The following is a list of notable deaths in December 1998.
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.
December 1998
1 Aisha Abd al-Rahman, 85, Egyptian author and professor of literature, heart attack. Janet Lewis, 99, American novelist, poet, and librettist. Bertil Nordahl, 81, Swedish football player, manager, and Olympian (1948). Vincenzo Pappalettera, 79, Italian writer and historian. Donald Smith, 78, Australian operatic tenor. Freddie Young, 96, British cinematographer (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter), Oscar winner (1963, 1966, 1971).
2 Theodora Mead Abel, 99, American clinical psychologist. Ben Guintini, 79, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Athletics). Bob Haggart, 84, American dixieland jazz musician. Cleopa Ilie, 86, Romanian abbot. Mikio Oda, 93, Japanese athlete and the first Japanese Olympic gold medalist (1924, 1928, 1932). Red Roberts, 80, American baseball player (Washington Senators). Brian Stonehouse, 80, British painter and SEO agent during World War II.
3 Pierre Hétu, 62, Canadian conductor, pianist and politician, cancer. Albert Leman, 83, Soviet composer of classical music. Mohammad Mokhtari, 56, Iranian writer, poet and activist, homicide. George Murcell, 73, British actor. Robert Rothschild, 86, Belgian diplomat. Ed Widseth, 88, American football player (New York Giants).
4 Percy Ames, 66, English footballer. Egil Johansen, 64, Norwegian-Swedish jazz musician. Suzanne Jovin, 21, German-born American student, stabbed. Milton Marks, 78, American politician. Yury Vengerovsky, 60, Ukrainian volleyball player and Olympic champion (1964).
5 Hazel Bishop, 92, American chemist. Jack Connor, 78, English footballer. Jean Fenwick, 91, Trinidad-American actress. Albert Arnold Gore, 90, American politician and father of Al Gore. John Lions, 61, Australian computer scientist. Henry McCall, 91, American baseball player. Joseph Roude, 71, French Olympic boxer (1948). Cheung Tze-keung, 43, Chinese criminal, execution by firing squad.
6 César Baldaccini, 77, French sculptor. Georges Borgeaud, 84, Swiss writer and publisher. Robert Marasco, 62, American horror novelist and playwright, lung cancer. Pierre Mousel, 83, Luxembourgish Olympic football player (1936). Peg Leg Bates, 91, American entertainer. Radomir Šaper, 72, Yugoslav/Serbian basketball player and executive. Hoshiar Singh, 62, Indian Army officer. Michael Zaslow, 56, American actor, cancer.
7 John Addison, 78, British composer. Carlos Oviedo Cavada, 71, Chilean cardinal of the Catholic Church. Daniel Lee Corwin, 40, American serial killer, execution by lethal injection. Bill Coven, 78, American basketball player (Rochester Royals). Voitto Hellstén, 66, Finnish sprinter and Olympic medalist (1952, 1956, 1960). Tim Kelly, 61, American playwright. Marthe Létourneau, 82, Canadian soprano and teacher. Vic Markov, 82, American football player (Washington Huskies, Cleveland Rams). Martin Rodbell, 73, American scientist and Nobel prize recipient, multiple organ failure. Jean Rouget, 82, French Olympic field hockey player (1936, 1948). George Wilson, 77, American comic book artist.
8 Peg Leg Bates, 91, American entertainer. Michael Craze, 56, British actor (Doctor Who), heart attack. Hamilton Howze, 89, American general and commander of the 82nd Airborne Division. Jimmy Ingram, 70, American racing driver. George Roden, 60, American leader of the Branch Davidian sect, heart attack.
9 Ralph Barkman, 91, American football player (Orange Tornadoes). Eric Bennett, 83, Australian rugby league footballer. Shaughnessy Cohen, 50, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1993- ). Christine Fulwylie-Bankston, 82, American poet, publisher, and civil rights activist. Bill Looby, 67, American soccer player and Olympian (1956). Pertti Mattila, 89, Finnish Olympic skier (1936). Archie Moore, 81, American boxing champion, heart failure. Assis Naban, 92, Brazilian Olympic hammer thrower (1936). Mohammad-Ja'far Pouyandeh, 44, Iranian writer and activist, strangled. Ferdinand Preindl, 86, Austrian Olympic speed skater (1936, 1948). Eddie Testa, 88, American Olympic cyclist (1932).
10 Wim Hora Adema, 84, Dutch children's author and feminist. Peter Bosa, 71, Canadian politician, member of the Senate of Canada (1977-). Bob Brown, 59, American gridiron football player (Green Bay Packers, San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals). Bob Dille, 81, American basketball player. Buddy Feyne, 86, American lyricist. Wang Ganchang, 91, Chinese nuclear physicist. Ray Goossens, 74, Belgian artist, animator, writer and film director (Hergé's Adventures of Tintin). Trygve Haugeland, 84, Norwegian politician . Kamel Messaoudi, 37, Algerian Chaabi musician, traffic collision. Charles D. Mize, 77, United States Marine Corps officer, leukemia. Joe Pasqua, 80, American football player (Cleveland Rams, Washington Redskins, Los Angeles Rams). Berta Singerman, 97, Belarusian-Argentine singer and actress, cardiovascular disease. Vida Tomšič, 85, Slovenian communist and World War II partisan fighter.
11 Jack Coleman, 74, American basketball player (Rochester Royals, St. Louis Hawks). George Glennie, 96, American football player (Racine Tornadoes). Irma Hünerfauth, 90, German painter and sculptor. Gunnar Johansson, 79, Swedish sprint canoeist and Olympian (1948). André Lichnerowicz, 83, French differential geometer and mathematical physicist. Jimmy Mackay, 54, Scottish-Australian football player. Kavi Pradeep, 83, Indian poet and songwriter. Chen Puru, 80, Chinese politician. Anton Stankowski, 92, German graphic designer, photographer and painter. Lynn Strait, 30, American singer and vocalist of band Snot, traffic collision. Max Streibl, 66, German politician.
12 Max Boydston, 66, American gridiron football player (Chicago Cardinals, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders). Lawton Chiles, 68, American politician, heart attack. Marco Denevi, 76, Argentine novelist, lawyer and journalist. Jimmy "Orion" Ellis, 53, American singer, shot. Denny Galehouse, 87, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns). Willis J. Gertsch, 92, American arachnologist. Vadim Gulyaev, 57, Russian water polo player and Olympic champion (1968, 1972). William A. Marra, 70, American politician. Eugenio Montessoro, 86, Italian Olympic equestrian (1948). Don Patterson, 88, American producer, animator, and director. Mo Udall, 76, American politician, member of the United States House of Representatives (1961-1991), Parkinson's disease.
13 Helen Adolf, 102, Austrian–American linguist and literature scholar. Willem den Toom, 87, Dutch politician. Dean Fausett, 85, American painter. Lew Grade, 91, British impresario. Harvey Jones, 77, American gridiron football player (Cleveland Rams, Washington Redskins). James W. Kehoe, 73, American district judge (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida). Douglas de Souza, 26, Brazilian long jumper and Olympian (1996). Richard Thomas, 66, British admiral and Black Rod. Ariadna Welter, 68, Mexican movie actress. Liang Xiang, 79, Chinese politician. Norbert Zongo, 49, Burkinabé investigative journalist, shot. (body discovered on this date)
14 Vittorio Cottafavi, 84, Italian film director and screenwriter. Norman Fell, 74, American actor (Three's Company, The Graduate, Bullitt), bone marrow cancer. A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., 70, African-American civil rights advocate, author and judge, stroke. Yuriy Hromak, 50, Ukrainian backstroke swimmer and Olympic medalist (1968). James A. Jensen, 80, American paleontologist. Brian Lewis, 55, English footballer. Annette Strauss, 74, American philanthropist and mayor of Dallas, cancer. Will Tremper, 70, German journalist and filmmaker, heart attack.
15 Daniel Langrand, 77, French football player and coach. Jan Meyerowitz, 85, Jewish composer, conductor, pianist and writer. Rowena Moore, 88, American civil rights activist. Robert Paul, 88, French sprinter and Olympian (1936). Dean Peters, 40, American professional wrestler and referee, traffic collision. Ján Podhradský, 82, Slovak football player. Johnny Riddle, 93, American baseball player and coach. Paul Rivière, 86, French Resistance fighter during World War II and politician.
16 Clay Blair, 73, American journalist and author, heart attack. Jocelyn Crane, 89, American carcinologist. Jean de Montrémy, 85, French industrialist, racing driver, and race car designer. William Gaddis, 75, American novelist, prostate cancer. Johnny Gorsica, 83, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers). Lee Tai-young, 84, Korean lawyer and judge. Maneklal Sankalchand Thacker, 94, Indian engineer and academic. Philip True, 50, American foreign correspondent, homicide. (body discovered on this date) Marcelo Visentín, 84, Argentine Olympic water polo player (1948, 1952).
17 Kevin Brennan, 78, Australian-born British-based film and television actor. John Burns Brooksby, 83, Scottish veterinarian. Allan D'Arcangelo, 68, American artist and printmaker. Joseph Esherick, 86, American architect, heart failure. Billy Gooden, 75, Canadian ice hockey player (New York Rangers). Antonina Khudyakova, 81, Soviet Air Force officer during World War II. Dorothy Nyembe, 66, South African activist and politician. Harry Osman, 87, English football player.
18 Agustín Barboza, 85, Paraguayan singer and composer. C. S. Chellappa, 86, Indian writer, journalist and political activist. Lev Dyomin, 72, Soviet cosmonaut, (Soyuz 15), cancer. Mohammad Taghi Falsafi, 90, Iranian ayatollah and preacher. Harry Haddock, 73, Scottish footballer. Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, 38–39, Filipino militant, founder of Abu Sayyaf, shot. Åke Jönsson, 73, Swedish footballer and Olympian (1952). John Michaluk, 70, Canadian ice hockey player (Chicago Black Hawks). Vinod Mishra, 51, Indian communist politician, heart attack. Edwin E. Moise, 79, American mathematician. Gilberto Muñoz, 75, Chilean football player. Ingar Nordlund, 76, Norwegian Olympic speed skater (1952). Tadeusz Rybczynski, 75, Polish-English economist. Joseph Edward Stevens Jr., 70, American district judge. Sam Tamburo, 72, American football player (New York Bulldogs). Max Wehrli, 89, Swiss literary scholar and germanist.
19 Garry Blaine, 65, Canadian ice hockey player (Montreal Canadiens). Cully Dahlstrom, 86, American ice hockey player (Chicago Black Hawks). Mel Fisher, 76, American treasure hunter. Gordon Gunter, 89, American marine biologist and fisheries scientist. Joe Mack, 86, American baseball player (Boston Braves). Hec Oakley, 89, Australian cricketer. Antonio Ordóñez, 66, Spanish bullfighter, liver cancer. Bernhard Tessmann, 86, German rocket scientist during and after World War II. Doug Tomalin, 84, British diver and Olympian (1936). Ron Turner, 76, British illustrator and comic book artist, stroke and heart attack."Turner, Ron". Modified 29 October 2014. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (sf-encyclopedia.com). Entry by 'DRL', David Langford. Qian Zhongshu, 88, Chinese literary scholar and writer, cancer.
20 John Anderson, 69, American baseball player. Federico Bisson, 62, Italian Olympic triple jumper (1960). Jacques Butin, 73, French Olympic field hockey player (1948). André Dewavrin, 87, French officer and resistance member during World War II. E. W. Etchells, 87, American sailor and sailboat designer. Angelo Grizzetti, 82, French-Italian football player and coach. Irene Hervey, 89, American actress, heart failure. Bindy Johal, 27, Indo-Canadian gangster. Sir Alan Hodgkin, 84, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. William Matthew Kidd, 80, American district judge. Kazimierz Kropidłowski, 67, Polish long jumper and Olympian (1956, 1960).