May 27, 1983". New York Times. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
45. "1969: Bloodless coup in Libya". BBC News . September 1, 1969.
46. "Idris I | Libya, Biography, & History". Encyclopedia Britannica . Retrieved September 12, 2021.
47. The New York Times (26 May 1983): "KING IDRIS, OUSTED IN '69 BY QADDAFI, DIES IN CAIRO".
48. "Clark Gable's widow dead". UPI. May 26, 1983. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
49. "Kay Gable, 65, Is Dead; Mother of Film Star's Son". The New York Times . May 27, 1983. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
50. "Lilita Bērziņa". Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka (in Latvian). Retrieved May 15, 2025.
51. "John C. Howard". BFI.org. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
52. "Handbook of the history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union 1898-1991. Central Control Commission of the CPSU". Archived from the original on July 11, 2007.
53. Who Killed Kirov?: The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery, 2000
54. Medical assessment that appeared in Soviet newspapers on 31 May 1983
55. "Professional boxing record: Jack Dempsey" . Retrieved March 14, 2020.
56. Smith, Red (June 1, 1983). "OBITUARY: Jack Dempsey, 87, is Dead; Boxing Champion of 1920s". The New York Times . Retrieved June 23, 2012.

Sources

• Lewis, Matthew, Frank Aiken's War, The Irish Revolution 1916–1923, UCD Press (Dublin 2014)
• Remeikis, Thomas: “A Latvian in the Politbureau: A Political Portrait of Arvids Pelše.” Lituanus 12:1 (1966) 81-84. ISSN   0024-5089
• Ridgely, Steven C.. "Japanese Counterculture: The Antiestablishment Art of Terayama Shuji", Univ of Minnesota Press (2011).
• Sorgenfrei, Carol Fisher. Unspeakable Acts: The Avant-garde Theatre of Terayama Shuji And Postwar Japan, University of Hawaii Press (2005).
• Stourton, James (2016). Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation. London: Collins. ISBN   978-0-00-749341-8.

External links

• List of May 1983 deaths at IMDb