The following is a list of notable deaths in May 1999.
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 1999
1 Eddie Chamblee, 79, American tenor, alto saxophonist and vocalist.Biography at AllAboutJazz.com. Retrieved 27 April 2019 Engelbert Hundertpfund, 81, Austrian Olympic cross-country skier (1948). Alish Lambaranski, 84, Soviet and Azerbaijani statesman. Jos LeDuc, 54, Canadian professional wrestler, lung infection. Osman Ahmed Osman, 82, Egyptian engineer, entrepreneur, and politician. Jack Sepkoski, 50, American paleontologist. Brian Shawe-Taylor, 84, British racing driver. Roger Verhaes, 78, Belgian Olympic athlete (1948).
2 Thomas C. Cochran, 97, American economic historian and author. Bill Davidson, 64, American football player and coach and college athletics administrator. Igor M. Diakonoff, 84, Russian historian, linguist and translator. Ernest A. Gross, 92, American diplomat and lawyer. Douglas Harkness, 96, Canadian politician, teacher and farmer. Robert Arthur Humphreys, 91, British historian and professor of Latin American studies. Tibor Kalman, 49, American graphic designer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Oliver Reed, 61, British actor (The Devils, Oliver!, The Three Musketeers), alcohol intoxication, heart attack. Włodzimierz Sokorski, 90, Polish communist politician, writer, and brigadier general. Anahit Tsitsikian, 72, Armenian female violinist.
3 Joe Adcock, 71, American baseball player and manager, Alzheimer's disease. Steve Chiasson, 32, Canadian ice hockey player, (Detroit Red Wings, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes), drunk driving crash. Godfrey Evans, 78, English cricketer. Giulio Fioravanti, 75, Italian operatic baritone. Rune Hammarström, 78, Swedish Olympic speed skater (1948). Princess Urraca of the Two Sicilies, 85, German noblewoman and member of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Josef Zeman, 84, Czech football player.
4 Manny Babbitt, 50, U.S. Marine veteran of the Vietnam War and convicted murderer, execution by lethal injection.White, Jerry. California executes mentally ill Vietnam veteran, World Socialist Web Site (May 5, 1999); retrieved April 27, 2019. Bob Dietz, 81, American basketball player. Terry Evans, 87, Canadian wrestler and Olympian (1936). Albert Fearnley, 75, English rugby league football player, and coach. Wilfried Geeroms, 57, Belgian Olympic hurdler (1964, 1968), cancer. Jean Marius René Guibé, 89, French naturalist. Mahendra Narayan Nidhi, 77, Nepali politician and Gandhian leader. Milenko Pavlović, 39, Yugoslavian Air Force pilot, shot down. John Salmon, 88, New Zealand photographer, conservationist, and author. Henry Tiller, 84, Norwegian boxer and Olympic medalist (1936).
5 Vasilis Diamantopoulos, 78, Greek actor, heart attack. John Howard, 86, British Army officer during World War II. Luis Jiménez, 70, Mexican Olympic fencer (1956). Will Owens, 97, American baseball player. Américo Paredes, 83, American author. Rodrigo Ruiz, 76, Mexican football player. Rui da Silva, 47, Brazilian sprinter and Olympian (1976). Darwyn Swalve, 52, American actor.Darwyn Swalve
6 Fehmi Agani, 67, Kosovan sociologist and politician. Josef Böck, 85, German Olympic wrestler (1936). Keizo Hasegawa, 76, Japanese Olympic triple jumper (1952). Kaii Higashiyama, 90, Japanese writer and artist. Sven Meyer, 21, German figure skater, suicide by gunshot. Johnny Morris, 82, British television presenter."Naturalist who brought Animal Magic to millions". BBC News. 6 May 1999. Retrieved 27 April 2019 Erick Pitau, 47, French Olympic field hockey player (1972). Maria Laura Rocca, 81, Italian actress and writer. Mark Tuinei, 39, American football player (Dallas Cowboys), drug overdose.
7 Randi Anda, 100, Norwegian politician. Chen Yanyan, 83, Chinese actress and film producer. Andrew Gray, 43, British anthropologist and activist for the rights of indigenous peoples, plane crash. Joseph Gray, 79, Irish-born English Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Shrewsbury. Leon Hess, 85, American businessman and owner of the New York Jets. Royden Ingham, 88, American Olympic cyclist (1932). Elliot Pinhey, 88, British entomologist. Yury Zakharanka, 47, Belarusian minister and oppositional politician, murdered by the Lukashenko regime.
8 Edward Abraham, 85, English biochemist, stroke. Dirk Bogarde, 78, British actor (Doctor in the House, The Servant, A Bridge Too Far), heart attack. Ed Gilbert, 67, American voice actor (The Transformers, TaleSpin, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero), lung cancer. Soeman Hs, 95, Indonesian author. John Kotz, 80, American collegiate basketball player and early professional. Michael Nightingale, 76, English actor. Alan Paterson, 70, English high jumper and Olympian (1948, 1952). Sally Payne, 86, American actress, stroke. Dana Plato, 34, American actress (Diff'rent Strokes), suicide by drug overdose. Leon Thomas, 61, American jazz and blues vocalist, heart failure.
9 Harry Blech, 89, British violinist and conductor. Shirley Dinsdale, 72, American ventriloquist and television and radio personality, cancer. Derek Fatchett, 53, British politician, heart attack. Jürgen Fuchs, 48, East German writer and dissident, leukemia. Jim Hunt, 95, American athletic trainer. Božidar Kantušer, 77, Slovene composer of classical music, cerebral infarct, stroke. Wynona Lipman, 75–76, American politician, cancer. Ivan M. Niven, 83, Canadian-American mathematician. George T. Raymond, 84, American civil rights leader. Karamshi Jethabhai Somaiya, 96, Indian educationist. Ole Søltoft, 58, Danish actor.
10 Fred Giffin, 79, Australian Olympic weightlifter (1952). Hans Granlid, 72, Swedish novelist and literary researcher. Anésia Pinheiro Machado, Brazilian female pilot. Albert Mauer, 92, Polish Olympic ice hockey player (1932). John Munonye, 70, Nigerian writer. Carl Powis, 71, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles). Shel Silverstein, 68, American poet, playwright, and cartoonist, heart attack. Eric Willis, 77, Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales (1976).
11 José Fernández Aguayo, Spanish photography director. Eqbal Ahmad, 65, Pakistani political scientist, writer and pacifist, heart failure. Tamás Burkus, 26, Hungarian Olympic sports shooter (1996). Josef Dostál, 95, Czech botanist, pteridologist, conservationist and climber. Elaine Fifield, 68, Australian ballerina. Werner Fuchs, 50, German football player, heart attack. Albert John Henderson, 78, American judge. George Hunter, 60, Scottish motorcycle speedway rider. Stanisław Jankowiak, 58, Polish Olympic canoeist (1964). Egon Johansen, 79, Danish Olympic field hockey player (1948). Birdy Sweeney, 67, Irish actor and comedian. Ben Taylor, 71, American baseball player (St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Braves). Robert Thomas, 72, Welsh sculptor.
12 William James Morgan, 84, Northern Irish unionist politician. Robert Rose, 47, Australian sportsman and quadriplegic, complications following surgery. Penny Santon, 82, American actress (Matt Houston, Funny Girl, Fletch). Saul Steinberg, 84, Romanian-American cartoonist and illustrator. Jerzy Stroba, 79, Polish Roman Catholic bishop. Daniel Frank Walls, 56, New Zealand theoretical physicist, cancer. Huang Yingjie, 87, Chinese Olympic sprinter (1936).
13 Ibn Baz, 88, Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar. Roy Crowson, 84, English biologist. Meg Greenfield, 68, American editorial writer, cancer. Motohiko Hino, 53, Japanese jazz drummer, liver failure. Giuseppe Petrilli, 86, Italian professor and European Commissioner. Gene Sarazen, 97, American golf player, complications of pneumonia. John Whiting, 90, American sociologist and anthropologist.
14 Manuel del Cabral, 92, Dominican poet, writer, and diplomat. Buck Houghton, 84, American television producer and writer, pulmonary emphysema. Tang Pao-yun, 55, Taiwanese actress. Joseph F. Smith, 79, American politician, member of the United States House of Representatives (1981-1983). William Tucker, 38, American guitarist, suicide by drug overdose and throat-cutting. Grete Weil, 92, German writer. Asrat Woldeyes, 70, Ethiopian surgeon, heart ailment. Jerry Wunderlich, 73, American set decorator (The Exorcist, The Last Tycoon, WarGames). Nitya Chaitanya Yati, 74, Indian philosopher, psychologist, author and poet.
15 Lotfi Baccouche, 25, Tunisian Olympic footballer (1996). Valeh Barshadly, 71, Azerbaijani Minister of Defense. Lily Fayol, 84, French singer. Rob Gretton, 46, British band manager (Joy Division, New Order), heart attack.Dickinson, Bob. "Rob Gretton". The Guardian, 21 May 1999. Retrieved on 12 February 2023. Ernst Mosch, 73, German musician, composer and conductor. Kenneth Riches, 90, British Anglican bishop. Bob Wilson, 85, American gridiron football player (Brooklyn Dodgers). John Minor Wisdom, 93, American circuit judge (United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit).
16 Guy Cudell, 82, Belgian politician, mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (1953–1999), cancer. Minder Coleman, 95, American artist. Cam Fraser, 67, Canadian football player. Bobby Goldman, 60, American bridge player, writer, and official. Eva Macapagal, 83, First Lady of the Philippines.EVANGELINA MACAPAGAL Andy Norval, 87, Australian rugby player. Lembit Oll, 33, Estonian chess grandmaster, suicide by jumping.
17 James Broughton, 85, American poet, playwright and filmmaker, heart failure. Bruce Fairbairn, 49, Canadian musician and record producer. Božidar Finka, 73, Croatian linguist and lexicographer. George Hill Hodel, 91, American physician and suspect in several murders. Henry Jones, 86, American actor, complications from a fall. Thelma Kalama, 68, American Olympic swimmer (1948). Ed Rimkus, 85, Lithuanian-American Olympic bobsledder (1948).
18 Juan Manuel Couder, 64, Spanish tennis player. Hayrettin Erkmen, 84, Turkish politician. Dias Gomes, 76, Brazilian playwright, traffic collision. Hank Herring, 76, American boxer and Olympian (1948). Miguel Pedro Mundo, 61, American bishop of the Catholic Church. Augustus Pablo, 44, Jamaican record producer and musician, respiratory failure. Freddy Randall, 78, English jazz trumpeter and bandleader. Betty Robinson, 87, American athlete and winner of the first Olympic Woman's 100 m (1928, 1936), Alzheimer's disease.
19 James Blades, 97, English percussionist. Candy Candido, 85, American radio performer, bass player and voice actor. Rebecca Elson, 39, Canadian–American astronomer and writer, cancer. Hugh Hanrahan, 52, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1993-1997). Larry Markes, 77, American comedian, singer and screenwriter. John McSweeney, Jr., 83, American film editor. Kalevi Pakarinen, 63, Finnish Olympic fencer (1960). Vera Scarth-Johnson, 87, British-Australian botanist and botanical illustrator. Xhafer Spahiu, 75, Albanian politician. Alister Williamson, 80, Australian-British actor.
20 William Alfred, 76, American playwright, poet, and academic. Renato Gei, 78, Italian football player and manager. James E. Hill, 77, United States Air Force general and World War II flying ace, cancer. Robert Rhodes James, 66, British politician. Carlos Quirino, 89, Filipino biographer and historian. Colette Ripert, 69, French actress.
21 Vanessa Brown, 71, Austrian-American actress, breast cancer. Jozef Cleber, 82, Dutch trombonist, violinist, and composer. Rauni Essman, 81, Finnish Olympic sprinter (1936). Colin Hayes, 75, Australian trainer of thoroughbred racehorses. Norman Rossington, 70, English actor. Mario Tagliaferri, 71, Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. Fulvio Tomizza, 64, Italian writer.
22 Milton Banana, 64, Brazilian bossa nova and jazz drummer. Loleh Bellon, 74, French stage and film actress and playwright. Mark Edward Bradley, 92, United States Air Force general and aviator pioneer.