Deaths in 2007

The following is a list of notable deaths in 2007. Links to other years follow.

Please place names under the date the deceased died, not the date the death was announced. Please keep names under each date in alphabetical order by family name. Review Wikipedia notability guidelines before adding a listing and be sure the listing has a reference to a reliable source. A typical entry should appear in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship, reason for notability, established cause of death, reference.

Causes of death such as “old age” and "natural causes" should not be cited unless stated in the reference.

January 2007

23

• Lisa E. Goldberg, President of the Charles H. Revson Foundation and wife of John Sexton, complications from brain aneurysm.
• E. Howard Hunt, 88, Watergate conspirator , pneumonia. [1]
• Ryszard Kapuściński, 74, Polish journalist [2] (Polish)

22

• Klas Bergenstrand, 61, Swedish Director of the Swedish Security Police, apparent heart attack. [3]
• Toulo de Graffenried, 92, Swiss Formula One racing driver (1950–1956). [4] [5]
• Abbé Pierre, 94, French founder of the Emmaüs movement, lung infection. [6]

21

• Maria Cioncan, 29, Romanian runner and medalist at 2004 Summer Olympics, car accident. [7]
• Peter Clarke, 58, Children's Commissioner for Wales, cancer. [8]
• Vic Kasinja, 49, Malawi cartoonist. [9]
• Peer Raben, 66, German composer, mainly of film music associated with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. [10] (German)
• U;Nee, 25, Korean pop singer, suicide by hanging. [11]

20

• Eric Aubijoux, 42, French motorcycle rider, possible cardiac arrest during Dakar Rally. [12][13]
• Lloyd Francis, 86, Canadian MP and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (1984), cancer. [14]
• Murat Nasyrov, 37, Russian-Kazakh singer, suicide by jumping. [15]
• Alfredo Ripstein, 90, Mexican movie producer, respiratory failure. [16]
• Vern Ruhle, 55, American MLB pitcher and pitching coach, multiple myeloma. [17]
• George Smathers, 93, American Senator for Florida (1951–1969), stroke. [18]
• Ali de Vries, 92, Dutch women's 4x100m relay runner at the 1936 Summer Olympics. [19]

19

• Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, 45, American professional wrestler. [20]
• Fiama Hasse Pais Brandão, 69, Portuguese poet, dramatist, essayist and translator, long illness. [21] (Portuguese)
• Gerhard Bronner, 84, Austrian composer and cabaret artist, complications following a stroke. [22]
• Curt Dempster, 71, American artistic director of New York's Ensemble Studio Theater. [23]
• Hrant Dink, 52, Armenian-Turkish editor, journalist and columnist, shot. [24] [25]
• Denny Doherty, 66, Canadian actor/singer, member of The Mamas & the Papas and host of Theodore Tugboat, abdominal aneurysm. [26] [27] [28]
• Chris Parry, 54, British-born Tony Award-winning theater lighting designer. [29]
• Antonina Tumkovsky, 101, Ukrainian-born ballet dancer and teacher at the School of American Ballet. [30]

18

• Cyril Mar Baselious, 71, Indian Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, heart attack. [31]
• Julie Winnefred Bertrand, 115, Canadian who was second-oldest known person, oldest known woman in the world at time of death. [32]
• Richard Heard, 49, British managing director of Birmingham International Airport, struck by falling tree branch. [33] [34]
• Brent Liles, 43, American bassist of the punk bands Social Distortion and Agent Orange, traffic accident. [35]
• Thomas Lyson, 58, American sociologist and author, cancer. [36]
• Charles H. O'Brien, 86, Tennessee Supreme Court judge (1987–94). [37]
• Chris Parry, 54, British Internationally known lighting designer. He earned a Tony and British Olivier Award for his work. Suicide

[38]

17

• Art Buchwald, 81, American humorist and columnist, kidney failure. [39] [40]
• Keeley Dorsey, 19, American football running back at the University of South Florida. [41]
• Yevgeny Kushnarev, 55, Ukrainian politician and a deputy leader of the Party of Regions, shot while hunting. [42]
• Alice Lakwena, 50, Ugandan rebel leader and founder of the Holy Spirit Movement. [43]
• Virtue Hampton Whitted, 84, American jazz musician (The Hampton Sisters), stroke. [44]

16

• Ron Carey, 71, American actor (Barney Miller, History of the World, Part I), stroke. [45]
• Pookie Hudson, 72, American lead singer of The Spaniels, complications of thymus cancer. [46]
• Danny Mason, 69, golf coach and physical education professor. [47]
• Rudolf August Oetker, 90, German food industry magnate (Oetker Group) and philanthropist. [48]
• Benny Parsons, 65, American champion NASCAR driver, won 1973 Winston Cup, complications from lung cancer. [49] [50]
• René Riffaud, 108, one of France's last surviving World War I veterans. [51]
• Jainal Antel Sali, Jr., 42, Filipino terrorist and a commander of Abu Sayyaf, shot in an army raid. [52]
• Percy Saltzman, 91, first person to appear on Canadian television. [53]
• Yuri Stern, 57, Israeli politician, cancer. [54]
• Betty Trezza, 82, American baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, heart attack. [55]
• Gisela Uhlen, 87, German actress. [56]
• David Vanole, 43, American soccer goalkeeper, heart condition. [57]

15

• Awad Hamed al-Bandar, 61, former chief judge of Iraq, execution by hanging. [58]
• Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, 55, half-brother of Saddam Hussein and former leader of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, execution by hanging. [59]
• Bo Yibo, 98, Chinese politician known for urging crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. [60] [61]
• Isaac Fanous, 87, Egyptian artist and scholar who specialized in Coptic art. [62] (Arabic)
• James Hillier, 91, Canadian-born American inventor of first practical electron microscope. [63] [64]
• Aart Koopmans, 60, Dutch founder of the Alternative Elfstedentocht speed skating series, pneumonia. [65] [66] (Dutch)
• Dr. Richard Musgrave, 96, German-born Harvard economist and government adviser, natural causes. [67] [68]
• Yitzhak Michael Shiloh, 87, Israeli actor, cerebral hemorrhage resulting from a fall. [69] (Hebrew)
• Colin Thurston, British record producer for Duran Duran. [70] [71]

14

• Vegildo Babilonia, 40, Philippine Basketball Association player (1990s), cardiac arrest. [72] [73]
• Harvey Cohen, 55, American Emmy Award-winning composer and orchestrator, heart attack. [74]
• Darlene Conley, 72, American actress (The Bold and the Beautiful), stomach cancer. [75] [76]
• Vassilis Fotopoulos, 72, Greek Academy Award-winning art director (Zorba the Greek). [77]
• Barbara Kelly, 82, Canadian-born British actress (What's My Line), cancer. [78]
• Robert Noortman, 60, Dutch art dealer, heart attack. [79]
• Louis Pendleton, 75, African American civil rights leader in Shreveport, Louisiana. [80]
• Peter Prendergast, 60, Welsh artist. [81]

13

• Michael Brecker, 57, American jazz saxophonist, leukemia. [82]
• Larkin Ford, 86, American actor, last surviving cast member of 1954 original teleplay of 12 Angry Men. [83]
• Doyle Holly, 70, American bassist for Buck Owens' Buckaroos (1963–71), prostate cancer. [84]
• Michael Little, 51, Chairman and CEO (1998–2003) of Pioneer Drilling. [85]
• Dora McDonald, 81, American secretary to Martin Luther King, Jr., complications from cancer. [86] [87]
• Danny Oakes, 95, American USAC champion midget car driver. [88]
• Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, 78, Senegalese separatist leader. [89]

12

• Alice Coltrane, 69, American jazz musician and widow of John Coltrane, respiratory failure. [90] [91]
• Stephen Gilbert, 96, Scottish painter and sculptor [92]
• Sir James Killen, 81, Australian Minister for Defence (1975–82). [93]
• Terrance B. Lettsome, 71, politician in the British Virgin Islands, illness. [94]
• Larry Stewart, 58, American philanthropist known in Kansas City as "Secret Santa", cancer of the esophagus. [95] [96]
• Jennifer Strange, 28, American water-drinking radio contestant, water intoxication. [97]

11

• Solveig Dommartin, 48, French actress, trapeze artist in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, heart attack. [98] (French)
• Ward Grant, 75, American publicist and co-author with Bob Hope, heart failure. [99]
• Dick Landy, 69, American NHRA driver, kidney failure. [100]
• Bob MacQuarrie, 80, Canadian politician (1981–85). [101]
• Kéba Mbaye, 82, Senegalese judge, vice president of the ICJ and vice president of the IOC. [102]
• Donald Edward Osterbrock, 82, American astronomer. [103]
• Bryan Pearce, 77, British painter. [104][105]
• Mónica Pretelini Sáenz, 45, wife of Mexico state governor Enrique Peña Nieto, complications of epilepsy. [106] (Spanish)
• Robert Anton Wilson, 74, American novelist, futurist and conspiracy theory researcher, post-polio syndrome. [107]
• Rudy Wissler, 78, American actor and singer, singing voice of Scotty Beckett as the young Al Jolson in The Jolson Story. [108]

10

• Ray Beck, 75, American football player for the New York Giants (1952-57). [109]
• Cho Tat Wah, 91, Hong Kong wuxia actor, stomach hemorrhage. [110] (Chinese)
• Carlos Granados, 36, American murderer, capital punishment by lethal injection. [111]
• Harry Horse (Richard Horne), 46, British cartoonist and children's book author (The Last... series), suicide. [112]
• Wilson Hulme, 60, American philatelist and curator of the National Postal Museum, heart attack. [113]
• Bradford Washburn, 96, American cartographer, mountaineer and founder of the Boston Museum of Science, heart failure. [114]

9

• Chris Aylmer, 49, British musician, bass guitarist for Samson, throat cancer. [115] [116]
• Dame Joyanne Bracewell, 72, British senior judge of the Family Division of the High Court, after long illness. [117]
• Ion Dincă, 78, Romanian Deputy Prime Minister and Mayor of Bucharest during the Communist era. [118] (Romanian)
• Rex Farrance, 59, American technical editor of PC World, shot. [119]
• Ruth Jefford, 92, American pioneer pilot, founding member of the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, complications of arterial disease. [120]
• Kim Hyung-eun, 27, South Korean comedic actress, heart failure, complications from serious auto accident. [121] [122]
• Thomas Nelson, 111, American who was second oldest man in the world at time of death. [123]
• Maureen Orcutt, 99, American golf champion. [124]
• Yelena Petushkova, 66, Russian (former Soviet Union) equestrian, 1972 Summer Olympics double medallist, after long illness.[125] [126]
• Carlo Ponti, 94, Italian film producer, pulmonary complications. [127]
• Irma St. Paule, 80, American Broadway and film actress. [128]
• Elmer Symons, 29, South African off-road motorcycle racer, accident during the Dakar Rally. [129]
• Jean-Pierre Vernant, 93, French historian and anthropologist. [130] (French)
• Bob Zawoluk, 76, American National Basketball Association player, heart attack. [131]

8

• Jane Bolin, 98, New York City family court judge (1939–79) and first African American female judge. [132]
• Lord Cockfield, 90, British proponent of the European single market and vice-president of the European Commission (1985-1989). [133]
• Gloria Connors, 82, United States Open tennis player (1942–43) and mother and coach of Jimmy Connors, natural causes. [134]
• Ken Cranston, 89, English test cricketer (1947-1948). [135]
• Yvonne De Carlo, 84, Canadian-born American actress (The Ten Commandments, The Munsters), natural causes. [136]
• Frank DeNardis, 74, Canadian broadcasting pioneer, member of Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame. [137]
• David Ervine, 53, Northern Irish politician and leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, complications from a heart attack and stroke. [138]
• Bong Soo Han, 75, Korean martial arts master and film fight choreographer. [139] [140]
• William Kershner, 77, American flight instructor and best-selling author, cancer. [141] [142]
• Drew Posada, 37, American comic book colourist and artist, pancreatitis. [143]
• Italo Sarrocco, 108, Italian World War I veteran. [144] (Italian)
• Iwao Takamoto, 81, Japanese American animator, TV producer and film director, created Scooby-Doo, heart failure. [145] [146]
• Judith Vladeck, 83, American labor lawyer and women's rights advocate, complications of infection. [147] [148]
• James C. Weeks, 64, president and chief operating officer of The New York Times Regional Media Group. [149]

7

• Bob Ehrhart, 75, American Drake Relays director (1969-2000), cancer. [150]
• Bobby Hamilton, 49, American NASCAR 2004 Craftsman Truck Series Champion, head and neck cancer. [151] [152]
• Magnús Magnússon, 77, Icelandic-born British television presenter (Mastermind, 1972–1997), pancreatic cancer. [153]
• Olli-Matti Multamäki, 58, commander of the Finnish Army, illness. [154]
• Hotte Paksha Rangaswamy, 74, Indian politician, Guinness World Record-holder for contesting elections, brief illness. [155]
• John Silvertand, 61, American horse breeder most noted for breeding Afleet Alex, cancer. [156]
• Johnny Spuhler, 89, English footballer with Sunderland and manager of Shrewsbury Town, natural causes. [157] {unconfirmed date}
• Joop Wolff, 79, Dutch, editor-in-chief of De Waarheid (1945-1978), Communist Party of the Netherlands MP (1967-1982). [158] (Dutch)

6

• Bill W. Clayton, 78, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives (1975-1983), natural causes. [159]
• Mario Danelo, 21, American football placekicker for USC, fall from a cliff. [160] [161]
• Yvon Durelle, 77, Canadian boxing champion, complications from a stroke. [162]
• Frédéric Cardinal Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi, 76, Congolese Archbishop of Kinshasa, complications of diabetes. [163]
• Antonella Kerr, Marchioness of Lothian, 84, British journalist and broadcaster. [164]
• Charmion King, 81, Canadian actress. [165]
• Pete Kleinow, 72, American special effects artist and pedal steel guitarist (Flying Burrito Brothers), Alzheimer's disease. [166]
• Soad Nasr, 57, Egyptian actress, complications from liposuction. [167]
• Mohamed Lamine Sanha, Bissau-Guinean Navy Chief of Staff, shot. [168]
• Ira D. Wallach, 97, American philanthropist and CEO of Central National-Gottesman (1956–1979). [169]
• Roberta Wohlstetter, 94, American historian of military intelligence. [170]

5

• Momofuku Ando, 96, Taiwanese-born inventor of Nissin instant ramen noodles including the Cup Noodle, heart failure. [171]
• Ruthanna Boris, 88, American ballet dancer and choreographer, cancer. [172]
• Cole Campbell, 53, American newspaper editor and Dean of the University of Nevada School of Journalism, car accident. [173]
• E. J. Hughes, 93, Canadian painter, heart failure. [174]
• Marie Mornet Robin, 112, second-oldest person in France. [175] (French)

4

• Nikki Bacharach, 40, American daughter of Angie Dickinson and Burt Bacharach, suicide by asphyxia. [176]
• Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden, 99, American botanical artist, in her sleep. [177]
• Ben Gannon, 54, Australian theatre, film and television producer, cancer. [178]
• Helen Hill, 36, American independent film-maker, shot. [179]
• Sir Lewis Hodges, 88, British Air Chief Marshal. [180]
• Grenfell (Gren) Jones, 72, Welsh newspaper cartoonist. [181] [182] [183]
• Steve Krantz, 83, American film and TV producer (Fritz the Cat), husband of Judith Krantz, complications of pneumonia. [184]
• Harry "Cowboy" Lang, 56, Canadian-born midget professional wrestler. [185]
• Bernard D. Meltzer, 92, American law professor at University of Chicago and a prosecutor at Nuremberg trials, prostate cancer. [186]
• Bob Milliken, 80, American Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher (1953–54), cardiac arrest. [187]
• Gáspár Nagy, 57, Hungarian poet and writer [188] (Hungarian)
• Sandro Salvadore, 67, Italian footballer. [189]
• Vincent Sardi, Jr., 91, American restaurateur, owner of Sardi's, complications of urinary tract infection. [190]
• Jan Schröder, 65, Dutch cyclist. [191] (Dutch)
• John W. Simpson, 92, American engineer and president of Westinghouse Electric Power Systems Company (1969–77), complications of pneumonia. [192]
• John Smyth, 78, Irish snooker referee of two World Snooker finals, cancer. [193]
• Marais Viljoen, 91, South African president (1979–1984), heart failure. [194] [195]

3

• Annibale Ciarniello, 106, Italian World War I veteran. [196] (Italian)
• C. Harry Falk, 66, CEO of the New York Board of Trade, heart attack. [197] [198]
• Janos Furst, 71, Hungarian-born orchestral conductor, cancer. [199]
• Earl Reibel, 76, Canadian ice hockey forward (Detroit Red Wings), 1956 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner, complications of stroke.[200]
• Calvin William Verity Jr., 89, United States Secretary of Commerce (1987–1989), complications from pneumonia. [201] [202]
• Sir Cecil Walker, 82, Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Belfast (1983–2001), heart attack. [203] [204]
• Michael Yeats, 85, Irish Fianna Fáil senator (1961–1981) and son of W.B. Yeats. [205]

2

• Charles (Garry) Betty, 49, American CEO of Earthlink, adrenocortical carcinoma. [206] [207]
• Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, 65, American historian, complications from surgery. [208]
• Terrell Hansen, 65, American heart transplant recipient and inspiration for book/film Blood Work, complications from a stroke. [209]
• Sergio Jiménez, 69, Mexican actor, heart attack. [210]
• Mauno Jokipii, 82, Finnish professor and World War II researcher, natural causes. [211] (Finnish)
• Teddy Kollek, 95, Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem (1965–1993), natural causes. [212] [213]
• Don Massengale, 69, American PGA Tour golf player, heart attack. [214]
• Richard Newton, 55, Australian-born technology pioneer and professor at University of California, Berkeley, pancreatic cancer. [215]
• Paek Nam-sun, 78, North Korean Foreign Affairs minister, lung cancer. [216]
• David Perkins, 87, Stanford University geneticist, after short illness. [217]
• Dan Shaver, 56, NASCAR driver and ARCA race car driver/owner, cancer. [218]
• Robert C. Solomon, 64, American scholar of continental philosophy. [219]

1

• A.I. Bezzerides, 98, American novelist and screenwriter of Greek-Armenian descent, born in Turkey; injuries from a fall. [220] [221]
• Tiberio Colantuoni, 71, Italian comic book artist. [222]
• Leonard Fraser, 55, Australian serial killer, heart attack. [223]
• Julius Hegyi, 83, American conductor, Alzheimer's disease. [224]
• Werner Hollweg, 70, German tenor, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. [225]
• Tad Jones, 54, American jazz music historian, complications from a fall. [226]
• Jim Karvellas, 71, American sports broadcaster, prostate cancer. [227]
• Ernie Koy, 97, American baseball player, in his sleep. [228]
• Roland Levinsky, 63, South African-born Vice Chancellor of the University of Plymouth and medical scientist, heart attack. [229]
• Sándor Mihályfy, 69, Hungarian film director (Indul a Bakterház). [230] (Hungarian)
• Annie Milner, 104, Minnesota's longest serving worker, injuries from a fall. [231]
• Tillie Olsen, 94, American writer, natural causes. [232]
• Del Reeves, 74, American country singer, emphysema. [233]
• Eleanore Schoenfeld, 81, Slovenian-born cellist and teacher at USC Thornton School of Music, heart attack. [234]
• Darrent Williams, 24, American NFL player (Denver Broncos), shot. [235] [236]

External links

• Obituaries on general news websites
  • Recent AP Obituaries
  • The New York Times: Obituaries
  • Washington Post: Obituaries
  • The Boston Globe: Obituaries
  • Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Obituaries
  • The Guardian (UK): Obituaries
  • Daily Telegraph: Obituaries
  • The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): Obituaries
• Specialised websites
  • The Blog of Death
  • Celebrity Death Beeper
  • Dead or Alive
  • Dead People Server
  • Find a Grave
  • Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records: US genealogy directory
  • Writers We've Lost
  • Written in Stone - Literary deaths
  • VIPatients.com

For earlier deaths, see Deaths in 2006, Deaths in 2005, Deaths in 2004, Deaths in 2003, Deaths in 2002, Deaths in 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, ...