Deaths in August 1997

The following is a list of notable deaths in August 1997.

Contents
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← July	August	September →

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.

August 1997

1

• Angel Acuña Lizaña, 78, Mexican basketball player.
• Berta Alves de Sousa, 91, Portuguese pianist and composer.
• Kenneth W. Bilby, 78, American RCA executive, leukemia.[1]
• Charles Brady, 71, American artist.[2]
• Ngiratkel Etpison, 72, Palau politician.
• Bertha Isaacs, 97, Bahamian tennis player, women's rights activist and politician.
• Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson, 72, Australian taxonomic botanist, cancer.
• Norio Nagayama, 48, Japanese spree killer and novelist, execution by hanging.
• Sviatoslav Richter, 82, Ukrainian pianist, heart attack.[3]
• Janet G. Travell, 95, American physician and medical researcher, heart failure.

2

• William S. Burroughs, 83, American author and visual artist, heart attack.[4]
• John Churcher, 91, British army general
• Antonis Daglis, Greek serial killer, suicide.
• Harald Kihle, 92, Norwegian painter and illustrator.
• James Krüss, 71, German children's author and illustrator.
• Fela Kuti, 58, Nigerian musician and human rights activist, AIDS (disputed).[5]
• Michèle Pujol, 46, French intellectual, feminist, and human rights activist, cancer.
• Frank Ellis Smith, 79, American politician, complications from strokes.[6]

3

• Bob Cope, 60, American football coach, cancer.
• Joan Erikson, 94, Austrian-Canadian author, educator, and dance ethnographer.[7]
• Nirmal Chandra Sinha, 85-86, Indian tibetologist and author.

4

• Horace Bristol, 88, American photographer.[8]
• Dick Bush, 65, British cinematographer.
• Jeanne Calment, 122 (disputed), French supercentenarian and the oldest person ever documented in history.[9]
• Nicholas J. Hoff, 91, Hungarian-American aeronautics and astronautic engineer.[10]
• Sidney Simon, 80, American painter, sculptor, and muralist.[11]
• Alexander Young, 58, Scottish musician, lung cancer.

5

• Friedrich Jung, 82, German doctor and pharmacologist.
• Clarence M. Kelley, 85, American politician and director of the FBI.[12]
• Don Steele, 61, American disc jockey, lung cancer.[13]
• Michael J. Tully Jr., 64, American lawyer and politician, heart attack.[14]

6

• Lance Barnard, 78, Australian politician and diplomat.
• Jürgen Kuczynski, 92, German economist and communist.[15]
• Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, 72, Indian writer.

7

• Kay Halle, 93, American journalist, author and World War II OSS operative.[16]
• Volker Prechtel, 55, German actor.
• Cecil Tate, 89, English cricketer.

8

• Dardanelle Hadley, 79, American jazz artist.
• Orville H. Hampton, 80, American screenwriter.
• William Lithgow, 77, English cricketer.
• Plato Malozemoff, 87, Russian-American engineer and businessman, congestive heart failure.[17]
• Paul Rudolph, 78, American architect, peritoneal mesothelioma.[18]

9

• Maria Antonietta Beluzzi, 67, Italian actress.
• Gabriel Cattand, 73, French actor.
• Trần Đại Nghĩa, 83, Vietnamese scientist and military engineer.
• Herbert de Souza, 61, American sociologist and activist, HIV.[19]

10

• Peter Braestrup, 66-67, American journalist, heart attack.[20]
• Malú Gatica, 75, Chilean actress and singer.
• Steve Kraftcheck, 68, Canadian ice hockey player.
• Carlton Moss, 88, American screenwriter, actor and film director.[21]
• Conlon Nancarrow, 84, American-Mexican composer.[22]
• Bob Welborn, 69, American racing driver.
• George Zames, 63, Polish-Canadian control theorist and professor.

11

• Miksa Bondi, 79, Hungarian boxer.
• Bert McTaggart, 81, Australian rules footballer.[23]
• Jacques Robert, 76, French author, screenwriter and journalist.[24]

12

• Luther Allison, 57, American blues guitarist, cancer.
• Anna Balakian, 82, Armenian-American professor of comparative literature, congestive heart failure.[25]
• Rex Barney, 72, American baseball player.[26]
• Gösta Bohman, 86, Swedish politician.
• Sir Henry Calley, 83, English pilot and politician.
• Jack Delano, 83, American photographer, kidney failure.[27]
• Gulshan Kumar, 41, Indian businessman and film producer, murdered.
• Dick Marx, 73, American jazz pianist and arranger, car accident.
• Abe Newborn, 77, American talent agent and theatre producer, congestive heart failure.[28]
• Len Norris, 83, Canadian editorial cartoonist.
• Achilles Papapetrou, 90, Greek theoretical physicist.
• Albert L. Smith Jr., 65, American politician.

13

• Robert Leggett, 71, American politician.
• Dick Mather, 56, Canadian politician, heart attack.
• Emil Mosbacher, 75, American yachtsman and Chief of Protocol of the United States, cancer.[29]
• Harlow Rothert, 89, American Olympic shot putter.[30]
• Marjorie Lynette Sigley, 68, English artist, writer, actress, choreographer and theatre director, cancer.
• Carel Weight, 88, English painter.

14

• John Elliot, 79, British novelist, screenwriter and television producer.
• Charlie Fleming, 70, Scottish footballer.
• Diana E. Forsythe, 49, American anthropology researcher, hiking accident.[31]
• Fred C. Galda, 79, American attorney and politician.[32]
• James Grant, 73, American painter and sculptor.
• George Pfister, 78, American baseball player and coach, heart attack.

15

• Geechie Fields, 92, American jazz trombonist.
• Ray Heatherton, 88, American singer, Broadway theatre performer and television personality, Alzheimer's disease.[33]
• Dave Solomon, 84, Fijian-born New Zealand rugby player.

16

• Hendrik van den Bergh, 82, South African police official.
• Yanick Dupré, 24, Canadian professional ice hockey left winger, leukemia.
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, 48, Pakistani Qawwali musician, cardiac arrest.[34]
• Alf Malland, 80, Norwegian actor.
• Plum Mariko, 29, Japanese female professional wrestler, wrestling accident.[35]
• Donn Reynolds, 76, Canadian country music singer and yodeler.[36]

17

• Geoffrey Burnand, 85, English painter, theatrical designer and mural artist.
• Burnum Burnum, 61, Australian Aboriginal activist, actor, and author, heart disease.[37]
• Jorge Cañas, 54, Salvadoran football player.
• David Schweitzer, 72, Israeli football player and manager.
• Richard Skalak, 74, American biomedical engineering pioneer.[38]

18

• Praphas Charusathien, 84, Thai military officer and politician.
• Don Knight, 64, English film, television and stage actor, stroke.[39]
• Robert Swenson, 40, American professional wrestler, stuntman and actor, heart failure.
• Tochiakagi Takanori, 42, Japanese sumo wrestler, heart attack.

19

• Moses ǁGaroëb, 55, Namibian politician and founding member of SWAPO.
• Curly Ray Cline, 74, American bluegrass fiddler.
• Cathleen Cordell, 82, American actress, emphysema.[40]
• Lawrence Morgan, 82, Australian Olympic gold medal-winning equestrian, and footballer.
• Petr Novák, 51, Czech rock musician, poisoned.

20

• Norris Bradbury, 88, American physicist.[41]
• Bernard Cowey, 85, English rugby player.
• William Humphrey, 73, American writer, cancer.[42]
• Leo Jaffe, 88, American film executive.[43]
• Bob Switzer, 83, American inventor, businessman and environmentalist, complications from Parkinson's disease.

21

• Misael Pastrana Borrero, 73, President of Colombia[44]
• Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai, Afghani politician and diplomat, plane crash.
• A. A. Hamidhan, 88, Indonesian freedom fighter and journalist.
• Jean Horsley, 84, New Zealand artist.
• William Jopling, 86, Italian-born British leprologist.[45]
• Yuri Nikulin, 75, Soviet/Russian actor and clown.[46]

22

• Infante Álvaro, Duke of Galliera, 87, Spanish noble and Infante.
• James K. Johnson, 81, United States Air Force officer.[47]
• Gholamreza Khosroo Kurdieh, 31, Iranian serial killer, execution by hanging.
• Eduardo Lopes, 79, Portuguese road and track cyclist, cerebral vascular accident.
• Matti Sippala, 89, Finnish athlete.
• Mary Louise Smith, 82, American politician and women's rights activist, lung cancer.[48]
• Brendan Smyth, 70, Northern Irish Roman Catholic priest and convicted child molester, heart attack.
• Roy Zimmerman, 79, American gridiron football player.

23

• Mike Calhoun, 40, American football player (Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
• Eric Gairy, 75, Prime Minister of Grenada (1974–1979).
• Buddy Hassett, 85, American baseball player, bone cancer.[49]
• John Kendrew, 80, British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.[50]
• Elena Mayorova, 39, Soviet and Russian actress, burns.
• Jan Šejna, 70, Czechoslovak Army Major General and defector[51]
• Lucy Somerville Howorth, 102, American lawyer, feminist and politician.[52]

24

• Werner Abrolat, 73, German actor.
• Hardial Bains, 58, Indo-Canadian microbiology lecturer and communist politician, cancer.[53]
• Rex Ellsworth, 89, American Thoroughbred racing breeder.
• Louis Essen, 88, English physicist.
• Tete Montoliu, 64, Spanish jazz pianist.
• Carolyne Morrison, 92, Canadian politician.
• Zofia Rydet, 86, Polish photographer.
• Edgar F. Shannon Jr., 79, American university director, cancer.[54]
• Luigi Villoresi, 88, Italian motor racing driver.

25

• Clodomiro Almeyda, 74, Chilean politician, colon cancer.[55]
• Peter Dews, 67, British stage director.
• Carl Richard Jacobi, 89, American journalist and author.[56]
• Bijan Najdi, 55, Iranian writer and poet.
• Robert Pinget, 78, French avant-garde writer.[57]
• Camilla Spira, 91, German actress.

26

• Marcello Aliprandi, 63, Italian film director.
• Hone Glendinning, 85, British cinematographer.
• Brendan McCarthy, 52, American football player, heart attack.[58]

27

• J. Burton Angelle, 73, American politician and businessman.
• Sotiria Bellou, 76, Greek singer.
• Sally Blane, 87, American actress, cancer.[59]
• Noel Henderson, 69, Northern Irish rugby player.
• James Lindsay, 90, British politician.
• Molly F. Mare, 83, British marine biologist.
• Samuel A. Peeples, 79, American writer, cancer.
• Brandon Tartikoff, 48, American television executive, Hodgkin's lymphoma.[60]

28

• Frank Bencriscutto, 68, American concert band conductor and composer.
• Joyce Ebert, 64, American actress, cancer.[61]
• Willie Mae James Leake, American politician, cancer.
• Peter Springett, 51, English footballer.
• Masaru Takumi, 61, Japanese yakuza lord, murdered.

29

• Osborne Cowles, 98, American basketball player and coach.[62]
• Toshiya Fujita, 65, Japanese film director, film actor, and screenwriter.
• Kansari Halder, 86, Indian politician.
• Nelly Prono, 71, Paraguayan actress.
• Rhydwen Williams, 81, Welsh poet, novelist and Baptist minister.

30

• John D. Craig, 94, American writer, film producer, and television host.[63]
• Frunze Dovlatyan, 70, Armenian film director and actor.
• Veselin Đuranović, 72, Montenegro politician.
• Roger W. Mehle, 81, United States Navy admiral.
• Ernst Wilimowski, 81, German–Polish football player.

31

• Will Hare, 81, American actor, heart attack.[64]
• John M. Leddy, 83, United States Department of State official.[65]
• Nana Meskhidze, 71, Georgian painter
• Lotus Weinstock, 54, American stand-up comedian, author, musician, and actress, brain tumor.[66]
• People killed in the 1997 Pont de l'Alma car crash:
  • Diana, Princess of Wales, 36
  • Dodi Fayed, 42, Egyptian businessman[67]
  • Henri Paul, 41, French chauffeur

References

1. "Kenneth Bilby, 78, Author and Journalist". The New York Times. 2 August 1997. p. 1 10. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
2. "Dublin art world loses Charles Brady". The Irish Times. 5 August 1997. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
3. Anthony Tommasini (2 August 1997). "Sviatoslav Richter Is Dead; Acclaimed Pianist Was 82". The New York Times. p. 1 10. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
4. Richard Severo (3 August 1997). "William S. Burroughs Dies at 83; Member of the Beat Generation Wrote 'Naked Lunch'". The New York Times. p. 1 35. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
5. David M. Herszenhorn (4 August 1997). "Fela, 58, Dissident Nigerian Musician, Dies". The New York Times. p. B 7. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
6. Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr. (6 August 1997). "F. E. Smith, 79, Congressman Ousted Over Moderate Views". The New York Times. p. D 22. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
7. Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr. (8 August 1997). "Joan Erikson Is Dead at 95; Shaped Thought on Life Cycles". The New York Times. p. B 6. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
8. Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr. (7 August 1997). "Horace Bristol, 88; Depicted War and Poverty". The New York Times. p. B 9. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
9. Craig R. Whitney (5 August 1997). "Jeanne Calment, World's Elder, Dies at 122". The New York Times. p. B 8. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
10. Wolfgang Saxon (12 August 1997). "Nicholas J. Hoff, 91, Developer Of an Aluminum Skin for Jets". The New York Times. p. B 9. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
11. Judith H. Dobrzynski (8 August 1997). "Sidney Simon, Sculptor, 80; Founded School". The New York Times. p. B 6. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
12. David Stout (6 August 1997). "Clarence M. Kelley, Director of F.B.I. in the 70's, Dies at 85". The New York Times. p. D 22. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
13. Neil Strauss (8 August 1997). "Don Steele, 61, Disk Jockey Known for His Patter". The New York Times. p. B 6. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
14. Bruce Lambert (6 August 1997). "Michael J. Tully Jr., 64, Senator Who Fought for a Smoking Ban". The New York Times. p. D 21. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
15. David Childs (13 August 1997). "Obituary: Professor Jurgen Kuczynski". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
16. Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr. (24 August 1997). "Kay Halle, 93, an Intimate of Century's Giants". The New York Times. p. 1 33. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
17. "Plato Malozemoff, 88, Retired Executive". The New York Times. 18 August 1997. p. B 8. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
18. Herbert Muschamp (9 August 1997). "Paul Rudolph Is Dead at 78; Modernist Architect of the 60's". The New York Times. p. 1 50. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
19. Diana Jean Schemo (11 August 1997). "Herbert Jose de Souza, 60, Champion of Brazil's Poor". The New York Times. p. B5. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
20. David M. Herszenhorn (12 August 1997). "Peter Braestrup, 68, Library of Congress Editor". The New York Times. p. B 9. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
21. Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr. (15 August 1997). "Carlton Moss, 88, Who Filmed The Black Experience, Dies". The New York Times. p. D 20. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
22. Allan Kozinn (12 August 1997). "Conlon Nancarrow Dies at 84; Composed for the Player Piano". The New York Times. p. B 9. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
23. "Bert McTaggart - Player Bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
24. "l'Humanité". DÉCÈS DE JACQUES ROBERT (in French). Retrieved 25 July 2020.
25. Grace Glueck (15 August 1997). "Anna Balakian, 82, a Professor of Comparative Literature". The New York Times. p. D 20. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
26. Ray Corio (13 August 1997). "Rex Barney, 72, Dodger Pitcher; Threw a No-Hitter for Brooklyn". The New York Times. p. A 21. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
27. Margarett Loke (15 August 1997). "Jack Delano, 83; Depicted the Depression". The New York Times. p. D 20. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
28. "Abe Newborn, Theatrical Agent, 77". The New York Times. 23 August 1997. p. 1 10. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
29. James Barron (14 August 1997). "Emil Mosbacher Dies at 75; Yachtsman and Nixon Official". The New York Times. p. B 8. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
30. "Harlow Rothert". olympedia.org. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
31. Zinko, Carolyne (19 August 1997). "UCSF Researcher's Death Stuns Friends / She fell while crossing river in Alaska". SFGate. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
32. Wolfgang Saxon (19 August 1997). "Fred C. Galda, 79, Retired Judge". The New York Times. p. D 20. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
33. Eric Pace (18 August 1997). "Ray Heatherton, 88, TV's 'Merry Mailman'". The New York Times. p. B 8. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
34. Rose, Cynthia (19 August 1997). "Nusrat's Passing Leaves Void in the Music World". Seattle Times. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
35. Lorefice, Mike (19 August 1997). "The Tragic Death of Plum Mariko". Quebrada.net. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
36. "Reynolds, Donn Biography". citizenfreak.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
37. Clyde H. Farnsworth (20 August 1997). "Burnum Burnum, 61, Fighter For Australia's Aborigines". The New York Times. p. D 20. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
38. Tim Hilchey (1 September 1997). "Richard Skalak, 74, Pioneer In Bioengineering, Is Dead". The New York Times. p. B 6. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
39. "Don Knight". variety.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
40. "Cathleen Cordell, Actress, Dead at 81". The New York Times. 30 August 1997. p. 1 52. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
41. Wolfgang Saxon (22 August 1997). "Norris E. Bradbury, 88, Chief Of Los Alamos Atomic Center". The New York Times. p. D 17. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
42. Mel Gussow (21 August 1997). "William Humphrey, 73, Writer Of Novels About Rural Texas". The New York Times. p. D 19. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
43. James Sterngold (21 August 1997). "Leo Jaffe, Hollywood Deal Maker, Dies at 88". The New York Times. p. D 19. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
44. Nick Caistor (August 26, 1997). "Obituary: Misael Pastrana". The Independent. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
45. "William Henry Jopling". rcplondon.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
46. D.Nevil (22 August 1997). "Obituary: Yuri Nikulin". The Independent. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
47. "James K. Johnson". Veteran Tributes. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
48. Eric Pace (25 August 1997). "Mary L. Smith, Only Woman To Lead G.O.P., Dies at 82". The New York Times. p. A 21. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
49. Richard Goldstein (26 August 1997). "Buddy Hassett, 85, Ballplayer". The New York Times. p. D 21. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
50. Wolfgang Saxon (30 August 1997). "John C. Kendrew Dies at 80; Biochemist Won Nobel in '62". The New York Times. p. 1 52. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
51. David Stout (30 August 1997). "Jan Sejna, 70, Ex-Czech General and Defector". The New York Times. p. 1 52. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
52. Wolfgang Saxon (2 September 1997). "Lucy S. Howorth, 102, Dies; Lawyer, Politician, Suffragist". The New York Times. p. D 15. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
53. "Hardial Bains, the national leader of the Communist Party". The Associated Press. 27 August 1997. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
54. William H. Honan (26 August 1997). "E. F. Shannon Jr., 79, Dies; Forceful Chief of U. of Virginia". The New York Times. p. D 21. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
55. Calvin Sims (29 August 1997). "Clodomiro Almeyda, 74, Ally Of Allende Jailed by Pinochet". The New York Times. p. A 21. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
56. "Carl Jacobi, 89; Wrote Spooky Tales". The New York Times. 30 August 1997. p. 1 52. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
57. Alan Riding (12 September 1997). "Robert Pinget, 78, a Master Of the Nouveau Roman, Dies". The New York Times. p. B 8. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
58. Estrada, Louie (28 August 1997). "Real Estate Executive Brendan McCarthy Dies". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
59. "Sally Blane, 87, Veteran Film Actress". The New York Times. 7 September 1997. p. 1 52. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
60. Bill Carter (28 August 1997). "Brandon Tartikoff, Former NBC Executive Who Transformed TV in the 80's, Dies at 48". The New York Times. p. B 8. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
61. Mel Gussow (30 August 1997). "Joyce Ebert, 64, Prolific Actress In Stage Roles Large and Small". The New York Times. p. 1 52. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
62. "Osborne Bryan "Ozzie" Cowles". findagrave.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
63. "John D. Craig; Photographer of Underwater Scenes, TV Host", Los Angeles Times, 12 September 1997, Retrieved 29 July 2020
64. "Will Hare, 81, a Founder of Actors Studio". The New York Times. 16 September 1997. p. D 23. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
65. John M. Broder (15 September 1997). "John Leddy, 83, Senior Official Faced McCarthy". The New York Times. p. B 7. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
66. Variety Staff (September 10, 1997). "Lotus Weinstock". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
67. Youssef M. Ibrahim (31 August 1997). "Emad al-Fayed, 41, a Friend, Dies in the Crash With Diana". The New York Times. p. 131. Retrieved 11 July 2020.