Deaths in May 2002
The following is a list of notable deaths in May 2002.
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.
May 2002
1
- Ade Bethune, 88, American Catholic liturgical artist.
- Aspy Engineer, 89, Indian Air Force officer.
- John Nathan-Turner, 54, British television producer (Doctor Who), infection.
- Tom Sutton, 65, American comic book artist (Vampirella, Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider), heart attack.
- Roger Teillet, 89, Canadian politician.
2
- Rosa García Ascot, 100, Spanish composer and pianist.
- Peter Thomas Bauer, 86, Hungarian-British economist.
- Olive Cook, 90, British writer and artist, cancer.
- Constanța Crăciun, 88, Romanian politician and educator.
- Devika, 59, Indian actress, heart attack.
- Carl Heger, 92, Danish actor.
- Sihung Lung, 72, Taiwanese movie and TV actor, liver failure.
- Izet Sarajlić, 72, Bosnian historian of philosophy, essayist, and poet.
- Ron Soble, 70, American actor in films and television.
- Richard Stücklen, 85, German politician, President of the Bundestag.
- Judy Toll, 44, American actress, writer and comedian, melanoma.
- W. T. Tutte, 84, British-Canadian cryptographer during World War II and mathematician.
3
- Livingston L. Biddle, Jr., 83, American author and promoter of funding for the arts.
- Malcolm Bosse, 75, American author, known for his historical novels set in Asia.
- Barbara Castle, 91, British Labour politician and female life peer.
- Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, 73, president of Somaliland and former prime minister of the Somali Republic.
- Mohan Singh Oberoi, 103, Indian hotelier and retailer.
- Yevgeny Svetlanov, 73, Russian conductor, composer and pianist.
- Mariana Yampolsky, 76, Mexican photographer.
4
- Don Allard, 66, American football player (New York Titans, Boston Patriots) and coach.
- Clarence Boston, 85, American college football coach, head coach of New Hampshire Wildcats from 1949 to 1964.
- Ernesto Díaz, 49, Colombian football player.
- John Hasted, 81, British physicist and folk musician.
- John Kohn, 76, American writer and producer, cancer.
- Rolf Friedemann Pauls, 86, German diplomat.
- Elizabeth Russell, 85, American actress.
- Gerónimo Saccardi, 52, Argentine football player and manager, heart attack.
- Abu Turab al-Zahiri, 79, Saudi Arabian writer of Arab Indian descent.
5
- Randy Anderson, 42, American wrestling referee, testicular cancer.
- Hugo Banzer, 75, Bolivian politician, Bolivian dictator (1971 to 1978), President of Bolivia (1997 to 2001), lung cancer.
- Dick Farman, 85, American professional football player (Washington State, Washington Redskins).
- Andrei Rostotsky, 45, Soviet and Russian actor, film director, screenwriter, and TV host, fall.
- Clarence Seignoret, 83, president of Dominica (1983–1993).
- George Sidney, 85, American film director (Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, Anchors Aweigh), lymphoma.
- Mike Todd, Jr., 72, American film producer, introduced short-lived movie format Smell-O-Vision (Scent of Mystery), lung cancer.
- Čestmír Vycpálek, 80, Czech football player and manager.
- Louis C. Wyman, 85, American politician (U.S. Representative for New Hampshire's 1st congressional district), cancer.
6
- Murray Adaskin, 96, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor and teacher.
- Heinz Arndt, 87, German-Australian economist, traffic collision.
- Otis Blackwell, 71, American songwriter, singer and pianist ("Great Balls of Fire", "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up", "Return to Sender").
- James Lawton Collins Jr., 84, U.S. Army brigadier general and military historian.
- Harry George Drickamer, 83, American chemical engineer, a pioneer in high-pressure studies of condensed matter.
- Pim Fortuyn, 54, Dutch politician, assassinated.
- Shanta Gandhi, 84, Indian theatre director, dancer and playwright.
- Bjørn Johansen, 61, Norwegian jazz musician.
- Bronisław Pawlik, 76, Polish actor, stomach cancer.
- Saleh Selim, 71, Egyptian football player and actor, liver cancer.
7
- Kevyn Aucoin, 40, American make-up artist and author (The Art of Makeup, Making Faces, Face Forward), multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.
- Durga Bhagwat, 92, Indian scholar, socialist and writer.
- Bernard Burrows, 91, British diplomat.
- Ewart Jones, 91, Welsh chemist.
- Robert Kanigher, 86, American comic book writer and editor (Wonder Woman, The Flash, Sgt. Rock).
- Masakatsu Miyamoto, 63, Japanese football player and manager, pneumonia.
- Xavier Montsalvatge, 90, Spanish composer and music critic.
- Seattle Slew, 28, American thoroughbred racehorse champion.
- Monica Sinclair, 77, British operatic contralto.
8
- Sylvester Barrett, 75, Irish politician (Minister for the Environment, Minister for Defence, Member of the European Parliament).
- Basil Chubb, 80, English-Irish political scientist and author (The Government and Politics of Ireland).
- Edward Jackson, 76, English diplomat, (Ambassador to Cuba, Ambassador to Belgium).
- Tilly Lauenstein, 85, German film and television actress.
- Lou Lombardo, 70, American film editor (The Wild Bunch, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Moonstruck), stroke.
- Ahmad Mazhar, 84, Egyptian actor, pneumonia.
- Boyce McDaniel, 84, American nuclear physicist, worked on the Manhattan Project, heart attack.
9
- Dan Devine, 77, American football player and coach (Arizona State, Missouri, Green Bay Packers, Notre Dame).
- Robert Layton, 76, Canadian politician and a member of Parliament (House of Commons representing Lachine and Lachine—Lac-Saint-Louis, Quebec).
- Leon Stein, 91, American composer and music analyst.
- Sam Walton, 59, American gridiron football player (East Texas State, New York Jets, Houston Oilers), heart attack.
10
- Philip Edward Archer, 77, Ghanese lawyer and Chief Justice (1991-1995).
- Kaifi Azmi, 83, Indian Urdu poet.
- Lynda Lyon Block, 54, American convicted murderer, executed by electric chair.
- George Cates, 90, American music arranger, conductor, songwriter and record producer.
- John Cunniff, 57, American hockey player and coach (Hartford Whalers, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils), esophageal cancer.
- Austen Kark, 75, British television executive, managing director of the BBC World Service.
- David Riesman, 92, American sociologist, educator, and commentator on American society.
- Yves Robert, 81, French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer, cerebral hemorrhage.
11
- Joseph Bonanno, 97, Sicilian mafia boss, heart attack.
- Renaude Lapointe, 90, Canadian journalist and a politician.
- Bill Peet, 87, American animator and screenwriter (Cinderella, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland).
- Steve Rachunok, 85, American baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers).
- Abida Sultan, 88, Pakistani princess and daughter of Nawab Hamidullah Khan.
- Jerzy Tabeau, 83, Polish Holocaust survivor.
- Nika Turbina, 27, Soviet and Russian poet, suicide.
12
- Richard Chorley, 74, English geographer, heart attack.
- Luciano Galesi, 75, Italian Olympic sports shooter.
- Bruce Hansen, 74, New Zealand Olympic equestrian.
13
- Clinton Adams, 83, American artist, art historian and head of the Tamarind Institute, liver cancer.
- Alan P. Bell, 70, American psychologist (Kinsey Institute).
- Ruth Cracknell, 76, Australian actress (Mother and Son), pneumonia].
- George Gordienko, 74, Canadian professional wrestler and artist, melanoma.
- Valeriy Lobanovskyi, 63, Ukrainian football coach, stroke.
- Douglas Pike, 77, American historian and scholar on the Vietnam War.
- Morihiro Saito, 74, Japanese aikido teacher, cancer.
14
- Derek Birley, 75, British educationist, writer and sports historian.
- Rawshan Jamil, 71, Bangladeshi actress and dancer.
- José Lutzenberger, 75, Brazilian agronomist and environmentalist, heart attack.
- Gordon J. F. MacDonald, 72, American geophysicist.
- Dale Morey, 83, American basketball player.
- Ray Stricklyn, 73, American actor and publicist, emphysema.
15
- Kofoworola Ademola, 88, Nigerian educationist.
- Bernard Benjamin, 92, British statistician, a leading figure in the field of demography.
- Darwood Kaye, 72, American child actor (Our Gang), hit and run accident.
- Tatiana Okunevskaya, 88, Soviet and Russian actress.
- Bryan Pringle, 67, British actor.
16
- Shoichi Arai, 36, Japanese professional wrestling promoter, suicide.
- Alec Campbell, 103, Australia's last surviving ANZAC at the Gallipoli campaign during World War I.
- Jim Dewar, 59, Scottish musician, stroke.
- Big Dick Dudley, 34, American professional wrestler (ECW), kidney failure.
- Kenneth Fung, 90, Hong Kong politician and businessman.
- Salcia Landmann, 90, Jewish Ukrainian writer.
- José Reis, 94, Brazilian scientist, journalist, and science writer.
- José Riesgo, 82, Spanish actor.
- Gavril Serfőző, 75, Romanian football player.
17
- Dave Berg, 81, American cartoonist (Mad, The Lighter Side of...), cancer.
- Joe Black, 78, American first Black baseball pitcher to win a World Series game (Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs, Washington Senators), prostate cancer.
- Edwin Alonzo Boyd, 88, Canadian bank robber and prison escapee of the 1950s (Citizen Gangster).
- James Chichester-Clark, 79, Northern Ireland politician, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1971.
- John de Lancie, 80, American oboist, principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and director of the Curtis Institute of Music.
- László Kubala, 74, Hungarian and Slovak football player.
- Sharon Sheeley, 62, American songwriter.
- Little Johnny Taylor, 59, American singer.
- Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, 61, Turkish folk musician, composer, poet, and author, heart failure.
- Norman Vaughan, 79, English comedian.
18
- Sergio Andreoli, 80, Italian football player.
- Song Hye-rim, 65, North Korean actress, best, breast cancer.
- Wolfgang Schneiderhan, 86, Austrian classical violinist.
- Davey Boy Smith, 39, British professional wrestler, myocardial infarction, heart attack.
- Zypora Spaisman, 86, Polish-American actress and Yiddish] theatre empresaria.
- Gordon Wharmby, 68, British actor (Last of the Summer Wine), cancer.
19
- René de Chambrun, 95, French-American aristocrat, lawyer, businessman and author.
- Raymond Durgnat, 69, British film critic (Films and Filming, Film Comment, Monthly Film Bulletin) and author.
- Herbert Familton, 74, New Zealand alpine skier (men's downhill, men's giant slalom at the 1952 Winter Olympics).
- John Gorton, 90, 19th Prime Minister of Australia.
- Earl Hammond, 80, American voice actor (Thundercats).
- Walter Lord, 84, American historian, Parkinson's disease.
- Otar Lordkipanidze, 72, Georgian archaeologist, heart attack.
- Giuseppe Maria Scotese, 86, Italian screenwriter and film director.
- Bryant Tuckerman, 86, American mathematician.
20
- David Abrahamsen, 98, Norwegian forensic psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and author.
- Renzo Barbera, 82, Italian businessman and soccer executive.
- Jerry Dunphy, 80, American Los Angeles television news anchor, heart attack.
- Stephen Jay Gould, 60, American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author, cancer.
- Sándor Kónya, 78, Hungarian tenor.
- Eberle Hynson Schultz, 84, American football player.
21
- Rogers Albritton, 78, American philosopher, pulmonary emphysema.
- Joe Cobb, 86, American child actor, appeared as the original "fat boy" in the Our Gang comedies.
- Michel Grosclaude, 75, French linguist, and author of works on grammar and lexicography.
- Andrzej Herder, 64, Polish film and theatre actor.
- Roy Paul, 82, Welsh footballer.
- Niki de Saint Phalle, 71, French artist, pulmonary emphysema.
- Bob Poser, 92, American baseball player (Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Browns).
22
- Fritz Ackley, 65, American baseball player (Chicago White Sox).
- Sultan Ahmed, 64, Indian film director and producer.
- Joe Cascarella, 94, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, Cincinnati Reds).
- Paul Giel, 69, American baseball player (New York/San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins).
- Warren Hacker, 77, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Redlegs, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox).
- Dick Hern, 81, British racehorse trainer.
- Fritz Hippler, 92, German filmmaker.
- Creighton Miller, 79, American football player and attorney, heart attack.
- Alexandru Todea, 89, Romanian Greek-Catholic cardinal.
- Patrick Wolrige-Gordon, 66, British (Scottish) politician (Member of Parliament for East Aberdeenshire).
23
- Umberto Bindi, 70, Italian singer-songwriter, heart disease.
- Wally Fromhart, 89, American football player and coach.
- Timur Novikov, 43, Russian visual artist, designer, art theorist, philosopher, and musician, pneumonia.
- Sam Snead, 89, American golfer, complications from a stroke.
- Dorothy Spencer, 93, American film editor (Stagecoach, Cleopatra, Earthquake).
24
- Joseph Bau, 81, Polish-Israeli artist, philosopher, animator, comedian, and poet, pneumonia.
- Susie Garrett, 72, American actress (Punky Brewster) and jazz vocalist, cancer.
- Antonia Pantoja, 79, Puerto Rican educator, feminist, and civil rights leader, cancer.
- Itō Toshihito, 40, Japanese actor, subarachnoid hemorrhage.
- Xi Zhongxun, 88, Chinese communist revolutionary.
25
- Pat Coombs, 75, English actress (Till Death Us Do Part, EastEnders, Ooh... You Are Awful), pulmonary emphysema.
- Bart de Graaff, 35, Dutch television presenter/producer and founder of broadcasting network BNN, kidney failure.
- Ștefan Augustin Doinaș, 80, Romanian neoclassical poet, heart failure.
- Zoran Janković, 62, Yugoslavian Olympic water polo player (1964 silver medal, 1968 gold medal, 1972), liver cancer.
- Michel Jobert, 80, French politician, cerebral hemorrhage.
- Pål-Nils Nilsson, 72, Swedish photographer and filmmaker.
- Nathan Mantel, 83, American biostatistician, heart attack.
- Jack Pollard, 75, Australian sports journalist, stroke.
26
- Jon Bannenberg, English-Australian yacht designer, brain cancer.
- Flora Lewis, 84, American journalist.
- Ivo Maček, 88, Croatian pianist, composer and academian.
- John Alexander Moore, 86, American biologist.
- Vicente Nebrada, 72, Venezuelan dancer and choreographer, cancer.
- Jean-Jacques Petter, 74, French primatologist.
- Mamo Wolde, 69, Ethiopian Olympic long-distance runner (1968 gold medal, 1968 silver medal, 1972 bronze medal), liver cancer.
27
- Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson, 93, Scottish historian and paleographer.
- Barbara Hamilton, 14th Baroness Dudley, 95, British noblewoman, member of the House of Lords.
- Ray Mathew, 73, Australian author.
- Vitaly Solomin, 60, Soviet and Russian actor, director and screenwriter, stroke.
28
- Ibrahim al-Urayyid, 94, Bahraini writer and poet.
- Napoleon Beazley, 25, American juvenile offender, executed by lethal injection.
- Mildred Benson, 96, American journalist and author of children's books (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories), lung cancer.
- Jean Berger, 92, German-American composer and conductor.
- Ruby Bradley, 94, US Army colonel and one of the most decorated women in its military history.
- Norman King, 87, New Zealand politician and cabinet minister.
- David Parker Ray, 62, American serial killer, heart attack.
- Wes Westrum, 79, American baseball player (New York Giants) and manager (New York Mets, San Francisco Giants), cancer.
- Rostislav Yurenev, 90, Soviet and Russian film critic and teacher.
29
- Stan Bentham, 87, English footballer, Alzheimer's disease.
- Gunnar Jarring, 94, Swedish diplomat and Turkologist.
- Sándor Mátrai, 69, Hungarian football player.
- Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, 89, Pakistani politician and diplomat.
- Elémire Zolla, 75, Italian essayist, philosopher and historian.
30
- Kees Boertien, 74, Dutch politician (Christian Democratic Appeal) and jurist.
- Kenny Craddock, 52, British instrumentalist (Ringo Starr, Ginger Baker, Gerry Rafferty), composer and producer, car crash.
- John B. Keane, 73, Irish playwright, novelist and essayist, prostate cancer.
- Mario Lago, 90, Brazilian lawyer, poet, composer and actor, pneumonia.
- Walter Laird, 81, British ballroom dancer.
31
- Jeremy Bray, 71, British politician (member of Parliament representing Middlesbrough West, Motherwell and Wishaw and Motherwell South).
- Subhash Gupte, 72, Indian cricket player.
- Eleanor D. Wilson, 93, American actress (Weekend, Alice's Restaurant, Reds) and artist.