Deaths in 2003

The following is a list of famous persons who have died recently.

July 2003

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
6 Roman Lyashenko, New York Rangers hockey player
6 Buddy Ebsen, American actor
5 Bebu Silvetti, popular hispanic musician, songwriter
5 Isabelle, Countess of Paris, widow of Henri, Count of Paris, pretender to the French throne
4 Larry Burkett, founder of Christian Financial Concepts
4 Barry White, smooth soul singer
3 Gaetano Alibrandi, papal diplomat and Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic of Ireland
1 Herbie Mann, crossover jazz and bossa nova flutist
1 N!xau, Namibian actor

June 2003

30 Robert McCloskey, children's book writer and illustrator
30 Buddy Hackett, comic
29 Katharine Hepburn, actress
28 Wim Slijkhuis, Dutch athlete
27 Dáithí P. Hanly, former Dublin city architect and conservationist
26 Strom Thurmond, United States Senator
26 Marc-Vivien Foe, footballer
26 Sir Denis Thatcher Bt., husband to Baroness Thatcher, former UK Prime Minister
25 Lester Maddox, segregationist Governor of the State of Georgia
24 Maynard Jackson,former Mayor of Atlanta, GA first black mayor of a major southern U.S. city
24 Leon Uris, author
23 Vasil Bykau, Belarusian writer
21 Roger Neilson, legendary Canadian hockey coach
20 Bob Stump, Arizona Senator
19 Laura Sadler, British television actress, after falling 40 feet from a building
18 Larry Doby, baseball Hall of Famer, second Black man to play in the MLB
15 Hume Cronyn, actor
15 William Wentworth, Australian politician, first Minister of Aboriginal Affairs
12 Gregory Peck, actor
11 David Brinkley, broadcast journalist
10 Donald Regan, Chief of Staff and Treasury Secretary during the Reagan administration
10 Phil Williams, highly-respected Welsh politician, in a Cardiff massage parlour

7 Tony McAuley BBC Northern Ireland broadcaster & film-maker associated with traditional Irish music and arts
7 Trevor Goddard, actor
5 Meir Vilner, last surviving signatory to Israel's declaration of independence and former chairman of the Communist Party of Israel
5 Jürgen Möllemann, former German minister
3 Fabrice Salanson, a french pro-cyclist
2 Fred Blassie, 85, former professional wrestler
2 Richard Cusack, 77, ad executive turned actor/screenwriter, father of actors John Cusack and Joan Cusack, dies of pancreatic cancer in Evanston, Illinois
2 Jack Frazier, former Saddam Hussein hostage

May 2003

30 Mickie Most, music producer, produced acts such as Lulu, Donovan, The Animals, Hot Chocolate, Suzi Quatro and Kim Wilde
28 Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry
28 Martha Scott, actress
28 Oleg Makarov, cosmonaut
27 Luciano Berio, composer
26 Kathleen Winsor, author of Forever Amber
21 Elfren Bernier, Puerto Rican Olympic athlete and lawyer
18 Anna Santisteban, legendary figure in the Miss Universe contests
18 Barb Tarbox, Canadian anti-smoking activist
16 Mal Florence, longtime sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times
16 William E. Day, broadcaster and preservationist, early proponent of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act
16 Mark McCormack, sports business pioneer, founder of IMG
15 Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist
15 George Francis, British mobster
15 June Carter Cash, musician, singer, wife of Johnny Cash
15 David O. Ives, public broadcasting pioneer, longtime executive at WGBH, Boston, which introduced such television programs as "Nova," "Frontline," "Masterpiece Theatre," and "This Old House"
14 Robert Stack, Hollywood actor, host of Unsolved Mysteries, 84 years old
14 Dame Wendy Hiller, British actress (August 15, 1912 - May 14, 2003)
14 Dave DeBusschere, NBA basketball player
13 John Savage, former Premier of Nova Scotia, Canada
12 Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1965 - 1977
11 Noel Redding, former bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience
10 Milan Vukcevich, chemist and chess problem composer
9 Russell B. Long, former U.S. Senator
6 Evelio Lopez Falcon, alleged Mexican drug trafficker
6 David Woodley, former quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, who started in Super Bowl XVII
5 Walter Sisulu, ANC activist
3 Suzy Parker, actress; top model of the 1950s
1 Miss Elizabeth, WWE wrestling figure

April 2003

30 Peter 'Possum' Bourne, 3 Times Asia-Pacific Rally Champion
30 Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist
29 Etti Plesch, who married three counts, an American heir, and a Hungarian Lawyer
27 Elaine Steinbeck, former actress; widow of author John Steinbeck
26 Rosemary Brown, Canadian politician (NDP), first woman elected to a provincial legislature
26 Caroline Newhouse, arts patron; widow of Theodore Newhouse
26 Max Nicholson, environmentalist
26 Peter Stone, Oscar-and-(3-time)Tony-winning writer
25 Hidefumi Minorikawa, a Diet of Japan member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party
23 Bernard Katz biophysicist, Nobel Prize winner
23 James H. Critchfield, CIA cold warrior
22 Martha Griffiths, Congresswoman, women's rights proponent
21 Rocco Theunissen, Rally Driver
21 Nina Simone, jazz singer, "High Priestess of Soul"
19 Conrad Leonard (aged 104), British musican and composer
19 Norberto Longo, Telemundo sportscaster
18 Daijiro Kato, Japanese 500cc MotoGP Star, former 250cc Champion
18 Edgar F. Codd, computer pioneer
17 Earl King, R&B musician/songwriter
17 Paul Getty, philanthropist
17 Robert Atkins, diet doctor
16 Sarah Marple-Cantrell, a student
10 Noel Fox, former singer of gospel band The Oak Ridge Boys
12 Sydney Lassick, actor, best known playing asylum resident Cheswick in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
12 Cecil H. Green (aged 102), Texas Instruments founder
10 Little Eva (Eva Narcissus Boyd), who sang the 1962 hit The Loco-Motion
8 Anita Borg, computer scientist
7 Cecile de Brunhoff (aged 99), who inspired the Babar the Elephant childrens' books when she told it to her children as a bedtime story in 1931 (it was then illustrated by her husband)
6 Babatunde Olatunji, African drummer, recorded Drums of Passion
6 Lance Corporal Ian Keith Malone Dublin-born soldier in the Irish Guards regiment of the British Army, who featured in a Radio Telifís Éireann documentary on Irish-born British soldiers, killed in Iraq
6 David Bloom, an NBC reporter, died from a pulmonary embolism while embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division covering the war in Iraq
5 Seymour Lubetzky (aged 104), cataloging theorist and librarian
5 Ali Hissan Al-Majid, first cousin of Saddam Hussein, nicknamed Chemical Ali, and alleged mastermind of the attack against Kurds in 1988. He was reportedly found dead April 7 after an aerial attack on his house. However, this has not been yet absolutely confirmed.
4 Resortes, legendary Mexican comedian, real name Adalberto Martinez Chavez
2 Michael Wayne, film producer; eldest son of John Wayne
2 Edwin Starr, soul singer
2 Pat Leavy, Irish actress who played Hannah Finnegan in the Radio Telifís Éireann soap opera Fair City, died after being taken ill on set
2 Edward Keating, founder of Ramparts magazine
1 Leslie Cheung, actor and singer, one of the superstars in Hong Kong during late 1980s, committed suicide

March 2003

31 H.S.M. Coxeter, noted geometer and author of many books, passed away at age 96
31 Michael Jeter, actor, friend, as "The Other Mr. Noodle" to Sesame Street's Elmo
30 Valentin Pavlov, former prime minister of the Soviet Union
30 Gaby Rado, UK journalist
29 Dr. Carlo Urbani, WHO doctor, discoverer of SARS, of which he died
26 Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former Senator from New York
24 Hans Hermann Groër, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna (1986 - 1995) who resigned in 1995 after allegations of sexually abusing boys
24 Philip Yordan, screenwriter; won Oscar for "Broken Lance"
22 Terry Lloyd, reporter
18 Adam Osborne, computer pioneer
16 Major Ronald Ferguson, father of UK royal divorcee Sarah, Duchess of York, aged 71 [1]
16 Rachel Corrie, International Solidarity Movement activist, crushed to death by an Israeli armoured bulldozer
15 Dame Thora Hird, veteran British actress
12 Howard Fast, novelist
12 Lynne Thigpen, actor, co-star of CBS television show "The District", and star of PBS show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
12 Harry The Kid Matthews boxer, world title challenger in three divisions
12 Zoran Djindjic, Prime Minister of Serbia (assassinated)
10 Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru
10 Barry Sheene, 2 Times 500cc MotoGP Champion
9 Stan Brakhage, filmmaker
9 F. William Sunderman (aged 104), physician and scientist
8 Adam Faith, British singer and actor
8 Karen Morley, blonde star of 1930s movies; ex-wife of Charles Vidor
6 John Sanford, author
3 Horst Buchholz, German actor
2 Malcolm Williamson, Australian composer, Master of the Queen's Music
2 Hank Ballard, singer, composer, famous for his hit "The Twist"

February 2003

28 Roger Needham, computer pioneer
28 Fidel Sanchez Hernandez, former President of El Salvador
28 Chris Brasher, athlete
27 Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
25 Alberto Sordi, Italian comedy film legend
25 Tom O'Higgins, former Irish Chief Justice & twice defeated Irish presidential candidate
22 Jesica Santillan, heart and lung patient whose wrong transplant made headlines
22 Daniel Taradash, former president of AMPAS; Oscar-winning screenwriter of "From Here to Eternity"
20 Ty Longley, Guitarist for the heavy metal band Great White
20 Harry Jacunski, former NFL player, Green Bay Packers
20 Orville Lothrop Freeman, former Governor of Minnesota and Secretary of Agriculture for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
19 Johnny PayCheck, country music singer
18 Jack Brodsky, movie producer and publicist
17 Steve Bechler, baseball pitcher, Baltimore Orioles
14 Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal
14 Johnny Longden, jockey
13 Kid Gavilan, world boxing champion and hall of famer
13 Stacy Keach Sr, character actor; father of actors Stacy and James Keach
13 Walt Rostow, political advisor
10 Clark MacGregor, former United States Congressman
10 Al Ruffo, former mayor of San Jose, California who helped form the San Francisco 49ers football team in 1946
10 Ron Ziegler former press secetary for Richard Nixon during the Watergate Scandal
9 Vera Hruba Ralston, star of Ice Capades and Republic Pictures B-movies of the 1940s
9 Kerri Yascheshyn Canadian cancer patient whose friendship with Madonna made headlines
7 John Reading, Mayor of Oakland, California from 1966 to 1977 who supported the building of the Oakland Coliseum
6 Robert St. John (aged 100) globetrotting reporter and author
2 Dr. Harold S. Ginsberg, microbiologist
2 Lou Harrison, American composer, noted for his microtonal works
1 Astronauts Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia
1 Mongo Santamaria, percussionist, band leader, Latin jazz musician

January 2003

29 Frank Moss Former Utah Senator
29 Peter Shaw, producer; husband of actress Angela Lansbury
26 Lord Younger, (George Younger) British politician, Secretary of State for Scotland between 1979 and 1986
26 Lord Dacre (Hugh Trevor-Roper), British historian, authenticator of the hoaxed Hitler Diaries
26 Valeriy Brumel, track and field athlete
25 Robert Rockwell, actor; Philip Boynton on TV's "Our Miss Brooks"
24 Gianni Agnelli, Italian entrepreneur and president of Fiat
23 Nell Carter, singer, actress
23 Aodhagán Brioscú, last surviving founder of Irish cultural organisation Gael Linn
22 Bill Mauldin, World War II cartoonist
21 Tony O'Malley, Irish artist and painter
21 Seán Malone, retired university professor and pioneer of biological psychiatry in the Republic of Ireland
20 Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player
20 Al Hirschfeld, caricaturist
19 Françoise Giroud, French writer and politician
18 Richard Crenna, actor
15 Doris Fisher, singer & songwriter
13 Norman Panama, screenwriter and director
12 Maurice Gibb, of the Bee Gees
12 Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, former dictator of Argentina
12 Estelle Blanc, widow of cartoon voice Mel Blanc
12 Koloman Sokol (aged 100), Slovakian artist
11 Richard Simmons, actor; TV's "Sgt Preston of the Yukon"
11 Anthony Havelock-Allan, British screenwriter
11 Mickey Finn, of T. Rex
11 Maurice Pialat, French movie director
8 Ron Goodwin, British film music composer and conductor
6 Lila Mayoral, former first lady of Puerto Rico, wife of Rafael Hernandez Colon
5 Roy Jenkins, British Labour MP and co-founder, first leader of, then Peer for, the Social Democratic Party
4 Conrad Hall, Hollywood cinematographer, a two-time Academy Award-winner
3 Sid Gillman, American football coach
2 Sydney Omarr, astrologer, newspaper columnist
2 Bob Chalker, former United States diplomat
1 Joe Foss, politician, fighter pilot, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor

External links and references

For earlier deaths see 20th century, 2002 in memoriam, 2001 in memoriam, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, ...