Deaths in May 2005

The following is a list of notable deaths in May 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.

May 2005

1 Albert Rex Bergstrom, 79, New Zealand econometrician. Motibhai Chaudhary, 81, Indian politician. Neville Gruzman, 80, Australian architect, writer and architectural activist. Rene Rivkin, 60, Australian stockbroker, suicide. Harry Warburton, 84, Swiss bobsledder and Olympian (1956).

2 Emmett Barrett, 88, American football player (New York Giants). Renée Faure, 86, French actress. Robert Hunter, 63, Canadian environmentalist, journalist, and co-founder of Greenpeace, prostate cancer. Theo Middelkamp, 91, Dutch cyclist and first Dutch world champion. Jack Nichols, 67, American gay rights activist, cancer. Börje Nyberg, 85, Swedish actor and film director. Raisa Struchkova, 79, Russian dancer and People's Artist of the USSR. David Tyrrell, 79, British virologist. Wee Kim Wee, 89, Singaporean politician, fourth President of Singapore from 1985 to 1993, prostate cancer.

3 Jagjit Singh Aurora, 89, Indian army general. Don Canham, 87, American track and field athlete, University of Michigan athletic director, accidental death. Bobby Forrest, 73, English footballer. Harry H. MacLaughlin, 77, American district judge (United States District Court for the District of Minnesota). Michel Maurice-Bokanowski, 92, French politician. Pierre Moerlen, 52, French drummer and percussionist. Willi Steffen, 80, Swiss football player. John Woudenberg, 86, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers).

4 Mark Boyle, 70, Scottish artist. Vince Cazzetta, 79, American basketball coach (Seattle Chieftains, Pittsburgh Pipers). Else Christensen, 92, Danish heathenism figure and white separatist. David Hackworth, 74, American Vietnam War veteran and journalist, bladder cancer. Sydney Harrington, 78, British weightlifter and Olympian (1956). Michael Kernan, 78, American author and journalist. Joyce Lambert, 88, British botanist and ecologist, bronchopneumonia. David McKee, 86, Australian politician. Magdolna Nyári-Kovács, 83, Hungarian fencer and Olympic silver medalist (1952, 1956, 1960). Luis Taruc, 91, Filipino communist revolutionary figure and resistance leader during World War II.

5 Ted Atkinson, 88, Canadian-American Hall of Fame jockey, stroke. Elisabeth Fraser, 85, American actress (The Phil Silvers Show, A Patch of Blue, One Happy Family). Herman Gundlach, 91, American football player (Boston Redskins). June MacCloy, 96, American actress. Skip Minisi, 78, American football player (New York Giants). Édgar Ponce, 30, Mexican actor, traffic collision during the filming of video for "Sólo para mujeres".

6 Luis Caballero, 42, Paraguayan footballer, homicide. Rafael Díaz-Balart, 79, Cuban politician, opponent and former brother-in-law of Fidel Castro, leukemia. Pete Gebrian, 81, American baseball player (Chicago White Sox). Joe Grant, 96, American animator and screenwriter (Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, Pocahontas), heart attack. Luis Iriondo, 52, Bolivian footballer. Ernestine Lebrun, 99, French Olympic freestyle swimmer (1920, 1924). Herb Sargent, 81, American television comedy writer, heart attack. Lee Stine, 91, American MLB baseball player (Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees), stroke. Pearce Wright, 72, British journalist and editor.

7 Václav Boštík, 91, Czech artist. Bruce Duncan, 76, Australian politician. Tristan Egolf, 33, American author, suicide by gunshot. Ray Hamann, 93, American basketball player. Milan Poredski, 83, Croatian Olympic cyclist (1948). Peter W. Rodino, 95, American politician and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment process against Richard Nixon, heart attack. Otilino Tenorio, 25, Ecuadorian football player, traffic collision.

8 Wolfgang Blochwitz, 64, German footballer. Jean Carrière, 76, French writer. Rafiqul Bari Chowdhury, Bangladeshi cinematographer and director. Lloyd Cutler, 87, American attorney, former White House Counsel under Presidents Carter and Clinton. Ross Henrick, 50, Australian rugby league footballer. Bill O'Brien, 80, American football player (Detroit Lions). Nasrat Parsa, 37, Afghan singer, beaten. Walter Jay Skinner, 77, American district judge (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts). Nino Terzo, 81, Italian actor. Francisco Viladomat, 78, Spanish Olympic alpine skier (1952, 1956). Nicolás Vuyovich, 23, Argentine racing driver, plane crash. Gianpietro Zappa, 49, Swiss football player.

9 Jacques Dohen, 75, French Olympic hurdler (1952). Ang Kiukok, 74, Filipino painter. Chris Kreski, 42, American writer, biographer and screenwriter, cancer. Charles Morrison, 72, British landowner and Conservative politician. Darko Nišavić, 52, Serbian wrestler and Olympian (1976, 1980). Akihiko Saito, 44, Japanese hostage in Iraq, murdered. Tiny Wharton, 77, British football referee. David Wayne, 47, American singer of the heavy metal group Metal Church, road incident death.

10 Romy Diaz, 63, Filipino actor. Henry France, 57-58, Ghanaian Olympic footballer (1972). Hal Griggs, 76, American baseball player (Washington Senators). Vic Johnson, 84, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians). Jim Love, 78, American sculptor. Jay Marshall, 85, American magician and ventriloquist, dean of the Society of American Magicians, heart attack. Beni Obermüller, 75, German Olympic alpine skier (1952, 1956). Govind Narayan Singh, 84, Indian politician.

11 Léo Cadieux, 96, Canadian politician and diplomat. Michalis Genitsaris, 86, Greek rebetiko singer and composer. Axel Östrand, 95, Swedish Olympic ski jumper (1936). Bob Stuart, 84, New Zealand rugby player. Percy Trezise, 82, Australian painter, writer and explorer.

12 Noël Deschamps, 96, Australian public servant and diplomat. Evaristo Iglesias, 79, Cuban Olympic sprinter (1956). Ömer Kavur, 60, Turkish film director, producer, and screenwriter, lymphoma. Frankie LaRocka, 51, American rock musician and producer, complications following heart surgery. Martin Lings, 96, English writer, scholar, philosopher and arabist. Gunnar Nilsson, 82, Swedish heavyweight boxer and Olympic silver medalist (1948). Sara Qadimova, 82, Azerbaijani khananda singer. Kai Setälä, 91, Finnish physician. Ladislau Șimon, 53, Romanian super-heavyweight freestyle wrestler and Olympic medalist (1976), stroke. Owen Wilkes, 65, New Zealand entomologist, conservationist and peace campaigner, suicide. Monica Zetterlund, 67, Swedish singer and actress, conflagration.

13 Eddie Barclay, 84, French record producer and founder of Barclay Records. Basil Christensen, 66, British field hockey player and Olympian (1968). George Dantzig, 90, American mathematician, "father of linear programming", diabetes. Andrey Favorsky, 76, Soviet Kyrgyz Olympic equestrian (1956, 1960, 1964). Tony Martin, 57, American Olympic rower (1968). Hugh Montefiore, 85, English Bishop of Birmingham and environmental activist with Friends of the Earth. Raymond Redheffer, 84, American mathematician. Michael Bruce Ross, 45, American convicted serial killer, execution by lethal injection. Utpala Sen, 81, Indian Bengali playback singer. Victor Sproles, 77, American jazz bassist. Adriano Zamboni, 71, Italian racing cyclist. Miroslav Šutej, 69, Croatian avant-garde painter and graphic artist.

14 Michael Carson, 57, Australian television director, pancreatic cancer. Józef Gąsienica, 64, Polish Olympic Nordic combined skier (1968, 1972). Jimmy Martin, 77, American bluegrass singer, bladder cancer. Helvécio Martins, 74, Brazilian LDS leader. Ken McBride, 76, American basketball player (Milwaukee Hawks). Mary Treadgold, 95, English author, literary editor and BBC producer, cancer.

15 Vakha Arsanov, Chechen warlord and vice president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, killed. Les Bartley, 51, Canadian coach of the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League, colon cancer. Alan B. Gold, 88, Canadian Chief Justice of the Quebec Superior Court. Natalya Gundareva, 56, Russian actress, stroke. Aulis Kallakorpi, 76, Finnish ski jumper and Olympic silver medalist (1956). Theola Kilgore, 79, American soul and gospel singer. Mahipal, 86, Indian film actor, cardiac arrest. Amadeus Webersinke, 84, German pianist and organist.

16 L. Bruce Archer, 82, British mechanical engineer and designer. Rees Davies, 66, Welsh historian. Andrew Goodpaster, 90, American army general and former leader of NATO, prostate cancer. June Lang, 90, American actor. José M. López, 94, Mexican US Army soldier during World War II and Medal of Honor recipient. Arthur Naftalin, 87, American politician, former mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, suicide from height. Daiki Susumu, 31, Hawaiian sumo wrestler.

17 Keiiti Aki, 75, Japanese seismologist. Cláudio Brito, 40, Brazilian Olympic handball player (1992). Helga Diederichsen, 74, Mexican Olympic swimmer (1948). Piero Dorazio, 77, Italian painter. Pop Goodwin, 84, American basketball player (Providence Steamrollers). Frank Gorshin, 71, American actor (Batman, 12 Monkeys, That Darn Cat!), cancer. Vladimir Stogov, 74, Russian weightlifter, world champion, and Olympic medalist (1956). Ismail Yusupov, 91, Soviet Uyghur First Secretary of the Kazakh SSR.

18 Alf Arrowsmith, 62, English football player. João Manuel, 37, Portuguese footballer. Gergely Pongrátz, 73, Hungarian anti-communist. Shaima Rezayee, 24, Afghan TV presenter, shot. Bobby Thompson, 67, American banjoist (Area Code 615). Whayne Wilson, 29, Costa Rican footballer and Olympian (2004), traffic collision. Denis Wright, 94, British diplomat, prostate cancer. Bob Wynn, 65, American golfer. Stella Zázvorková, 83, Czech actress, heart attack.

19 John Arthur, 75, South African Olympic boxer (1948). Henry Corden, 85, Canadian voice actor (The Flintstones, The Ten Commandments, Jonny Quest), emphysema. Batya Gur, 57, Israeli author, lung cancer. Richard Lewine, 94, American Broadway composer and TV producer. Paul Schneider-Esleben, 89, German architect. Milton A. Wolf, 80, American diplomat, investment banker and real estate developer, lymphoma. Victor Wouk, 86, American scientist and electrical engineer, cancer.

20 Toon Brusselers, 71, Belgian-born Dutch footballer. J. D. Cannon, 83, American actor (McCloud, Cool Hand Luke, Raise the Titanic). Marian Foik, 71, Polish sprinter and Olympian (1956, 1960, 1964). Joseph Levis, 99, American foil fencer and Olympic medalist (1928, 1932, 1936). Paul Ricœur, 92, French philosopher and teacher. Lujo Tončić-Sorinj, 90, Austrian diplomat and politician, former Foreign Minister of Austria. Richard Q. Twiss, 84, British astronomer. Harriet White Medin, 91, American actress (Death Race 2000, The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, The Terminator).

21 Stephen Elliott, 86, American actor (Arthur, Beverly Hills Cop, Dallas), heart attack. Bedford Jezzard, 77, English footballer, former Fulham F.C. football player and manager. David Lang, 37, American NFL football player (Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys), shot. Howard Morris, 85, American voice actor (The Flintstones, Garfield and Friends, Police Academy). Subodh Mukherjee, 84, Indian filmmaker, leukemia. Bob Paffrath, 86, American football player (Minnesota Golden Gophers, Brooklyn Dodgers, Miami Seahawks).

22 Enio Conti, 92, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Steagles). Charilaos Florakis, 91, Greek politician, secretary general of the Communist Party of Greece (1972–1989), heart attack. Bertha Harris, 67, American lesbian novelist. Vitaly Mukha, 69, Ukrainian-Russian politician. Thurl Ravenscroft, 91, American voice actor (Tony the Tiger, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!), prostate cancer.

23 John Albano, 82, American comic book writer (Jonah Hex). Sígfrid Gràcia, 73, Spanish footballer.