Deaths in December 1980

The following is a list of notable deaths in December 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.

December 1980

1 Vladimir Alekseev, 48, Soviet mathematician. Frank Booth, 70, American Olympic swimmer (1932). May Edward Chinn, 84, American physician.Dr. May Edward Chinn, 84, Long a Harlem Physician John Coulter, 92, Irish-Canadian playwright.Playwright Coulter, 92 Mel Cummin, 85, American cartoonist and magazine illustrator. Forward Pass, 15, American Thoroughbred racehorse. Rudolf Hamburger, 77, German architect. Kengal Hanumanthaiah, 72, Indian politician, MP (1962–1977). Svea Jansson, 76, Finnish-Swedish folk singer. Mangharam Udharam Malkani, 83, Indian playwright and literary historian. Tom Mason, 60, American actor (Plan 9 from Outer Space) Hans-Jacob Mattsson, 90, Swedish Olympic ice hockey player (1920). John Herman Randall Jr., 81, American philosopher.John H. Randall Jr. Is Dead at 81; Philosopher Taught at Columbia; 1965 Book Received Award Challenged Ban on Russell Shigeru Sawada, 93, Japanese general. Zareh Vorpuni, 78, Armenian novelist.

2 George F. Barrett, 73, American lawyer, Illinois attorney general (1941–1949).Dies at 73 Harald Bosio, 74, Austrian Olympic skier (1928, 1932, 1936). Trevor Eather, 60, Australian rugby player. Roza Eskenazi, c. 84–85, Greek dancer and singer. Romain Gary, 66, Lithuanian-born French novelist and diplomat, suicide by gunshot.Romain Gary Is Dead; Novelist Shot in Head, Apparently a Suicide Ljubomir Ivanović Gedža, 54, Yugoslav wrestler and wrestling coach. Willie Gilbert, 64, American playwright (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) Patrick Gordon Walker, 73, British politician, MP (1945–1964, 1966–1974).Gordon-Walker, British lord Ole Bjørn Kraft, 86, Danish politician. American missionaries murdered in El Salvador:Three American nuns killed in El Salvador Maura Clarke, 49, shot. Jean Donovan, 27, shot. Ita Ford, 40, shot. Dorothy Kazel, 41, shot.

3 Baldomiro Benquet, 73, Uruguayan Olympic rower (1936). Pranas Čepėnas, 81, Lithuanian-American historian. Birtie Maher, 87, American football player. Sir Oswald Mosley, 84, British politician and fascist leader (British Union of Fascists), MP (1918–1924, 1926–1931).Sir Oswald Mosley, British Fascist Who Urged Peace With Nazis, Dies Beatrice Ormsby-Gore, Baroness Harlech, 89, English courtier. Marie-Antoinette Tonnelat, 68, French theoretical physicist. Eino Virtanen, 72, Finnish wrestler. Robert Zimmerman, 99, American-Canadian Olympic swimmer (1908, 1912).

4 Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, 67, Sri Lankan diplomat.H.S. AMERASINGHE, U.N. DIPLOMAT, DIES; Envoy From Sri Lanka Led Law of Sea Conference for 7 Years Jenő Brandi, 67, Hungarian Olympic water polo player (1936, 1948). Joe Birch, 76, English footballer. Doris P. Buck, 82, American science fiction author, pulmonary embolism. Gösta Cederlund, 92, Swedish actor and film director. Geoffrey Cooke, 83, English cricketer. Dan Curtin, 82, Australian politician, MP (1949–1969). Vicente Escudero, 92, Spanish flamenco dancer.Un bailarin de Flamenco fallecio ayer Al Gebert, 74, American football player and coach. Sultan Ibraimov, 53, Soviet Kyrgyz politician, shot.Sultan I. Ibraimov Is Dead at 53; Headed Soviet Kirghiz Republic James Jones, 99, British Anglican priest. Zdeněk Otava, 78, Czech opera singer. Georgette Vincent, 52, American baseball player. Stanisława Walasiewicz, 69, Polish-born American Olympic track and field athlete (1932, 1936), shot.Stella Walsh, Former Olympic Star, Shot Don Warrington, 32, Canadian football player, traffic collision.Ex-Eskimo dies of injuries Victims of the 1980 Camarate plane crash:Portugal's Prime Minister Is Killed In Plane Crash on Way to a Rally; Future of the Alliance in Doubt Rightist Coalition Arose in '79 Snu Abecassis, 40, Danish-Portuguese publisher Adelino Amaro da Costa, 37, Portuguese politician Francisco Sá Carneiro, 46, Portuguese politician, prime minister (since 1980)

5 Val Chapman, 70, New Zealand botanist and academic administrator. Pat Devanny, 67, Australian political activist, drowned. Michael J. Halberstam, 58, American cardiologist, shot.Dr. Halberstam Is Slain; Brother of Famed Writer Eddie Hickey, 77, American college basketball and football coach, heart attack.Hickey, Former Marquette Coach, Dies at 77 Fidelio Hungo, 87, Cuban baseball player. Ernst Idla, 79, Estonian sports coach. Ozias Johnson, 70, American college basketball and football coach. Gerrit Keizer, 70, Dutch footballer. Harvey Peltier Jr., 57, American politician and academic administrator, member of the Louisiana State Senate (1964–1976).Harvey A. Peltier Jr., 57 Susan C. Petrey, 35, American fiction writer. Don Taylor, 57, New Zealand cricketer. Geoffrey Udal, 72, English cricketer.

6 Margot Bennett, 68, British novelist and screenwriter. C. Irving Benson, 83, Australian pastor. Herb Bunker, 84, American college athlete and coach.Herb Bunker dead at 84 Guy W. Calissi, 71, American politician and jurist.Guy W. Calissi, 71, Retired Judge And a Jersey Prosecutor, Is Dead Ève Francis, 94, French actress and filmmaker. Sir Reginald Graham, 88, British soldier and businessman.GRAHAM Li Jinglin, 71, Chinese politician. José del Carmen Marín Arista, 81, Peruvian general and academic administrator. Sir Roderick McLeod, 75, British general. Marlin B. Nelsen, 44, American politician, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (since 1977), stroke. Bernard Paul, 50, French filmmaker.

7 Beechi, 67, Indian humorist. Karl Brunner, 80, German general. Gerard Bucknall, 86, British general. Darby Crash, 22, American singer (Germs), suicide by heroin overdose. Kathryn Crawford, 72, American actress, cancer.Ex-Actress Dies Synnøve Gleditsch, 72, Norwegian actress. Josef Hellensteiner, 91, Austrian Olympic racing cyclist (1912). Constance Howard, 74, American actress. Ahmad Keshvari, 27, Iranian helicopter pilot, shootdown. John Beaver Mertie Jr., 92, American geologist. W. L. Morton, 71, Canadian historian, heart attack.Historian W.L. Morton Jerry Nemer, 68, American basketball player and attorney, leukemia. Lennie Pearson, 62, American baseball player. Paul Schwegler, 73, American football player and actor.Paul Schwegler Dies Mary Singleton, 54, American politician, cancer.Mary Singleton, noted black Florida political leader Luke Urban, 82, American football and baseball player and coach.

8 Theo Breuer, 71, German footballer. Ed Comstock, 77, American football player. Emil Diedt, 83, American race car builder. Paul Michael Iogolevitch, 78, Russian-American oil executive and philanthropist.C. Michael Paul, a Philanthropist, Financier and Oil Man, Dies at 78; Joined Army at Age 15 Sold War Bonds in Shipyards George Kerr, 86, American football player. John Lennon, 40, English musician (The Beatles, Plastic Ono Band), songwriter ("Imagine", "Give Peace a Chance") and activist, shot.Autograph Hunter Slays John Lennon Tenis Melngailis, 67, Latvian chess player. Robert Nuttall, 74, English footballer. Joe Oakley, 66, Australian footballer. Hermann Plocher, 79, German general. William Ritchie Russell, 77, Scottish neurologist. Albert Sadacca, 79, American electrician, popularized electric Christmas lights. William T. Simpson, 94, American politician.William T. Simpson, 94, Is Dead; Albany Legislator From 1914-22 Petar Trifunović, 69, Yugoslav chess player. Hoppie van Jaarsveld, 63, South African rugby player.

9 Kanu Desai, 73, Indian artist and illustrator. Maneco Galeano, 35, Paraguayan musician, lung cancer. Péter Lázár, 30, Hungarian Olympic swimmer (1968), traffic collision. Georges Monnet, 82, French politician.Georges Monnet Dorise Nielsen, 78, Canadian-Chinese politician, MP (1940–1945), cancer.Canadian feminist, MP, dies in China Ted Olson, 68, American baseball player. Don Padgett, 69, American baseball player. Lyle Reifsnider, 79, American set decorator. John Thomas, 84, Irish footballer.

10 Badrul Alam, 50–51, Bangladeshi physician and academic. Benedict I, 88, Greek Orthodox prelate, patriarch of Jerusalem (since 1957), heart attack. George W. Chapman, 71, Australian footballer. Armand de Turenne, 89, French flying ace. Gevheri Sultan, 76, Turkish musician and royal. Philip Jaffe, 85, Russian-born American journalist and businessman. Philip MacDonald, 80, British writer. Rosy Ryan, 82, American baseball player and coach.Rosy Ryan Dead At 82

11 Josep Llorens i Artigas, 88, Spanish artist. Peter Roy Barber, 53, English-born South African serial killer, execution by hanging.Convicted murderer is hanged John J. Bergen, 85, American businessman.John Bergen Is Dead; Planned Madison Sq. Garden Lyne Chardonnet, 37, French actress. Antonio Chas, 65, Spanish footballer. Guy B. Gardner, 60, American football coach. Bert Leboe, 71, Canadian politician, MP (1953–1958, 1962–1968) Margaret Malcolm, 80, British novelist. Dim Montero, 62, American football coach, heart attack.Obituary for Dominic Montero (Aged 62) Tom Morey, 74, Australian politician. Jack Ohrberg, 44, American police officer, shot.Five are charged in officer's slaying Sonia Orwell, 62, British editor and archivist, brain cancer.George Orwell's Widow; Edited Husband's Work Eilif W. Paulson, 88, Norwegian economist. Sepp Rist, 80, German actor. Hawayo Takata, 79, American Reiki practitioner.Takata Freda Thompson, 71, Australian aviator.Pioneer pilot dies at 74 Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, 88, German royal. Renate Wagner-Rieger, 59, Austrian art historian. Edward A. Warman, 54, American politician, member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1965–1971). Dorothy West, 89, American actress.

12 Bruno Bartolozzi, 69, Italian composer. Matt Benney, 78, New Zealand politician. Donald Henry Galloway, 82, American intelligence personnel.Donald H. Galloway, 82 Retired Army Colonel Allen Holden, 69, New Zealand cricketer. Erich Jantsch, 51, Austrian astrophysicist. Władysław Kochański, 62, Polish soldier. Jean Lesage, 68, Canadian politician, premier of Quebec (1960–1966), heart failure.Jean Lesage, 68, Dies in Canada; Was Premier of Quebec in 1960's; Increasing Role of Government Hilda Lindley, 61, American environmentalist, cancer.HILDA L. WALLER, 61; L.I. CONSERVATIONIST; Long a Book Publishing Executive --Ran a Literary Agency Led 2 Environmental Groups Urie McCleary, 75, American art director (Patton). Severino Montano, 65, Filipino playwright and poet. Sir Jules Thorn, 81, Austrian-British businessman and philanthropist.Magnate dies

13 Fleming Alexander, 92, American newspaper publisher. Antoni Bura, 81, Polish Olympic bobsledder (1928). John Callender, 77, English footballer. John L. Dale, 52, American politician.Obituary for John L. Dale (Aged 52) Sir Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck, 8th Duke of Portland, 91, British hereditary peer.Sir Ferdinand, eighth Duke of Portland Kiyoshi Hasegawa, 89, Japanese-French artist. Ginevra King, 82, American socialite.Obituary for Ginevra King (Chicago Tribune) R. D. Low, 85, Scottish comics writer (Oor Wullie). John Morris, 85, British anthropologist and mountaineer. Svend Olsen, 72, Danish Olympic weightlifter (1932). Cahit Ortaç, 71–72, Turkish politician. Harry Pursey, 89, British politician, MP (1945–1970). Hans Richter-Haaser, 68, German pianist. Norman Roberts, 84, British flying ace. Harm van Riel, 73, Dutch politician.

14 Harry Bates, 68, British Anglican prelate. Sir Hugh Beadle, 75, Rhodesian jurist and politician. Bill Connor, 81, American football player. Sir Weldon Dalrymple-Champneys, 88, British physician. Richard Gurley Drew, 81, American inventor (masking tape).Richard Drew, Scotch Tape Inventor John Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine of Rerrick, 87, Scottish banker and politician.