Deaths in May 1987

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The following is a list of notable deaths in May 1987.

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 1987

1

• Paul Geidel, 93, American murderer, second longest serving U.S. prison inmate.
• Bobo Holloman, 64, American Major League baseballer, heart attack.
• Antonio Borja Won Pat, 78, Guam politician, Guam's Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, heart attack. ^[1]
• Dick Surhoff, 57, American NBA basketballer.
• James W. Sutherland, 69, American Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army.
• Fujio Yoshida, 99, Japanese artist.

2

• Karl Davis, 25, African-American fashion designer, pneumonia and AIDS. ^[2]
• Michael Gover, 73, English actor known for his portrayal of Arthur Russell in the series Survivors.
• John E. Kerrigan, 78, American politician, acting mayor of Boston, member of the Massachusetts Senate, cardiac arrest. ^[3]
• Harold K. Schneider, 61–62, American economic anthropologist.

3

• Joyce Coad, 70, American child actress in motion pictures.
• Roberto Concepcion, 83, Filipino lawyer, Chief Justice of the Philippines.
• Dalida, 54, Egyptian-French singer and actress, suicide by overdose. ^[4]
• Viola Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, 74, British aristocrat, wife of Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster, car accident.
• Dick Kelsey, 82, American animation art director, theme park designer and illustrator of children's books.

4

• Paul Butterfield, 44, American blues harmonica player, singer and bandleader, overdose. ^[5]
• Cathryn Damon, 56, American actress, ovarian cancer. ^[6]
• Paul Groesse, 81, Hungarian-American Academy Award-winning art director, pneumonia. ^[7]
• Khalilullah Khalili, 79, Afghan poet, historian, and diplomat. ^[8]
• Konstanty Jeleński, 65, Polish essayist.
• Tomohiro Kojiri, 29, Japanese journalist for Tokyo-based newspaper Asahi Shimbun, murdered.
• Wilbur Little, 59, American jazz bassist.
• Michael Minor, 46, American illustrator and art director on Star Trek movies.

5

• Sir Hugh Fraser, 50, British chairman of the House of Fraser, Harrods, and Whyte & Mackay, cancer. ^[9]
• Herbert Hasler, 73, British lieutenant colonel in the Royal Marines.
• Allen Jones, 46, American record producer and songwriter, heart attack.
• Robert Stanford Tuck, 70, British fighter pilot and flying ace.
• Phil Woolpert, 71, American college basketball coach, lung cancer.

6

• William J. Casey, 74, American CIA director, brain tumour. ^[10]
• Muhammadullah Hafezzi, 91–92, Bangladeshi politician and Islamic leader.
• Karel Plicka, 92, Czechoslovakian photographer, film director, cinematographer and folklorist.
• David Weitzman, 88, British politician.

7

• Boom-Boom Beck, 82, American Major League baseballer.
• Colin Blakely, 56, Northern Irish actor, leukaemia. ^[11]
• Stewart McKinney, 56, American politician, member of U.S. House of Representatives, AIDS.
• Paul Popham, 45, American gay rights activist, AIDS.
• Dudley Ryder, 94, British hereditary peer, member of the House of Lords.
• Karl Schuke, 80, German organ builder.

8

• Marjorie Barnard, 89, Australian novelist, critic, historian and librarian. ^[12]
• Sidney Cohen, 76, American psychiatrist, professor of medicine and author. ^[13]
• Alberta Gay, 74, American mother of Marvin Gaye and Frankie Gaye, bone cancer.
• Sir James Plimsoll, 70, Australian diplomat, Governor of Tasmania, ambassador to the U.S.A., heart attack.
• Doris Stokes, 67, British "spiritualist", "medium" and author, brain cancer.
• Carl Tchilinghiryan, 77, German businessman, co-founder of coffee house Tchibo.
• Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed during the Loughgall ambush: ^[14]
  • Declan Arthurs, 21, Northern Irish IRA member, shot.
  • Patrick Joseph Kelly, 30, Northern Irish IRA commander, shot.
  • Jim Lynagh, 31, Northern Irish IRA member, shot.
  • Pádraig McKearney, 32, Northern Irish IRA member, shot.

9

• Obafemi Awolowo, 78, Nigerian nationalist and statesman, Premier of Western Nigeria. ^[15]
• Jimmy Kruger, 69, South African lawyer and politician, President of the Senate.
• Noel Murless, 77, English racehorse trainer.
• John M. Schiff, 82, American investment banker and philanthropist. ^[16]

10

• Sadamichi Hirasawa, 95, Japanese tempera painter, convicted of mass poisoning, pneumonia. ^[17]
• Nicolette Macnamara, 76, British artist and author.
• Wilhelm Strienz, 86, German bass operatic singer.

11

• James Jesus Angleton, 69, American intelligence operative and C.I.A chief, cancer.

12

• Victor Feldman, 53, English jazz musician, heart attack.
• Chinn Ho, 83, Hawaiian entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist, heart failure. ^[18]
• Ion Pistol, 40, Romanian convicted murderer, executed.
• Nora Rubashova, 78, Belarusian Catholic nun.
• Robert Trimbole, 56, Australian businessman, drug baron and organized crime figure.
• Michel Van Wijnendaele, 27–28, Belgian mass murderer, suicide after the murders.

13

• F. R. Crawley, 75, Canadian film producer, cinematographer and director.
• Richard Ellmann, 69, American literary critic and biographer of Irish writers, motor neurone disease. ^[19]
• Phil Moore, 69, American jazz pianist, arranger, and bandleader. ^[20]
• Ismael Rivera, 55, Puerto Rican composer and salsa singer, heart attack.
• Forbes Robinson, 60, British bass.
• Elly Winter, 88, German communist and notable political activist.

14

• Tsai Chen-chou, 40, Taiwanese politician and businessman, liver disease.
• Kris Derrig, 33, American luthier and musician, cancer.
• Rita Hayworth, 68, American actress and dancer, complications from Alzheimer's disease. ^[21]
• Jānis Lipke, 87, Latvian rescuer of Jews in World War II.
• Luke Sewell, 86, American Major league baseballer.
• Elizabeth Zarubina, 87, Soviet spy, traffic accident.
• Vitomil Zupan, 73, Austro-Hungarian–born Slovene writer.

15

• Wynne Gibson, 88, American actress, cerebral thrombosis. ^[22]
• Raynor Johnson, 86, English-Australian parapsychologist, physicist and author.
• Kalyanakit Kitiyakara, 57, Thai cardiothoracic surgeon.
• Máire MacNeill, 82, Irish journalist, folklorist and translator.
• Barry Mannakee, 39, British police officer with Royal Protection Squad, bodyguard to Diana, Princess of Wales, traffic accident.
• L. G. Pine, 79, British writer, lecturer and researcher of genealogy, nobility, history, heraldry and animal welfare.
• Lionel Van Praag, 78, Australian motorcycle speedway champion.

16

• Lionel Cooper, 65, Australian international rugby league footballer.
• Frank Mayborn, 83, American philanthropist, soldier, newspapers editor, publisher and broadcaster.
• Ronnie Shakes, 40, American stand up comedian, heart attack.
• Michael Wood, 69, British medical doctor, cancer.

17

• Wilbur J. Cohen, 73, American social scientist and civil servant, U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. ^[23]
• Gunnar Myrdal, 88, Swedish economist, Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences. ^[24]
• Dudley C. Sharp, 82, American Secretary of the Air Force. ^[25]

18

• Mahdi Amel, 51, Lebanese Marxist philosopher and militant, assassinated.
• Heðin Brú, 86, Faroese novelist and translator.
• Hossein Fardoust, 70, Iranian military officer, deputy head of SAVAK, the Iranian intelligence agency.
• Robert A. Hefner Jr., 79, American politician and businessman.
• Santo Mazzarino, 71, Italian historian.

19

• James Everett Chase, 73, African American politician, Mayor of Spokane, cancer. ^[26]
• Hamid Reza Chitgar, 38, Iranian communist politician, exiled to France, assassinated.
• Deepak Dhawan, 32, Indian political activist, member of the Communist Party of India, murdered.
• Almerigo Grilz, 34, Italian politician and independent war correspondent, killed in war zone.
• Huntington D. Sheldon, 84, American C.I.A. director of Current Intelligence, murdered.
• Stanisław Szukalski, 93, Polish-American sculptor and painter.
• James Tiptree, Jr., (Alice Bradley Sheldon), 71, American science fiction and fantasy author, suicide pact with husband.

20

• William Creighton, 77, American Anglican bishop.
• Harvey Goldberg, 65, American historian and political activist, liver cancer. ^[27]
• Herbert Jacobs, 84, American journalist for the Milwaukee Journal, professor of journalism, cancer. ^[28]
• Ganpatrao Jadhav, 79, Indian freedom activist, journalist and writer.
• Edward Earl Johnson, 26, American convicted murderer, executed.
• Elmer Ray, 76, American heavyweight boxer.
• George Shibata, 60, American military officer, attorney, and film & television actor.
• Ma Sicong, 75, Chinese violinist and composer.
• Colston Warne, 86, American professor of economics. ^[29]

21

• Archie Carr, 77, American herpetologist, ecologist and conservationist, professor of zoology.
• Finis Alonzo Crutchfield Jr., 70, American clergyman and bishop, AIDS.
• Alejandro Rey, 57, Argentine-American actor and television director, lung cancer. ^[30]

22

• Paddy Belton, 60, Irish politician, company director and publican, Lord Mayor of Dublin.
• Thornton Freeland, 89, American film director.
• Heinrich Mückter, 72, German medical doctor, pharmacologist and chemist.
• Keidrych Rhys, 71, Welsh literary journalist, editor and poet.

24

• Alan Samuel Butler, 88, British aviator, chairman of De Havilland Aircraft Company.
• James J. Delaney, 86, American politician, chair of the House Rules Committee. ^[31]
• Hermione Gingold, 89, English actress, heart problems and pneumonia. ^[32]
• Siegmund Klein, 85, German-American strongman, bodybuilder, and magazine publisher, cancer. ^[33]
• Lajos Ligeti, 64, Hungarian orientalist and philologist.
• Thomas Burdett Money-Coutts, 85, English peer.
• Eugen Relgis, 92, Romanian writer, pacifist philosopher and anarchist militant.

25

• Charley Brock, 71, American NFL footballer.
• Winthrop G. Brown, 79, American lawyer and diplomat, U.S. Ambassador to Korea and Laos. ^[34]
• Hugh Lester Campbell, 78, Canadian air marshal in the Royal Canadian Air Force and politician.
• Peter Coe, 58, English film and theatre director and actor.
• Peter Gerald Charles Dickens, 70, English Royal Navy officer during World War II.
• Hermann Glöckner, 98, German painter and sculptor.
• William Kelly Harrison Jr., 91, American officer in the U.S. Army.
• Don Sidle, 40, American ABA basketballer.
• Paweł Tuchlin, 41, Polish serial killer, hanged.

26

• Rose Chan, 62, Chinese-Malaysian cabaret dancer.
• Alvin Duke Chandler, 84, American Navy officer, president of the College of William & Mary.
• Paul Rimstead, 51–52, Canadian journalist.
• Arthur M. Sackler, 73, American psychiatrist and marketer of pharmaceuticals. ^[35]
• Robert Wilkins, 91, American country blues guitarist and vocalist.
• Ajita Wilson, 37, American transgender actress, brain hemorrhage.

27

• Alvin C. Eurich, 84, American educator, president of the State University of New York. ^[36]
• Colin McCahon, 67, New Zealand artist.
• John Howard Northrop, 95, American biochemist, Nobel laureate in Chemistry, suicide. ^[37]
• Richard Bruce Nugent, 80, American writer and painter.
• Fatemeh Pahlavi, 58, Iranian royal, cancer.

28

• Léon Lambert, 58, Belgian banker and art collector.
• Charles Ludlam, 44, American actor, director and playwright, pneumonia as a complication of AIDS. ^[38]

29

• Jean Delay, 79, French psychiatrist, neurologist and writer.
• Vettam Mani, 65, Indian scholar and writer.
• Charan Singh, 84, Prime Minister of India, cardiovascular collapse. ^[39]
• Phyllis Tate, 76, English composer.

30

• Frank Carlson, 94, American politician, member of U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. ^[40]
• Eliot Hodgkin, 81, English painter.
• Miyuki Ishikawa, 90, Japanese midwife, real estate agent and serial killer.
• Honorino Landa, 44, Chilean international footballer, cancer.
• Frank Licht, 71, American politician, Governor of Rhode Island, cancer. ^[41]
• Hallam L. Movius, 79, American archaeologist.
• Turk Murphy, 71, American trombonist and bandleader. ^[42]
• Norman Nicholson, 73, English poet.
• Hilde Weissner, 77, German actress.

31

• John Abraham, 49, Indian filmmaker, short story writer and screenwriter, complications from a fall.
• Jerry Adair, 50, American Major League baseballer, liver cancer.
• Hubert Raymond Allen, 68, British Royal Air Force officer.
• Charles Drew, 70, British cardiothoracic surgeon, throat cancer.
• Wilbur Evans, 81, American actor and singer. ^[43]
• Gertrude Jones Hawk, 83–84, American candy maker and entrepreneur.
• Kolbein Lauring, 72, Norwegian resistance member during World War II.
• Dorothy Patrick, 65, Canadian-American film actress, heart attack.
• Roy Winsor, 75, American soap opera writer, creator, producer and mystery novelist, heart attack. ^[44]

Unknown date

• Sunny Harnett, 63, American model and actress, injuries sustained in a fire.
• Arthur Matsu, 83, American NFL footballer and coach.
• Dev Raj Singh Thakur, Indian Air Force warrant officer, killed the killer of Mohandas Gandhi.

References

1. "Antonio Won Pat, 73, Dies; Guam Delegate to Congress" . The New York Times . May 3, 1987. p. 1 44. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
2. "Karl Davis, 25, Dies; A Designer of Fashions" . The New York Times . May 5, 1987. p. D 30. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
3. "John E. Kerrigan Dies; Former Boston Official" . The New York Times . May 4, 1987. p. B 12. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
4. "DALIDA" . The New York Times . May 5, 1987. p. D 30. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
5. Jon Pareles (May 6, 1987). "PAUL BUTTERFIELD, WHOSE BAND ADDED CHICAGO BLUES TO ROCK" . The New York Times . p. B 11. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
6. "WON EMMY FOR ROLE IN 'SOAP'" . The New York Times . May 7, 1987. p. B 20. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
7. "PAUL GROESSE" . The New York Times . May 7, 1987. p. B 20. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
8. "Khalilullah Khalili Dies at 79; Afghan Poet and Ex-Official" . The New York Times . May 14, 1987. p. D 26. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
9. "HEADED STORE GROUP THAT HAS HARRODS" . The New York Times . May 6, 1987. p. B 11. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
10. Eric Pace (May 7, 1987). "WILLIAM CASEY, EX-C.I.A. HEAD, IS DEAD AT 74" . The New York Times . p. A 1. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
11. Wilborn Hampton (May 9, 1987). "A FAVORITE FIGURE IN BRITAIN" . The New York Times . p. 1 12. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
12. "Marjorie Barnard - Social Networks and Archival Context". snaccooperative.org. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
13. "DR. SIDNEY COHEN, 76, DEAD: STUDIED MOOD-ALTERING DRUGS" . The New York Times . May 17, 1987. p. 1 40. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
14. McDonald, Henry (September 29, 2002). "True tale of IRA 'martyrs' revealed". The Guardian . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
15. "Chief Obafemi Awolowo Dies; A Nigeria Nationalist Leader" . The New York Times . May 11, 1987. p. D 11. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
16. William G. Blair (May 10, 1987). "JOHN SCHIFF, A PHILANTHROPIST AND INVESTMENT BANKER, DIES" . The New York Times . p. 1 30. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
17. "Sadamichi Hirasawa Is Dead; Was on Death Row 32 Years" . The New York Times . May 11, 1987. p. D 11. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
18. Wallace Turner (May 14, 1987). "CHINN HO, 83, A MAJOR FIGURE IN SUCCESS OF HAWAII'S ASIANS" . The New York Times . p. D 26. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
19. Walter Goodman (May 14, 1987). "EMINENT JAMES JOYCE SCHOLAR" . The New York Times . p. D 26. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
20. "PHIL MOORE" . The New York Times . May 19, 1987. p. D 30. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
21. Albin Krebs (May 16, 1987). "RITA HAYWORTH, MOVIE LEGEND, DIES" . The New York Times . p. 1 10. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
22. "Wynne Gibson Is Dead; Stage and Film Actress" . The New York Times . May 21, 1987. p. B 14. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
23. Wolfgang Saxon (May 19, 1987). "WILBUR COHEN, LEADING ARCHITECT OF SOCIAL LEGISLATION, DIES AT 73" . The New York Times . p. D 30. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
24. "GUNNAR MYRDAL, ANALYST OF RACE CRISIS, DIES" . The New York Times . May 18, 1987. p. A 1. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
25. Joan Cook (May 19, 1987). "DUDLEY C. SHARP, EXECUTIVE AND EX-AIR FORCE SECRETARY" . The New York Times . p. D 30. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
26. "JAMES E. CHASE" . The New York Times . May 23, 1987. p. 1 32. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
27. "HARVEY GOLDBERG" . The New York Times . May 24, 1987. p. 1 28. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
28. Albert Scardino (May 27, 1987). "HERBERT JACOBS, 30'S REPORTER WHO RESHAPED ARCHITECTURE" . The New York Times . p. B 8. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
29. Edward Hudson (May 21, 1987). "CONSUMER LEADER" . The New York Times . p. B 14. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
30. "Alejandro Rey Is Dead; A Film and a TV Actor" . The New York Times . May 24, 1987. p. 1 28. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
31. Winston Williams (May 25, 1987). "JAMES J. DELANEY, 86, A DEMOCRAT AND FORMER QUEENS CONGRESSMAN" . The New York Times . p. 1 37. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
32. Wolfgang Saxon (May 25, 1987). "HERMIONE GINGOLD, ENGLISH ACTRESS, DIES AT 89" . The New York Times . p. 1 37. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
33. "SIEGMUND KLEIN" . The New York Times . May 28, 1987. p. D 23. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
34. "Winthrop G. Brown, Ex-State Dept. Official" . The New York Times . May 27, 1987. p. B 8. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
35. Grace Glueck (May 27, 1987). "PHILANTHROPIST AND ART PATRON" . The New York Times . p. B 8. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
36. "Alvin C. Eurich Dead; Former State U. Chief" . The New York Times . May 29, 1987. p. B 6. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
37. "Dr. John H. Northrop, Nobel Laureate, Dies" . The New York Times . July 16, 1987. p. D 22. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
38. Jeremy Gerard (May 29, 1987). "CHARLES LUDLAM, 44, AVANT-GARDE ARTIST OF THEATER, IS DEAD" . The New York Times . p. A 1. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
39. Steven R. Weisman, Special To the New York Times (May 30, 1987). "INDIA'S FIFTH PRIME MINISTER" . The New York Times . p. 1 36. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
40. Marvine Howe (May 31, 1987). "SERVED 3 TERMS AS SENATOR FROM KANSAS" . The New York Times . p. 1 32. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
41. "LED RHODE ISLAND IN LATE 60'S" . The New York Times . May 31, 1987. p. 1 32. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
42. John T. McQuiston (June 1, 1987). "TURK MURPHY, A TROMBONIST AND A FIGURE IN JAZZ REVIVAL" . The New York Times . p. B 10. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
43. "Wilbur Evans Is Dead; A Singer on Broadway" . The New York Times . June 3, 1987. p. B 10. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
44. C. Gerald Fraser (June 3, 1987). "ROY WINSOR, WRITER AND A TV PRODUCER OF DAYTIME SERIALS" . The New York Times . p. B 10. Retrieved May 3, 2024.