The following is a list of notable deaths in September 1997.
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.
September 1997
1 Boris Balinsky, 91, Ukrainian and South African biologist, embryologist and entomologist. Gordon Blake, 87, U.S. Air Force lieutenant general. Harriet Browne, 65, American tap dancer and choreographer. Zoltán Czibor, 68, Hungarian footballer and Olympian (1952). Joseph Abel Francis, 73, American Catholic bishop. Reidar Olsen, 86, Norwegian footballer.
2 Robert Abernathy, 80, American baseball player. George E. Allen, 85, American football player and coach. Sir Rudolf Bing, 95, Austrian-born opera manager, Alzheimer's disease. Viktor Frankl, 92, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. Warner T. Koiter, 83, Dutch mechanical engineer and professor. Joseph Thomas O'Keefe, 78, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, heart failure. Germán Rieckehoff, 82, Puerto Rican politician. Mary Sears, 92, American oceanographer. John Stanes, 86, Australian cricketer.
3 Arthur Chin, 83, American pilot and World War II flying ace. Tony Demers, 80, Canadian ice hockey player (Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers). Harold G. Dick, 90, American mechanical engineer. Hal Goodman, 82, American producer and screenwriter. Hans Niclaus, 83, German Olympic basketball player (1936). Ernst C. Stiefel, 89, German-American jurist.
4 Khaled Abdul-Wahab, 86, Tunisian rescuer of Jews. Chuck Arnold, 71, American racecar driver. Bernard Batillat, 89, French rower and Olympian (1936). Jeffrey Bernard, 65, British journalist, renal failure. Dharamvir Bharati, 70, Indian poet, author and playwright, heart disease. Pierre Chatenet, 80, French politician. Natko Devčić, 83, Croatian composer. Hans Eysenck, 81, German-born British psychologist, brain cancer. Alfred Kałuziński, 44, Polish handball player and Olympian (1976, 1980). Ivan Nenov, 95, Bulgarian painter. Jan Opperman, 58, American racecar driver. Florence Engel Randall, 79, American author. Aldo Rossi, 66, Italian architect and designer, traffic collision. Belle Stewart, 91, Scottish traditional singer.
5 Mildred Dein, 85, American screenwriter. Ann Dunnigan, 87, American actress and teacher. Leon Edel, 89, American literary critic and biographer. Polly Lada-Mocarski, 94, American rare book scholar, educator, and bookbinder. Manuel Martin, 79, American soccer player-coach and Olympian (1948). Andrej Prean Nagy, 76, Romanian-Hungarian football player and coach. Fred Rubi, 70, Swiss Olympic alpine skier (1952). Eddie Little Sky, 71, Native American actor, lung cancer. Sir Georg Solti, 84, Hungarian conductor, heart attack. Mother Teresa, 87, Albanian missionary and humanitarian, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, heart failure.
6 Salvador Artigas, 84, Spanish football player and manager. Edward Dumbauld, 91, American district judge (United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania). Edward H. Hurst, 80, United States Marine Corps officer. Roy Huskey, Jr., 40, American upright bass player, lung cancer. Mary Lawson, 73, American baseball player. P. H. Newby, 79, English novelist. H. W. L. Poonja, Indian sage and jivanmukta, pneumonia. Refik Resmja, 66, Albanian footballer. Jean-Pierre Sudre, 75, French photographer. Uglješa Uzelac, 59, Bosnian politician and diplomat.
7 Abdullah al-Tariki, 78, Saudi politician and government official, heart attack. Mukul S. Anand, 45, Indian film director and producer, heart attack. Edwin Brock, 69, British poet. Elisabeth Brooks, 46, Canadian actress (The Howling), brain cancer. John Carden, 66, English-born American Olympic soccer player (1956). Connie Clausen, 74, American actress, author, and literary agent, stroke. George W. Crockett, Jr., 88, African-American attorney, jurist, and congressman. Héctor Espino, 58, Mexican baseball player and manager. Mark Holtz, 51, American sportscaster, leukemia. Edgar Kaplan, 72, American bridge player, cancer. Mobutu Sese Seko, 66, Congolese politician and president of Zaire, prostate cancer. Bill Strannigan, 78, American basketball coach. Brian Whittaker, 40, Scottish football player.
8 Marie Bedford, 90, South African Olympic swimmer (1928). René Bihel, 81, French football player. Yu Jim-yuen, 92, Chinese opera singer and actor, heart attack. Sabatino Moscati, 74, Italian archaeologist and linguist. Helen Shaw, 100, American actress. Vladimír Sommer, 76, Czech composer. Derek Taylor, 65, English journalist, writer and record producer, throat cancer.
9 Richie Ashburn, 70, American baseball player and broadcaster (Philadelphia Phillies) and member of the MLB Hall of Fame, heart attack. Alvaro Banchi, 72, Italian Olympic rower (1956). Dick Beckner, 69, American gymnast and Olympian (1956). Rowland George, 92, British rower and Olympian (1932). John Hackett, 86, Australian-born British army general and painter. Predrag Laković, 68, Yugoslavian/Serbian actor. Walt Lautenbach, 74, American basketball player (Sheboygan Red Skins). Alexandru Mari, 77, Romanian footballer. Burgess Meredith, 89, American actor (Rocky, Batman, The Day of the Locust), Emmy winner (1977), melanoma.
10 Satish Chandra Agarwal, Indian politician. Abraham Akaka, 80, American clergyman. Richard Brandt, 86, American philosopher. Mollie Dive, 84, Australian cricketer and scientist. Jacques Leguerney, 90, French composer. Kurt Loserth, 82, Austrian Olympic bobsledder (1952, 1956). George Schaefer, 76, American television and theatre director. Fritz Von Erich, 68, American professional wrestler, cancer.
11 Fernando Ayala, 77, Argentine film director, screenwriter and producer. Mel Groomes, 70, American football player (Detroit Lions). Camille Henry, 64, Canadian ice hockey player (New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks, St. Louis Blues). Iliya Kirchev, 64, Bulgarian football player and Olympian (1956, 1960). Matrika Prasad Koirala, 85, Prime Minister of Nepal. Hugo B. Margáin, 84, Mexican economist, politician and diplomat. Anatoli Polosin, 62, Russian football coach. Margaret Scrivener, 75, Canadian politician Xhevdet Shaqiri, 74, Albanian football player and coach. Hannah Weiner, 68, American poet.
12 Stig Anderson, 66, Swedish music manager and publisher, heart attack. Leslie E. Brown, 77, United States Marine Corps aviator. Elsa De Giorgi, 82, Italian actress and writer. Leonard Maguire, 73, Scottish actor. Judith Merril, 74, American-Canadian science fiction writer. Eddie O'Toole, 76, American Olympic long-distance runner (1948), heart attack. Georges Valade, 75, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1958-1972). Heorhiy Zhylin, 72, Ukrainian rower and Olympian (1952, 1956).
13 Anjaan, 67, Indian lyricist. Paul Brechler, 86, American athletic director (University of Iowa). Roger O. Egeberg, 94, American medical educator and administrator. Roger Frey, 84, French politician. Georges Guétary, 82, French singer, dancer and actor, heart attack. Kauko Helovirta, 72, Finnish film actor. Giorgos Mitsibonas, 34, Greek football player, traffic collision. Agnete Olsen, 87, Danish Olympic swimmer (1924, 1928). Margo Rose, 94, American puppeteer. Donald Schön, 66, American philosopher and professor in urban planning. Victor Szebehely, 76, Hungarian-American physicist. Myra Tanner Weiss, 80, American trotskyist politician.
14 Basri Dirimlili, 68, Turkish football player and Olympian (1952). Andrew Fountaine, 78, British far right activist. C. Warren Hollister, 66, American author and historian. Clyde Johnson, 80, American football player (Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Dons). Donato Piazza, 67, Italian racing cyclist.
15 Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo, 97, Finnish artist and architect. Angel Balevski, 87, Bulgarian inventor and engineer. Bulldog Brower, 63, American professional wrestler, complications from hip surgery. Edna Mae Harris, 82, American actress and singer, heart attack. Jim Kekeris, 73, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers). Thomas J. Parmley, 99, American physicist. Hubert Petschnigg, 83, Austrian architect. Gertrude Pitzinger, 93, German contralto.
16 Barbara Cage, 55, Australian Olympic gymanst (1964). Terence Cooper, 64, British film actor. James Milton Ham, 76, Canadian engineer and university official. Helen Jepson, 92, American lyric soprano. William N. Oatis, 83, American journalist, Alzheimer's disease. Fred Robertson, 85, British-born Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings). Dušan Škvarenina, 57, Slovak Olympic cyclist (1960). Gerry Turpin, 72, English cinematographer. José Valle, 77, Argentine football player and coach.
17 Benjamin Atkins, 29, American serial killer and rapist, AIDS-related complications. Anthony Franchini, 99, American guitarist. Nelson G. Gross, 65, American politician, slashed and bludgeoned. Brian Hall, 59, English actor (Fawlty Towers), cancer. Harry Jago, 84, Australian politician. Walter Kremershof, 74, German Olympic ice hockey player (1952). Meena, 56, Indian actress. Trevor Redmond, 70, New Zealand speedway rider. Amanoyama Shizuo, 43, Japanese sumo wrestler. Red Skelton, 84, American comedian (The Red Skelton Show), pneumonia. Jan P. Syse, 66, Prime Minister of Norway (1989–1990), cerebral hemorrhage.
18 Fernand Fayolle, 93, French racing cyclist. Patricia Pulling, 49, American anti-role-playing games activist, lung cancer. Walpola Rahula, 90, Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, scholar and writer. Yehuda Sha'ari, 77, Israeli politician. Ganesh Man Singh, 81, Nepali politician. Seigo Tada, 75, Japanese founder of Goju-Ryu Seigokan Karatedo. Amos Watson, 71, American baseball player. Jimmy Witherspoon, 77, American blues singer, cancer.
19 Józef Bielawski, 87, Polish Arabist and scholar of Islam. Bill Butland, 79, American baseball pitcher (Boston Red Sox). Moses ǁGaroëb, 55, Namibian politician and founding member of SWAPO. Kathy Keeton, 58, American editor and publisher of Penthouse magazine, complications from surgery. Jack May, 75, English actor. Rich Mullins, 41, American Christian musician, traffic collision. Ambar Roy, 52, Indian cricket player.
20 Matt Christopher, 80, American children's author. Virginia d'Albert-Lake, 87, American French Resistance agent during World War II. Kurt Gloor, 54, Swiss film director, screenwriter and producer, suicide. Jim Hickey, 76, American baseball player (Boston Braves). Anoop Kumar, 71, Indian film actor. Nick Traina, 19, American punk band singer, suicide by morphine overdose.
21 Juan Burgueño, 74, Uruguayan football player. Lydia Eberhardt, 84, German Olympic javelin thrower (1936). Teuku Muhammad Hasan, 91, Indonesian politician. Jennifer Holt, 76, American actress, cancer. Maurice Kaufmann, 70, British actor, cancer. Sepp Paar, 84, German Olympic wrestler (1936).
22 Beatrice Aitchison, 89, American mathematician, statistician, and economist. Deolindo Bittel, 75, Argentine politician. Pedro Carrizo, 76, Uruguayan Olympic boxer (1948). William Craig, 68, American author and historian. Robert E. Huyser, 73, United States Air Force general. Karl Koopman, 77, American zoologist. Manabu Mabe, 73, Japanese-Brazilian painter, diabetes. Pierre Petit, 77, French cinematographer. Ruth Picardie, 33, English journalist and editor, breast cancer. Eddie Sawyer, 87, American Major League Baseball scout. George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy, 88, British politician. Chiang Wei-kuo, 80, Secretary-General of the National Security Council of the Republic of China (1986–1993), diabetes. Anthony Wreford-Brown, 84, English cricketer. Shoichi Yokoi, 82, Japanese soldier, heart attack.
23 Darko Bratina, 55, Italian sociologist, film theorist and politician, heart attack. Dolf Brouwers, 85, Dutch comedian, singer, and television actor. Shirley Clarke, 77, American filmmaker, stroke.