The following is a list of notable deaths in April 2002.
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 2002
1 Russell Awkard, 84, American baseball player. Carlos da Benta, 74, Portuguese Olympic rower (1948, 1952). Albert F. Canwell, 95, American politician and anti-communist. Tonino Cervi, 72, Italian film director, screenwriter and producer, heart attack. Simo Häyhä, 96, Finnish sniper during World War II. James Karales, 71, American photographer and photo-essayist. Étienne Martinetti, 61, Swiss Olympic wrestler (1972). K. V. Narayanaswamy, 78, Indian musician. John S. Samuel, 88, American Air Force general.
2 Levi Celerio, 91, Filipino composer and lyricist, and National Artist of the Philippines. Vladimír Černík, 84, Czech-Egyptian tennis player. Ike Clarke, 87, English football player and manager. Casey Jones, 86, American politician and basketball player. Jack Kruschen, 80, Canadian actor (The Apartment, The War of the Worlds, Webster). Bill Marsh, 72, Australian rugby league footballer. Ron Nery, 67, American football player (Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers). John R. Pierce, 92, American engineer and author who coined the term "transistor", pneumonia. Betty Jane Rase, 74, American singer and songwriter, stroke. Henry Slesar, 74, American author, playwright, and copywriter. Shigeo Sugimoto, 75, Japanese football player. Robert Lawson Vaught, 75, American mathematician, and one of the founders of model theory.
3 Heinz Drache, 79, German film actor, lung cancer. Fad Gadget, 45, English singer-songwriter, heart attack. Roy Huggins, 87, American novelist and television producer (Maverick, The Fugitive, The Rockford Files). Norm Lee, 81, Australian politician. Bobby Managoff, 84, Armenian-American professional wrestler, heart failure. Roy Nichols, 81, American baseball player (New York Giants). Ernst Stojaspal, 77, Austrian football player and Olympian (1948), heart failure. Karl Swanson, 101, American baseball player (Chicago White Sox).
4 Leo Brooks, 54, American gridiron football player (University of Texas, Houston Oilers, St. Louis Cardinals), esophageal cancer. Endel Edasi, 72, Soviet Estonian Olympic swimmer (1952). Leo Laakso, 83, Finnish Olympic ski jumper (1948). Pierre Marchand, 62, French publisher, cancer. Joe Massot, 69, American writer and film director. Qazi Mujahidul Islam Qasmi, 66, Indian Mufti, Qadhi and Islamic scholar. Ken Stewart, 90, Canadian ice hockey player (Chicago Black Hawks). Jack Tanuan, 36, Filipino basketball player, kidney failure. Hiram Hamilton Ward, 78, American district judge (United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina). Charles Winquist, 57, American theologian.
5 Herbert A. Cahn, 87, German-Swiss archaeologist, numismatist and antiquities-dealer. Paul Erickson, 86, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants). Tore Johansson, 81, Swedish rower and Olympian (1952). Bargil Pixner, 81, Italian-American monk, biblical scholar and archaeologist. Sheriff Robinson, 80, American baseball player. Layne Staley, 34, American singer (Alice in Chains), drug overdose. Ben Warley, 65, American professional basketball player (Philadelphia 76ers, Baltimore Bullets, Anaheim Amigos), liver cancer. Kim Won-gyun, 85, North Korean composer and politician, heart failure.
6 Silvia Derbez, 70, Mexican film and television actress, lung cancer. Petru Dumitriu, 77, Romanian novelist. Oliver Eggimann, 83, Swiss football player. Børge Gissel, 86, Danish Olympic cyclist (1948). Kevin Kelley, 59, American drummer (Rising Sons, The Byrds, Fever Tree). Ralph J. Marino, 74, American lawyer and politician from New York. Nobu McCarthy, 67, Canadian actress, aortic aneurysm. Martin Sperr, 57, German dramatist and actor. Tom Sunkel, 89, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers). Judith Wood, 95, American film actress.
7 John Agar, 81, American actor, starred in Western and Sci-Fi movies, first husband of Shirley Temple, pulmonary emphysema. Bobby Astyr, 64, American pornographic film actor. Margit Leskinen, 87, Finnish Olympic swimmer (1948). Bhavanam Venkatarami Reddy, 70, Indian politician, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. Georges van Coningsloo, 61, Belgian racing cyclist. Conny Vandenbos, 65, Dutch singer, lung cancer. Tony Zuzzio, 85, American football player (Detroit Lions).
8 Nigel Bagnall, 75, British field marshal, professional head of the British Army (Chief of the General Staff). John Borton, 69, American football player (Ohio State Buckeyes, Cleveland Browns). María Félix, 88, Mexican film star, considered "the most beautiful face in the history of Mexican cinema", heart attack. Eloy Fominaya, 76, American composer, music educator, conductor, violinist and luthier (Augusta Symphony). Giacomo Mancini, 85, Italian politician. Harvey Quaytman, 64, American painter, cancer. Francisco Zamora Salinas, 63, El Salvador football player. Josef Svoboda, 81, Czech artist and scenic designer. Laurel Rose Willson, 60, American author and con artist.
9 Dorothy Love Coates, 74, American gospel singer, considered one of gospel's great performers. Harold Coates, 84, Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (1965–1976). Thomas Dinger, 49, German drummer, singer and songwriter. Roy Dwight, 69, English footballer. Pat Flaherty, 76, American professional racecar driver, won the Indianapolis 500 in 1956. Weldon Irvine, 58, American composer, playwright, poet, and pianist, suicide by gunshot. Kazuo Nakamura, 75, Japanese-Canadian painter and sculptor. Leopold Vietoris, 110, Austrian mathematician, World War I veteran, and supercentenarian.
10 Haim Cohn, 91, Israeli jurist and politician. Ed Fleming, 68, American professional basketball player (Niagara University, Rochester Royals, Minneapolis Lakers). Géza Hofi, 75, Hungarian humorist. Andrew Hogan, 78, Canadian politician and priest, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1974-1980). Þorsteinn Löve, 78, Icelandic Olympic discus thrower (1952). Atanda Fatai Williams, 83, Nigerian jurist and Chief Justice of Nigeria (1979–1983).
11 Elmer Angsman, 76, American gridiron football player (Notre Dame, Chicago Cardinals) and football color commentator, heart attack. Branko Bauer, 81, Croatian film director. William Brandon, 87, American author, wrote on Native Americans and the American West. Bubba Brooks, 79, American jazz tenor saxophonist, a member of Bill Doggett's ensemble. Héctor Rojas Herazo, 81, Colombian novelist, poet, journalist and painter. Delphi Lawrence, 76, English actress. Do Mau, 85, Vietnamese officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Lidia Barbieri Sacconaghi, 57, Italian Olympic alpine skier (1964). J. William Stanton, 78, American politician (U.S. Representative for Ohio's 11th congressional district). Stanley Weston, 82, American publisher, sportswriter, artist and photographer, cancer.
12 Hans Neurath, 92, Austrian-American biochemist and academic. Gabriel Raksi, 63, Romanian football player. Yadollah Sahabi, 97, Iranian scholar, writer, reformist and politician. Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, 87, Indian communist leader, Parkinson's disease. George Shevelov, 93, Ukrainian scholar. Safet Zhulali, 59, Albanian Minister of Defence.
13 Alex Baroni, 35, Italian singer, traffic accident. Scipio Colombo, 91, Italian dramatic baritone. Ivan Desny, 79, Russian-Swiss film actor-, appeared in more than 150 films, pneumonia. Joe Fisher, 85, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings). Franz Krienbühl, 73, Swiss Olympic speed skater (1968, 1976). Oreste Piccioni, 86, Italian-American physicist. Hal Picketts, 92, Canadian ice hockey player (New York Americans). Álvaro Salvadores, 73, Chilean-Spanish basketball player and Olympian (1952). Vlajko Stojiljković, 65, Serbian politician, suicide by gunshot. Desmond Titterington, 73, British racing driver from Northern Ireland.
14 Edmée Abetel, 79, Swiss Olympic alpine skier (1952). Buck Baker, 83, American stock car race driver and member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Gustave Blouin, 89, Canadian politician and a member of Parliament (House of Commons). Zdeněk Chlup, 79, Czech Olympic basketball player (1948). Mark Ermler, 69, Russian conductor (Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra). Joop Haex, 90, Dutch politician. Bobby Holm, 83, American basketball player. Michael Kerr, 81, British jurist. Monal, 21, Indian actress, suicide by hanging. Fausto Radici, 48, Italian alpine skier and Olympian (1976), suicide by gunshot.
15 Sándor Gáspár, 85, Hungarian communist politician and trade unionist. Moe Keale, 62, American musician of Hawaiian music, and actor, heart attack. Dave King, 72, English comedian, actor and singer. Damon Knight, 79, American science fiction author, editor and critic. Hans-Henrik Krause, 84, Danish actor and film director. Clare Raglan, 74, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks). Ram Singh Thakur, 87, Indian freedom fighter, musician and composer. Byron White, 84, American lawyer and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, pneumonia.
16 Billy Ayre, 49, English footballer, cancer. Ramiro de León Carpio, 60, Guatemalan politician, diabetic coma. Friðrik Guðmundsson, 76, Icelandic Olympic discus thrower (1952). Janusz Kasperczak, 74, Polish Olympic boxer (1948). Yevgeny Rasskazov, 60, Soviet Russian Olympic sports shooter (1964). Claudio Slon, 58, Brazilian jazz drummer, lung cancer. Marcel Stern, 80, Swiss competitive sailor and Olympic medalist (1948, 1952, 1968). Zoltán Turcsányi, 87, Hungarian Olympic field hockey player (1936). Robert Urich, 55, American actor (Vega$, Spenser: For Hire, Lonesome Dove, S.W.A.T.), cancer. Hugh Franklin Waters, 69, American judge (U.S. District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas). Herbert Wernicke, 56, German opera director and set and costume designer.
17 Urs-Ulrich Bucher, 75, Swiss Olympic sailor (1960, 1964). James Copeland, 83, Scottish actor (The 39 Steps, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes). Betsy Curtis, 84, American science fiction and fantasy writer. Srul Irving Glick, 67, Canadian composer, radio producer, and conductor. Saeed Hanaei, 39-40, Iranian serial killer, hanged.Prostitute killer hanged in Iran Stevan Kragujević, 80, Serbian photojournalist and art photographer. Rune Öberg, 79, Swedish Olympic water polo player (1948).
18 Mitsos Dimitriou, 54, Greek football player. Jerry Heidenreich, 52, American competition swimmer and Olympic champion (1972), suicide by drug overdose. Thor Heyerdahl, 87, Norwegian anthropologist, brain cancer. Wayne Hightower, 62, American basketball player, heart attack. Cy Laurie, 75, British musician. Wahoo McDaniel, 63, American gridiron football player and wrestler, complications from diabetes and kidney failure.
19 William E. Barber, 82, U.S. Marine Corps colonel and Medal of Honor recipient, bone marrow cancer. Alberto Beltrán, 79, Mexican painter, engraver and political cartoonist. Jean-Pierre Destrumelle, 61, French football player and manager. Lennart Hemming, 69, Swedish footballer. Ruud Knuppe, 63, Dutch Olympic canoeist (1960). Reginald Rose, 81, American film and television writer, complications of heart failure. Ross Whicher, 84, Canadian politician and businessman (member of Parliament representing Bruce, Ontario).
20 Phillip Baldwin, 77, American judge. Vlastimil Brodský, 81, Czech actor, suicide by gunshot. Alan Dale, 76, American singer ("Heart of My Heart", "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White"). Joe Geri, 77, American gridiron football player (Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Cardinals).