The following is a list of notable deaths in January 1980. 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 1980
1 Alfréd von Adda, 91, Hungarian Olympic equestrian (1928). Aldo Aimi, 73, Italian footballer. Irene Aloisi, 54, Italian actress. John L. Brunner, 50, American politician, member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (since 1965).Brunner Thomas Cameron, 85, Canadian parasitologist. Ernest Cormier, 94, Canadian architect.CORMIER, Ernest Adolph Deutsch, 82, British-American composer, heart failure.ADOLPH DEUTSCH, 82 HOLLYWOOD COMPOSER, OSCAR WINNER Alberto Duñabeitia, 79, Spanish footballer. Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, 99, American sculptor. James Wilfred Jefford, 78, British naval admiral. Bill McCoy, 73, New Zealand cricketer. Pierre Mony, 83, French footballer. Pietro Nenni, 88, Italian politician, deputy prime minister (1945–1946, 1963–1968).Pietro Nenni, a Socialist Leader In Italy for Seven Decades, Dies Stepan Shchipachev, 81, Soviet poet.Fallecio un poeta sovietico Charles Sirato, 74, Hungarian poet and translator. Nils Skoglund, 73, Swedish Olympic diver (1920). Gilbert E. Smith, 76, American college sports coach. Anne Burnett Tandy, 79, American rancher, art collector and philanthropist, cancer.Anne Burnett Tandy, 74, Manager Of 208,000-Acre Ranch in Texas Gerard Tap, 79, Dutch footballer. George Wardrope, 80, Canadian politician. Frank Wykoff, 70, American Olympic sprinter (1928, 1932, 1936), three-time gold medalist.Sprint star Wykoff dies at age 70
2 Erik Andersen, 77, Danish Olympic racing cyclist (1924). Phyllis Barclay-Smith, 77, British ornithologist, stroke. Walter O. Bigby, 52, American politician and judge, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (1968–1979), lung cancer.Walter Bigby Dead at 53 Alessandro Bruschetti, 69, Italian artist. Rhys Carpenter, 90, American art historian and archaeologist.DR. RHYS CARPENTER, AN ARCHEOLOGIST, 90 Irene Crespin, 83, Australian geologist.CRESPIN, Dr. Irene, O.B.E. Alexandra Illmer Forsythe, 61, American computer scientist. Kenny Hogan, 77, American baseball player. Torleiv Hytten, 89, Norwegian-Australian economist and academic administrator. George Lees, 84, American baseball player. Cecylia Vetulani, 71, Polish art historian. J. Mayo Williams, 85, American record producer.
3 Joy Adamson, 69, Austrian conservationist and writer (Born Free), murdered.Three quizzed on author's death Lucien Buysse, 87, Belgian racing cyclist. George Sutherland Fraser, 64, Scottish poet and literary critic. Bob Geary, 88, American baseball player. Patrick Hutber, 51, British journalist, injuries sustained in a traffic collision.Patrick Hutber Bernhard Kaun, 80, American film composer. Colin Keith-Johnston, 83, British actor. Amos Milburn, 52, American singer and pianist, stroke. Harald Heide Steen, 68, Norwegian actor. Ivan Triesault, 81, Estonian-American actor, heart failure.
4 Richard Bradford, 66, British Anglican prelate. Foster Edwards, 76, American baseball player. Ruth Garver Gagliardo, 84, American educator and literacy advocate.RUTH G. GAGLIARDO Tobie Goedewaagen, 84, Dutch philosopher, politician and Nazi collaborator. Axel Henry Hansen, 92, Norwegian Olympic gymnast (1912). Shohachi Ishii, 53, Japanese Olympic wrestler (1952), kidney cancer.EX-OLYMPIAN DIES Mariana Beauchamp Jodoin, 98, Canadian politician. Cole Lesley, 69, English writer and biographer.FRIENDS OF Noel Coward... Rurie Morgan, 67, New Zealand cricketer. Michele Racco, 66, Italian-Canadian mobster (Siderno Group), cancer.Ontario 'godfather' dies, police fear new violence Herbert Rollwage, 63, German flying ace. Cecil Sheridan, 69, Irish comedian and actor. Uncle Homer Walker, 81, American banjoist.
5 Olav Berkaak, 64, Norwegian novelist. Klas Böök, 70, Swedish diplomat. Sir Roy Bucher, 84, British general. Bert Cronin, 77, British Olympic gymnast (1928). Glenn Frey, 67, American football player. Walther Gruner, 74, German-English opera singer and teacher. Giovanni Migliorini, 48, Italian footballer. Uno Naissoo, 51, Estonian jazz musician. George J. Richardson, 86, American trade unionist, cardiac arrest.George J. Rirchardson, 86, Fire Union, AFL Aide
6 Antonio Bilbao La Vieja, 87–88, Argentine rugby player and architect. Frank Fane, 82, Canadian politician, MP (1958–1968). June Gilmore, 57, American baseball player. Sir Francis Hill, 80, British historian. John Hoffman, 75, Hungarian-born American film editor. Jo Mendi II, 40, American chimpanzee.Zoo's famed chimp dies at 40 William Kay, 85, British Anglican prelate. Piersanti Mattarella, 44, Italian politician, president of Sicily (since 1978), shot.L'assassinat de Mattarella relance le probleme du terrorisme en Italie Raymond Mays, 80, English racing driver. Leonard Mitchell, 54, New Zealand artist. Boje Postel, 89, German-British painter. Dilipkumar Roy, 82, Indian musician and musicologist. Georgeanna Tillman, 35, American singer (The Marvelettes), sickle cell disease.Original Marvelette Dies Of Sickle Cell Anemia At 35 Victor Tolgesy, 51, Hungarian-born Canadian sculptor.Artist's dream unrealized
7 Yocheved Bat-Miriam, 78, Russian-born Israeli poet. Irene Beasley, 75, American singer, pneumonia. Kenneth S. Fagg, 78, American commercial artist. Cyril Mann, 68, British painter and sculptor. Simonne Mathieu, 71, French tennis player. Eddie Scarf, 71, Australian Olympic wrestler (1932, 1936).SCARF, Eddie Richard Sarah Selby, 74, American actress, cancer. Carl White, 47, American singer (The Rivingtons) and songwriter ("Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow").Deaths elsewhere Larry Williams, 44, American singer and songwriter, suicide by gunshot.Pioneer Rock & Roll Star Larry Williams, 44, Dies; L.A. Police Suspect Suicide Dov Yosef, 80, Canadian-born Israeli politician.DOV JOSEPH, 80, DIES; NEED 7 ISRAELI POSTS
8 Günther Benecke, 56, German Olympic sailor (1960). Herb Cobb, 75, American baseball player. Oscar R. Ewing, 90, American lawyer and politician, pmeumonia.Oscar Ewing Dies John Fahay, 77, American football player. Fred Geary, 92, English cricketer. Tryggve Gran, 91, Norwegian aviator and polar explorer. Gilbert C. Hoover, 85, American naval admiral.Adm. Gilbert Hoover, Won 3 Navy Crosses In the 2 World Wars; Hailed as War Hero John Mauchly, 72, American physicist and computer designer (ENIAC), complications during heart surgery.John W. Mauchly, a Co-inventor Of the First Electronic Computer Nureddine El-Rifai, 80, Lebanese politician, prime minister (1975). Harvey Russell, 92, American baseball player. Logan Sloane, 61, New Zealand politician. Władysław Turowicz, 71, Polish-Pakistani pilot and aeronautical engineer.
9 Gaetano Belloni, 87, Italian racing cyclist.Sports A.M. Stanley Bradshaw, 81, English cricketer. Sir Charles Curran, 58, Irish-born British television executive, heart attack.Ex-BBC chief dies Hans Hoffmeister, 78, German Olympic discus thrower (1928). David Paver Mellor, 76, Australian chemist. Raymond Mortimer, 84, British writer and literary critic. Juhayman al-Otaybi, 43, Saudi religious dissident, leader of the Grand Mosque seizure, execution by beheading. Aleksander Tupalski, 79, Polish footballer and ice hockey player. Bull Wesley, 78, American football player.
10 Javad Ameri, 88–89, Iranian politician. Ercole Carzino, 78, Italian footballer. Hughie Critz, 79, American baseball player. Louis Doedel, 74, Surinamese trade unionist. Charles Drummond Ellis, 84, English physicist. Eugene D. Lujan, 92, American judge.LUJAN, EUGENE D. St. Clair McKelway, 74, American journalist.St. Clair McKelway George Meany, 85, American trade unionist (AFL-CIO), cardiac arrest.George Meany Is Dead; Pioneer In Labor Was 85 Lilias Torrance Newton, 83, Canadian painter.NEWTON, Lilias Torrance Manuel Passos, 57, Portuguese footballer. Bo Rein, 34, American football coach, plane crash.Woody Hayes Feels Shock, Loss over Death of Bo Rein Tan Yubao, 80–81, Chinese politician. Uno Willers, 68, Swedish historian and librarian.
11 Valentine Blomfield, 81, British general. Einar Maynard Gunderson, 80, American-born Canadian politician. Richard Huschke, 86, German racing cyclist. Barbara Pym, 66, English novelist, cancer. Maurice Reckitt, 91, English writer. Celia Sánchez, 59, Cuban politician and revolutionary, lung cancer.Murio una guerrillera companera de Castro Bruce Schultz, 66, Australian footballer. Jack Sykes, 68, English footballer. Lon Tinkle, 73, American writer and historian.Noted Author, Educator Dies Norris Whitney, 71, Canadian politician.
12 Frederico de Freitas, 77, Portuguese composer. Hans Ebeling, 75, Australian cricketer.Ebeling Dies Saul Hayes, 73, Canadian lawyer.Saul Hayes dies at 73 Max Kielbasa, 58, American football player.Max Kielbasa, Former Steeler Hirdaya Behari Mathur, 51, Indian chemist. Edgardo Moltoni, 83, Italian ornithologist. Procopio Ortíz, 75, Mexican Olympic equestrian (1932). Antonio Pons, 82, Ecuadorian politician, president (1935). Finn Ronne, 80, Norwegian-born American polar explorer.RONNE, FINN, Capt. USNR Ret. John Joe Sheehy, 82, Irish footballer and political activist. Howel Williams, 81, British-American geologist and volcanologist. Tim Williamson, 23, American racing driver, racing crash.Williamson, 23, Is Killed In Stock-Car Racing Crash
13 Eric Aldwinckle, 70, English-born Canadian illustrator. Gloria Jahoda, 53, American author.Folklorist, writer dies Andre Kostelanetz, 78, Russian-American conductor, pneumonia.Andre Kostelanetz, 78, Conducted Symphonic and Popular Music Too Mario Mylius, 77, Swiss Olympic equestrian (1936). Charlie Sproull, 61, American baseball player. Monroe Swartz, 83, American baseball player. Warren L. Wood, 69, American politician and businessman, complications from a fall.Legislator dies
14 Robert Ardrey, 71, American playwright (Thunder Rock), author (African Genesis) and screenwriter (Khartoum), lung cancer.ROBERT ARDREY DIES; WRITER ON BEHAVIOR Franciszek Białous, 78, Polish microbiologist. Rachel Fuller Brown, 81, American chemist. George S. Champlin, 97–98, American businessman. Pierre Devambez, 77, French archaeologist. Ernest Alexander Payne, 77, British historian and theologian. Po Par Gyi, 62, Burmese actor and opera singer. Denis Stairs, 90, Canadian engineer.Engineer Denis Stairs
15 Alan Breeze, 70, English singer and entertainer.Alan Breeze, the singer... Kim Bruce-Lockhart, 33, British squash player, heart attack.Scottish squash star dies in match Lester Charlesworth, 63, Australian cricketer. Anne Fogarty, 60, American fashion designer, heart attack.Anne Fogarty, Designer of American Look Leszek Herdegen, 50, Polish actor. Jerzy Musiałek, 37, Polish footballer. Gary Sain, 48, American racing driver. Albert Staton, 80, American football and basketball player and businessman. Sir Winton Turnbull, 80, Australian politician, MP (1946–1972).Sir Winton Turnbull David Whitfield, 53, British singer ("Answer Me"), stroke.David Whitfield dies, aged 53
16 Louis Brunhart, 77, Liechtensteiner politician. Leslie Curtis, 84, Canadian politician.L. Curtis was Nfld. minister Marien Oulton Dreyer, 68, Australian journalist and playwright. Max W. Kimmich, 86, German filmmaker. Naum Sorkin, 80, Soviet general and diplomat. Charles Henry Thompson, 84, American educational psychologist.
17 Barbara Britton, 59, American actress, pancreatic cancer.Barbara Britton, Film Actress, 59 Carr Collins Sr., 87, American insurance executive. Joseph Desmedt, 67, Belgian footballer. Sir Reginald Goff, 72, British judge. Nelson López, 38, Argentine footballer. Arieh Lubin, 82, American-born Israeli artist. Alexander Nesmeyanov, 80, Soviet chemist. Đorđije Pajković, 62, Yugoslav Montenegrin politician. Maurice Parish, 89, Australian politician.