The following is a list of notable deaths in July 1987.
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.
July 1987
1 Mohamed Abou Habaga, 66, Egyptian Olympic footballer (1948). Kurt Lamm, 68, German-born American footballer, coach and manager, heart attack. Jerry Livingston, 78, American songwriter ("The Twelfth of Never") and dance orchestra pianist, heart condition. Edward Nesfield, 87, English cricketer. Bridget Sequeira, 81, Pakistani-Indian religious sister. Ted Sherman, 84, Australian rules footballer. Snakefinger, 38, English musician, singer and songwriter (The Residents), heart attack. Soetran, 66, Indonesian military officer and politician, Governor of Irian Jaya, liver cancer.
2 Ćiril Ban, 76, Croatian Olympic rower (1936). Michael Bennett, 44, American theatre director, writer and dancer, lymphoma.Michael Bennett, Theater Innovator, Dies at 44 .... New York Times. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Bruce Boehler, 69, American basketball player. Václav Černý, 82, Czech literary scholar, writer and philosopher.Prof. Vaclav Cerny, Advocate Of Rights in Czechoslovakia. New York Times. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Lennart Dozzi, 77, Swedish Olympic canoeist (1936). Yacout El-Soury, Egyptian Olympic footballer (1928). Ellery Huntington Jr., 94, American college football player and coach (Colgate Raiders). Denis Larkin, 79, Irish politician (Teachta Dála, Lord Mayor of Dublin) and trade union official.Larkin, Denis. Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Karl Linnas, 67, Estonian sentenced to death during the Holocaust trials, heart failure.Deported Nazi Linnas Dies in Soviet Hospital. L.A. Times. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Fred Mackey, 83, American college baseball and football player and coach. George B. Patton, 88, American jurist and politician, North Carolina Attorney General. Alick Stevens, 88, British RAF officer. George S. Wise, 81, American sociologist, president of Tel Aviv University, heart failure.
3 Alfredo de Boer, 80, Brazilian Olympic rower (1936). Viola Dana, 90, American silent-screen actress (The Girl Without a Soul, Blue Jeans).On Stage at 16 : Viola Dana; Long Career in Silent Movies. L.A. Times. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. John H. Mercer, 64, British glaciologist.John H. Mercer Papers. Ohio State University Libraries. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. William Wiard, 59, American film and television director, cancer.
4 Edward Addison, 88, British Royal Air Force air vice marshal.Air Vice Marshal E B Addison. Royal Air Force. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Alexander Gordon-Lennox, 76, British Royal Navy rear admiral, president of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Henry Charles Gordon-Lennox. Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society (their source - Times obituary). Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Abdul Halim, 75, Indonesian politician, Prime Minister of Indonesia. Sally Hamlin, 84, American child actor and pianist. Dan James, 49, American NFL footballer (Pittsburgh Steelers).James, Daniel - 49, Covedale - death notice. Newspapers.com (The Cincinnati Enquirer). Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Michel Paccard, 78, French Olympic ice hockey player (1936). Bengt Strömgren, 79, Danish astronomer and astrophysicist (Strömgren sphere), heart failure.Bengt Stromgren; Probed Mysteries of Space. New York Times. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024.
5 Bobby Ancell, 76, Scottish international footballer and manager (St Mirren, Scotland).Bobby Ancell Robert Francis Dudgeon Ancell (Player). National Football Teams. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Karna Maria Birmingham, 86, Australian artist, illustrator and print maker Alan Gibson, 49, Canadian film and television director (Churchill and the Generals, A Woman Called Golda). Einar Sandberg, 81, Norwegian footballer.
6 Halvard Grude Forfang, 72, Norwegian educator. László Pusztai, 41, Hungarian international footballer (Ferencvárosi, Hungary), car accident.László Pusztai (Player). National Football Teams. Retrieved 2 Aug 2024. Elli Stenberg, 84, Finnish politician.
7 Stan Brown, 89, Canadian ice hockey player (New York Rangers, Detroit Cougars). Giannino Bulzone, 76, Italian Olympic long-distance runner (1936). Finis Jennings Dake, 84, American Pentecostal minister, Parkinson's disease.Obituary: Finis J. Dake Sr., Atlanta Constitution, 11.7.87. Atlanta Constitution. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Dino, 70, Brazilian footballer. William Dodge, 62, American Olympic bobsledder (1956). Michael J. Eagen, 80. American chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.Michael J. Eagen. New York Times. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. René Gérard, 73, French international footballer (Montpellier, France).René Gérard (Player). National Football Teams. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. H. R. Jothipala, 51, Sri Lankan playback singer, liver failure.H. R. Jothipala: Sinhala Cinema’s Most Popular Playback Singer. Daily Mirror Sri Lanka. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Ernest Achey Loftus, 103, British soldier and diarist.Obituaries: Col E. A. Loftus, The Daily Telegraph (London), July 14, 1987, 14.. Newspapers.com (The Daily Telegraph). Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. John Meredith Rockingham, 75, Australian-born Canadian Army general.Rockingham, John Meredith "Rocky". Traces of War. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Hannelore Schroth, 65, German actress. John Singer, 63, English actor (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street). Ralph Stevenson, 70, American NFL player (Cleveland Rams). Howard Teichmann, 71, American Broadway playwright. Anthony Robert Temple, 60, Canadian lawyer and politician, member of the Canada House of Commons (1963–1965). Germaine Thyssens-Valentin, 84, Dutch-born French classical pianist.
8 Boris Brechko, 76, Soviet Olympic rower (1952). George Burrows, 76, Canadian Olympic swimmer (1932). Lionel Chevrier, 84, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1935–1954, 1957–1963). Gerardo Diego, 90, Spanish poet, Generation of '27 member.Gerardo Diego. Britannica. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Francis J. Gorman, 62, American politician, member of the New Jersey General Assembly (1972–1987). Alvin O'Konski, 83, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1943–1973), cardiac arrest.Alvin O'Konski, 83, Former Congressman. New York Times. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee, 87, Thai aviator, Royal Thai Air Force officer, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand. Franjo Wölfl, 69, Croatian international footballer (Građanski Zagreb, Yugoslavia).Franjo Wölfl (Player). National Football Teams. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024.
9 Eduardo Fiestas, 62, Peruvian Olympic basketball player (1948). Michiyo Fukaya, 34, American feminist poet and activist, suicide. Nevil Hall, 71, South African Olympic wrestler (1936). Alex Kaleta, 67, Canadian NHL player (Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers). Ashley Kriel, 20, South African anti-apartheid activist, killed by police.Ashley Kriel, freedom fighter: 35 years later. George Herald. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Waris Mir, 48, Pakistani journalist and academic, cardiac arrest.Prof Waris Mir died with his boots on. The News International. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Hezekiah Ochuka, 33, Kenyan private in the Kenyan Air Force, Kenyan leader for 6 hours, hanged.Kenya: New opinion piece: 'As Africa rapidly turns away from capital punishment, is it time for Kenya to abolish this relic of a colonial past?'. University of Oxford. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Paul Rapoport, 47, American lawyer, AIDS.Obituary: Paul Rapoport, IADS Organizer. United Press International. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Ulas Samchuk, 82, Ukrainian writer, journalist and anti-semite.Samchuk, Ulas. Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Raymond Stasse, 74, Belgian Olympic fencer (1936, 1948). William McKenzie Thomson, 88, Canadian WWI flying ace. Ernest Ward, 66, English rugby league footballer (Bradford Northern, Great Britain).Ernest Ward. Rugby League Project. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024.
10 Inge Beeken, 66, Danish Olympic diver (1948). Doug Dobell, 69, British record store proprietor and record producer (77 Records), heart attack. John Hammond, 76, American record producer, civil rights activist and music critic, stroke. Gus Healy, 83, Irish Fianna Fáil politician. Harold Rice, 75, American educator and magician. Tanya Zolotoroff Nash, 89, Russian-born American Deaf Rights activist.Articulate Friend of Deaf Is Recalled. New York Times. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Ferenc Rákosi, 76, Hungarian Olympic handball player (1936). Marcel Vanco, 92, French footballer.
11 Joe Bennett, 87, American MLB player (Philadelphia Phillies).Joe Bennett 3BB/T: R/R5' 9"/168 Hannah Billig, 85, British medical doctor.Hannah Billig. London Remembers. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Marion Brooks, 91, American silent-screen actress, entertainment journalist and screenwriter. Geoffrey Chance, 93, English cricketer. Freddie Crum, 74, American basketball player. Dorothy Davies, 87, New Zealand pianist and piano teacher. Van Davis, 65, American football player. Ville Mattila, 84, Finnish Olympic cross-country skier (1924, 1928). Cyril McLaglen, 87, British and American film actor. Truman J. Nelson, 75–76, American novelist and essayist, civil rights activist, heart failure. Fernando Garcia Ponce, 53, Mexican architect and artist, heart attack.Remembering Fernando García Ponce 31 years after his death. Yucatan Magazine. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Avi Ran, 23, Israeli international footballer (Maccabi Haifa, Israel), hit by racing boat.Ran, Avi. National Football Teams. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, 87, Russian-born American Talmudic scholar and rabbi.Rabbi Ruderman, Aguda Sage. The Detroit Jewish News. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Robert Love Taylor, 87, American district judge.Taylor, Robert Love. Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Tom Waddell, 49, American physician, decathlete Olympian and founder of the Gay Olympics, AIDS.Dr. Thomas F. Waddell, 49, A Founder of Gay 'Olympics'. New York Times. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Jack Williams, 79, Australian rules footballer.
12 Joseph Burns, 98, American MLB player (Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers). John Fitzgerald, 86, Australian rules footballer. Peter Gimbel, 60, American filmmaker and underwater photojournalist, cancer. Harold Goodwin, 84, American actor. Sir Archibald Hope, 17th Baronet, 75, Scottish aristocrat and aviator. Emilio el Moro, 63, Spanish Flamenco singer, guitarist and humorist. Nathan Perlmutter, 63–64, American executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, lung cancer. Marguerite Renoir, 80, French film editor. Hélio da Silva, 63, Brazilian Olympic athlete (1948). Andrei Snezhnevsky, 83, Soviet psychiatrist, lung cancer. Pat Wellington, 33, Australian rules footballer.
13 Elemér von Barcza, 82, Hungarian Olympic equestrian (1936). Patience Collier, 76, British actress.Collier, Patience (1910–1987). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Robert Francis, 85, American poet.Robert Francis, a Poet Hailed by Frost, Dies. New York Times. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Silas Jayne, 80, American horse trainer and murderer, leukemia.Silas Jayne; Jailed in Brother's Slaying. L.A. Times. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Khandadash Madatov, 62, Soviet Azerbaijani Olympic athlete (1952). Eric Worrell, 62, Australian naturalist and science writer, established Australian Reptile Park, heart attack.Eric Arthur Frederic Worrell (1924–1987). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024.
14 Salvador E. Felices, 63, Puerto Rican general in the U.S. Air Force.15563 Felices, Salvador Enrique. West-Point.org. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024. Bernard de Fombelle, 63, French Olympic equestrian (1956, 1960). Vern Hickey, 86, American collegiate coach and administrator. Fritz Holt, 46, American theatre producer and director (La Cage aux Folles), pneumonia.George W. Holt 3d, Producer and Director. New York Times. Retrieved 3 Aug 2024.