The following is a list of notable deaths in January 1991.
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 1991
1 Inga Gentzel, 82, Swedish Olympic runner (1928). Dáithí Ó Conaill, 52, Irish politician and republican. Jerome Arthur Pechillo, 71, American Roman Catholic prelate. Nicolae Petrescu, 77, Romanian football player and manager. Buck Ram, 83, American songwriter and music producer. Shinji Tatsuta, 76, Japanese Olympic ski jumper (1936).
2 Sydney Caine, 88, British economist and educator. Edmond Jabès, 78, Egyptian-French writer and poet. Joseph C. Fegan Jr., 70, United States Marine Corps general, cancer. Irving Johnson, 85, American sailor, adventurer, and writer. Jo Ann Marlowe, 55, American child actress. Hiroshi Noma, 75, Japanese writer, cancer. Gilbert Price, 48, American actor, asphyxiation. Habib Ibrahim Rahimtoola, 78, Pakistani politician. John Rapacz, 66, American football player (New York Giants, Baltimore Colts). Renato Rascel, 78, Italian actor and singer, heart attack. Joseph J. Spengler, 88, American economist, Alzheimer's disease.
3 Fayeq Abdul-Jaleel, 42, Kuwaiti poet, playwright and lyricist, execution. Luke Appling, 83, American Hall of Fame baseball player (Chicago White Sox). João Azevedo, 75, Portuguese footballer. Tom Baker, 77, American baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants). Walter Boninsegni, 88, Italian Olympic sports shooter (1932, 1936, 1948). Anna Gmeyner, 88, Austrian-English writer. Art Hyatt, 78, American basketball player. Andrei Kerekeș, 65, Romanian Olympic gymnast (1952). Cipe Pineles, 82, Austrian-American graphic designer, heart attack. Reuben Tam, 74, American painter, lymphoma. Doris Zinkeisen, 93, Scottish theatrical designer.
4 Eddie Barefield, 81, American jazz musician, heart attack. Bill Byrd, 83, American baseball player. Tommy Harris, 67, American baseball player. Joe Hoague, 72, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers, Steagles, Boston Yanks). Berry Kroeger, 78, American actor, kidney failure. Ib Storm Larsen, 65, Danish Olympic rower (1948). Zvonko Lepetić, 62, Yugoslav actor, heart attack. Poon Lim, 72, Chinese sailor. Richard Maibaum, 81, American playwright and screenwriter (Dr. No, Goldfinger, From Russia with Love). Thomas Stanley Matthews, 89, American magazine editor, lung cancer. Tokushige Noto, 88, Japanese Olympic sprinter (1924). Eric Rodin, 60, American baseball player (New York Giants). Sanmao, 47, Chinese-born Taiwanese writer and translator, suicide by hanging. Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah, 84, Indian judge and Chief Justice of India. Leo Wright, 57, American jazz musician, heart attack.
5 Hubert Butler, 90, Irish writer. Roy Day, 85, Australian rules footballer. Tommie Dukes, 84, American baseball player. Johnny Eck, 79, American freak show performer and actor (Freaks), heart attack. Tõnis Kint, 94, Estonian politician. Walt Lamb, 70, American football player (Chicago Bears). Vasko Popa, 68, Yugoslav poet. Ted Robertson, 61, Australian politician.
6 Ed Beinor, 73, American gridiron football player (Chicago Cardinals, Washington Redskins). Jim Brown, 78, American basketball player. Heinrich Dathe, 80, German zoologist, cancer. Bobby Estalella, 79, Cuban baseball player (Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Athletics). Antonio Blanco Freijeiro, 67, Spanish archaeologist. Nicholas Marsicano, 82, American painter. Ravikant Nagaich, 59, Indian filmmaker. Marko Nikezić, 69, Yugoslav politician. Ahmed Adnan Saygun, 83, Turkish composer and musicologist. Hermann Schlöske, 85, German Olympic sprinter (1928). Alan Wiggins, 32, American baseball player (San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles), AIDS.
7 Mitchell Harry Cohen, 86, American district judge (United States District Court for the District of New Jersey). Kondrat Krapiva, 94, Soviet writer. Henri Louveau, 80, French racing driver. José Guilherme Merquior, 49, Brazilian writer and diplomat, cancer. Josef Stroh, 77, Austrian football player, Olympian (1948), and manager. Charlotte Wynters, 91, American actress.
8 Steve Clark, 30, English guitarist and songwriter (Def Leppard), alcohol poisoning. Ursula Hirschmann, 77, German anti-fascist. Henry Rainsford Hulme, 82, British nuclear physicist. Windy Nicklaus, 87, American gridiron football player.
9 Salatyn Asgarova, 29, Soviet journalist, shot. Cuthbert Bardsley, 83, British Anglican prelate. J. McVicker Hunt, 84, American psychologist. Roland Laudenbach, 69, French writer, editor, and journalist. Antonio León Ortega, 83, Spanish sculptor. Soemarno Sosroatmodjo, 79, Indonesian politician. Charles Sterling, 89, Polish-French art historian.
10 Eva Bosáková, 59, Czechoslovak Olympic gymnast (1952, 1956, 1960). Malte Jaeger, 79, German actor, embolism. Richard Kuremaa, 78, Estonian football player. Bob Wallis, 56, British jazz musician.
11 Carl David Anderson, 85, American physicist, Nobel Prize recipient (1936). Larry Condon, 57, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1974-1979). Garland Frazier, 73, American sports coach. Maxine Jennings, 81, American actress. Sepp Ketterer, 91, Austrian cinematographer. Jaroslav Kučera, 61, Czech cinematographer. Walter Frederick Kuhl, 85, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1935-1949). Charles Mozley, 76, British painter. Sarangapani Raman, 70-71, Indian football player and Olympian (1948). Alec Rose, 82, English sailor. Ronald Sanders, 58, American journalist. Georg Schäfer, 64, German writer, heart attack.
12 Charles Drury, 78, Canadian politician. Eric Evans, 69, English rugby player. Geoff Iden, 76, British runner and Olympian (1952). Robert Jackson, 79, Australian public servant. Tom Johannessen, 57, Norwegian footballer. Keye Luke, 86, Chinese-American actor (Kung Fu, The Green Hornet, Gremlins), stroke. Doug McEnulty, 68, American football player (Chicago Bears). Vasco Pratolini, 77, Italian writer. Niels Rasmussen, 68, Danish Olympic rower (1948). Arthur L. White, 83, American Seventh-day Adventist writer, and theology professor.
13 François Falc'hun, 89, French linguist. Tribhuvandas Luhar, 82, Indian poet. Eladio Rojas, 56, Chilean football player. Ed Williamson, 78, American football coach, cancer.
14 David Arkin, 49, American actor (All the President's Men, M*A*S*H, The Long Goodbye), suicide. Duncan Black, 82, Scottish economist. Gordon Bryant, 76, Australian politician. Chitragupta, 73, Indian composer. Donald Coleman, 65, British politician, heart attack. Miles Copeland, Jr., 74, American musician and CIA officer, heart attack. Heli Finkenzeller, 76, German actress. Irwin Goodman, 47, Finnish singer, heart attack. Salah Khalaf, 57-58, Palestinian politician, shot. Harry Shorten, 77, American writer, editor, and book publisher. Roger Tubby, 80, American diplomat and press secretary. Cliff Tyson, 81, Australian rules footballer.
15 Leona Baumgartner, 88, American physician. Amédée Isola, 92, French Olympic runner (1924). Vishwa Gopal Jhingran, 72, Indian zoologist. Lyle Judy, 77, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals). Julius Podlipny, 92, Czechoslovak and Romanian artist. Karl L. Rankin, 92, American diplomat, prostate cancer. Tony Slydini, 90, Italian-American magician. Bob Stirling, 71, English rugby union player.
16 Preston Cloud, 78, American paleontologist, pneumonia. Rinaldo Del Bo, 74, Italian politician. Nicholas Mansergh, 80, British historian. Jabbo Smith, 82, American jazz musician.
17 Marv Breuer, 76, American baseball player (New York Yankees). Denis Johansson, 62, Finnish Olympic middle-distance runner (1948, 1952). Giacomo Manzù, 82, Italian sculptor. John C. Morgan, 76, American Air Force pilot and Medal of Honor recipient, Alzheimer's disease. Paul Mross, 80, Polish-German chess player. Olav V of Norway, 87, Norwegian royal, king (since 1957), and Olympic sailor (1928), heart attack. Scott Speicher, 33, United States Navy aviator, killed in action.
18 Bryan Alton, 71, Irish politician and physician. Charles W. Davis, 73, American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient. Hamilton Fish III, 102, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1920–1945). Vic Fusia, 77, American gridiron football player and coach, heart attack. Herb Harris, 77, American baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies). Leo Hurwitz, 81, American documentary filmmaker, colon cancer. Jakob Kiefer, 71, German Olympic gymnast (1952, 1956). Gilberte Mortier, 83, French Olympic swimmer (1924).
19 Uzeir Abduramanov, 74, Soviet Red Army officer and war hero during World War II. Don Beddoe, 87, American actor. Paul Bikle, 74, American aeronautical engineer. Winston H. Bostick, 74, American physicist, lung cancer. Maria Brodacka, 86, Polish painter. Marcel Chaput, 72, Canadian Quebecois independence activist. Bobby Combe, 66, Scottish footballer. Arnulfo Hernández, 87, Mexican Olympic sports shooter (1932). Fiorenzo Marini, 76, Italian Olympic fencer (1948, 1960). Gernot Reinstadler, 20, Austrian skier, skiing accident. John Russell, 70, American actor (Rio Bravo, Pale Rider, The Outlaw Josey Wales), emphysema. Roy Weatherly, 75, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, New York Giants).
20 Irv Brenner, 77, American basketball player. Joseph Carroll, 80, American general, Alzheimer's disease. Harry Giese, 87, German actor and narrator. Louis Hardiquest, 80, Belgian cyclist. Herbie Lewis, 85, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Cougars/Falcons/Red Wings). Owen Madden, 74, Irish footballer. Frank Pfütze, 32, German Olympic swimmer (1976, 1980), heart failure. Louis Seigner, 87, French actor, house fire. James Stewart, 84, American Olympic athlete (1928). Stan Szelest, 48, American musician, heart attack. Alfred Wainwright, 84, British writer. Aldert van der Ziel, 80, Dutch physicist.
21 Cornelia Aalten, 77, Dutch Olympic runner (1932). Muhammad Taqi Amini, 64, Indian theologian. John Bicknell Auden, 87, English geologist. Ganga Devi, 63, Indian painter. James W. Duckett, 79, American military academic. Mieczysław Gracz, 71, Polish footballer. Nick Gulas, 76, American professional wrestling promoter. Eigil Hansen, 68, Danish Olympic field hockey player (1948). Frank Mitchell, 85, American actor, cardiac arrest. Princess Ileana of Romania, 82, Romanian royal, heart attack.
22 Kenos Aroi, 48, Nauruan politician, president (1989). Robert Choquette, 85, Canadian novelist. Les Gore, 77, English footballer. Arnholdt Kongsgaard, 76, Norwegian skier and Olympian (1936). Kristo Kono, 83, Albanian composer. An Yeong-sik, 62-63, South Korean Olympic basketball player (1956).
23 Northrop Frye, 78, Canadian literary critic and theorist. Herbert Fröhlich, 85, German-British physicist. Percy Furler, 86, Australian rules footballer. Ester Graff, 93, Danish feminist and businesswoman. Václav Janeček, 61, Czechoslovak Olympic sprinter (1952, 1956). Annie Markart, 83, German actress. P. Padmarajan, 45, Indian film maker, screenwriter and author, cardiac arrest. Nikolai Talyzin, 61, Soviet economist. Luis Hernán Álvarez, 52, Chilean footballer, stomach cancer.
24 Rūdolfs Bārda, 87, Latvian Olympic footballer (1924). Tom Becker, 67, American basketball player. Everett Freeman, 79, American screenwriter. John M. Kelly, 59, Irish politician, heart attack. John Middleton, 84, British Olympic racing cyclist (1928). Sarashi Ranjan Mukherjee, 71, Indian surgeon and a neurobiologist. Jack Schaefer, 83, American writer, heart failure. Sensitive Prince, 15, American thoroughbred racehorse.
25 Ern Aitchison, 85, Australian rules footballer. Lilian Bond, 83, English-American actress, heart attack. Stanley Brock, 59, American actor (Days of Our Lives, UHF, He's the Mayor), heart attack.