The following is a list of notable deaths in March 2005.
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.
March 2005
1 Cissy van Bennekom, 93, Dutch film actress. Harold Culbert, 60, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1993-1997). Reverend Walter Halloran, 83, American priest who participated in the exorcism on which The Exorcist was based. Henry Johannessen, 81, Norwegian football player and Olympian (1952). Brian Luckhurst, 66, English cricketer, cancer. Peter Malkin, 77, Israeli Mossad agent, the man who captured Adolf Eichmann. Bob Mavis, 86, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers), and manager. Holger Nurmela, 84, Swedish ice hockey, football and bandy player, manager, and Olympian (1948, 1952, 1956). Robert G. Renner, 81, American district judge (United States District Court for the District of Minnesota). Jiří Trnka, 78, Czechoslovak football player.
2 Martin Denny, 93, American founder of exotica musical genre, bandleader. Hermann Dörnemann, 111, German supercentenarian and World War I veteran, heart failure. Tillie K. Fowler, 62, American politician, four-term Florida congresswoman. Elmar Huseynov, 37, Azerbaijani journalist, homicide. Viktor Kapitonov, 71, Russian road cyclist and Olympian (1956, 1960). Juan Koscina, 58, Chilean footballer. Rick Mahler, 51, American baseball pitcher (Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos), heart attack. Mario Moreno, 69, Chilean football player, cancer. Corrado Pani, 68, Italian actor and voice actor, cancer.
3 Åke Andersson, 79, Swedish Olympic long-distance runner (1952). George Atkinson, 69, American businessman, inventor of the video rental. James Corbett, 98, Australian politician. Max Fisher, 96, American millionaire philanthropist, listed in Forbes 400. Rinus Michels, 77, Dutch football player and coach, former Netherlands national football team coach. Raveendran, 61, Indian composer and playback singer, lung cancer. Guylaine St-Onge, 39, Canadian actress (Earth: Final Conflict, Fast Track, Angel Eyes), cancer. Arthur E. Tokle, 82, Norwegian-born American ski jumper and Olympian (1952).
4 Mihai Brediceanu, 84, Romanian musician. Nicola Calipari, 51, Italian intelligence officer, shot by the US Army in Iraq. Jan Kasper, 72, Czech Olympic ice hockey player (1956, 1960). Yuriy Kravchenko, 53, Ukrainian statesman, former interior minister of Ukraine, suicide by gunshot. Buck McPhail, 75, American football player (Oklahoma Sooners, Baltimore Colts). Tony Romano, 89, American jazz guitarist and singer. Carlos Sherman, 70, Uruguayan-born Belarusian translator and writer.
5 George Worsley Adamson, 92, American-born British illustrator. Sergiu Comissiona, 76, Romanian orchestra conductor, heart attack. Morris Engel, 86, American photographer, cinematographer and filmmaker. Vance Gerry, 75, American animator and screenwriter (The Aristocats, Hercules, The Fox and the Hound), cancer. James McGirr Kelly, 76, American district judge (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania). Hans-Werner Seher, 75, German Olympic water polo player (1956). David Sheppard, 75, English cricketer and Church of England bishop, cancer. Leo Winters, 82, American lawyer and the 11th State treasurer for the American state of Oklahoma.
6 Larned B. Asprey, 85, American chemist. Hans Bethe, 98, German-born American Nobel Laureate in Physics, discover of stellar fusion. Danny Gardella, 85, American baseball player (New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals), heart attack. Hans von der Groeben, 97, German diplomat, lawyer and journalist. Jean Löring, 70, German footballer. Russ Marin, 70, American film and television actor. Gladys Marín, 63, Chilean communist politician, cancer. Josef Matz, 79, Austrian Olympic field hockey player (1952). Chuck Thompson, 83, American Baltimore Orioles broadcaster, complications following a stroke. Tommy Vance, 64, British radio DJ and TV host, stroke. Sandy Ward, 78, American film and television actor. Teresa Wright, 86, American actress (Mrs. Miniver, Shadow of a Doubt, The Best Years of Our Lives), heart attack.
7 Walter Arendt, 80, German politician. John Box, 85, British production designer (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Oliver!), 4-time Oscar winner. Terry Buck, 61, Australian Olympic swimmer (1964), and coach. Willis Hall, 75, English playwright and radio, television and film writer. Debra Hill, 54, American screenwriter and film producer (Halloween, Escape from New York, The Fisher King), cancer. Bildad Kaggia, 82, Kenyan politician. Philip Lamantia, 77, American surrealist poet. Sir Peregrine Rhodes, 79, British diplomat, Ambassador to Greece (1982–1985)
8 Ross Benson, 56, British journalist for the Daily Mail and award-winning foreign correspondent. Larry Bunker, 76, American jazz drummer. Ozzie Clay, 63, American football player (Iowa State Cyclones, Washington Redskins). Alice Thomas Ellis, 72, English writer, lung cancer. Gordon Kay, 88, American film producer. Peter Keetman, 88, German photographer. Zulfiqar Ali Khan, 74, Pakistan Air Force officer and later a diplomat, heart attack. César Lattes, 80, Brazilian physicist, contributed to the physics of elementary particles. Aslan Maskhadov, 53, Chechen separatist leader, killed by Russian troops. Brigitte Mira, 94, German actress.
9 Norman Adams, 78, British artist. Meredith Davies, 82, British conductor. Glenn Davis, 80, American football player (Army Cadets, Los Angeles Rams), Heisman Trophy winner, prostate cancer. Sheila Gish, 62, English actress (Company, Highlander, Mansfield Park), cancer. Chris LeDoux, 56, American country music and rodeo star, complications from liver cancer. William Murray, 78, American mystery novelist. István Nyers, 80, Hungarian footballer. Michael O'Higgins, 87, Irish Fine Gael politician. Jeanette Schmid, 80, German-Austrian professional transgender whistler. Redmond A. Simonsen, 62, American game designer.
10 Dave Allen, 68, Irish comedian, sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. Debbi Besserglick, 49, Israeli actress and voice actress, cancer.דבי בסרגליק (in Hebrew) Ery Bos, 96, German dancer and film actress. Danny Joe Brown, 53, American singer (Molly Hatchet), kidney failure. Shawqi Daif, 95, Egyptian literary critic and historian. Kent Hadley, 70, American baseball player (Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees). Earl Hawkins, 84, American basketball player (Tri-Cities Blackhawks). Zbigniew Jasiukiewicz, 57, Polish volleyball player and Olympian (1968). Mindy Jostyn, 48, American singer and multi-instrumentalist, cancer. Bruno Manser, 45, Swiss environmental activist. Jacqueline Pierreux, 82, French film and television actress. Zilka Salaberry, 87, Brazilian actress, pulmonary emphysema.
11 Aurelio Fierro, 81, Italian actor and singer, specialising in songs in the Neapolitan dialect. Karen Wynn Fonstad, 59, American cartographer and academic, author of atlases of fictional worlds, breast cancer. Humphrey Spender, 94, British photojournalist, notably for Picture Post. Cherry Drummond, 16th Baroness Strange, 76, British biographer and hereditary peer in the House of Lords. Herbert Arthur Strauss, 86, German-American historian.
12 Aleksandar Atanacković, 84, Serbian footballer and Olympian (1948). Orlando Azinhais, 71, Portuguese Olympic fencer (1960). Carl Beck-Friis, 83, Swedish Olympic sports shooter (1960). Norbert Callens, 80, Belgian cyclist. Bill Cameron, 62, Canadian journalist, cancer. Amir Drori, 67, Israeli general and founder of the Israel Antiquities Authority, heart attack. Douglas Elliot, 81, Scottish international rugby union player. Lisa Fittko, 95, German resistance member during World War II, pneumonia. Stanley Grenz, 55, American Christian theologian, intracranial aneurysm. Amanullah Khan, 71, Pakistani test cricket umpire. Stavros Kouyioumtzis, 73, Greek music composer. Zbigniew Kuźmiński, 83, Polish film director and screenwriter. Walter Schuur, 94, German Olympic canoeist (1936). Carlos de la Serna, 83, Argentine Olympic equestrian (1956). Gordon Sherritt, 85, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings). Ali Zaky, 74-75, Egyptian Olympic gymnast (1948, 1952).
13 Clinton Benjamin, 53, Nauruan politician. Lyn Collins, 56, American soul singer, aka "Female Preacher", heart attack. Ahmed Hassan Diria, 67, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, foreign minister (1990-1993). Jason Evers, 83, American actor (The Brain That Wouldn't Die)., heart attack. Frank House, 75, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics, Cincinnati Reds), and Alabama legislator. Hal Seeger, 87, American animated cartoon producer and director. Yoshihisa Taira, 67, Japanese-born French composer.
14 Monika Beu, 41, German volleyball player and Olympian (1988). Geneviève Burdel, 58, French figure skater and Olympian (1964). Stan Campbell, 74, American NFL gridiron football player (Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders). Rufus Deal, 87, American football player (Washington Redskins). Jerome Frank, 95, American psychiatrist. Midhat Gluhačević, 39, Bosnian footballer. Janet Reger, 69, British designer of women's lingerie. Donald Thompson, 73, British politician. Simon Webb, 55, British chess grandmaster living in Sweden, stabbed. Akira Yoshizawa, 94, Japanese origami master, pneumonia. Asghar Zoghian, 75, Iranian Olympic wrestler (1964).
15 Renzo Alverà, 72, Italian bobsledder and Olympic silver medalist (1956). Audrey Callaghan, Baroness Callaghan of Cardiff, 89, First Lady as wife of James Callaghan, Alzheimer's disease. Loe de Jong, 90, Dutch historian. Don Durant, 72, American actor (Johnny Ringo) and singer, lymphoma. Otar Korkia, 81, Georgian basketball player and Olympian (1952). Miklós Kretzoi, 98, Hungarian geologist, paleontologist and paleoanthropologist. Bill McGarry, 77, English football manager. Shoji Nishio, 77, Japanese aikido teacher holding the rank of 8th dan shihan from the Aikikai, cancer. Jim Pearcy, 86, American football player (Marshall Thundering Herd, Chicago Rockets/Hornets). Bert Pronk, 54, Dutch road cyclist, cancer. Judith Scott, 61, American fiber sculptor and outsider artist.
16 Arciso Artesiani, 83, Italian motorcycle racer. Todd Bell, 46, American gridiron football player (Chicago Bears), heart attack. Bijeh, 30, Iranian serial killer, execution by hanging. William Brown, 76, British structural engineer and bridge designer. Sergiu Cunescu, 82, Romanian politician, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSDR) (1990-2001). Timofei Dokshizer, 83, Soviet Russian trumpeter and music teacher. Ralph Erskine, 91, British architect (Byker Wall). Jean-Pierre Genet, 64, French road bicycle racer. Anthony George, 84, American actor, pulmonary emphysema. Allan Hendrickse, 77, South African politician, heart attack. Justin Hinds, 62, Jamaican vocalist and songwriter, lung cancer. Eric Johnston, 91, Australian Olympic water polo player (1948). Chris van der Klaauw, 80, Dutch politician and diplomat. George C. Lang, 58, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient. William Lehman, 91, American politician, member of the United States House of Representatives (1973-1993). Dick Radatz, 67, American baseball player, suicide from jumping. John Tojeiro, 81, Engineer and racing car designer.
17 Irvine Barrow, 92, Canadian accountant and politician, member of the Senate of Canada (1974-1988). Gary Bertini, 77, Israeli conductor and composer. Jeremy Blacker, 65, British army general. Mike Campbell-Lamerton, 71, British army officer and rugby player, prostate cancer. Ernest Childers, 87, US Army officer and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, for his actions during World War II. Klaus Dierks, 69, German-Namibian deputy government minister and civil engineer.