The following is a list of notable deaths in April 1988.
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.
April 1988
1 Dietz Angerer, 84, Austrian Olympic sailor (1936). Đào Duy Anh, 83, Vietnamese historian.The journey from revolutionary activist to esteemed scholar of Professor Dao Duy Anh. ehoinhap.vanhoavaphattrien.vn. Retrieved 3 Jun 2024. Jim Jordan, 91, American actor (Fibber McGee and Molly), stroke resulting from fall.Jim Jordan, Fibber McGee of Radio, Dies. L.A. Times. Retrieved 15 Jun 2024. Ginette Spanier, 84, French director of the House of Balmain.Ginette Spanier. WorldCat. Retrieved 31 Oct 2024. April Tinsley, 8, American murder victim.Child-killer taunted investigators for 30 years with disturbing notes. DNA ends the mystery of who did it, police say. CNN. Retrieved 12 Jul 2024. Nils Thune, 90, Norwegian politician.
2 Jacques André, 69, French fighter pilot in World War II and Olympian (1948).Jacques André. olympedia.org. Retrieved 25 May 2024. John Baker, 70, Australian rules footballer. Jenő Barcsay, 88, Hungarian painter.Jenő Barcsay. WorldCat. Retrieved 30 Oct 2024. Safi Darashah, 85-86, Indian cricketer. Talib Rasul Hakim, 48, American composer."Talib-Rasul Hakim, 48, Music Teacher". Newsday. April 5, 1988. p. 31. Lisa Marie Kimmell, 18, American murder victim.Kimmell family shares anger over change in killer’s sentence. Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Retrieved 20 Jun 2024. Pushpaben Mehta, 83, Indian social worker and politician, member of the Rajya Sabha. Onar Onarheim, 77, Norwegian politician. Anthony Pelissier, 75, English actor, screenwriter and director (Personal Affair, The History of Mr. Polly). Eddie Regan, 78, Australian rules footballer. Vernon W. Thomson, 82, American politician, Governor of Wisconsin (1957-1959), and member of the United States House of Representatives (1961-1974).
3 Milton Caniff, 81, American cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon), lung cancer. Lee Man Fong, 74, Chinese-born Indonesian painter.Lee Man Fong. Sotheby's. Retrieved 8 Jun 2024. V. S. Wakankar, 68, Indian archaeologist."Dr. V. S. Wakankar". Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
4 Jack Aragón, 72, Cuban baseball player and manager. Florestine Perrault Collins, 93, American professional photographer.Florestine Perrault Collins. WorldCat. Retrieved 30 Oct 2024. Myra De Groot, 50, British-born American-Australian actress (The Sullivans, Neighbours), cancer.Myra de Groot (1937-1988). National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 4 Jun 2024. Kai Ewans, 81, Danish-American jazz reedist.Kai Ewans. WorldCat. Retrieved 30 Oct 2024. Karol Fageros, 53, American tennis player, cancer.Karol Fageros Short, Tennis Champion, 53. New York Times. Retrieved 7 Jun 2024. Eric A. Havelock, 84, British classicist. Perry Scott, 70, American NFL player (Detroit Lions). Charlie Snell, 94, American MLB player (St. Louis Browns). Archibald Southby, 77, English baronet, cricketer, and British Army officer. Roy Weatherby, 77, American founder and owner of Weatherby rifle company.Roy E. Weatherby Sr., Firearms Innovator, 77. New York Times. Retrieved 15 Jul 2024.
5 Boyd Brumbaugh, 72, American NFL footballer (Brooklyn Dodgers), emphysema. Dutch Dorman, 85, American minor league baseball player and manager. Tom Earley, 71, American MLB player (Boston Bees/Braves). Mozaffar Firouz, 81, Iranian diplomat, ambassador to the USSR.Mozaffar Firouz, 83, Iran 'Red Prince,' Dies. New York Times. Retrieved 8 Jun 2024. Swede Halbrook, 55, American NBA basketballer (Syracuse Nationals), heart attack.Names in the News - April 7, 1988. L.A. Times. Retrieved 12 Jun 2024. Alf Kjellin, 68, Swedish-born American film actor and director, heart attack.Swedish-Born Film Actor, TV Director Alf Kjellin, Age 68. L.A. Times. Retrieved 18 Jun 2024. August Kukk, 79, Estonian Olympic wrestler (1936). Elizabeth Linington, 67, American mystery novelist.Obituary for Barbara Elizabeth Linington, 1921-1988 (Aged 67). Newspapers.com (Times-Press-Recorder). Retrieved 21 Jun 2024. Rosemary Manning, 76, British writer (The Chinese Garden).Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - subscription based - accessed 26 August 2011 Robert S. Mendelsohn, 61, American pediatrician and critic of modern medical practice, cardiac arrest.Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn, Medical Critic, 61. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Jun 2024. Pierre Prévert, 71, French film director, screenwriter and actor. Alan Shorter, 55, American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, ruptured aorta.
6 Gunārs Astra, 56, Latvian human rights activist and anti-Soviet dissident, heart disease.Gunārs Astra (1931-1988). Military Heritage Tourism. Retrieved 26 May 2024. John Clements, 77, British actor and producer (Knight Without Armour, South Riding). Leroy Kirkland, 82–84, American bandleader, guitarist and songwriter. Hamdija Pozderac, 64, Yugoslav communist politician, President of People's Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stroke. Émile Roumer, 85, Haitian poet.Émile Roumer. WorldCat. Retrieved 31 Oct 2024.
7 Giovanni Gotti, 75, Italian racing cyclist. Denis Hamilton, 69, English newspaper editor (The Sunday Times, The Times). Dinanath Nadim, 72, Indian poet. Albert S. Rogell, 86, American film director.Albert Rogell. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 Jul 2024.
8 Vilayati Ram Katyal, 52, Indian politician, member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.Tension after terrorists kill Kanpur Congress(I) legislator Vilayati Ram Katyal in Kanpur. India Today. Retrieved 16 Jun 2024. Gustave Laporte, 79, Belgian Olympic wrestler (1936). Warren Lewis, 64, Australian rules footballer. Herman Roth, 92, American Negro Leagues Baseball player. Jim Waltermire, 39, American politician, Secretary of State of Montana (since 1981), plane crash.Gubernatorial Hopeful Dies in Montana Crash. The New York Times. Retrieved 10 April 2025
9 Brook Benton, 56, American singer and songwriter ("It's Just a Matter of Time", "Endlessly"), pneumonia. Hans Berndt, 74, German footballer. Syd Cohen, 81, American Major League baseball player (Washington Senators).Sydney Harry Cohen. mlb.com. Retrieved 1 June 2024. John Herman Dent, 80, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1958-1979).John H. Dent, Former Legislator, 80. New York Times. Retrieved 4 Jun 2024. Jerry Harvey, 38, American screenwriter and film programmer (Z Channel), murder-suicide.Memorial Set for Frederica Rudulph. L.A. Times. Retrieved 12 Jun 2024. Jack Lyons, 76, Australian rules footballer. Yvan Marie, 74, French racing cyclist. Jim Morris, 93, Australian rugby league footballer. Dave Prater, 50, American soul and rhythm & blues singer and musician, car accident. Arturo Rotor, 80, Filipino medical doctor, Executive Secretary of the Philippines, cancer. William Horace Temple, 89, Canadian politician and trade unionist. Sylvia Thalberg, 80, American screenwriter (Montana Moon). Delos Wickens, 78, American experimental research psychologist and author (Ohio State University).Delos D. Wickens, 1931. Centre College. Retrieved 30 Oct 2024.
10 Khaqan Abbasi, Pakistani politician, Federal Minister for Production, car hit by missile. Turgut Atakol, 72, Turkish basketball player, referee and sports official. T. Glynne Davies, 62, Welsh poet, novelist and television and radio broadcaster.T. Glynne Davies. WorldCat. Retrieved 31 Oct 2024. Cliff Gladwin, 72, English test cricketer (Derbyshire, England).Cliff Gladwin. Wisden. Retrieved 10 Jun 2024. Woody Kling, 62, American television writer, producer and composer, brain and lung cancer.Woody Kling, 62, Dies; Writer of TV Comedy. New York Times. Retrieved 18 Jun 2024. Danuta Kordaczuk, 48, Polish Olympic volleyball player (1964). Ezekias Papaioannou, 79, Greek Cypriot politician. Shigeo Sugiura, 70, Japanese Olympic swimmer (1936). Roscoe Thompson, 65, American NASCAR driver.
11 Ithell Colquhoun, 81, British painter, poet and author.Ithell Colquhoun. Tate Art Gallery. Retrieved 1 June 2024. James R. Domengeaux, 81, American politician, member of U.S. House of Representatives (1941-1949), leukemia.Ex-Rep. James Domengeaux, 81. New York Times. Retrieved 5 Jun 2024. Jeff Donnell, 66, American actress (General Hospital, The Phantom Thief), heart attack. Wolfram Fiedler, 36, German Olympic luger (1972). Jesse L. Lasky Jr., 77, American screenwriter and novelist (Samson and Delilah, The Ten Commandments), pancreatic cancer.Jesse Lasky Jr., 79; Was a Screenwriter. New York Times. Retrieved 19 Jun 2024. Francesco Pacini, 82, Italian Olympic modern pentathlete (1932).
12 Tibor Benkő, 82, Hungarian Olympic athlete (1932). Colette Deréal, 60, French actress and singer. Sheridan Gibney, 84, American writer and producer in theatre and film (The Story of Louis Pasteur), cancer.S. Gibney; Oscar-Winning Screen Writer. L.A. Times. Retrieved 10 Jun 2024. Hartmann Lauterbacher, 78, Nazi German Deputy Reichsjugendführer, Stabsführer of Hitler Youth, unconvicted war criminal.Hartmann Lauterbacher. WorldCat. Retrieved 30 Oct 2024. Harry McShane, 96, Scottish socialist.Sound recordings and transcriptions of interviews by Joan Smith of Harry McShane, Marxist activist, c1972-c1973. University of Warwick. Retrieved 23 Jun 2024. Bill Montgomery, 73, Australian rules footballer. Krishnakant Patel, 60, Indian cricketer. Alan Paton, 85, South African writer and anti-Apartheid activist (Cry, the Beloved Country, Too Late the Phalarope), cancer.Alan Paton, Author And Apartheid Foe, Dies of Cancer at 85. New York Times. Retrieved 7 Jul 2024. George Rock, 68, American trumpeter and singer (Spike Jones and his City Slickers).George Rock. WorldCat. Retrieved 30 Oct 2024. Frank Skaff, 77, American Major League baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Athletics), heart attack. Jack Skinner, 70, Australian rules footballer.
13 Roger Bailleux, 74, French racing cyclist. Clem Fisher, 80, Australian rules footballer. Jean Gascon, 67, Canadian opera director and actor, heart attack. Nat Singh Somnath, 72-73, Indian Olympic hammer thrower (1948). Leo Zeff, 75, American psychologist and psychotherapist.Leo Zeff papers. Purdue University. Retrieved 17 Jul 2024.
14 Arild Amundsen, 77, Norwegian Olympic sailor (1960). S. H. Barnett, 79, American screenwriter (Father Goose). Richard Fanshawe, 81, British Olympic equestrian (1936). Daniel Guérin, 83, French libertarian-communist author (Anarchism: From Theory to Practice).Obituary for Daniel Guérin, French libertarian communist. The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 10 Jun 2024. Jack McIntosh, 78, Scottish-born Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1958-1972).John (Jack) McIntosh, M.P.. Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 22 Jun 2024. Pony Poindexter, 62, American jazz saxophonist.Obituaries: Pony Poindexter; Saxophonist With Jazz Vocal Group. L.A. Times. Retrieved 2 Jul 2024. Camilla Ravera, 98, Italian politician, first female lifetime senator. John Stonehouse, 62, British businessman and minister, Member of Parliament, heart attack. Ralph Winegarner, 78, American MLB player (Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns).
15 Rosemary Ames, 81, American film actress (Mr. Quincey of Monte Carlo, One More Spring).Ames, Rosemary (1906–1988). encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 25 May 2024. Fred Linkmeyer, 78, American fencer. George E. Mylonas, 89, Greek archaeologist, heart attack. Maria Ulfah Santoso, 76, Indonesian politician and women's rights activist, Minister of Social Affairs. Robert Skene, 79, English cricketer. Kenneth Williams, 62, British actor and comedian (Carry On), overdose of barbiturates. Robert H. York, 74, American US Army officer.
16 J. Blaine Anderson, 66, American circuit judge.