The following is a list of notable deaths in January 2007.
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.
January 2007 1 A. I. Bezzerides, 98, Turkish-American novelist and screenwriter, injuries from a fall. Leonard Fraser, 55, Australian serial killer, heart attack. Julius Hegyi, 83, American conductor, Alzheimer's disease. Charles Hyatt, 75, Jamaican actor (Club Paradise, Cool Runnings, The Bushbaby), lung cancer.Charles Hyatt Tad Jones, 54, American jazz music historian, complications from a fall. Ernie Koy, 97, American baseball player. Roland Levinsky, 63, South African medical scientist, Plymouth University Vice Chancellor, electric shock induced heart attack. Tillie Olsen, 94, American writer, natural causes. Del Reeves, 74, American country singer, emphysema. Eleonore Schoenfeld, 81, Slovenian-born cellist and teacher at USC Thornton School of Music, heart attack. Darrent Williams, 24, American football player (Denver Broncos), shot.
2 Garry Betty, 49, American CEO of Earthlink, adrenocortical carcinoma. Sir Eric Denton, 77, British marine biologist.Professor Sir Eric Denton Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, 65, American historian, complications from surgery. Sergio Jiménez, 69, Mexican actor, heart attack. Mauno Jokipii, 82, Finnish professor and World War II researcher, complications after hip replacement surgery. Teddy Kollek, 95, Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem (1965–1993), natural causes. Don Massengale, 69, American PGA Tour golf player, heart attack. A. Richard Newton, 55, Australian-born technology pioneer and professor at University of California, Berkeley, pancreatic cancer. Paek Nam-sun, 78, North Korean Foreign minister. David Perkins, 87, American Stanford University geneticist, after short illness. Dan Shaver, 56, American NASCAR driver and ARCA race car driver/owner, cancer. Robert C. Solomon, 64, American scholar of continental philosophy.
3 Annibale Ciarniello, 106, Italian World War I veteran. János Fürst, 71, Hungarian-born orchestral conductor, cancer. William Jencks, 79, American biochemist. Jim Mooney, 83, Australian politician, member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly (1976–1979). Earl Reibel, 76, Canadian ice hockey forward (Detroit Red Wings), 1956 Lady Byng Trophy winner, complications of stroke. William Verity Jr., 89, United States Secretary of Commerce (1987–1989), complications from pneumonia. Sir Cecil Walker, 82, British Ulster Unionist MP for North Belfast (1983–2001), heart attack. Michael Yeats, 85, Irish Fianna Fáil senator (1961–1981) and son of W. B. Yeats.
4 Juma Akukweti, 59, Tanzanian MP for Chama Cha Mapinduzi (1990–2007), injuries from plane crash. Ben Gannon, 54, Australian theatre, film and television producer, cancer. Christopher Greenbury, 55, American film editor (American Beauty, There's Something About Mary, Daddy Day Care). Helen Hill, 36, American independent film-maker, shot. Sir Lewis Hodges, 88, British Air Chief Marshal. Gren, 72, British newspaper cartoonist. Steve Krantz, 83, American film and TV producer (Fritz the Cat), husband of Judith Krantz, complications of pneumonia. Bob Milliken, 80, American Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher (1953–1954), cardiac arrest. Gáspár Nagy, 57, Hungarian poet and writer. Padre Léo , 45, Brazilian Roman Catholic priest and Founder of the "Bethânia" Community (1995–2007), lymphoma. Sandro Salvadore, 67, Italian footballer, heart attack. Jan Schröder, 65, Dutch cyclist. Marais Viljoen, 91, South African president (1979–1984), heart failure.
5 Momofuku Ando, 96, Taiwanese-born inventor of Nissin instant ramen noodles including the Cup Noodle, heart failure. E. J. Hughes, 93, Canadian painter, heart failure. Chih Ree Sun, 83, Chinese-American physicist and poet, kidney and lung cancer. Francis Sullivan, 89, Canadian Olympic gold medal-winning (1952) ice hockey player.
6 Bill W. Clayton, 78, American Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives (1975–1983), natural causes. Mario Danelo, 21, American football placekicker for University of Southern California, fall from a cliff. Yvon Durelle, 77, Canadian boxing champion, complications from a stroke. Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi, 76, Congolese Cardinal Archbishop of Kinshasa, complications of diabetes. Antonella Kerr, Marchioness of Lothian, 84, British journalist and broadcaster. Charmion King, 81, Canadian actress. Sneaky Pete Kleinow, 72, American special effects artist and pedal steel guitarist (Flying Burrito Brothers), Alzheimer's disease. Suad Nasr, 53, Egyptian actress, complications from liposuction. Annelies Reinhold, 90, Austrian actress. Mohamed Lamine Sanha, Bissau-Guinean Navy Chief of Staff, shot. Ira D. Wallach, 97, American philanthropist and CEO of Central National-Gottesman (1956–1979). Roberta Wohlstetter, 94, American historian of military intelligence.
7 Bobby Hamilton, 49, American NASCAR driver, 2004 Craftsman Truck Series Champion, head and neck cancer. Magnus Magnusson, 77, Icelandic television presenter (Mastermind, 1972–1997), pancreatic cancer. Ernesto Martínez, 55, Cuban Olympic bronze medal-winning volleyball player (1972, 1976, 1980). Olli-Matti Multamäki, 58, Finnish commander of the Finnish Army, illness. Lou Palazzi, 85, American football player and umpire. Hotte Paksha Rangaswamy, 74, Indian politician, Guinness World Record-holder for contesting elections, brief illness.
8 Jane Bolin, 98, American New York City family court judge (1939–1979) and first African American female judge. Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield, 90, British proponent of the European single market and Vice President of the European Commission (1985–1989). Ken Cranston, 89, English test cricketer (1947–1948). Yvonne De Carlo, 84, Canadian-born American actress (The Ten Commandments, The Munsters, McLintock!). David Ervine, 53, Northern Irish leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, complications from heart attack and stroke. Peter Flanagan, 65, British rugby league player for Great Britain and Hull KR. Han Bong-soo, 75, Korean martial arts master and film fight choreographer. José Quaglio, 80, Italian actor and theatre director.José Quaglio (in Italian) Italo Sarrocco, 108, Italian World War I veteran. Iwao Takamoto, 81, American animator (Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Sleeping Beauty) and film director (Charlotte's Web), heart failure. Judith Vladeck, 83, American labor lawyer and women's rights advocate, complications of infection.
9 Cocoa Samoa, 61, professional wrestler. Dame Joyanne Bracewell, 72, British senior judge of the Family Division of the High Court, breast cancer. Ion Dincă, 78, Romanian Deputy Prime Minister and Mayor of Bucharest during the Communist era. Maureen Orcutt, 99, American golf champion. Yelena Petushkova, 66, Russian equestrian, double medallist at the 1972 Olympics, after long illness. Irma St. Paule, 80, Ukrainian-born American actress (Thinner, 12 Monkeys, The Cemetery Club).Irma St. Paule, Stage Veteran, Is Dead Elmer Symons, 29, South African off-road motorcycle racer, accident during the Dakar Rally. Jean-Pierre Vernant, 93, French historian and anthropologist.
10 Harry Baxter, 85, British soldier. Ray Beck, 75, American football player (New York Giants). Harry Horse, 46, British cartoonist and children's book author (The Last... series), suicide by stabbing. Carlo Ponti, 94, Italian film producer (Doctor Zhivago, La Strada, Marriage Italian Style), Oscar winner (1957), pulmonary complications. Sixto Rojas, 24, Paraguayan footballer. Bradford Washburn, 96, American cartographer, mountaineer and founder of the Boston Museum of Science, heart failure.
11 Solveig Dommartin, 45, French actress, trapeze artist in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, heart attack. Tudor Gates, 77, English screenwriter (Barbarella, Twins of Evil, The Vampire Lovers).Thanet Writers Spotlight Tudor Gates Bob MacQuarrie, 80, Canadian politician (1981–1985). Kéba Mbaye, 82, Senegalese judge, vice president of the International Court of Justice and vice president of the International Olympic Committee. Dale Noyd, 73, American Air Force captain and Vietnam War conscientious objector, emphysema. Donald Edward Osterbrock, 82, American astronomer, heart attack. Bryan Pearce, 77, British painter. Robert Anton Wilson, 74, American novelist, futurist and conspiracy theory researcher, post-polio syndrome.
12 Jimmy Cheatham, 82, American jazz trombonist. Alice Coltrane, 69, American jazz musician and widow of John Coltrane, respiratory failure. Stephen Gilbert, 96, British painter and sculptor. Sir James Killen, 81, Australian Minister for Defence (1975–1982). Terrance B. Lettsome, 71, British Virgin Islands politician, illness. Olivier Prechac, 58, French Olympic ice hockey player Larry Stewart, 58, American philanthropist known in Kansas City as "Secret Santa", esophageal cancer. Adolfas Varanauskas, 72, Lithuanian Olympic athlete.
13 Michael Brecker, 57, American jazz saxophonist, leukemia. Chalky, 17, British Jack Russell terrier, celebrity pet of Rick Stein. Cho Tat-wah, 91, Hong Kong wuxia actor, stomach hemorrhage. Doyle Holly, 70, American bassist for Buck Owens' Buckaroos (1963–1971), prostate cancer. Henri-Jean Martin, 82, French librarian and book historian, cancer. Danny Oakes, 95, American USAC champion midget car driver. Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, 78, Senegalese separatist leader.
14 Gido Babilonia, 40, Filipino basketball player, pulmonary embolism. Darlene Conley, 72, American actress (The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, Faces), stomach cancer. John Hawkins, 62, Canadian composer.John Hawkins Beate Hermelin, 87, German psychologist.Beate Hermelin Psychologist who specialised in the study of autism Barbara Kelly, 82, Canadian-born British actress (What's My Line), cancer. Robert Noortman, 60, Dutch art dealer, heart attack. Vassilis Photopoulos, 72, Greek art director (Zorba the Greek), Oscar winner (1965). Peter Prendergast, 60, Welsh artist.
15 Awad Hamed al-Bandar, 61, Iraqi former chief judge, execution by hanging. Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, 55, Iraqi former leader of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, half-brother of Saddam Hussein, execution by hanging. Leonard Berg, 79, American neurologist, creator of the Clinical Dementia Rating scale, stroke. Bo Yibo, 98, Chinese politician known for urging crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Sir John Boynton, 88, British local government official. Colette Caillat, 86, French Sanskrit scholar. Isaac Fanous, 87, Egyptian artist and scholar who specialized in Coptic art. James Hillier, 91, Canadian-born American inventor of first practical electron microscope, stroke. Ardeshir Hosseinpour, 44, Iranian nuclear physicist. Bruce Kenrick, 86, British social activist and clergyman. Aart Koopmans, 60, Dutch founder of the Alternative Elfstedentocht speed skating series, pneumonia. Richard Musgrave, 96, German-born Harvard economist and government adviser, natural causes. Percy Saltzman, 91, Canadian meteorologist and television personality, first person to appear on Canadian CBLT Toronto television. Colin Thurston, 59, British record producer (Duran Duran, Magazine, The Human League, Kajagoogoo).
16 Ron Carey, 71, American actor (Barney Miller, History of the World, Part I, The Montefuscos), stroke. Rudolf August Oetker, 90, German food industry magnate (Oetker Group) and philanthropist. Benny Parsons, 65, American racecar driver, won 1973 Winston Cup, complications from lung cancer. René Riffaud, 108, one of France's last surviving World War I veterans. Jainal Antel Sali, Jr., 42, Filipino terrorist and a commander of Abu Sayyaf, shot in an army raid. Yuri Stern, 57, Israeli politician, cancer. Betty Trezza, 82, American baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, heart attack.