The following is a list of deaths in May 2009.
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 2009
1 Delara Darabi, 22, Iranian convicted murderer, executed by hanging. Fred Delmare, 87, German actor, complications from pneumonia. Ric Estrada, 81, Cuban-born American comic book artist (Superman, Batman), co-creator of Power Girl, prostate cancer.Ric Estrada, R.I.P. Danny Gans, 52, American entertainer. Norman Gash, 97, British historian. Brian Grove, 88, Australian cricketer. Albert Hamilton Gordon, 107, American businessman. George Hannan, 98, Australian politician. Jokke Kangaskorpi, 37, Finnish footballer. Jack D. Maltester, 95, American politician, mayor of San Leandro, California. Derek Noonan, 62, British rugby league and rugby union player. Marc Rocco, 46, American film director (Murder in the First, Where the Day Takes You) and screenwriter. Sunline, 13, New Zealand champion racehorse, euthanized. John Wilke, 54, American investigative reporter, pancreatic cancer.
2 Alfred Appel Jr., 75, American scholar, expert on Vladimir Nabokov, heart failure. K. Balaji, 74, Indian Tamil actor and producer, multiple organ failure. Augusto Boal, 78, Brazilian dramatist and theater director (Theatre of the Oppressed), respiratory failure.Morre dramaturgo Augusto Boal, aos 78 anos, no Rio Víctor Andrés Catena, 84, Spanish screenwriter and director.Fallece Víctor Andrés Catena, guionista e impulsor del teatro en Granada Marilyn French, 79, American writer, heart failure. Eilene Galloway, 102, American space law researcher and editor, breast cancer.Eilene Galloway, the Woman Who Helped Create NASA, Dies at Age 102"Profile of Eilene Galloway" (PDF) Harold Hankins, 78, British electrical engineer and academic administrator, Vice-Chancellor of UMIST.Professor Harold Hankins: Communications engineer who went on to lead UMIST to a position of academic eminence Kiyoshiro Imawano, 58, Japanese rock musician.ホーム芸能"ロックの神様"逝く…忌野清志郎さんが58歳で死去 Janus Kamban, 95, Faroese sculptor and graphic designer. Jack Kemp, 73, American politician and football player, candidate for Vice President (1996), cancer. Carole C. Noon, 59, American primatologist, founder of Save the Chimps, pancreatic cancer. Robert Pauley, 85, American executive, President of ABC Radio (1961–1967), heart failure. Virginia Prince, 96, American transgender activist.
3 Bobby Campbell, 86, Scottish football player (Chelsea, Scotland) and manager. Robert B. Choate Jr., 84, American food lobbyist. Committed, 29, American thoroughbred racehorse, euthanized.Champion sprinter Committed put down at 29 Echo, 63-64, African bush elephant. John Elsworthy, 77, Welsh football player (Ipswich Town). Eddie Hui, 65, Hong Kong public servant, Commissioner of Police (1994–2001), cancer. Eleanor Perenyi, 91, American gardener and writer, cerebral hemorrhage. Ram Balkrushna Shewalkar, 78, Indian Marathi writer, cardiac arrest. Ralph Thompson, 95, British animal artist.
4 Nicholas Clemente, 80, American judge (New York Supreme Court). Dom DeLuise, 75, American actor (The Cannonball Run, The Secret of NIMH, Spaceballs), kidney failure.Dom DeLuise: Popular actor, comedian, chef dies Sir Geoffrey Foot, 93, Australian politician.Sir Geoffrey James Foot (20 July 1915–4 May 2009) Edward Stewart Kennedy, 97, American historian. Charles Lugano, 59, Kenyan politician, after short illness. Martha Mason, 71, American author, lived 60 years in an iron lung. Fritz Muliar, 89, Austrian actor. Jane Randolph, 93, American actress. Gisela Stein, 73, German actress.
5 Benjamín Flores, 24, Mexican boxer, brain injury during a match. David S. King, 91, American politician, U.S. Representative for Utah (1959–1963). Richard Miller, 83, American operatic tenor and educator, Professor Emeritus of Voice (Oberlin Conservatory of Music).In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus of Voice Richard Miller Dewey Smith, 36, American diver. Elsie B. Washington, 66, American author, wrote first African American romance novel, multiple sclerosis and cancer. Murasaki Yamada, 60, Japanese manga artist.
6 Peyman Abadi, 36, Iranian actor, car accident. Erik Bluemel, 32, American professor (University of Denver), bicycle accident.DU law professor brain dead after bike accident Sam Cohn, 79, American talent agent, after short illness.Sam Cohn, Powerful Talent Broker, Dies at 79 Leon Despres, 101, American attorney and politician, heart failure. Ean Evans, 48, American bassist (Lynyrd Skynyrd), cancer. Sima Eyvazova, 75, Azerbaijani diplomat, first Permanent Representative to the UN.SSRİ-nin ilk qeyri-rus qadın diplomatı - o, azərbaycanlı idi Kevin Grubb, 31, American NASCAR driver, suicide by gunshot. Sid Laverents, 100, American amateur filmmaker, pneumonia. Lev Loseff, 71, Russian poet and literary critic. Bob Meyer, 76, Australian logician, lung cancer. W. Wesley Peterson, 85, American mathematician and computer scientist. Valentin Varennikov, 85, Russian general. Viola Wills, 69, American pop singer, cancer.
7 Robin Blaser, 83, American-born Canadian poet, Griffin Poetry Prize winner. Mickey Carroll, 89, American actor (The Wizard of Oz).Mickey Carroll, an 'Oz' Munchkin, Dies at 89 Ian Cundy, 64, British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Peterborough, mesothelioma. Linda Dangcil, 66, American actress (The Flying Nun, Jem, The Bad Pack), throat cancer. John Furia Jr., 79, American screenwriter (The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare), President of the Writers Guild, West (1973–1975). Alan Gilbertson, 81, New Zealand cricketer. Tony Marsh, 77, British racing driver. David Mellor, 78, British industrial designer, manufacturer and retailer. Frank Melton, 60, American politician, mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. John Murphy, 95, Irish building contractor. Danny Ozark, 85, American baseball manager.Former Phillies manager Danny Ozark dies Brian Sorenson, 79, New Zealand cricketer. Wayland Young, 2nd Baron Kennet, 85, British politician and writer.
8 Gianni Baget Bozzo, 84, Italian Roman Catholic priest and politician. Fons Brydenbach, 54, Belgian athlete, cancer. Dom DiMaggio, 92, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox), brother of Joe DiMaggio, pneumonia.Dom DiMaggio Dies at 92; Played in His Brother's Shadow Hideyuki Fujisawa, 83, Japanese Go player, aspiration pneumonia. Carlos Kloppenburg, 89, Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Novo Hamburgo (1986–1995). Ninel Kurgapkina, 80, Russian prima ballerina, road accident. Greg Palmer, 61, American writer, television reporter and Emmy Award-winning journalist, lung cancer. Bud Shrake, 77, American journalist and novelist, lung cancer. Eunice Taylor, 75, American baseball player (Kenosha Comets).
9 Eileen Albright, 81, American baseball player (AAGPBL) Stephen Bruton, 60, American songwriter and guitarist (Kris Kristofferson band), throat cancer.Stephen Bruton dies at 60; Texas musician played with Kris Kristofferson, T Bone Burnett Chuck Daly, 78, American basketball coach, pancreatic cancer. Travis Edmonson, 76, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bud & Travis), heart failure. Michael Fox, 75, British-born Israeli lawyer. Cyril Hart, 96, British forestry expert.Obituary, Dr Cyril Hart OBE Henry T. King, 89, American attorney, Nuremberg trials prosecutor, cancer. David Marcus, 85, Irish literary editor, after long illness. Ernest Millington, 93, British politician and educator, last living World War II-era member of the British Parliament. Eugene Smith, 88, American gospel singer. Evgenios Spatharis, 85, Greek shadow play artist, fall. Mendi Rodan, 80, Romanian-born Israeli conductor and violinist, cancer.חתן פרס ישראל מנדי רודן הלך לעולמו (in Hebrew) Jean-Claude Van Geenberghe, 46, Belgian-born Ukrainian equestrian. George Zinkhan, 57, American academic and suspected murderer, suicide by gunshot.
10 Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, 45-46, Libyan Al-Qaeda paramilitary trainer accused of terrorism, alleged suicide. Robert John Cornell, 89, American politician and Roman Catholic priest, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin (1975–1979). Ronald Easterbrook, 78, British criminal. Sergio Escobedo, 78, Mexican Olympic modern pentathlete and fencer. Roger Guilhem, 84, French rugby league player (national team). Johnnie Johnson, 91, English cricketer. James Kirkup, 91, British poet, translator and travel writer, stroke. Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano, 47, Guatemalan lawyer, shot.Lawyer's shooting ignites crisis in Guatemala Brian Simnjanovski, 27, American football player (Berlin Thunder), car accident. Robert J. Sinclair, 77, American executive, CEO of Saab-Scania of America, cancer.
11 Pat Booth, 66, British model and writer, cancer. Lude Check, 91, Canadian ice hockey player.Ex-NHLer captured Allan Cup in Ottawa Abel Goumba, 82, Central African politician, Prime Minister (1957–1958, 1959, 2003) and vice-president (2003–2005).Décès d'Abel Goumba, figure de la politique centrafricaine Claudio Huepe, 69, Chilean politician and diplomat, heart attack. Bill Kelso, 69, American baseball player. Roy Kline, 93, Australian footballer. Mark Landon, 60, American actor, adopted son of Michael Landon. Shanthi Lekha, 79, Sri Lankan actress. António Lopes dos Santos, 92, Portuguese general, Governor of Macau (1962–1966), Cape Verde (1969–1974). Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, 93, Indian admiral, Chief of Naval Staff (1970–1973). Peter Philips, 81, Australian politician, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1976–1988). Sir Richard Posnett, 89, British colonial administrator, Governor of Belize (1972–1976) and Bermuda (1981–1983). Leonard Shlain, 71, American surgeon and writer, brain cancer.
12 Christopher Bathurst, 3rd Viscount Bledisloe, 74, British aristocrat and politician, heart failure. Dame Heather Begg, 76, New Zealand operatic soprano, leukemia. Mohan Ellawala, 61, Sri Lankan politician, Governor of Sabaragamuwa Province (2008–2009), after long illness. Eden Ross Lipson, 66, American book editor, pancreatic cancer. Thomas Nordseth-Tiller, 28, Norwegian screenwriter (Max Manus), cancer. Roger Planchon, 77, French theatre director, heart attack. Sidique Ali Merican, 78, Malaysian sprinter, stroke. Ted Sampley, 63, American POW/MIA activist, complications from heart surgery. Antonio Vega, 51, Spanish pop singer-songwriter (Nacha Pop), pneumonia. Heini Walter, 81, Swiss racing driver.
13 Frank Aletter, 83, American character actor (It's About Time), cancer. Ron Cameron, 85, Canadian Olympic rower.Ron Cameron Waldemar Levy Cardoso, 108, Brazilian Field Marshal, WWI-era veteran. Achille Compagnoni, 94, Italian mountaineer, first person to ascend K2. Don Cordner, 87, Australian footballer. Rafael Escalona, 81, Colombian Vallenato composer and troubador. Norbert Eschmann, 75, Swiss footballer. Ernest Kline, 79, American politician, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania (1971–1979).Former Lt. Gov. Ernest P. Kline dies at 79 Iwan Schmid, 61, Swiss Olympic cyclist. Anne Scott-James, 96, British journalist and author, widow of Sir Osbert Lancaster. L. William Seidman, 88, American public servant, Chairman of the FDIC (1985–1991), after short illness. Joe Tandy, 26, British auto racing team owner, car crash.
14 Barathea, 19, Irish racehorse, euthanized.Barathea, BC Mile Winner, Euthanized Monica Bleibtreu, 65, Austrian actress, screenwriter and drama teacher, cancer. Bob Boyd, 81, American football player.LMU Hall of Famer Bob Boyd Passes Away Newt Heisley, 88, American commercial artist, designer of POW/MIA flag, after long illness. Ken Hollyman, 86, Welsh footballer (Cardiff City, Newport County). Marian McDougall, 95, American amateur golfer. Buddy Montgomery, 79, American jazz musician, heart failure. William J. Passmore, 77, American jockey, complications from emphysema.