The following is a list of notable deaths in January 1990.
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 1990
1 Ingvald Bjerke, 82, Norwegian Olympic boxer (1928). Arundhati Devi, 66, Indian actress, director, and singer. Carmen Hill, 94, American baseball player. Joe Hardstaff Jr, 78, English cricketer. Patrick Kelly, 35, American fashion designer, AIDS. Ernst Kuzorra, 84, German football player and Olympian (1928). Raymond Petit, 79, French Olympic middle-distance runner (1936). Niyazi Sel, 81, Turkish Olympic footballer (1936). T. B. Simatupang, 69, Indonesian National Armed Forces chief of staff. Max Trepp, 65, Swiss Olympic sprinter (1948). James W. Wood, 65, American aeronautical engineer and astronaut.
2 Lawrence Alloway, 63, English-American art critic, cardiac arrest. Evangelos Averoff, 79, Greek right wing politician and author, heart attack. Bill Beckmann, 82, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals). Dally Duncan, 80, Scottish footballer. Alan Hale, Jr., 68, American actor (Gilligan's Island, Hang 'Em High, Casey Jones), thymus cancer. Leonhard Merzin, 55, Soviet actor. Reginald Paget, Baron Paget of Northampton, 81, British politician.Mr Reginald Paget. UK Parliament. Retrieved 19 Jul 2024. T. R. Raghunath, 77, Indian film director. Ben Reifel, 83, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1961–1971), cancer. Marianne C. Sharp, 88, American Mormon charity activist. Philippe Tisson, 86, French Olympic swimmer (1928). Vladimir Ussachevsky, 78, Soviet-American composer.
3 Loraine Boettner, 88, American theologian. Mauro Cía, 70, Argentine Olympic boxer (1948), and actor. Roy Ilowit, 72, American football player and coach. Reuben Jones, 57, British equestrian rider and Olympian (1964, 1968). Joseph A. Loftus, 82, American journalist, stroke. Peter van Steeden, 85, Dutch-American composer. William Wells, 81, English politician. Bandara Wijethunga, 50, Sri Lankan writer.
4 Robert Adams, 56, American science fiction and fantasy writer. Lydia Bilbrook, 101, English actress. Henry Bolte, 81, Australian politician, Premier of Victoria. Alberto Lleras Camargo, 83, Colombian politician, president (1958–1962). Ed Ecker, 66, American footballer player (Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins). Doc Edgerton, 86, American electrical engineer and academic. George Gearry, 66, New Zealand cricketer. Bonnie Hollingsworth, 94, American baseball player. Edmund Hood, 91, Australian rules footballer. Florrinell F. Morton, 85, American librarian. Boris Nikolsky, 89, Soviet chemist. Per Samuelshaug, 84, Norwegian Olympic cross-country skier (1936). Olaf Ussing, 82, Danish actor. Wim Volkers, 90, Dutch football player. Alfred Michael Watson, 81, American Roman Catholic prelate.
5 Bobby Balcena, 64, American MLB player (Cincinnati Redlegs). Alan Handley, 77, American television producer, heart attack. Dick Hart, 69, British painter. Lola Iturbe, 87, Spanish trade unionist, activist, and journalist. Arthur Kennedy, 75, American actor (Bright Victory, Peyton Place, Lawrence of Arabia), Tony winner (1949), brain cancer. Bartell LaRue, 57, American actor. Kléber Piot, 69, French racing cyclist. Robert G. Rayburn, 74, American academic and theologian, cancer. Jaroslav Rössler, 87, Czech photographer. Thomas Schuster, 52, Fijian Olympic boxer (1956). Genrikh Sidorenkov, 58, Soviet Russian Olympic ice hockey player (1956, 1960).
6 Gordon Aitchison, 80, Canadian Olympic basketball player (1936). Walter Anderson, 92, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics). Tadashi Asai, 54, Japanese wrestler and Olympian (1956, 1960). Ian Charleson, 40, Scottish actor (Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes), AIDS. Pavel Cherenkov, 85, Soviet physicist, Nobel Prize recipient (1958). Peter Cookson, 76, American actor, bone cancer. Hans Jaray, 83, Austrian actor and playwright. Wally Kelly, 75, Australian rules footballer. Gerald Mann, 82, American football player. Sophie Piccard, 85, Russian-Swiss mathematician. Robin Schofield, 50, New Zealand cricketer. William Smith, 89, English cricketer. Jake Weber, 71, American basketball player (New York Knicks).
7 Tadeusz Brzeziński, 93, Polish-Canadian diplomat, pneumonia. Eero Böök, 79, Finnish chess player. Edward Ennis, 82, American civil rights lawyer, diabetes. Gerald Gardiner, Baron Gardiner, 89, British politician. Rose Kushner, 60, American journalist, breast cancer. Avraham Abba Leifer, 71, Romanian-American-Israeli rabbi. Bronko Nagurski, 81, Canadian-American Hall of Fame football player (Chicago Bears), cardiac arrest. Joe Robbie, 73, American politician and football executive. Harry L. Shapiro, 87, American anthropologist. Napua Stevens, 71, American entertainer. Horace Stoneham, 86, American baseball executive. Shag Thompson, 96, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics). Johanna Töpfer, 60, German politician, suicide.
8 Georgie Auld, 70, American musician, lung cancer. Mario Brignoli, 87, Italian Olympic racewalker (1936). Prince Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, 87, German royal and art historian. Leo Connors, 71, Australian rules footballer. Jaime Gil de Biedma, 60, Spanish poet, AIDS. Paul A. Kennon, 55, American architect, heart attack. Bernard Krigstein, 70, American artist. Raymond Krug, 65, French Olympic footballer (1948). Muni Lal, 76, Indian cricketer. Fred McDaniel, 76, American baseball player. Adam Michel, 53, Polish footballer. John Schick, 74, American basketball player. August Sturm, 77, Austrian Olympic gymnast (1936). Johnny Sylvester, 74, American businessman. Terry-Thomas, 78, English comedian and actor (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Robin Hood, Bachelor Flat), Parkinson's disease.
9 Paul Bauer, 93, German poet. Roger Bower, 86, British soldier. Northern Calloway, 41, American actor (Sesame Street), beaten, cardiovascular disease. Spud Chandler, 82, American baseball player (New York Yankees). Rosemarie Clausen, 82, German photographer. Jim Gillette, 72, American football player (Cleveland Rams, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions). Rufus Mayes, 42, American football player (Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles), bacterial meningitis. Edward McTiernan, 97, Australian politician and judge. Maston E. O'Neal, Jr., 82, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1965–1971). Bazilio Olara-Okello, 60-61, Ugandan soldier and politician, president (1985). Shlomo Pines, 81, French-Israeli theologian. Robert B. Pirie, 84, American naval admiral. Cemal Süreya, 58-59, Turkish poet, diabetes.
10 Jenny Addams, 80, Belgian Olympic fencer (1928, 1932, 1936, 1948). John Benham, 89, British Olympic athlete (1924). Juliet Berto, 42, French actress, breast cancer. Mino Guerrini, 62, Italian film director. Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, 64, Japanese sumo wrestler, stroke. Gene Phillips, 74, American musician. Liesel Schuch, 98, German singer. Otto Weidinger, 75, German nazi SS-obersturmbannführer during World War II. Lyle R. Wheeler, 84, American art director (Gone with the Wind, The Diary of Anne Frank, Rebecca), five-time Oscar winner, pneumonia. Herbert Williams, 81, American sailor and Olympic champion (1956).
11 Carolyn Haywood, 92, American children's writer and illustrator. Earl D. Johnson, 84, United States Under Secretary of the Army. Mario Minatelli, 64, Italian Olympic boxer (1948). Ihsan Abdel Quddous, 71, Egyptian journalist, novelist and short-story writer, stroke. Kittens Reichert, 79, American actress. José Luis García Traid, 53, Spanish footballer, complications during surgery.
12 Joseph Campisi, boss of the Dallas mafia. Joseph Sill Clark Jr., 88, American politician, member of the U.S. Senate (1957–1969). Whitey Dienelt, 68, American basketball player. John Hansen, 65, Danish footballer and Olympian (1948). Ralph Heikkinen, 72, American football player. Laurence J. Peter, 70, Canadian-American educator, stroke. Paul Pisk, 96, Austrian-American composer.
13 Gaston Crunelle, 91, French flautist. Francisco Hormazábal, 69, Chilean football player and manager. Madhavsinh Jagdale, 75, Indian cricketer. Roy Jarvis, 63, American baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates). Jenő Kalmár, 81, Hungarian footballer. Richard Liebscher, 79, German Olympic fencer (1952). Stuart McVicar, 71, New Zealand cricketer. Sir Dermot Milman, 8th Baronet, 77, English cricketer. Avraham Ofek, 54, Bulgarian-Israeli artist. Pierre Pascal, 80, French poet and translator. Gerhard Sturmberger, 49, Austrian football player. Peter Tippett, 63, Australian rules footballer.
14 Edgar Douglas Richmond Bissett, 99, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1926-1930). Ruth Bunzel, 91, American anthropologist. Sten-Åke Cederhök, 76, Swedish actor. Sabri Dino, 48, Turkish footballer, suicide. India Edwards, 94, American journalist. Ken Kilrea, 70, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings). Rosalind Pitt-Rivers, 82, British biochemist. Anno Smith, 74, Dutch artist. Walter Wenger, 78, Swiss Olympic wrestler (1948). James Arthur Williams, 59, American antiques dealer, heart failure. Tommy Williams, 80, Australian rules footballer. John Witty, 74, British film and television actor.
15 Bill Albans, 64, American Olympic athlete (1948). Mani Madhava Chakyar, 90, Indian performance artist and sanskrit scholar. Brainard Cheney, 89, American writer. R. R. Diwakar, 95, Indian politician and writer. František Douda, 81, Czech Olympic shot putter (1928, 1932, 1936). Gordon Jackson, 66, Scottish actor (Upstairs, Downstairs, The Great Escape, The Ipcress File), bone cancer. Donold Lourie, 90, American businessman and football player. Lin McLean, 71, Australian rugby league player. Fred Mundee, 76, American football player (Chicago Bears). William O'Neal, 40, American FBI Black Panther Party informant, suicide by traffic collision. Sverre Østhagen, 71, Norwegian politician. Peggy van Praagh, 79, British-Australian ballet dancer and choreographer.
16 Albert Bachmann, 83, Swiss gymnast and Olympian (1936). Lady Eve Balfour, 91, British farmer and organic farming pioneer. Bill Heaton, 71, English footballer. Clarence Janecek, 78, American gridiron football player (Pittsburgh Pirates). Gilbert Jessop, 83, English cricketer. Robert Lamartine, 54, French footballer. Earl Naylor, 70, American baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Dodgers). Jean Saint-Fort Paillard, 76, French Olympic equestrian (1948, 1952, 1956). Louis Serrurier, 84, South African cricketer. Ruskin Spear, 78, English painter.
17 Andreas Aulie, 92, Norwegian jurist. Fritz Brocksieper, 77, German musician. Danie Burger, 56, South African Olympic hurdler (1956). Anna Arnold Hedgeman, 90, American civil rights activist. Charles Hernu, 66, French politician. André Morice, 89, French politician. Léon Motchane, 89, French mathematician. Simon Nicholson, 55, British artist. Inzer Bass Wyatt, 82, American district judge (United States District Court for the Southern District of New York). Y. C. James Yen, 96, Chinese educator and organizer, pneumonia.
18 Harold Albiston, 73, Australian rules footballer. Melanie Appleby, 23, English singer, pneumonia. Kim Chang-Hee, 68, South Korean weightlifter and Olympic medalist (1948, 1952, 1956). Rusty Hamer, 42, American actor, suicide by gunshot. Edouard Izac, 98, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1937–1947), heart failure. Candy Jones, 64, American model and broadcaster, cancer. Ivan Mackenzie Lamb, 78, British explorer and botanist, ALS.
19 Carlo Bagno, 69, Italian actor. Pierre Barbizet, 67, French pianist. Viña Delmar, 86, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter.