The following is a list of notable deaths in March 2003.
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.
March 2003
1 Elaine Barrie, 87, American actress (Midnight), fourth wife of John Barrymore. Nadine Conner, 96, American operatic soprano, radio singer and music teacher. Gauri Deshpande, 61, Indian novelist, short story writer, and poet. Franjo Glaser, 90, Croatian footballer. Loris Guernieri, 65, Italian racing cyclist. Manfred Molzberger, 67, German Olympic long jumper (1960). Roger Michael Needham, 68, British computer scientist, pioneered computer password one-way hash functions, cancer. Adeyinka Oyekan, 91, Oba of Lagos (1965–2003). Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth, 81, German princess. Major Sundarrajan, 68, Indian actor and director.
2 Roger Albertsen, 45, Norwegian footballer, cancer. Hank Ballard, 75, American singer (The Midnighters), composer, famous for his hit "The Twist", esophageal cancer. William Blezard, 81, English composer and arranger for Noël Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Joyce Grenfell, Honor Blackman. Bill Carruthers, 72, American television executive, stroke. Joe Decker, 55, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners), fall. George Edwards, 94, British aircraft designer. Fred Freiberger, 88, American film and television writer and television producer. Malcolm Williamson, 71, Australian composer, Master of the Queen's Music. Goffredo Petrassi, 98, Italian composer and conductor of modern classical music. Albert Reuter, 95, Luxembourgian footballer and Olympian (1928). Bill Woggon, 92, American cartoonist who created the comic book Katy Keene.
3 Gilbert Wheeler Beebe, 90, American epidemiologist and statistician, pioneered radiation exposure studies. Ann A. Bernatitus, 91, American U.S. Navy nurse, Legion of Merit for heroism during the siege of Bataan and Corregidor. Horst Buchholz, 69, German actor (The Magnificent Seven, One, Two, Three, Life Is Beautiful), pneumonia. Dick Garrard, 92, Australian wrestler and Olympian (1936, 1948, 1952). Kenta, 54, Swedish musician, cancer. Malcolm Kilduff, 75, American journalist. Luis Marden, 90, American photographer, explorer, writer, and filmmaker, Parkinson's disease. Frances North, 83, American politician, member of the Washington House of Representatives (1973–1983), Parkinson's disease.
4 Fedora Barbieri, 82, Italian operatic mezzo-soprano and actress. Michel Block, 65, Belgian-French pianist. Celly Campello, 60, Brazilian rock singer and performer, breast cancer. Jaba Ioseliani, 76, Georgian politician, writer, and 'thief in law', heart attack. Sébastien Japrisot, 71, French author, screenwriter and film director. Erika Kraft, 71, German figure skater and Olympian (1952). Fabio Paiella, 63, Italian Olympic diver (1960). Oliver Payne Pearson, 87, American zoologist and ecologist. Roger Renaux, 77, French Olympic sports shooter (1972).
5 Edwin Hardy Amies, 93, English fashion designer, official dressmaker for Queen Elizabeth II. Marianne Baudler, 81, German chemist. George Miller, 61, American stand-up comedian, leukemia. Gerhard Rosenfeld, 72, German composer. Dzhabrail Yamadayev, 32, Chechen rebel field commander, killed by a bomb.
6 Linton Garner, 87, American jazz pianist. Ernst B. Haas, 78, German-American political scientist. Claus Helberg, 84, Norwegian and mountain guide and resistance member during World War II. Mickey Kreitner, 80, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs). Ramón Mestre, 65, Argentine politician, hepatitis. Luděk Pachman, 78, Czechoslovak-German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and political activist. Maurice Rheims, 93, French art auctioneer, art historian and novelist. Sam Scorer, 80, English architect. Gábor Mádi Szabó, 80, Hungarian actor. Saba Youakim, 88, Lebanses archbishop. Alice Martineau, 30, English singer.
7 Mehmed Alagić, 55, Bosnian Army general. José Márcio Ayres, 49, Brazilian conservationist and zoologist, founded Brazilian rain forest reserves, lung cancer. Tzvetana Berkovska, 69, Bulgarian Olympic sprinter (1952). Manfred Durniok, 68, German film producer, director and screenwriter, heart attack. Klaus Henkes, 73, East German air force general, Director General of Interflug (1978-1982). Monica Hughes, 77, Canadian science fiction author. Winifred Langton, 93, British communist and activist. Al Libke, 84, American baseball player (Cincinnati Reds). César Muciño, 31, Mexican Olympic cyclist (1992).
8 Ibrahim al-Makadmeh, 51, Palestinian Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, air strike. Cho Byung-hwa, 81, South Korean poet. Carlos Cañete, 62, Argentine boxer and Olympian (1960). Adam Faith, 62, British singer and actor, heart attack. Stanisław Fołtyn, 66, Polish footballer and Olympian (1960). Wallace M. Greene, 95, United States Marine Corps four-star general. Eduard Izotov, 66, Soviet film actor. Elliott Jaques, 86, Canadian psychoanalyst and social scientist who coined the term "midlife crisis". Mickey McGowan, 81, American baseball player (New York Giants). Karen Morley, 93, American film actress and political activist, pneumonia. José Manuel Blecua Teijeiro, 90, Spanish philologist and academic.
9 Stan Brakhage, 70, American filmmaker, bladder cancer. Žarko Dolinar, 82, Croatian biologist and table tennis player. Bernard Dowiyogo, 57, President of Nauru, cardiac complications from diabetes. Rolf Hagedorn, 83, German theoretical physicist. Erich Joch, 90, German Olympic triple jumper (1936). Dzidra Ritenberga, 74, Latvian actress and film director. Seppo Simola, 66, Finnish shot putter and Olympian (1972).
10 Víctor Alba, 86, Spanish communist politician, journalist, writer and academic. Tom Boardman, Baron Boardman, 84, British businessman and politician (MP for Leicester South West, Leicester South). Geoffrey Kirk, 81, British classical scholar. Marina Ladynina, 94, Soviet stage and film actress. Barry Sheene, 52, British motorcycle racer and television sports presenter, esophageal cancer. Fritz Spengler, 94, German field handball player and Olympic champion (1936). Naftali Temu, 57, Kenyan long-distance runner and Olympic champion (1964, 1968, 1972), prostate cancer. Ion Țîrcovnicu, 66, Romanian footballer. Ottorino Volonterio, 85, Swiss Formula One race car driver.
11 Brian Cleeve, 81, Anglo-Irish writer, heart attack. Alta Cohen, 94, American baseball player (Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies). John G. Dow, 97, American politician (U.S. Representative for New York's 27th congressional district). Ivar Hansen, 64, Danish politician and speaker of the Folketing. Kevin Laffan, 80, British playwright and screenwriter (Emmerdale), pneumonia. Sidney Lippman, 89, American composer and songwriter. Edson Raff, 95, American Army officer and writer. Ludwig Streicher, 82, Austrian contrabassist. Wayne D. Wright, 86, American horse racing jockey, winner of all three Triple Crown races.
12 Herb Banet, 89, American football player (Green Bay Packers). Alys Faiz, 87, Pakistani writer and human rights activist. Howard Fast, 88, American novelist. Andrey Kivilev, 29, Kazakhstani road bicycle racer (2001 Route du Sud), and Olympian (1996, 2000), fall during Paris–Nice race. Nikolay Kulpin, 34, Kazakhstani boxer and Olympian (1992). Slava Stetsko, 82, Ukrainian politician. Lynne Thigpen, 54, American actress (The District, The Paper, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?), Tony winner (1997), cerebral hemorrhage. Zoran Đinđić, 50, Serbian politician, Prime Minister (2001–2003), shot.
13 Abas Ermenji, 89, Albanian politician, historian and nationalist. Sigurður Th. Jónsson, 78, Icelandic Olympic swimmer (1948). Enriko Josif, 78, Serbian composer, pedagogue and musical writer. Norbert Kohler, 72, German Olympic wrestler (1952). Roberto Murolo, 91, Italian musician. Barry Patten, 75, Australian Olympic alpine skier (1952), and architect. Ian Samwell, 66, English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. Christiane Schmidtmer, 63, German actress, fashion model and nude model. Gus Yatron, 75, American politician (U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district).
14 Suresh Bhat, 70, India marathi poet. Eugene Boyko, 80, Canadian filmmaker. Harmon Craig, 76, American geochemist. Amanda Davis, 32, American writer and teacher, plane crash. Al Gionfriddo, 81, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Dodgers). Jack Goldstein, 57, American artist, suicide by hanging. Otto Horber, 90, Swiss Olympic sports shooter (1948, 1952). Jean-Luc Lagardère, 75, French businessman, CEO of the Lagardère Group, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Ivan Rassimov, 64, Serbian-Italian film actor. Ron Shoop, 71, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers).
15 John Andru, 70, Canadian Olympic fencer (1964, 1968). Yevgeny Belyayev, 48, Soviet cross-country skier and Olympian (1976, 1980). Joseph Coors, 85, American businessman, president of Coors Brewing Company, lymphoma. Thora Hird, 91, British actress, comedian, presenter and writer, stroke. Enrique Parra, 77, Chilean Olympic basketball player (1948). Bill Robertson, 79, British footballer. Li Xuefeng, 96, Chinese politician.
16 Lawrence H. Aller, 89, American astronomer. George Bayer, 77, American golfer, won three PGA Tour events, heart attack. Rachel Corrie, 23, American International Solidarity Movement activist, crushed by Israeli Defense Forces bulldozer. Ronald Ferguson, 71, father of UK royal divorcée Sarah Ferguson, heart attack. Davis Hughes, 92, Australian politician. Lars Passgård, 62, Swedish actor and theatre director. Teemu Raimoranta, 25, Finnish metal musician, fall.
17 Herbert Aptheker, 87, American historian and political activist. Thomas N. Barnes, 72, American Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, cancer. Su Buqing, 100, Chinese mathematician. Bill Carlisle, 94, American country music singer, songwriter and comedian. Henryk de Kwiatkowski, 79, Polish-Canadian businessman and thoroughbred horse owner and breeder, pneumonia. Yvette Etiévant, 80, French actress. Erich Hänel, 87, German footballer. Alan Keith, 94, British broadcaster. Klaus Oldendorff, 69, German Olympic sailor (1968). Yoshihiro Onishi, 61, Japanese Olympic rower (1964). Charles Salatka, 85, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Robert Shelton, 73, American clansman, heart attack. Iuliu Szabo, 62, Romanian Olympic ice hockey player (1964, 1968).
18 József Balla, 47, Hungarian wrestler and Olympian (1976, 1980), heart failure. Oles Berdnyk, 76, Ukrainian science fiction writer, philosopher and theologian. Naomi Chance, 75, English film and television actress. Peggy Conklin, 96, American film, television and theater actress. Bruno Heim, 92, Swiss ecclesiastical diplomat, Apostolic Nuncio to Britain. Karl Kling, 92, German racing driver. Viktor Kratasyuk, 54, Soviet and Georgian sprint canoer and Olympic champion (1972). Maurice Moreau, 75, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1963-1965). Adam Osborne, 64, British-American computer pioneer (Osborne 1). Leo Skladany, 75, American football player (Pittsburgh Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants). Monk Williams, 58, American football player (Cincinnati Bengals).
19 Joe Buzas, 83, American baseball player (New York Yankees) and minor league baseball team owner. Micheline Coulibaly, 53, Ivorian short story writer. Hiromichi Fuyuki, 42, Japanese professional wrestler and promoter, cancer. Émile Genest, 81, Canadian actor, heart attack. Olivier Long, 87, Swiss diplomat and director-general of the GATT. Michael Mathias Prechtl, 76, German illustrator. Rick Zumwalt, 51, American arm-wrestler and actor, heart attack.
20 Al Blades, 26, American professional football player (University of Miami, San Francisco 49ers), car accident.