The following is a list of notable deaths in March 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.
March 1997
1 Stanislaus Joseph Brzana, 79, American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Hans Robert Jauss, 75, German academic. Martin Furnival Jones, 84, British Director General of MI5 (1965–1972). Monte Kennedy, 74, American baseball player (New York Giants). Václav Roziňák, 74, Czechoslovak ice hockey player and Olympian (1948). Annie Beatrice van der Biest Thielan Wetmore, 87, Dutch-American ornithologist.
2 Yahaya Ahmad, 49, Malaysian businessman, helicopter crash. Abdel Azim Ashry, 85, Egyptian basketball player and referee. Judi Bari, 47, American environmentalist, feminist, and labor leader, breast cancer. Douglas Blackwood, 87, British publisher and fighter pilot during World War II.Trevor Royle, "Obituary: Wing Cdr Douglas Blackwood", The Independent, 7 March 1997. Retrieved 21 August 2020 Horace Cutler, 84, British politician. Richard De Smet, 81, Belgian Jesuit priest, missionary and indologist. Amleto Frignani, 64, Italian football player. Herman H. Fussler, 82, American librarian, writer and editor. Albert Gazier, 88, French trade union leader and politician. Grete Heublein, 89, German track and field athlete and Olympian (1928, 1932). Guy de Huertas, 71, French Olympic alpine skier (1948, 1952). Billy Jernigan, 73, American wrestler and Olympian (1948). Danie Joubert, 88, South African Olympic sprinter (1932). Walter Leinweber, 89, German Olympic ice hockey player (1932). J. Carson Mark, 83, Canadian-American mathematician, complications from a fall. Waldo Nelson, 98, American pediatrician, stroke. Vicente Parra, 66, Spanish actor, lung cancer. Wendell Thompson Perkins, 69, American painter. Martin Smith, 50, English rock drummer, internal bleeding.
3 Bradford Angier, 86, American wilderness survivalist. Elisha Bell, 78, American baseball player. Jascha Brodsky, 89, Russian-American violinist. Lino Businco, 88, Italian writer. Eric Edwards, Baron Chelmer, 82, English peer and solicitor. Harry Davis, 88, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns). Ed Doyle, 91, American football player. Lola Beer Ebner, 86, Israeli fashion designer. Billy Jurges, 88, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs, New York Giants). Mulumba Lukoji, 53, Congolese politician and professor. William Edward McManus, 83, American prelate of the Catholic Church. Santiago Ojeda Pérez, 52, Spanish Olympic judoka (1972). Erik Waaler, 94, Norwegian professor of medicine.
4 Joe Baker-Cresswell, 96, English Royal Navy officer and aide-de-camp to King George VI.Addison Joe Baker-Cresswell (1901–1997), naval officer by John Winton in Dictionary of National Biography Roger Brown, 54, American basketball player (Indiana Pacers, Memphis Sounds, Utah Stars), colon cancer. Leo Catozzo, 84, Italian film editor. Robert H. Dicke, 80, American astronomer and physicist. Stanley Fink, 61, American lawyer and politician, cancer. Dick Grant, 87, Australian rules footballer. Edward Klabiński, 76, Polish racing cyclist. Robert Lampman, 76, American economist, lung cancer. Carey Loftin, 83, American actor and stuntman. Paul Préboist, 70, French actor. József Simándy, 80, Hungarian tenor.
5 Zalman Abramov, 88, Israeli politician. Amjad Ali, 89, Pakistani politician and a civil servant. Samm Sinclair Baker, 87, American self-help writer. Ralph Bass, 85, American R&B record producer. Frank Brennan, 72, Scottish footballer. Jean Dréville, 90, French film director. William Roberts, 83, American screenwriter, respiratory failure. Edmund Brinsley Teesdale, 81, Hong Kong Colonial Secretary.
6 Frank Anderson, 83, Australian rules football player. Rosalyn Boulter, 80, British actress. Ed Furgol, 79, American golfer. Cheddi Jagan, 78, President of Guyana.Larry Rohter, "Cheddi Jagan, Guyana's Founder, Dies at 78", The New York Times, 7 March 1997. Michael Manley, 72, Prime Minister of Jamaica (1972–1980; 1989–1992), prostate cancer. Ursula Torday, 85, British writer.Charity Blackstock
7 Wilfred Conwell Bain, 89, American music educator. Gösta Brännström, 70, Swedish sprinter and Olympian (1952). Bob Connor, 59, American politician, member of the Delaware General Assembly. Chuck Green, 77, American tap dancer. Martin Kippenberger, 44, German artist and sculptor, liver cancer. Agnieszka Osiecka, 60, Polish poet, writer, film director and journalist, cancer. Edward Mills Purcell, 84, American physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, respiratory failure. Kim Yale, 43, American comic book writer and editor (Suicide Squad, Deadshot, Sgt. Rock), breast cancer.
8 Leon Danielian, 76, American ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Masuo Ikeda, 63, Japanese painter, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, ceramist, novelist, and film director from Nagano Prefecture. Gershon Liebman, 92, French rabbi and Holocaust survivor. Lefter Millo, 30, Albanian football player, traffic collision. Alexander Salkind, 75, French-Mexican film producer (Superman). Alfred Sheinwold, 85, American bridge player and writer, stroke.
9 The Notorious B.I.G., 24, American rapper ("Juicy", "Big Poppa", "Mo Money Mo Problems"), shot. Jean-Dominique Bauby, 44, French journalist and author (Elle magazine), pneumonia during locked-in syndrome. John Boyd, 70, United States Air Force fighter pilot and military strategist, cancer. Bets ter Horst, 89, Dutch sprinter and Olympian (1928). Robert B. Leighton, 77, American experimental physicist. John S. McKiernan, 85, American politician. Terry Nation, 66, Welsh television writer (Doctor Who), emphysema. Ray Prochaska, 77, American gridiron football player (Cleveland Rams), and coach. Bezawada Gopala Reddy, 89, Indian politician. Alice Sommerlath, 90, Brazilian-born entrepreneur and mother of Queen Silvia of Sweden. Mário Tito, 55, Brazilian footballer. Veronica Wedgwood, 86, English historian. Dwight Locke Wilbur, 93, American medical doctor and president of the A.M.A.
10 Jimmy Airlie, 60, Scottish trade unionist, cancer. LaVern Baker, 67, American R&B singer, cardiovascular disease. Raymond Bass, 87, American Navy rear admiral, and Olympic gymnast (1932). Stan Drake, 75, American cartoonist. Yorozuya Kinnosuke, 64, Japanese kabuki actor, pneumonia, laryngeal cancer. David Moroder, 66, Italian luger and sculptor. Imam Mustafayev, 87, Azerbaijani communist politician. Ossie O'Brien, 68, British politician. Wesley Ramey, 87, American boxer. Ghulam Rasool Santosh, 68, Indian painter and poet. Johannes Theodor Suhr, 101, Danish Roman Catholic bishop. Joel Williams, 70, American football player (San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Colts). Wilf Wooller, 84, Welsh cricketer, rugby player, and journalist. Hideo Ōba, 87, Japanese film director and screenwriter.
11 Lars Ahlin, 81, Swedish author and aesthetician. Hubert de Bèsche, 85, Swedish diplomat and Olympic fencer (1936). Robert Browning, 83, Scottish Byzantinist. Stefan Fernholm, 37, Swedish discus thrower, shot putter, and Olympian (1984). Hugh Lawson, 61, American jazz pianist, cancer. Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, 80, Indian poet, playwright, film director and actor, kidney failure. William O'Shea, 90, Irish Olympic boxer (1928). Hugo Weisgall, 84, American composer and conductor.
12 Shamsul-hasan Shams Barelvi, 79-80, Pakistani Islamic scholar. Hendrik Brugmans, 90, Dutch academic and linguist. Ernst-Georg Drünkler, 76, German Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II. Angelo Ferrario, 89, Italian Olympic sprinter (1936). Bertram Myron Gross, 84, American social scientist, congestive heart failure. William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel, 90, Anglo-Irish peer and Labour politician. Wally Wolf, 66, American swimmer, water polo player, and Olympic champion (1948, 1952, 1956, 1960).
13 Ronald Fraser, 66, English actor, haemorrhage.Hayward, Anthony. "Obituary: Ronald Fraser", The Independent, 15 March 1997. Retrieved 13 September 2020 Mike Klapak, 84, American racing driver. Horace Kolimba, 57, Tanzanian politician. Fritz Nottbrock, 86, German Olympic hurdler (1932, 1936). Leo O'Brien, 89, Australian cricket player and sportsman. Rodolfo Perea, 67, Mexican diver and Olympian (1952). Joe Repko, 76, American football coach and player (Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams). Babe Scheuer, 84, American football player (New York Giants).
14 Jurek Becker, 59, Polish-German writer, film author and GDR dissident, colorectal cancer. Joseph Fuchs, 97, American classical violinist. Alija Isaković, 65, Bosnian writer, publicist, and playwright. Gunnar Johansson, 72, Swedish Olympic diver (1952). Jim McConn, 68, American politician and mayor of Houston, Texas. Nicolas Morn, 65, Luxembourgish cyclist and Olympian (1952). Helma Notte, 85, German Olympic high jumper (1928, 1932). Terence O'Sullivan, 73, Irish Fianna Fáil politician. Veerendra Patil, 73, Indian politician. István Simon, 84, Hungarian Olympic long-distance runner (1936). Fred Zinnemann, 89, Austrian-American film director (From Here to Eternity, A Man for All Seasons, High Noon), Oscar winner (1954), heart attack.
15 C. Arulampalam, 88, Sri Lankan Tamil politician. Gail Davis, 71, American actress (Annie Oakley) and singer, cancer. Victor Dumitrescu, 72, Romanian football player. Svend Wiig Hansen, 74, Danish sculptor and painter. Vernon Harrell, 56, American R&B singer and songwriter. Kåre Holt, 80, Norwegian author. Ron Kingston, 65, Australian rules footballer. Ed Kullman, 73, Canadian ice hockey player. Dorab Patel, 72, Pakistani jurist and lawmaker, leukemia. Victor Vasarely, 90, Hungarian-French artist, cancer.
16 Berta Bojetu, 51, Slovene writer, poet and actress. Paal Frisvold, 89, Norwegian general. Leda Gloria, 88, Italian actress. Harry Holgate, 63, Australian politician and Premier of Tasmania, cancer. Zvonko Monsider, 76, Croatian football goalkeeper. Jim Sivell, 83, American football player (Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers, New York Giants, Miami Seahawks). John Montague Stow, 85, British colonial official.Stow, Sir John Montague, Who Was Who (subscription needed) Star Stowe, 40, American model and Playboy centerfold, strangled. John White, 80, American rower and Olympian (1936).
17 Prem Jayanth, 64, Sri Lankan actor and film producer. Fritz Moravec, 74, Austrian mountaineer and author. Charles G. Overberger, 76, American chemist, Parkinson's disease. Pitty Scheer, 71, Luxembourgian Olympic cyclist (1948). Ferenc Sipos, 64, Hungarian football player and trainer. Jermaine Stewart, 39, American R&B singer, AIDS-related liver cancer.
18 Tom Butherway, 82, Australian rules footballer. Erik de Mauny, 76, English journalist and author. Jean Fievez, 86, Belgian football player. Baskerville Holmes, 32, American college basketball player (Memphis Tigers). Wilbur Knorr, 51, American historian of mathematics, melanoma. Armand Schlée, 85, Swiss Olympic field hockey player (1948). Ilse Schwidetzky, 89, German anthropologist.
19 José Crespo, 96, Spanish film actor. Willem de Kooning, 92, Dutch abstract expressionist artist, Alzheimer's disease. Jacques Foccart, 83, French businessman and politician. Eugène Guillevic, 89, French poet. Veto Kissell, 69, American football player (Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Colts). Ed Kullman, 73, Canadian ice hockey player (New York Rangers). Purnendu Pattrea, 66, Indian poet, writer, illustrator and film director. Claude Pierson, 66, French film director, writer and producer. Charles Robert Richey, 73, American district judge (United States District Court for the District of Columbia). Shoukry Sarhan, 72, Egyptian actor. Mac Van Valkenburg, 75, American electrical engineer and university professor.
20 Ronnie Barron, 53, American actor and musician, heart attack. Jean Engstrom, 76, American actress.