Deaths in December 2005

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The following is a list of notable deaths in December 2005.

31

• Enrico Di Giuseppe, 73, American operatic tenor, cancer. [1]
• Maurice Dodd, 83, British cartoonist (The Perishers), brain haemorrhage. [2]
• Maclovia Ruiz, 95, American dancer, pneumonia. [3]
• Phillip Whitehead, 68, British Labour Party MEP for Derby North, former television producer, heart attack. [4]

30

• Eddie Barlow, 65, South African cricketer [5]
• Candy Barr, 70, exotic dancer, pneumonia [6], [7],[8]
• Tory Dent, 47, American poet, essayist and art critic [9]
• Rona Jaffe, 74, American novelist (The Best of Everything, Mazes and Monsters), cancer [10]
• Pasquale Carpino, 69, Italian-Canadian Singing Chef, [11]

29

• Armand Phillip Bartos, 95, American architect [12]
• Abuna Yesehaq Mandefro, 72, Ethiopian-Orthodox Archbishop [13]
• Eileen Nolan, 85, British Director of the Women's Royal Army Corps. [14]
• Elizabeth Parcells, 54, American operatic coloratura soprano [15]

28

• Patrick Cranshaw, 86, American film and television actor [16]
• Richard De Angelis, 73, comedian and actor (The Wire), congestive heart failure [17]
• Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi, 114, oldest living person ever recognized in the history of Italy
• Stevo Žigon, 79, Serbian actor and theatre director

27

• Xavier Connor, 88, Australian jurist, foundation judge of the Federal Court of Australia, President of the Australian Law Reform Commission 1985 - 1987
• Ted Ditchburn, 84, goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur & England [18]
• Giancarlo Primo, 81, Italian basketball coach, the first to defeat National Teams USA and USSR in 1970s [19]
• Erich Topp, 91, German U-boat commander in World War II [20]
• Tokuji Wakasa, 91, Japanese businessman, former president of All Nippon Airways

26

• Julian "Bud" Blake, 87, American cartoonist (Tiger) [21]
• Muriel Costa-Greenspon, 68, mezzo-soprano at the New York City Opera for 30 years [22]
• John Diebold, 79, pioneering American computer engineer [23]
• Ernesto Leal, 60, presidential chief of staff and former foreign minister of Nicaragua, pneumonia [24] (Spanish)
• Kerry Packer, 68, publishing, media and gaming tycoon, Australia's richest individual amassing a fortune of over $6 billion [25]
• Vincent Schiavelli, 57, American character actor, lung cancer [26]

25

• Derek Bailey, 75, free improvising avant-garde guitarist, motor neuron disease [27]
• Robert Barbers, 61, former Philippines senator, heart attack [28]
• Bhanumathi, 80, Indian film actress, director, singer/songwriter [29], [30]
• Donald Dawson, 97, executive assistant to Harry S. Truman [31]
• Henry Kock, 53, Canadian horticulturist and eco-activist, brain cancer [32]
• Birgit Nilsson, 87, Swedish soprano[33][34]
• Joseph Pararajasingham, 71, Sri Lankan politician and supporter of the Tamil Tiger rebels, shot and killed at a midnight Christmas Mass [35]
• Roy Stuart, 70, American actor [36]

24

• Douglas Bigelow, 49, chief of web security at AOL, pancreatic cancer [37]
• Georg Johannesen, 74, Norwegian author and professor of rhetoric. [38]
• Constance Keene, 84, American classical pianist known for playing the romantic repertoire
• Harold Lawton, 106, British academic and veteran of the First World War[39]
• Michael Vale, 83, American actor who appeared in over 1,300 commercials as the sleepy doughnut maker for Dunkin' Donuts from 1982–1997, diabetes
• Wang Daohan, 90, negotiator for People's Republic of China in cross-straits talks, who contributed to the formation of the 1992 Consensus with Koo Chen-fu from the Republic of China on Taiwan [40][41]

23

• Lajos Baróti, 91, Hungarian football coach [42]
• Selma Jeanne Cohen, 85, dance historian, editor of The International Encyclopedia of Dance [43]
• G. Blakemore Evans, 93, Shakespeare scholar, author of The Riverside Shakespeare, stroke [44]
• Truman Gibson, 93, anti-segregation lawyer and boxing promoter [45]
• Camille Gravel, 90, Louisiana lawyer and civil rights activist, advisor to three governors [46]
• Norman D. Vaughan, 100, American explorer and sportsman, part of Richard Byrd's 1928 South Pole expedition [47][48]
• Yao Wenyuan, 74, Chinese Communist political leader, member of the Gang of Four [49]

22

• James Dungy, 18, son of NFL coach Tony Dungy, apparent suicide
• Cooper Evans, 81, former Republican US Representative from Iowa from 1981–1987
• Aurora Miranda, 90, Brazilian entertainer, sister of Carmen Miranda; she appeared in The Three Caballeros (1945) in which she danced with Donald Duck

21

• Myron Healey, 82, American film actor who normally played Western villains [50]
• Elrod Hendricks, 64, Baltimore Orioles coach, former MLB catcher, heart attack [51]
• Hallam Tennyson, 85, British radio producer and great-grandson of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, suspected victim of murder [52]

20

• Raoul Bott, 82, Harvard mathematician, cancer[53]
• Argentina Brunetti, 98, Argentine-Italian actress (It's a Wonderful Life, The Caddy), writer, journalist
• Bradford Cannon, 98, Boston plastic surgeon, pneumonia [54]
• William W. Howells, 97, American anthropologist. [55]
• Billy Hughes (actor), 57, American former child/film actor during the 1960s [56]

19

• Keith Duckworth, 72, British automotive designer. [57]
• Vincent Gigante, 77, Genovese family crime boss, heart disease
• Phyllis Gretzky, 64, mother of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, lung cancer
• Julio Iglesias, Sr., 90, Spanish gynaecologist who is among the oldest men to have fathered a child (also Julio Iglesias's father and Enrique Iglesias's grandfather), heart attack
• Marjorie Kellogg, 83, American author and playwright (Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon) [58]

18

• Doug Dye, 84, New Zealand microbiologist
• Howie Ferguson, 75, former NFL player
• Doris Fisher, Baroness Fisher of Rednal, 86, British politician. [59]
• Barry Halper, 66, baseball memorabilia collector and limited partner for the New York Yankees [60]
• Belita Jepson-Turner, 82, Olympic skater and film actress [61]
• John McIntyre, 89, Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly (1982), former acting principal and professor of divinity of the University of Edinburgh [62][63]
• P.M. Sayeed, 64, India's Minister of Power, heart attack, [64]
• Alan M. Voorhees, 83, transportation engineer and city planner [65]

17

• Jack Anderson, 83, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, complications of Parkinson's disease [66]
• Marc Favreau, 76, French Canadian television and film actor, best known for his creation of the clown Sol
• Jacques Fouroux, 58, French rugby union captain and coach, heart attack [67]
• Haljand Udam, 69, Estonian translator and encyclopedist

16

• Anthony Barber, 85, British politician and former Conservative Party Chancellor of the Exchequer, complications of Parkinson's disease
• Kenneth Bulmer, 84, English writer (pseudonyms included Alan Burt Akers and Dray Prescot) [68]
• Joseph Owades, 86, American biochemist, inventor of light beer [69] [70]
• John Spencer, 58, American actor (The West Wing, The Rock), heart attack
• Sverre Stenersen, 79, Norwegian Gold medal winner in the 1956 Winter Olympics
• Enzo Stuarti, 86, Italian tenor, was in many Broadway musicals, heart failure [71]

15

• James Ingo Freed, 75, American architect
• Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, 84, Italian writer and director of movies and theatre
• Heinrich Gross, 90, Austrian alleged Nazi doctor and war criminal [72] [73]
• Walter Haut, 83, retired U.S. Army lieutenant, central figure in the Roswell UFO incident in 1947 [74]
• Stan Leonard, 90, Canadian golfer, heart failure [75]
• Julian Marías, 91, Spanish philosopher and father of author Javier Marías
• John McIntyre, 89, Scottish theologian. [76]
• Jim Ostendarp, 82, football coach at Amherst College for 33 years [77]
• William Proxmire, 90, former Democratic Senator from Wisconsin (1957–1989), giver of the Golden Fleece Awards for wasteful government spending, complications of Alzheimer's disease
• Darrell Russell, 29, former NFL player for the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, car accident

14

• Gordon Duncan, 41, Scottish musician and bagpiper, suicide[78]
• Sudhir Joshi, 57, Indian actor, heart attack
• John B. Nixon, 77, American convicted murderer, executed in Mississippi
• William "Duke" Procter, 106, Canadian WWI veteran [79]
• Gladys Swetland, 113, believed to be the oldest resident of Pennsylvania [80]
• Rodney William Whitaker, 74, British author, wrote under pseudonyms such as "Trevanian"

13

• Stanley Tookie Williams, 51, American convicted murderer and co-founder of the Crips turned anti-gang activist, executed by lethal injection for killing 4 people in California

12

• Eric D'Arcy, 81, Australian Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Hobart
• Jon de Cortina, 71, Jesuit priest who survived the 1989 massacre in El Salvador, stroke [81]
• Robert Newmyer, 49, American film producer, heart attack and complications of asthma
• Ramanand Sagar, 87, Bollywood film producer [82]
• Annette Stroyberg, 69, Danish actress and former wife of Roger Vadim [83]
• Gebran Tueni, 48, Lebanese journalist and legislator, injuries sustained in a car bombing attack [84]

11

• Walter Cudzik, 73, American NFL and AFL center for the Boston Patriots
• Hayim Tadmor, 82, Israeli Assyriologist and professor [85]
• Del Philpott, 82, American soldier and scientist

10

• Mary Jackson, 95, American American film and television actress
• Donald Martino, 74, American composer
• Eugene McCarthy, 89, former Democratic United States Senator from Minnesota (1959–1971), and United States Representative (1949–1959) and presidential primary candidate [86]
• Richard Pryor, 65, American comedian and actor, heart attack and complications of multiple sclerosis
• Gardner Read, 92, American classical composer.
• Clark G. Reynolds, 65, American naval historian. [87]
• Bob Richardson, 73, fashion photographer

9

• Mike Botts, 61, American drummer, toured and recorded with Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg, Tina Turner and others, cancer
• Homer Mensch, 91, internationally known bass player, Juilliard teacher
• Eunice Norton, 97, American classical pianist and music promoter
• György Sándor, 93, internationally famous pianist, Juilliard teacher, heart failure
• Robert Sheckley, 77, American science fiction author, brain aneurysm
• Brian Whittle, 59, British journalist and news agency head [88]

8

• R. W. Bradford, 58, publisher of Liberty magazine, cancer
• Dame Rose Heilbron, 91, British judge [89]
• Leo Scheffczyk, 85, German Roman Cardinal Deacon of San Francesco Saverio alla Garbatella, Germany [90]
• Roger Shattuck, 82, American writer and critic, Prostate cancer. [91]
• J.N. Williamson, 73, American horror writer, author and publisher

7

• Lucy d'Abreu, 113, oldest person in the UK at the time of her death [92]
• Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, airplane passenger fatally shot by U.S. Air Marshals after allegedly claiming he had placed a bomb aboard
• James Bastien, 71, author of instructional books for the piano [93]
• Adrian Biddle, 53, British cinematographer, heart attack
• Albert Henry Bosch, 97, Republican United States Representative from New York (1953–1960)
• Carroll A. Campbell, Jr., 65, former South Carolina governor (1987–1995), and member of U.S. House of Representatives (1979–1987), heart attack and complications of Alzheimer's disease
• Bud Carson, 75, former NFL head coach, emphysema
• Loomis Dean, 88, photographer, notably for LIFE magazine
• Devan Nair, 82, former president of Singapore [94]

6

• Charly Gaul, 72, Luxembourgian cyclist, winner of the 1958 Tour de France
• Richard Grimsdale, 76, built the world's first transistorised computer and was at the forefront of work on Read Only Memory [95]
• Hanns Dieter Hüsch, 80, German political satirist
• Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski, 111, oldest man in the UK at the time of his death [96]
• Danny Williams, 63, South African popular singer, lung cancer

5

• John Alvheim, 75, Norwegian politician
• Wesley Baker, 47, American convicted murderer, executed in Maryland
• Liu Binyan, 80, Chinese author and dissident, cancer [97]
• Milo Dor, 82, Serbian-Austrian author, heart failure
• Edward L. Masry, 73, attorney and mentor to Erin Brockovich, complications of diabetes
• Kevin "Big Kev" McQuay, 56, Australian businessman and media personality, heart attack [98]
• Frits Philips, 100, Dutch businessman; grandson of the founder of Philips, complications from a fall

4

• Gregg Hoffman, 42, film producer, natural causes (autopsy result pending) [99]
• Gloria Lasso, 83, Spanish singer
• Doug Murphy, 53, former CBS (KPIX) news anchorman, house fire

3

• Peter Cook, 62, Australian politician, melanoma
• Lance Dossor, 90, Australian pianist
• Maurice Harris, 84, trumpet player, Hollywood, studio, TV and sessions player (Tonight Show)
• Kikka Sirén, 41, Finnish pop/schlager singer
• Kåre Kristiansen, 85, Norwegian politician; minister of Oil and Energy (1983–1986)
• Allan Waters, 84, Canadian broadcasting icon

2

• Kenneth Boyd, 57, American convicted murderer, executed in North Carolina, the 1,000th U.S. execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 [100]
• Shawn Paul Humphries, 34, American convicted murderer, executed in South Carolina
• Malik Joyeux, 25, professional surfer, killed at Hawaii's Banzai Pipeline [101]
• William P. Lawrence, 75, retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral, first to fly at twice the speed of sound [102]
• Peter Menegazzo, early 60s, Australian cattle baron, killed (along with his wife Angela) in a plane crash [103], [104]
• Van Tuong Nguyen, 25, Australian executed at Changi Prison in Singapore for trafficking 396 grams of heroin in 2002, hanging [105]
• Mohammed Amza Zubeidi, 67, former Iraqi prime minister under Saddam Hussein

1

• Gust Avrakotos, 67, CIA agent who armed the mujaheddin of Afghanistan [106]
• Mary Hayley Bell, 94, British actress, memoirist and writer, Alzheimer's disease [107], [108], [109]
• Jack Colvin, 73, American actor, The Incredible Hulk, coronary thrombosis
• Michael Evans, 61, White House photographer, noted for capturing the trademark image of Ronald Reagan wearing a cowboy hat, cancer [110]
• Ray Hanna, 77, New Zealand-born warbird pilot and founder of The Old Flying Machine Company, natural causes [111]