Deaths in June 1997

The following is a list of notable deaths in June 1997.

Contents
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
← May	June	July →

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.

June 1997

1

• Florence Wysinger Allen, 84, African American artists' model.
• Ruth Atkinson, 78, American cartoonist.[1]
• Luis Carrión Beltrán, 55, Mexican screenwriter, journalist, and novelist, suicide.
• Garland T. Byrd, 72, American politician from Georgia.
• George Laking, 84, English footballer.
• George P. Livanos, 70, Greek-American shipping magnate[2]
• Mickey Rocco, 81, American baseball player.[3]
• Bernard G. Segal, 89, American lawyer civil rights activist, cancer.[4]
• Robert Serber, 88, American physicist, brain cancer.[5]
• Nikolai Tikhonov, 92, Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman.

2

• Zhenya Belousov, 32, Soviet/Ukrainian pop singer, stroke.
• Martin Bronfenbrenner, 82, American economist.
• Doc Cheatham, 91, American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader.[6]
• Harold Dickinson, 85, Welsh cricketer.
• Louise Huntington, 92, American actress.
• Helen Jacobs, 88, American tennis champion, heart failure.[7]
• William Alexander Levy, 87, American architect.[8]
• Kenneth McNaught, 78, Canadian historian.
• Nikolai Ozerov, 74, Soviet tennis player and actor.
• Eddie Thomas, 70, Welsh boxer and manager, cancer.

3

• Salvatore Fiume, 81, Italian painter, sculptor, architect and writer.
• Dennis James, 79, American television personality and philanthropist, lung cancer.[9]
• Meenakshi Shirodkar, 80, Indian actress.

4

• Thomas Boylston Adams, 86, American business executive and writer.[10]
• Katherine Esau, 99, German-American botanist.[11]
• Ronnie Lane, 51, English musician, songwriter, and producer, pneumonia.[12]
• Anne Lenner, 84, English vocalist.
• Johnny "Hammond" Smith, 63, American soul jazz and hard bop organist.

5

• Mathilda Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, 71, Scottish noblewoman.
• Elaine Ryan Hedges, 69, American feminist.[13]
• Olga Kirsch, 72, South African and Israeli poet, brain tumor.
• J. Anthony Lukas, 64, American journalist and author, suicide by hanging.[14]

6

• Dietrich Borchardt, 81, Australian librarian and bibliographer.
• Dorothy Buffum Chandler, 96, American cultural leader.
• Eitel Cantoni, 90, Uruguayan racecar driver.
• Magda Gabor, 81, Hungarian-American actress and socialite, and sister of Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor.
• Monica Golding, 94, British Army nurse and nursing administrator.[15]
• Prudence Hero Napier, 81, British primatologist.
• Charles Jones, 86, Canadian-American composer of contemporary classical music[16]
• Ted Nathanson, 72, American television director, lung cancer.[17]
• Richard Alvin Neilson, 59, British diplomat.
• Liao Shantao, 77, Chinese mathematician.
• Alangudi Somu, 64, Indian Tamil film lyricist.

7

• Raghu Raj Bahadur, 73, Indian statistician.[18]
• Lewis White Beck, 83, American philosopher and scholar of German philosophy.
• Jacques Canetti, 88, French music executive and talent manager.
• John McNaught, 32, Scottish footballer.
• Stanley Schachter, 75, American social psychologist, colon cancer.[19]

8

• Betty Andujar, 84, American civic activist and politician.
• Norman Cleaveland, 96, American rugby player and Olympian[20]
• Ken Hunt, 62, American baseball player.[21]
• Park Jaesam, 64, Korean poet.
• Reid Shelton, 72, American actor, stroke.[22]
• George Turner, 80, Australian writer and critic.
• Amos Tutuola, 76, Nigerian writer.
• Karen Wetterhahn, 48, American professor of chemistry, mercury poisoning.

9

• Raymond Cayol, 80, French politician.
• Robert W. Hansen, 86, American lawyer and jurist.
• Ismael Huerta, 80, Chilean admiral and politician, cardiac embolism.
• Stanley Knowles, 88, Canadian politician.[23]
• Yevgeni Lebedev, 80, Soviet and Russian film and theater actor.
• Thornton Lee, 90, American baseball player.[24]
• Witness Lee, 91/92, Chinese christian preacher and hymnist.

10

• Carolina Cotton, 71, American singer and actress, ovarian cancer.
• Kim Ki-soo, 57, South Korean boxing champion, liver cancer.[25]
• Reginald Lord, 92, English first-class cricketer.

11

• Herman Basudde, 38, Ugandan kadongo kamu musician, traffic accident.
• Robert Bates, 48, Northern Irish Ulster loyalist, shot.
• Thalassa Cruso, 88, British-American presenter and author on horticulture, Alzheimer's disease.[26]
• Ben Dunkelman, 83, Canadian-Israeli military officer, heart attack.
• Gonzalo Fonseca, 74, Uruguayan artist, stroke.[27]
• Ralph Kohl, 73, American football player, coach and scout.[28]
• Satyanarayana Rajguru, 93, Indian litterateur, epigraphist and historian.
• Mihir Sen, 66, Indian long distance swimmer, combination of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
• Lütfiye Sultan, 87, Turkish Ottoman princess.

12

• Rick Baldwin, 42, American racing driver, racing accident.
• Pieter d'Hont, 80, Dutch sculptor.
• Colette Magny, 70, French singer and songwriter.[29]
• Anand Narain Mulla, 96, Indian Urdu poet.
• Bulat Okudzhava, 73, Soviet/Russian poet, writer, musician, and singer-songwriter.[30]
• Keith Smith, 83, Australian rules footballer.
• Joe Ben Wheat, 81, American archaeologist and author.[31]

13

• Al Berto, 49, Portuguese poet and painter, lymphoma.
• Bill Johnson, 82, Welsh rugby player.
• Delk M. Oden, 85, United States Army officer.
• George Strugar, 63. American gridiron football player, lung cancer.[32]
• Nguyen Manh Tuong, 87/88, Vietnamese lawyer and intellectual.

14

• Marjorie Best, 94, American Hollywood costume designer.
• Helmut Fischer, 70, German actor.
• Richard Jaeckel, 70, American actor.[33]</ref>[34]
• Helena Sanders, 86, British cultural activist, politician and poet.

15

• Thomas Baffes, 74, American surgeon and attorney.
• Desmond Banks, Baron Banks, 78, British politician.
• Nicholas Danby, British organist and composer.
• George Denholm, 88, British flying ace during World War II.
• Edmond Leburton, 82, Belgian politician and Prime Minister.[35]
• Elbert S. McCuskey, 82, United States Navy flying ace during World War II.
• Robert C. McEwen, 77, American politician.[36]
• Son Sen, 67, Cambodian communist politician and soldier.

16

• Mariya Batrakova, 74, Soviet/Russian Red Army officer and Hero of the Soviet Union.
• Michael O'Herlihy, 68, Irish television producer and director.
• Henry Schauer, 78, United States Army soldier and recipient of the Medal of Honor.
• Sukumaran, 49, Indian film actor and producer, heart attack.
• Sue Sumii, 95, Japanese social reformer, writer, and novelist.[37]

17

• Frances Foster, 73, American film, television and stage actress, cerebral hemorrhage.[38]
• Bernhard Jensen, 85, Danish flatwater canoeist and Olympian.
• Hari Krishna Shastri, 59, Indian politician.
• Maurice Rootes, 80, British film editor.

18

• James Willard Hurst, 86, American legal lcholar and law history pioneer, cancer.[39]
• Lev Kopelev, 85, Soviet author and dissident.[40]
• Devon Russell, Jamaican rocksteady and reggae singer and record producer, brain tumour.
• José María Fernández Unsáin, 78, Argentine film director, screenwriter, and playwright.
• Héctor Yazalde, 51, Argentine footballer, heart failure.

19

• Basu Bhattacharya, Indian film director, acute pancreatitis.[41]
• Robert Francis Byrnes, 79, American professor of history, heart attack.[42]
• Cathleen Delany, 89, Irish actress.[43]
• Olga Georges-Picot, 57, French actress, suicide.
• Bobby Helms, 63, American country music singer, emphysema and asthma.
• Julia Smith, 70, English television director and producer.
• George Stipich, 60, Canadian professional wrestler known as Stan Stasiak, heart failure.

20

• John Akii-Bua, 47, Ugandan hurdler and the nation's first Olympic champion.[44]
• Armando Brancia, 79, Italian film and television actor.
• Paul Carell, 85, German Nazi politician and propogandist.
• John Michael Macdonald, 91, Canadian politician.
• Lawrence Payton, 59, American tenor, songwriter, musician, and record producer, liver cancer.[45]
• Alberto Rivera, 61, Spanish anti-Catholic religious activist, colon cancer.
• Harijadi Sumodidjojo, 77, Indonesian realist artist.

21

• Shintaro Katsu, 65, Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director, pharyngeal cancer.
• Arthur Prysock, 68, American jazz and R&B singer.[46]
• Fidel Velázquez Sánchez, 97, Mexican union leader, cardiac and respiratory failure.[47]

22

• Lars Bergendahl, 88, Norwegian cross country skier.
• William Slater Brown, 100, American novelist, biographer, and translator of French literature.[48]
• Ted Gärdestad, 41, Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, and actor, suicide.
• Larry Grossman, 53, Canadian politician (Legislative Assembly of Ontario), brain cancer.
• Don Henderson, 65, English actor, throat cancer.[49]
• Paul Napolitano, 74, American basketball player.
• Gérard Pelletier, 78, Canadian journalist and politician.

23

• Len Bailey, 70, British automobile designer.
• Rosina Lawrence, 84, British-Canadian actress and singer.[50]
• Prince Nico Mbarga, 47, Nigerian Igbo highlife musician, motorcycle accident.
• Betty Shabazz, 63, American civil rights advocate and widow of Malcolm X, burns.[51]
• Acharya Tulsi, 82, Indian Jain religious leader.

24

• Brian Keith, 75, American film, television and stage actor, suicide.[52]
• Jeff Lloyd, 82, English international speedway rider.
• Sanjukta Panigrahi, 52, Indian Odissi dancer, cancer.[53]
• Leonard B. Strang, 72, British professor of paediatric sciences, cancer.

25

• Bobby Blackwood, 62, Scottish footballer.
• Jacques Cousteau, 87, French explorer, conservationist, and oceanographer, heart attack.[54][55]
• William Grinnell, 87, American football player and coach, congestive heart failure.
• Louis A. McCall Sr., 45, American singer, songwriter and drummer, murdered during robbery.

26

• George Bassman, 83, American composer and arranger.
• Charlie Chester, 83, English comedian, radio and television presenter and writer.
• Don Hutson, 84, American football player (Green Bay Packers) and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[56]
• Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, 38, Native Hawaiian musician and activist, obesity-related problems.
• Thomas Joseph Murphy, 64, American bishop in the Catholic Church, cerebral hemorrhage.
• William Turnbull Jr., 62, American architect, cancer.[57]

27

• Cesar Y. Alzona, Filipino songwriter (b. 1926).
• Narinder Biba, 56, Indian Punjabi singer.
• Samuel L. Devine, 81, American politician, cancer.
• W. O. G. Lofts, 73, British researcher and author.[58]
• Marion M. Magruder, 86, United States Marine Corps officer.
• Harrison Marks, 70, English glamour photographer and director of pornographic films.[59]
• Kenneth Neate, 82, Australian tenor, opera producer, composer and author.[60]
• Joseph Zong Huaide, 80, Chinese Roman Catholic Bishop.

28

• Gary DeVore, 55, American Hollywood screenwriter, murdered.
• Forest Dewey Dodrill, 95, American doctor and inventor of the Dodrill-GMR heart machine.[61]
• Jack Hinton, 87, New Zealand soldier during World War II and recipient of the Victoria Cross.
• Friedrich von Mellenthin, 92, German general during World War II.
• Frank Mennie, 73, Scottish footballer.
• Mrs. Miller, 89, American singer.

29

• Nicholas Bodman, 83, American linguist.
• William Hickey, 69, American actor, emphysema and bronchitis.[62]
• Marjorie Linklater, 88, Scottish arts and environment campaigner, cancer and heart failure.[63]
• Tom Lovell, 88, American illustrator and painter, car accident.
• Li'l Millet, 61, American rhythm and blues musician, cancer.

30

• Su Bingqi, Chinese archaeologist.
• Bill Bradley, 64, English cyclist.
• Margaret Hutchinson, 92, English educator, naturalist and author.
• Larry O'Dea, 53, Australian professional wrestler, liver cancer.[64]
• Alcira Soust Scaffo, 73, Uruguayan teacher and poet, respiratory infection.

References

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2. John Tagliabue (7 June 1997). "George Livanos, 70, a Giant In Greek Shipping Business". The New York Times. p. 1 11. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
3. "Mickey Rocco Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
4. Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr. (5 June 1997). "Bernard G. Segal Dies at 89; Lawyer for Rich and Poor". The New York Times. p. B 16. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
5. Karen Freeman (2 June 1997). "Robert Serber, 88, Physicist Who Aided Birth of A-Bomb". The New York Times. p. B 13. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
6. Peter Watrous (3 June 1997). "Doc Cheatham, Jazz Journeyman Who Blossomed Into a Star, Dies at 91". The New York Times. p. D 23. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
7. Susan B. Adams (4 June 1997). "Helen Jacobs, Tennis Champion in the 1930's, Dies at 88". The New York Times. p. D 24. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
8. "Paid Notice: Deaths ALEXANDER, WILLIAM. (A.K.A. ALEXANDER LEVY) June 8, 1997". The New York Times. 8 June 1997. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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26. Margalit Fox (18 June 1997). "Thalassa Cruso, 88, Plant Lover Who Shared Her Passion on TV". The New York Times. p. D 23. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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36. Wolfgang Saxon (19 June 1997). "Robert C. McEwen, 77, Veteran Lawmaker". The New York Times. p. D21. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
37. Nicholas D. Kristof (23 June 1997). "Sue Sumii, Writer, 95, Dies; Ally of Japan's Untouchables". The New York Times. p. D 9. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
38. Eric Pace (23 June 1997). "Frances Foster, 73, Actress And Director in the Theater". The New York Times. p. D 9. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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40. Craig R. Whitney (20 June 1997). "Lev Kopelev, Soviet Writer In Prison 10 Years, Dies at 85". The New York Times. p. B 8. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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44. Frank Litsky (25 June 1997). "John Akii-Bua, 47, Is Dead; Ugandan Won Olympic Gold". The New York Times. p. D 20. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
45. Jon Pareles (21 June 1997). "Lawrence Payton, 59, Singer With the Four Tops, Is Dead". The New York Times. p. 1 22. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
46. Stephen Holden (25 June 1997). "Arthur Prysock, 68, a Rhythm-and-Blues Singer". The New York Times. p. D 20. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
47. Anthony Depalma (22 June 1997). "Fidel Velazquez, Mexico Titan, Dies at 97". The New York Times. p. 1 26. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
48. Lawrence Van Gelder (28 June 1997). "William Slater Brown, 100, Writer of the Lost Generation". The New York Times. p. 1 28. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
49. Anthony Hayward (25 June 1997). "OBITUARY : Don Henderson". The Independent. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
50. Wolfgang Saxon (6 July 1997). "Rosina Lawrence, 84, Is Dead; A Teacher in 'Our Gang' Films". The New York Times. p. 1 19. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
51. Robert D. McFadden (24 June 1997). "Betty Shabazz, A Rights Voice, Dies of Burns". The New York Times. p. A 1. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
52. Lawrence Van Gelder (25 June 1997). "Brian Keith, Hardy Actor, 75; Played Dads and Desperadoes". The New York Times. p. D 20. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
53. "Sanjukta Panigrahi, Indian Dancer, 65". The New York Times. 6 July 1997. p. 1 19. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
54. Munson, Richard (26 June 1997). "Obituary: Jacques Cousteau". The Independent. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
55. Gerald Jonas (26 June 1997). "Jacques Cousteau, Oceans' Impresario, Dies". The New York Times. p. A 1. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
56. Frank Litsky (28 June 1997). "Don Hutson, a Star Receiver For the Packers, Is Dead at 84". The New York Times. p. 1 28. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
57. Paul Goldberger (30 June 1997). "William L. Turnbull Jr., Architect, 62, Dies". The New York Times. p. D 13. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
58. Adrian, Jack (1997-07-12). "Obituary: W. O. G. Lofts". The Independent. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
59. Whitaker, Gavin (2008). "The Naked World of Harrison Marks". pamela-green.com. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
60. Forbes, Elizabeth (1 July 1997). "Obituary: Kenneth Neate". The Independent. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
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64. Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling, 2d ed. 15 September 2015. ISBN 9781476605050. Retrieved 9 August 2020.