The following is a list of notable deaths in December 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.
December 1987
1 James Baldwin, 63, African-American novelist, playwright and poet (Go Tell It on the Mountain), stomach cancer. Donn F. Eisele, 57, American Air Force officer and NASA astronaut (Apollo 7), heart attack. Buddy Fogelson, 87, American army colonel, businessman and horse & cattle breeder, husband of Greer Garson.Buddy Fogelson, husband of Greer Garson, dies. United Press International. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Punch Imlach, 69, Canadian NHL ice hockey coach and general manager (Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres), heart attack.Punch Imlach Dies After Heart Attack. L.A. Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Wyman Roberts, 72, American basketball player.
2 Edward Barnsley, 87, English designer and maker of furniture. Juan Alberto Melgar Castro, 57, Honduran army officer, president of Honduras, heart attack. Robert Filliou, 61, French artist (Fluxus). Ferdinando Glück, 86, Italian Olympic cross-country skier (1928). Trygve Henrik Hoff, 49, Norwegian singer, composer and writer.Trygve Hoff. Norsk Biografisk Leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Luis Federico Leloir, 81, French-born Argentinian physician and biochemist, Nobel laureate in Chemistry, heart attack. Hubert Noël, 63, French film actor. Myrta Silva, 60, Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and television producer (Sonora Matancera).Gravestone: Myrta Silva 2.12.87. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Ernst Steinhoff, 79, Nazi German rocket scientist.Ernst A. Steinhoff. New Mexico Museum of Space History. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Princess Red Wing, 91, American tribal elder.Princess Red Wing (Mary E. Glasko). Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Yakov Zeldovich, 73, Soviet physicist (black hole evaporation).
3 Andrew Foster, 62, American pioneer of deaf education in African countries, plane crash.Visionary Leader - May 2014, Andrew Foster. Gallaudet University. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Robert Haskell, 84, American politician, Governor of Maine. George Seawright, appr. 36, Scottish-born Northern Irish politician, paramilitary in Ulster Volunteer Force, assassinated.George Seawright. Ulster Nation. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Yevgeny Tolstikov, 74, Soviet polar explorer, Hero of the Soviet Union. Dorin Liviu Zaharia, 43, Romanian musician and composer.
4 Carlos Colás, 70, Cuban baseball player. Pericle Fazzini, 74, Italian painter and sculptor (The Resurrection). Bryan Fowler, 89, British polo player and Olympian (1936).Bryan Fowler. Olympedia. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Meinrad von Lauchert, 82, Nazi German Wehrmacht general.Lauchert, von, Meinrad. Traces of War. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Arnold Lobel, 54, American author of children's books (Frog and Toad, Mouse Soup), cardiac arrest. Rouben Mamoulian, 90, Georgian-born American film and theatre director (Oklahoma!, Carousel). Constantin Noica, 78, Romanian philosopher, essayist and poet.Noica, Constantin (1909–1987). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Giorgio Prodi, 59, Italian medical scientist and i know
5 Ye Beihua, 80, Chinese Olympic footballer (1936). Pappy Daily, 85, American country music record producer, co-founded record label Starday Records.Daily, Harold W. [Pappy (1902–1987)]. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Leonid Dimov, 61, Romanian postmodernist poet and translator, heart attack.Dimov, Leonid, 1926-1987. Library of Congress. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Bobby Garrett, 55, American NFL footballer (Green Bay Packers), heart attack.The First Number One. Stanford Magazine. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Daud Kamal, 52, Pakistani poet.Daud Kamal. Library of Congress. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Rudolf Mentzel, 87, German chemist and Nazi policy-maker. Molly O'Day, 64, American country music vocalist, cancer.Molly O'Day, Singer of Country Music in Roughhewn Style. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Conny Plank, 47, German record producer and musician, laryngeal cancer. Eugene Siler, 87, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1955-1965).Obituary for Eugene E. Siler (Aged 87). Newspapers.com (The Courier-Journal). Retrieved 23 Sep 2024.
6 George Bernhardt, 68, American football player. James Dobson, 67, American film and television actor (Flying Leathernecks), heart attack.James Dobson, Actor, 67. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Jim Johnson, 42, American MLB player (San Francisco Giants). Peter Lorenz, 64, German politician, kidnapped by militants, heart attack. Ilmari Pakarinen, 77, Finnish Olympic gymnast (1932, 1936). David J. Schwartz, 60, American motivational writer and coach (The Magic of Thinking Big).Obituary for David J Schwartz. Newspapers.com (The Atlanta Journal). Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Izler Solomon, 77, American orchestra conductor, heart failure. Walt Stickel, 65, American NFL player (Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles). Ba Swe, 72, Prime Minister of Burma.
7 Gareth Bennett, 58, British Anglican priest, suicide.Suicide Exposes British Church Rift. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. (body found on this date) Michael Crossley, 75, British World War II Royal Air Force flying ace.Crossley, Michael Nicholson "Red Knight". Traces of War. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Michael Hornby, 88, British vice chairman of retail chain WHSmith.Obituary for Michael Hornby of WH Smith. Newspapers.com (The Daily Telegraph). Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Jane Mouton, 57, American management theorist. Jaime Ongpin, 49, Filipino businessman and politician, Secretary of Finance, suicide.Jaime Ongpin, Ex-Aquino Aide, Dies at 49, Apparently a Suicide. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Helen Porter, 88, British botanist from Imperial College London.Helen Kemp Porter. Royal Society. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Ken Richardson, 72, American MLB player (Philadelphia Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies). Denis Rogers, 70, New Zealand doctor and local politician (Mayor of Hamilton), heart attack.
8 Fay Baker, 70, American actress and writer (The House on Telegraph Hill), breast cancer. Sigrid Helliesen Lund, 95, Norwegian peace activist, notably in World War II.Sigrid Helliesen Lund. Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Joe Gray Taylor, 67, American historian and writer. Yolanda Vadiz, 28, Puerto Rican soprano, carbon monoxide poisoning. Ulfert Wilke, 80, German-born American painter, museum director and art collector (abstract expressionism), stroke.Ulfert Wilke Painter, 80. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Notable individuals killed in the 1987 Alianza Lima plane crash:42 Believed Dead in Peru Crash; Star Soccer Team Among Victims. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Marcos Calderón, 59, Peruvian football coach and player (Sport Boys, Peru). Luis Antonio Escobar, 18, Peruvian international footballer (Club Alianza Lima, Peru). José González Ganoza, 33, Peruvian international footballer (Club Alianza Lima, Peru). Alfredo Tomassini, 23, Peruvian footballer (Club Alianza Lima). Johnny Watson, 24, Peruvian footballer (Club Alianza Lima).
9 Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover, 73, German prince, head of the House of Hanover. Diana Forbes-Robertson, 72, British writer, stroke.Diana Sheean, 72; Her Books Showed Britain in Wartime. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. François Gall, 75, Hungarian-French modern impressionist painter, heart attack.
10 Giovanni Arpino, 60, Italian writer and journalist (L'ombra delle colline). Jascha Heifetz, 86, Lithuanian-born American violinist, complications from a fall. Carlota Jaramillo, 83, Ecuadorian pasillo singer, complications from a fall. Stylianos Kyriakides, 77, Greek Cypriot marathon runner and Olympian.Stelios Kyriakidis. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 Sep 2024. Slim Lonsdorf, 82, American basketball player. Whitey Moore, 75, American MLB player (Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals). Denis Sanders, 58, American film director and producer (A Time Out of War), heart attack. Slam Stewart, 73, American jazz double bass player, heart failure. Ollie West, 73, American baseball player. John Wickström, 60, Swedish Olympic speed skater (1952).
11 G. A. Kulkarni, 64, Indian writer of short stories. Emil Mazuw, 87, German governor of the Province of Pomerania, convicted of war crimes. William Thornton Mustard, 73, Canadian physician and cardiac surgeon, heart attack.Gravestone: Dr William Thornton Mustard 11.12.87. Retrieved 24 Sep 2024. Rosi Wolfstein, 99, German socialist politician.
12 Bodil Begtrup, 84, Danish women's rights activist, chairman of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.Begtrup, Bodil (1903–1987). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Clifton Chenier, 62, American musician, pioneer of zydeco, kidney disease. Enrique Jorrín, 60, Cuban charanga violinist, composer and music director. Nolan Leary, 98, American actor and playwright.Veteran Movie Actor Nolan Leary, 98, Dies. L.A. Times. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Pinky Tomlin, 80, American songwriter, bandleader and actor, heart attack.Obituaries : Pinky Tomlin, 80; Hit Songwriter. L.A. Times. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024.
13 Julien Darui, 71, French international footballer (CO Roubaix-Tourcoing, France).Julien Darui (Player). National Football Teams. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Bil Dwyer, 80, American cartoonist and humourist (Dumb Dora). Bernard Epton, 66, American politician, member of the Illinois House of Representatives, coronary.Bernard E. Epton Is Dead at 66; Ran for Mayor of Chicago in '83. New York Times. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Na. Parthasarathy, 54, Indian writer of Tamil historical novels. Josefina Passadori, 87, Italian-born Argentine writer and poet. Elias Porter, 73, American psychologist. Stanisław Radkiewicz, 84, Polish communist activist, Minister of Public Security. Claude T. Smith, 55, American band conductor and composer. George Wunder, 75, American cartoonist and comic illustrator (Terry and the Pirates), heart attack.
14 Copi, (Raúl Damonte Botana), 48, Argentinian writer, cartoonist and playwright, AIDS.How to Read Copi: A Historiography of the Margins. JSTOR (University of Pennsylvania Press). Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Merlyn Hans Dethlefsen, 53, American officer of the U.S. Air Force, Medal of Honor recipient.Merlyn Hans Dethlefsen. Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Tim Dinsdale, 63, British cryptozoologist, attempted to prove existence of Loch Ness Monster, heart attack. Siegfried Haß, 89, Nazi German Wehrmacht general, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipient.Hass, Siegfried. Traces of War. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Milt Josefsberg, 76, American screenwriter, stroke.Obituaries : Wrote for Benny, Hope, Lucille Ball : Milt Josefsberg; ‘Maven of Comedy’. L.A. Times. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Georg Knöpfle, 83, German international footballer, coach and Olympian (FSV Frankfurt, Germany).Georg Knöpfle. Olympedia. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. Valentina Kulagina, 85, Russian painter and designer of books, posters and exhibitions. Mogens Lassen, 86, Danish architect and designer. Nikos Stavridis, 77, Greek film and theatre actor.Gravestone: Nikos Stavridis 12.12.87. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. J. P. Strom, 69, American law enforcement officer, chief of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, heart attack. John Winterton, 89, British Army officer, Military Governor and Commander of the Free Territory of Trieste.
15 Seitnebi Abduramanov, 73, Soviet soldier in the Red Army, recipient of the Order of Glory. François Borde, 88, French Olympic rugby union player (1920). Septima Poinsette Clark, 89, American educator and civil rights activist.Septima Poinsette Clark. Britannica. Retrieved 25 Sep 2024. George Fulford, 85, Canadian businessman and politician, House of Commons member.