Deaths in 2003

The following is a list of figures who died in 2003.

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December 2003

31 Arthur R. von Hippel, 105, German-born scientist and MIT professor who made critical contributions to the development of radar
31 Bríd Durrane, 109, the oldest person to receive a university degree and write an autobiography (both at 103), last surviving person who knew the leaders of Ireland's 1916 Uprising personally
30 David Bale, 62, activist
30 John Gregory Dunne, 71, American novelist and screenwriter
30 Anita Mui, 40, Hong Kong pop queen
30 Archbishop Michael Courtney, the Irish-born Papal Nuncio to Burundi who was central to peace negotiations, 58 assassinated
29 Earl Hindman, 61, U.S. actor, played "Wilson" on Home Improvement TV series
29 Bob Monkhouse, 75, British comedian and game show host
28 Isabelle Stevenson, chairman of the board of the American Theatre Wing, presenters of the Tony Awards
28 Dinsdale Landen, 71, British actor
27 Vestal Goodman, 74, Queen of Southern Gospel music
27 Ivan Calderon, 41, Puerto Rican former major league baseball star
27 Sir Alan Bates, British actor
26 Phil Goldman, 39, WebTV founder
26 Yoshio Shirai, 80, first Japanese world boxing champion
22 Dave Dudley, 75, Country music singer
20 John Halfpenny, 68, Australian unionist
19 Hope Lange, actress in Peyton Place
19 Peter Carter-Ruck, 89, UK libel lawyer
17 Ed Devereaux, Australian actor
17 Otto Graham, 82, Cleveland Browns football quarterback during the 1950s
16 Gary Stewart, 58, Country music singer (suicide)
16 Robert Stanfield, Canadian politician
15 Keith Magnuson, 56, former National Hockey League player (car accident)
15 George Fisher, U.S. political cartoonist
14 Jeanne Crain, 78, Oscar-nominated actress
14 Blas Ople, 75, foreign minister of the Philippines
13 Elizabeth Bates, 56, Professor of Psychology at University of California, San Diego
13 William V. Roth, Jr., former U.S. Senator, known for Kemp-Roth Tax Cut and Roth IRA
12 Keiko, 27, orca of Reino Aventura and Free Willy fame
12 Heydar Aliyev, 80, former President of Azerbaijan
12 Fadwa Toukan, 86, Palestinian poet
12 Earl Gillespie, 81, sportscaster, voice of the Milwaukee Braves
11 Ahmadou Kourouma, author from Côte d'Ivoire
11 John W. Sidgmore, former head of Worldcom and UUNet
11 Paulos Tzadua, Roman Catholic cardinal from Ethiopia
9 Paul Simon, 75, former U.S. Senator from Illinois
8 Rubén González, 84, Cuban pianist, member of the Buena Vista Social Club
8 Johnny Bulla, 89, golfer
7 Raúl Vale, 59, Venezuelan-Mexican entertainer
7 Carl F. H. Henry, 90, American Evangelical theologian, founder of Christianity Today magazine
7 Azie Taylor Morton, 67, former Treasurer of the United States
6 Jose-Maria Jimenez, 32, professional cyclist
6 Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, 85, President of Guatemala 1970-74
6 Jerry Tuite, 36, professional wrestler
5 Bert Templeton, 63, ice hockey coach
3 David Hemmings, actor
2 Ignaz Kiechle, German politician, minister for agriculture 1983-93
1 Clark Kerr, 92, first Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, 1952-58, and President of the University of California, 1958-67

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November 2003

30 Barber B. Conable, New York Congressman, president of the World Bank from 1986-1991 (81 years)
30 Gertrude Ederle, first woman to swim the English Channel (97 years)
28 Harold von Braunhut, American, creator of Amazing Sea Monkeys and Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations member
27 Talal al-Rasheed, Saudi poet (41 years?)
27 Will Quadflieg, German actor
26 Stefan Wul, French science fiction writer (81 years)
26 Soulja Slim, rapper
26 Anton Burg, USC chemistry professor (99 years)
26 William H. Waldren, archaeologist (79 years)
24 Hugh Kenner, literary critic (80 years)
24 Warren Spahn, baseball pitcher (82 years)
24 Floquet de Neu or Copito de Nieve ("Snowflake"), rare albino gorilla, star of the Barcelona zoo
24 Uma Devi, popularly known as Tuntun, Indian actress (80 years)
21 Bohumil Simon, one of the leaders of the Prague Spring (83 years)
20 David Dacko, first president of the Central African Republic (73 years)
20 Robert Addie, British actor (43 years)
20 Eugene Kleiner, entrepreneur and co-founder of Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers venture capital firm (80 years)
20 Roger Short, British diplomat, consul-general in Istanbul (58 years)
20 Kerem Yilmazer, Turkish actor (58 years)
19 Ken Brett, former Major League Baseball player, brother of George Brett (55 years)
18 Michael Kamen, composer
17 Arthur Conley, soul singer
17 Don Gibson, singer-songwriter
16 Bettina Goislard, UNHCR relief worker (29 years)
16 Fukuda, Arihiro, Japanese associate professor and author of Sovereignty and the Sword (39 years)
15 Ray Lewis, first Canadian-born black Olympic medalist
15 Mohamed Choukri, writer
15 Laurence Tisch, billionaire, head of Loews Corporation and CBS television network
15 Dorothy Loudon, actress
14 Gene Anthony Ray, actor and dancer
13 Kellie Waymire, actress (Star Trek: Enterprise) (35 years)
13 Mitoyo Kawate, oldest recognized person in the world (114 years)
12 Tony Thompson, drummer for The Power Station
12 Penny Singleton, actress (95 years)
12 David Silvetti, Mexican bullfighter, committed suicide
12 Jonathan Brandis, actor, reportedly suicide (27 years)
10 Canaan Banana, first president of independent Zimbabwe (67 years)
10 Irv "Kup" Kupcinet, columnist, television personality (91 years)
9 Gordon Onslow Ford, surrealist painter (90 years)
9 Mario Merz, Italian artist
9 Art Carney, The Honeymooners actor (85 years)
9 Buddy Arnold, jazz saxophonist
8 Hava Rexha, oldest woman in Albania, maybe in the world (123 years?)
8 C. Z. Guest, socialite (83 years)
6 Eduardo Palomo, Mexican actor (41 years)
6 Crash Holly, professional wrestler (32 years)
6 Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer, triple Olympic champion (84 years)
5 Bobby Hatfield, half of the singing duet, the Righteous Brothers (63 years)
5 Dernell Stenson, Cincinnati Reds baseball player
4 Angel Chingre, Ecuadorian campesino leader, human rights activist
4 Mitch Rosario, Puerto Rican hair stylist who worked with Ricky Martin, Paulina Rubio among others
4 Ken Gampu, South African actor
4 Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (80 years)
3 Rasul Gamzatov, Avarian/Soviet/Russian poet, called the "People's poet of Dagestan" (80 years)
2 Frederic Vester, German cybernetician (77 years)

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October 2003

31 Mohamed Yazid, Algerian politician, 80 years old
31 Richard Neustadt, political scholar and historian
31 Kamato Hongo, oldest recognized person in world at 116
30 Daphne Hardy Henrion, British sculptor, 86 years old
30 Franco Corelli, operatic tenor, 82 years old
29 Hal Clement, author, 81 years
28 Behram Kursunoglu, Turkish physicist, 81 years old
27 Rod Roddy, booth announcer on The Price is Right
26 Elem Klimov, Russian director
24 Rosie Nix Adams, daughter of June Carter Cash
23 Tony Capstick, British actor, comedian, musician and broadcaster
23 Soong May-ling, widow of the Nationalist Chinese president Chiang Kai-shek, 106 years
21 Louise Day Hicks, US politician
21 Fred Berry, American actor, "Rerun" on the show What's Happening!!
21 Elliott Smith, US musician, 34 years
21 Luis A. Ferré, former governor of Puerto Rico, 99 years
20 Jack Elam, American actor, 84 years
19 Margaret Murie, "Mother of the Modern Conservationist Movement" 101 years
19 Faith Fancher, television journalist and breast cancer awareness activist, 53 years
19 Michael Hegstrand, "Road Warrior Hawk", 46 years
19 Alija Izetbegovic, former President of Bosnia Herzegovina
18 Preston Smith, former governor of Texas
18 Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish writer
16 Stu Hart, patriarch of wrestling family, 88 years
16 László Papp, Hungarian boxer
16 Avni Arbas, Turkish artist
14 Ben Metcalfe, Greenpeace activist and co-founder
13 Bertram Brockhouse, Nobel Prize-winning Canadian physicist
13 Joan B. Kroc, philanthropist, widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc
12 Willie Shoemaker, Hall of Fame jockey
12 Jim Cairns, Australian politician
11 Fredy Knie, Sr., Swiss circus director
10 Eugene Istomin, American pianist
9 Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, American academic and author
7 Frank Roe, former President of the Irish Circuit Court
7 Eleanor Lambert, U.S. fashion pioneer
7 Izzy Asper, Canadian press baron
7 Felicitas Corrigan, Benedictine nun
6 Mildred O'Neill, widow of former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill
5 Neil Postman, media critic
5 Elena Slough, oldest recognized American, aged 114
5 Denis Quilley, British actor
5 Dan Snyder, Atlanta Thrashers hockey player
4 Sid McMath, former governor of Arkansas
4 James Forlong, former British reporter for Sky News, who was accused of faking a news report during the invasion of Iraq, in an apparent suicide
4 Bill Cayton, American boxing manager, owner of (reportedly) largest fight video collection in the world, former manager of Edwin Rosario and Mike Tyson
3 William Steig, American cartoonist and children's author; creator of Shrek
2 John T. Dunlop, briefly Secretary of Labor under Gerald Ford
2 Gunther Philipp, Austrian actor

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September 2003

30 Gilbert Ortega, jewelry tycoon, country singer
30 Robert Kardashian, criminal defense lawyer
28 Yukichi Chuganji, 114 years
28 Elia Kazan, director
28 Althea Gibson, tennis player
27 Donald O'Connor, entertainer, actor
26 Robert Palmer, singer
25 George Plimpton, author, editor
25 Franco Modigliani, Nobel Prize-winning economist
25 Aquila al-Hashimi, Iraqi politician, member of the Governing Council
24 Derek Prince, author, biblical scholar and spiritual patriarch, 88 years
24 Tomás MacGabhann, Irish Trade Unionist and Irish language activist
24 Edward Said, Palestinian scholar
22 Hugo Young, British political commentator
22 Gordon Jump, American actor
22 Johan Stekelenburg, Dutch union leader and politician
21 Robert H. Lochner, John F. Kennedy's interpreter
20 Lord Williams of Mostyn, British Cabinet minister, Leader of the House of Lords
20 Liam Tobin, longtime Árd Rúnaí Roinn na Gaeltachta (Secretary to the Irish Department of the Gaeltacht) and Irish language campaigner
20 Simon Vengai Muzenda, Zimbabwe polititian, vicepresident of the Republic since 1987
19 Slim Dusty, Australian country music singer
16 Erich Hallhuber, Bavarian actor
16 Sheb Wooley, actor, singer of 1958 pop hit Purple People Eater
16 Tommy Rawson, boxer, referee
15 Jack Brymer, British clarinettist
15 Yetunde Price, sister of American tennis-players Venus and Serena Williams
13 Frank O'Bannon, Governor of Indiana
12 Johnny Cash, American country singer
12 Rev Prof Norman Walker Porteous, theologian and writer on Old Testament issues
11 Ben Bril, Dutch boxer
11 John Ritter, American actor, played Jack Tripper on Three's Company
11 Anna Lindh, Swedish foreign minister
10 Harry Goz, cartoon voice actor
9 Larry Hovis, actor, played Carter on Hogan's Heroes
9 Edward Teller, American physicist, "Father of the H-Bomb"
8 Leni Riefenstahl, German filmmaker
8 Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian voice actor, provided voice of cartoon character Caillou
7 Warren Zevon, singer and songwriter
7 The Great Antonio, strongman and eccentric
6 Wilbur Snapp, stadium organist kicked out of game by umpire for playing Three Blind Mice
5 Gisele MacKenzie, singer
4 Tibor Varga, violinist, conductor and pedagogue
3 Paul Hill, executed for two anti-abortion murders
1 Sir Terry Frost, British artist

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August 2003

30 Steve Eisner, boxing promoter
30 Charles Bronson, actor
30 Donald Davidson (philosopher)
29 Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim
28 Patrick William Feeney, United States college basketball player
28 Barry Voorhies, Arena football player
27 Pierre Poujade, French politician
26 Jim Wacker, American football college coach
24 Sir Wilfred Thesiger, British explorer
24 Mal Colston, Australian politician
23 John Geoghan, defrocked pedophile priest
23 Bobby Bonds, former baseball player and father of San Francisco Giants ballplayer Barry Bonds
23 Michael Kijana Wamalwa, Kenyan Vice-President
23 Imperio Argentina, Spanish singer and actress
23 Jack Dyer, Australian Rules Football legend
22 Arnold Gerschwiler, figure skating trainer in Britain
21 Wesley Willis, American schizophrenic musician and artist
21 Kathy Wilkes, Oxford philosopher and education worker in Eastern Europe
20 António Pedro Ferreira, Portugal President of Portuguese Custom Broker Association
19 Hermann Withalm, Austrian politician
19 Carlos Roberto Reina, former president of Honduras
19 Sérgio Vieira de Mello, United Nations Special Representative to Iraq
16 Idi Amin, former dictator of Uganda
16 Connie Douglas Reeves, centenarian member of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
15 Bishop Donal Lamont, Irish born Rhodesian Catholic bishop and Nobel Peace Prize nominee expelled by Ian Smith's apartheid regime in the 1970s
13 Helmut Rahn, German soccer player, World Champion 1954
13 Ed Townsend, songwriter and producer
11 Kieran Kelly, Irish jump jockey after a racing accident
11 Diana Mitford, widow of British Fascist leader Oswald Mosley
11 Herb Brooks, coach of 1980 Miracle on Ice US Hockey team
10 Carmita Jimenez, Puerto Rican singer
9 Gregory Hines, actor, dancer
9 Ray Harford, football manager
5 Tite Curet Alonso, well known Puerto Rican music composer, critic, newspaper writer
5 Lee Muñoz, former first son of Puerto Rico (son of Luis Muñoz Marín), foundation leader
4 Metropolitan Antony, Metropolitan of SUROZH
4 Chung Mong-hun, Korean businessman
2 Don Estelle, actor who played 'Lofty' in the BBC's It Ain't Half Hot Mum
2 Mike Levey, famous infomercial host
1 Guy Thys, former Belgian national football coach.
1 Marie Trintignant, French actress and daughter of actor Jean-Louis Trintignant

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July 2003

30 Sam Phillips, record producer
29 Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leonean rebel leader
28 Erik Braunn, Iron Butterfly guitarist
28 Lady Valerie Goulding, former Irish Senator and campaigner for the disabled
27 Bob Hope, comedian and actor
27 Vance Hartke, former U.S. Senator from Indiana
26 Ludwig Bölkow, airplane engineer
25 John Schlesinger, director
24 Colin R. McMillan, nominee for United States Secretary of the Navy
23 Othniel Askew, killer of James E. Davis
23 James E. Davis, New York City councilman
22 Uday Hussein son of Saddam Hussein
22 Qusay Hussein son of Saddam Hussein
21 Walter M. "Matt" Jefferies, art director for the original Star Trek series and designer of the Starship Enterprise
21 John Davies, president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee
20 Nicolas Freeling, crime writer
20 Lauri Aus, Estonian pro cyclist
19 Pierre Graber, former member of the Swiss Federal Council (1970-1978)
19 Bill Bright, evangelist, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ
18 Brad Rone, boxer, became famous after death
18 Jane Barbe, phone company voiceover
17 Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist and champion of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach
17 Dr. David Kelly, former UN weapons inspector who was accused of leaking information to the BBC about the UK's dossier on Iraq's purported weapons of mass destruction
17 Eamonn Leahy, 46 year old top Irish barrister and husband of government Chief Whip Mary Hanafin
16 Captain James Kelly, former Irish Army officer cleared of attempting to import arms for the IRA in the Arms Trial in 1970
16 Carol Shields, Canadian author
16 Celia Cruz, Cuban legendary salsa singer
14 Tex Schramm, former Dallas Cowboys president and general manager
14 André Claveau, French singer
13 Compay Segundo, Cuban musician and star of the Buena Vista Social Club
12 Benny Carter, American jazz pioneer
11 Zahra Kazemi, Iranian-born Canadian journalist
11 Ken Whyld, British chess author
10 Lord Shawcross, Britain's chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials
9 Winston Graham, author of Poldark and Marnie
8 Dr. William Boyd, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
8 Ladan and Laleh Bijani, Iranian conjoined twins
7 Izhak Graziani, conductor
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