Deaths in May 1987

The following is a list of notable deaths in May 1987.

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 1987

1 Stanley Copp, 72, Canadian politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (1953–1958). Paul Geidel, 93, American murderer, second longest serving U.S. prison inmate. Bobo Holloman, 64, American Major League baseball player (St. Louis Browns), heart attack.Bobo Holloman. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Antonio Borja Won Pat, 78, Guam politician, Guam's Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives (1973–1985), heart attack. Dick Surhoff, 57, American NBA basketballer (New York Knicks).Dick Surhoff obituary. Newspapers.com (The Journal News). Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. James W. Sutherland, 69, American U.S. Army general.James William Sutherland Jr. (1918–1987). University of Arkansas. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Fujio Yoshida, 99, Japanese artist.

2 George Allen, 43, American football player (Houston Oilers). Reidar Carlsen, 78, Norwegian politician. Karl Davis, 25, American fashion designer, pneumonia. Eugene Gilhawley, 77, Irish politician, member of the Dáil Éireann (1961–1969, 1973–1981). Michael Gover, 73, English actor (Survivors). John E. Kerrigan, 78, American politician, acting Mayor of Boston, cardiac arrest. Harold K. Schneider, 61–62, American economic anthropologist, complications from surgery.Harold K. Schneider (1925-1987). JSTOR (American Anthropologist). Retrieved 29 Jul 2024.

3 Joyce Coad, 70, American child actress. Roberto Concepcion, 83, Filipino lawyer, Chief Justice of the Philippines. Dalida, 54, Egyptian-born French singer and actress (Bambino, Gondolier), suicide. Dickie Fuller, 74, West Indian cricketer. Viola Grosvenor, 74, British aristocrat, Duchess of Westminster, car accident.Irish Dowager Duchess Dies in Car Crash Near Belfast. L.A. Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Dick Kelsey, 82, American animation art director, theme park designer and illustrator of children's books.

4 Paul Butterfield, 44, American blues harmonica player, singer and bandleader, overdose. Cathryn Damon, 56, American actress (Soap), ovarian cancer. Paul Groesse, 81, Hungarian-born American Academy Award–winning art director, pneumonia. Konstanty Jeleński, 65, Polish essayist.Jeleński, Konstanty A. (Konstanty Aleksander), 1922-1987. Archives at Yale. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Khalilullah Khalili, 79, Afghan poet, historian and diplomat. Tomohiro Kojiri, 29, Japanese journalist for newspaper Asahi Shimbun, murdered.Killing of a Journalist at his Office Shocks Japan. New York Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Wilbur Little, 59, American jazz bassist. Michael Minor, 46, American illustrator, art director on Star Trek movies. John Denys Taylor, 78, English missionary

5 Sir Hugh Fraser, 50, British chairman of the House of Fraser, Harrods, and Whyte & Mackay, cancer. Herbert Hasler, 73, British officer in the Royal Marines and yachtsman.Cockleshell Hero ‘Blondie’ Hasler honoured in his hometown. Royal Navy. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Allen Jones, 46, American record producer and songwriter ("Hard to Handle"), heart attack.Gravestone: Allen Jones 5.5.87. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Frank McAllister, 69, American baseball player. Vera Schäferkordt, 62, German Olympic swimmer (1952). Joe Shack, 71, Canadian NHL player (New York Rangers). Alexander Shmidt, 75, Soviet painter Jim Taylor, 80, Australian rules footballer. Robert Stanford Tuck, 70, British fighter pilot and flying ace in the Royal Air Force.Britisher Called Greatest Spitfire Pilot : WWII Ace Robert Stanford-Tuck. L.A. Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Phil Woolpert, 71, American college basketball coach, lung cancer.Phil Woolpert Is Cancer Victim at 71; Coached USF to Pair of NCAA Titles. L.A. Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Roy Young, 69, American NFL player (Washington Redskins).

6 William J. Casey, 74, American CIA director, brain tumour. Lucien Choury, 89, French Olympic cyclist (1924). Zalman Friedmann, 74–75, Israeli footballer. Muhammadullah Hafezzi, 91–92, Bangladeshi politician and Islamic leader. Denis Jones, 80, Irish politician, member of the Dáil Éireann (1957–1977). Stanislav Lusk, 55, Czech Olympic rower (1952, 1956, 1960). Karel Plicka, 92, Czechoslovak photographer, film director and cinematographer. David Weitzman, 88, British politician.

7 Roy S. Armstrong, 86, American politician, member of the South Dakota House of Representatives (1953–1964). Boom-Boom Beck, 82, American Major League baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies).Boom-Boom Beck #15. MLB.com. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Colin Blakely, 56, Northern Irish actor (Murder on the Orient Express, A Man for All Seasons), leukaemia. Félix Erauzquin, 79, Spanish Olympic athlete (1948). Gil Lefebvre, 77, American NFL player. Stewart McKinney, 56, American politician, member of U.S. House of Representatives (1971–1987), pneumonia (AIDS).McKinney Dies of Illness Tied to AIDS. New York Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Paul Popham, 45, American gay rights activist, AIDS.Paul Popham, 45, A Founder of AIDS Organization, Dies. New York Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Dudley Ryder, 94, British hereditary peer, member of the House of Lords.Viscount Sandon. UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Karl Schuke, 80, German organ builder.

8 Marjorie Barnard, 89, Australian novelist and historian.Marjorie Faith (Marjory) Barnard (1897–1987). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Sidney Cohen, 76, American psychiatrist, professor of medicine and author, heart failure. Alberta Gay, 74, American mother of Marvin and Frankie Gaye, bone cancer.Alberta Gay, 74, Dies; Mother of Soul Singer. L.A. Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Sir James Plimsoll, 70, Australian diplomat, Governor of Tasmania, ambassador to the US, heart attack.Guide to the Papers of Sir James Plimsoll. Trove (National Library of Australia). Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Hugh Saunders, 92, South African RAF officer. Doris Stokes, 67, British "spiritualist", "medium" and author, brain cancer.Stokes, Doris (1920-1987). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Carl Tchilinghiryan, 77, German businessman, co-founder of coffee house Tchibo. Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed during the Loughgall ambush: Declan Arthurs, 21, Northern Irish IRA member, shot. Patrick Joseph Kelly, 30, Northern Irish IRA commander, shot. Jim Lynagh, 31, Northern Irish IRA member, shot. Pádraig McKearney, 32, Northern Irish IRA member, shot.

9 Obafemi Awolowo, 78, Nigerian nationalist and statesman, Premier of Western Nigeria. Franz Bednar, 77, Austrian Olympic bobsledder (1936). Dave James, 58, American racing driver. Paulus Kessels, 86, Dutch Olympic sports shooter (1936). Jimmy Kruger, 69, South African lawyer and politician, President of the Senate.J.T. Kruger, Quelled Soweto Riot. New York Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Noel Murless, 77, English racehorse trainer.Murless, Sir (Charles Francis) Noel. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. John M. Schiff, 82, American investment banker, partner in Kuhn, Loeb & Co., national president of the Boy Scouts of America. Brian Shenton, 60, British Olympic sprinter (1952, 1956).

10 Sadamichi Hirasawa, 95, Japanese tempera painter, convicted of mass poisoning, pneumonia. Nicolette Macnamara, 76, British artist and author.Devas, Nicolette. Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Wilhelm Strienz, 86, German bass operatic singer.

11 James Jesus Angleton, 69, American intelligence operative and C.I.A chief, cancer.James Angleton, Counterintelligence Figure, Dies. New York Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Alex Jeffery, 78, Canadian politician, member of the House of Commons of Canada (1949–1953). Walter McMillen, 73, Northern Irish footballer.

12 Bob Farrar, 68, Australian rugby league footballer. Victor Feldman, 53, English jazz musician, heart attack.British-Born Jazz Prodigy Victor Feldman Dies. L.A. Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Chinn Ho, 83, Hawaiian entrepreneur and businessman, owner of Honolulu Star-Bulletin, heart failure. Pierre Litoux, 84, French politician, member of the National Assembly (France) (1962–1968). Giancarlo Marinelli, 71, Italian Olympic basketball player (1936, 1948). Ion Pistol, 40, Romanian convicted murderer, executed. Nora Rubashova, 78, Belarusian Catholic nun.Biography of Nora Rubashova (Sister Catherine of Siena, OP). University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Delos Thurber, 70, American Olympic high jumper (1936). Robert Trimbole, 56, Australian businessman, drug baron and organized crime figure, heart attack.Robert Trimbole (1931–1987). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024.

13 Signe Amundsen, 87, Norwegian soprano. Norberto Bautista, 46, Argentine footballer. F. R. Crawley, 75, Canadian film producer, cinematographer and director. Richard Ellmann, 69, American literary critic and biographer of Irish writers, motor neurone disease. Manín, 71, Spanish footballer. Phil Moore, 69, American jazz pianist and bandleader, heart attack. Leo Norris, 78, American MLB player (Philadelphia Phillies). Ismael Rivera, 55, Puerto Rican composer and salsa singer, heart attack. Forbes Robinson, 60, British bass. Elly Winter, 88, German communist and political activist.

14 Tsai Chen-chou, 40, Taiwanese politician and businessman, liver disease. Patrick Delap, 55, Irish politician, member of the Dáil Éireann (1970–1973). Rita Hayworth, 68, American actress and dancer (Gilda), complications from Alzheimer's disease. Jānis Lipke, 87, Latvian rescuer of Jews in World War II.Jan and Johana Lipke. Yad Vashem (year of death only). Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Luke Sewell, 86, American Major league baseball player (Cleveland Indians).Names in the News - May 15, 1987. L.A. Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Elizabeth Zarubina, 87, Soviet spy, traffic accident. Vitomil Zupan, 73, Austro-Hungarian–born Slovene writer.

15 Elisabeth Bonetsmüller, 80, German Olympic high jumper (1928). Wynne Gibson, 88, American actress, cerebral thrombosis. Raynor Johnson, 86, English-born Australian parapsychologist, physicist and author.Raynor Carey Johnson (1901–1987). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Kalyanakit Kitiyakara, 57, Thai cardiothoracic surgeon.Kitiyakara, Kalyanakit (1929 - 1987). Royal College of Surgeons of England. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Máire MacNeill, 82, Irish journalist, folklorist and translator.MacNeill, Máire. Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Barry Mannakee, 39, British police officer with Royal Protection Squad, bodyguard to Diana, Princess of Wales, traffic accident.Revealed: The truth behind the 'mystery car' conspiracy theory in Diana bodyguard death. Independent. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. L. G. Pine, 79, British writer, lecturer and researcher. Lionel Van Praag, 78, Australian motorcycle speedway champion.Lionel Maurice (Van) Van Praag (1908–1987). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024.

16 Lionel Cooper, 65, Australian international rugby league footballer (Huddersfield, Australia).Lionel Cooper. Rugby League Project. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Sir John Esmonde, 16th Baronet, 58, Irish politician, member of the Dáil Éireann (1973–1977). Frank Mayborn, 83, American newspapers editor, publisher and broadcaster.Veteran newsman dies Frank Mayborn. Newspapers.com (The Galveston Daily News). Retrieved 29 Jul 2024. Willie Powell, 83, American baseball player. Ronnie Shakes, 40, American stand-up comedian, heart attack. Michael Wood, 69, British medical doctor, cancer.Dr. Michael Wood, A Founder of East Africa Flying Doctors. New York Times. Retrieved 29 Jul 2024.

17