Deaths in May 1998

The following is a list of notable deaths in May 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.

May 1998

1 Eldridge Cleaver, 62, American writer and political activist, prostate cancer. Heinie Heltzel, 84, American baseball player (Boston Braves, Philadelphia Phillies). Daniel Henry Huyett III, 76, American district judge (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania). Brian Kendall, 51, New Zealand boxer, cancer. J. S. Roskell, 84, English historian of the Middle Ages. Jozef Schoeters, 50, Belgian Olympic cyclist (1968).

2 Clyde Connell, 96, American abstract expressionist sculptor. Justin Fashanu, 37, English footballer, suicide by hanging.Obituary: Justin Fashanu Johnny Grodzicki, 81, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals). Hide, 33, Japanese musician, suicide by hanging. Kevin Lloyd, 49, English actor (The Bill), alcoholism. Maidie Norman, 85, American actress and literature and theater teacher, lung cancer. Charlie Thomason, 79, American baseball player. Carey Wilber, 81, American journalist and television writer.

3 Jesse Alto, 71, American poker player. Erich Bergel, 67, German flutist and conductor. Louis Berry, 83, African American civil rights attorney. Erika Cheetham, 58, English writer. Johannes Driessler, 77, German composer, organist, and lecturer. Tom Elliot, 72, Scottish rugby player. Jean-Baptiste Hachème, 68, Beninese military officer and politician. Raimund Harmstorf, 58, German actor, suicide by hanging. David Vincent Hooper, 82, British chess player and writer. Venkatesh Kulkarni, Indian-American novelist and academic, leukemia. Loren MacIver, 89, American painter. Luiz Martins, 83, Brazilian Olympic sports shooter (1960). René Mugica, 88, Argentine actor, film director and screenwriter. Gene Raymond, 89, American actor, pneumonia. Tom Robertson, 80, American football player (Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees). Les Samuels, 69, English footballer. Xue Yue, 101, Chinese Nationalist military general. Gojko Šušak, 53, Croatian politician, lung cancer.

4 Gordon Beningfield, 61, English wildlife artist, broadcaster and naturalist. Henryk Bobula, 78, Polish footballer. Alois Estermann, 43, Swiss officer of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, shot. Sam Gentile, 81, American baseball player (Boston Braves). Albert Glasser, 82, American composer, conductor and arranger of B-movie music. Christine Kurzhals, 47, German politician. Magda Lenkei, 81, Hungarian swimmer and Olympian (1936). Theodor Oberländer, 93, German Ostforschung scientist and politician. José Olguín, 71, Mexican Olympic water polo player (1948). Bruce Peever, 66, Australian pole vaulter and Olympian (1956). Nicolò Rode, 86, Italian sailor and Olympic champion (1948, 1952, 1956).

5 Juan Gimeno, 84, Spanish road cyclist. Alan Glyn, 79, British politician. Henrik Hellén, 58, Finnish Olympic high jumper (1964). Tommy McCook, 71, Jamaican saxophonist, pneumonia and heart failure. Eleanor Ragsdale, 72, American civil rights activist. Frithjof Schuon, 90, Swiss author, poet and painter. Paul Seymour, 70, American basketball player (Baltimore Bullets, Syracuse Nationals), and coach. Herb Turner, 87, Australian rower and Olympian (1936).

6 Axel Bloch, 87, Danish Olympic fencer (1932). Chatchai Chunhawan, 78, Thai army officer, diplomat and politician, liver cancer. Sybil Connolly, 77, Irish fashion designer. Juan Antonio García Díez, 57, American politician, liver cancer. Aleksei Gritsai, 84, Soviet and Russian artist. John Joseph, 65, Pakistani Roman Catholic bishop, suicide by gunshot. Arvid Laurin, 96, Swedish sailor and Olympic medalist (1936). Erich Mende, 81, German politician, Vice-Chancellor of West Germany.

7 Blue Lu Barker, 84, American jazz and blues singer. Allan McLeod Cormack, 74, South African American physicist, cancer. István Hasznos, 73, Hungarian water polo player and Olympic champion (1952). Jack Heslop-Harrison, 78, British soldier and botanist, heart attack. Junie Hovious, 78, American football player (New York Giants). John Meyers, 58, American football player (Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles), heart problems. Eddie Rabbitt, 56, American singer and songwriter, lung cancer. Allen Wikgren, 91, American theologian and New Testament scholar.

8 Donald Stephen Lowell Cardwell, 78, British historian of science and technology. Jacques Dumesnil, 94, French film and television actor. Otto Jung, 67, Argentine Olympic alpine skier (1948, 1952). Johannes Kotkas, 83, Estonian Greco-Roman wrestler and Olympic champion (1952). Ray Noble, 79, Cuban baseball player (New York Giants). Brian Pfaff, 68, South African sportsman. Raymond Premru, 63, American trombonist and compose, esophageal cancer. Jennings Randolph, 96, American politician. Charles Rebozo, 85, American banker and businessman.

9 Lester Butler, 38, American blues harmonica player and singer, drug overdose. Frithjof Clausen, 82, Norwegian wrestler and Olympian (1948, 1952). Donald Conroy, 77, United States Marine Corps colonel. Bernard Dwork, 74, American mathematician. Alice Faye, 83, American actress and singer, stomach cancer. Rudolf Ismayr, 89, German weightlifter and Olympic champion (1932, 1936). Rommie Loudd, 64, American gridiron football player (Los Angeles Chargers, Boston Patriots), coach, and executive, diabetes. Talat Mahmood, 74, Indian playback singer, heart attack. Bob Mellish, Baron Mellish, 85, British politician. Tom Neville, 36, American football player (Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers). Earl R. Parker, 85, American engineer and professor. Nat Perrin, 93, American comedy screenwriter, producer and director. R. J. G. Savage, 70, British palaeontologist, pancreatic cancer. Gerhard Siedl, 69, German football player. Marianne Strengell, 88, Finnish-American modernist textile designer.

10 Ricardo Capanema, 64, Brazilian swimmer and Olympian (1952). Lajos Czinege, 74, Hungarian military officer and politician. José Francisco Antonio Peña Gómez, 61, Dominican Republic politician, pulmonary edema. Robert Jewell, 78, Australian actor (Doctor Who). Oreste Kirkop, 74, Maltese singer. Ken McKenzie, 71, Australian rugby league footballer. Enrique Molina, 78, Argentine Olympic cyclist (1948). Cesare Perdisa, 65, Italian racing driver. Ronald Ridenhour, 52, American soldier during the Vietnam War, heart attack. Clara Rockmore, 87, American classical violin prodigy and theremin performer. Sumitro, 71, Indonesian general. Alberto Valdés, 80, Mexican American painter George Wright, 77, American organist.

11 Willy Corsari, 100, Dutch actor, author and composer. Gene Fowler Jr., 80, American film editor (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Hang 'Em High). Ernst Ising, 98, German physicist. John Morrison, 94, Australian novelist and short story writer. Jones, Philip, "Obituary: John Gordon Morrison: Author", The Age, (Friday, 22 May 1998), p.24., Retrieved 5 October 2019 Antonio Quistelli, 48, Italian Olympic wrestler (1976). Hans van Zon, 56, Dutch serial killer, alcohol poisoning.

12 Ulf Berendt, 67, Swedish Olympic figure skater (1952). Myoung Hwa Cho, 44, American murder victim, homicide by asphyxiation. Hermann Lenz, 85, German writer, poet, and novelist. John McCarthy, 81, American gridiron football player (Card-Pitt). Graham Shaw, 63, English football player.

13 Gunnar Jansson, 90, Swedish football player. Oscar G. Johnson, 77, United States Army soldier and recipient of the Medal of Honor. Chantal Mauduit, 34, French alpinist, climbing accident. Uolevi Raade, 85, Finnish industrialist., Turun Sanomat. Accessed on 11 August 2014. Frank Ragano, 75, American mafia lawyer.

14 Mabel Esther Allan, 83, British children's author. Bill Bishop, 67, American gridiron football player (Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings). Garth Boesch, 77, Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs). Tom D'Andrea, 88, American actor. Marjory Stoneman Douglas, 108, American journalist, writer and conservationist. Charlie Hall, 50, American gridiron football player (Green Bay Packers). Geoffrey Kendal, 88, English actor. Floyd Lounsbury, 84, American linguist, anthropologist and epigrapher. George McAvoy, 66, Canadian ice hockey player (Montreal Canadiens). Yitzhak Moda'i, 72, Israeli politician. Shawkat Osman, 81, Bangladeshi novelist and short story writer. Jack Salscheider, 73, American football player (New York Giants). Karl Schmid, 87, Swiss rower and Olympic medalist (1936). Frank Sinatra, 82, American singer ("My Way", "That's Life") and actor (From Here to Eternity), Oscar winner (1954), heart attack. Bill Sodd, 83, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians). Mahmud of Terengganu, 68, Malaysian sultan. Jade Wilson, 21, New Zealand squash player, suicide.

15 Rudolfs Baumanis, 88, Latvian Olympic sports shooter (1936). Alan Cain, 75, Australian Olympic sailor (1960). Joe Cibulas, 77, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers). Gunter d'Alquen, 87, German nazi correspondent. Marcel Fillion, 75, Canadian ice hockey player (Boston Bruins). John Hawkes, 72, American novelist. Richard Jaeger, 85, German politician. Earl Manigault, 53, American basketball player, congestive heart failure. Packy Rogers, 85, American baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers), manager and scout. Naim Talu, 78, Turkish politician and former Prime Minister of Turkey. Patrick Wall, 81, British commando during World War II and later a politician.

16 Pierre Cardinal, 73, French screenwriter and director. Idov Cohen, 88, Romanian-Israeli politician and journalist. Milan Creighton, 90, American football player and coach (Chicago Cardinals). William Alexander Hewitt, 83, American diplomat and businessman. Rufino Linares, 47, American baseball player (Atlanta Braves, California Angels), traffic collision.

17 Genie Chance, 71, American journalist, radio broadcaster and politician. Hugh Cudlipp, 84, British journalist and newspaper editor. Nina Dorliak, 89, Russian soprano and a voice teacher. Gasper Urban, 75, American gridiron football player (Chicago Rockets). Sarojini Yogeswaran, 97, Sri Lankan politician.

18 Obaidullah Aleem, Indian poet, heart failure. Odd Engström, 56, Swedish politician, heart attack. Roy Evans, 88, Welsh table tennis player. Enid Marx, 95, English painter and designer. Dal Bahadur Ranamagar, 36, Nepalese Olympic boxer (1984, 1988).

19 Edwin Astley, 76, British composer. Hank Earl Carr, 30, American murderer and spree killer, suicide by gunshot. László Decker, 75, Hungarian Olympic rower (1952). Leela Devi, 66, Indian writer, translator, and teacher. Dorothy Donegan, 76, American jazz pianist and vocalist, cancer. Teresa Prekerowa, 76, Polish historian and author. Bello Snyder, 86, American basketball player. Riccardo Steinleitner, 83, Italian Olympic rower (1936). Sōsuke Uno, 75, Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan, lung cancer.

20 Chuck Bloedorn, 85, American basketball player. Tom Bolack, 80, American businessman and politician. Linwood G. Dunn, 93, American visual effects artist (West Side Story, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Mighty Joe Young). Ricardo Franco, 48, Spanish screenwriter and film director, heart attack. Thomas Fraser, 80, New Zealand cricketer. George F. Gunn Jr., 70, American district judge (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri). Jacob Katz, 93, Israeli historian and educator. Wolf Mankowitz, 73, English writer, playwright and screenwriter, cancer. Walter McKinnon, 87, New Zealand Army officer. Robert Normann, 81, Norwegian jazz guitarist. Alfredo Yabrán, 53, Argentine businessman and associate of Carlos Menem, suicide by gunshot. Santiago Álvarez, 79, Cuban filmmaker, Parkinson's disease.

21 Erik Bladström, 80, Swedish sprint canoeist and Olympic champion (1936).