Deaths in December 2004

1

Fathi Arafat, 71, Palestinian physician, brother of Yasser Arafat and founder of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, stomach cancer. [1]

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, 93, Dutch royal, father of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, lung and colon cancer. [2]

David Vienneau, 53, Canadian journalist, pancreatic cancer. [3]

2

Larry Buchanan, 81, American B-movie director, producer and writer, complications of collapsed lung. [4]

Kevin Coyne, 60, English musician, filmmaker and author, pulmonary fibrosis. [5]

Elizabeth Azcona Cranwell, 71, Argentine poet and translator. [6]

Dame Alicia Markova, 94, English ballerina. [7]

Nadine Shamir, 32, American techno singer/songwriter, complications in childbirth. Archived December 23, 2004, at the Wayback Machine.

Mona Van Duyn, 83, American poet, US Poet Laureate (1992), bone cancer. [8]

3

Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Duke of Leinster, 90, Irish nobleman. [9]

Maria Perschy, 66, Austrian film, stage and TV actor, cancer. [10]

Helmut Rix, 78, German linguist, car accident. [11]

Josef Schwammberger, 92, German former Nazi labor camp commander. [12]

Shiing-Shen Chern, 93, Chinese mathematician, heart failure following heart attack. [13]

4

Tom Fitzgerald, 53, American soccer coach (University of Tampa), injuries from motorcycle accident. [14]

Elena Souliotis, 61, Greek operatic soprano, heart failure. [15]

5

Seymour Ginsburg, 76, American computer scientist, Alzheimer's disease.[16]

Cristiano Júnior, 24, Brazilian footballer, cardiac arrest after on-field collision. [17]

Hicham Zerouali, 27, Moroccan footballer, car accident. [18]

6

Frank Reginald Carey, 92, British World War II fighter ace. [19]

Raymond Goethals, 83, Belgian soccer coach. [20]

Adrian Morris, 75, English painter. [21]

Enrique Salinas, 52, Mexican businessman, brother of former president of Mexico Carlos Salinas, asphyxiation. [22] (Spanish)

7

Pacita Abad, 58, Filipino painter. [23]

Frederick Fennell, 90, American conductor, founder of Eastman Wind Ensemble. [24]

Jerry Scoggins, 93, American musician ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett"), natural causes. [25]

Jay Van Andel, 80, American co-founder and former chairman of Amway, Parkinson's disease. [26]

8

Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, 38, American heavy metal guitarist (Pantera, Damageplan), shot. [27]

Cleve Gray, 86, American abstract painter. [28]

Jackson Mac Low, 82, American poet, composer and performance artist, complications from stroke. [29]

Leslie Scarman, Baron Scarman, 93, British politician and life peer, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (1977–1986). [30]

9

David Brudnoy, 64, American radio talk show host (Boston), Merkel cell carcinoma. [31]

Paul Edwards, 81, Austrian-born American philosopher. [32]

Sir Peter Emery, 78, British Conservative politician (Honiton, 1967–1997; East Devon, 1997–2001). [33]

Philippe Gigantès, 81, Canadian former senator, cancer. [34]

Lea De Mae, 27, Czech pornographic film actress, brain cancer. [35]

Sergey Voychenko, 49, Belarusian artist and designer.

10

Norman Borrett, 87, English sportsman. [36]

Bob King, 81, American college basketball coach. [37]

Gary Webb, 49, American investigative reporter ("Dark Alliance"), apparent suicide. [38]

11

José Luis Cuciuffo, 42, Argentinian footballer and 1986 Football World Cup champion, hunting accident. [39] (Spanish)

Arthur Lydiard, 87, New Zealand marathon runner and athletics coach. [40]

M. S. Subbulakshmi, 88, Indian Carnatic musician, heart irregularities. [41]

12

Antonio Paredes Candia, 81, Bolivian folklorist and writer. [42] (Spanish)

Simon Combes, 64, British wildlife artist, gored by a buffalo. [43]

Phaswane Mpe, 34, South African novelist, after short illness. [44]

Fabian O'Dea, 86, Canadian lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. [45]

13

Donald S. Jones, 76, American admiral. [46]

Syed Mir Qasim, 83, Indian politician , chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir (1971–1975). [47]

Andre Rodgers, 70, Bahamian baseball player, first Bahamian to play in Major League Baseball. [48]

Bernarda Bryson Shahn, 101, American painter, lithographer, widow of Ben Shahn. [49]

David Wheeler, 77, English computer scientist. [50]

14

Harry Bowcott, 97, Welsh rugby union player (London Welsh, Wales) and president of the Welsh Rugby Union. [51]

Candice Daly, 41, American film and TV actor (The Young and the Restless). [52]

Sidonie Goossens, 105, British harpist. [53]

Rod Kanehl, 70, American baseball player who hit the first grand slam in the New York Mets history, heart attack. [54]

Fernando Poe, Jr., 65, Filipino actor and former presidential candidate, stroke. [55]

Robert Watson, 81, American artist, cancer. [56]

15

Chiang Fang-liang, 88, Russian-born widow of Chiang Ching-kuo and First Lady of the Republic of China on Taiwan (1978–1988), pulmonary and cardiac failure. [57]

Harry Errington, 94, British firefighter, recipient of the George Cross. [58]

Vassal Gadoengin, 61, Nauruan politician and then-incumbent Speaker of Parliament, heart attack. [59]

Pauline LaFon Gore, 92, American mother of former US vice-president Al Gore, wife of Albert Gore, Sr.. [60]

Jiban Ghosh, 69, Indian cricket umpire. [61]

Jim Holliday, American pornographic film producer and historian, complications from diabetes. [62]

Rodney O'Gliasain Kennedy-Minott, 76, American diplomat, former United States Ambassador to Sweden, complications of pancreatitis. [63]

Lorenzo "Larry" J. Ponza Jr., 86, American baseball pitching machine innovator, cancer-related illness. [64]

Athena Starwoman, 59, Australian astrologer, breast cancer. [65]

16

Ted Abernathy, 71, American baseball player. [66]

Richard B. Fisher, 68, American banker, cancer. [67]

Agnes Martin, 92, American abstract painter, pneumonia. [68]

Bobby Mattick, 89, American former baseball player and manager, stroke. [69]

Lawrence O'Brien, 53, Canadian politician, member of the Canadian House of Commons, cancer. [70]

Freddie Perren, 61, American Grammy Award-winning record producer. [71]

17

Dick Heckstall-Smith, 70, British saxophone player (Colosseum, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers), cancer. [72]

Janina Niedźwiecka, 82, Polish film editor. [73]

Tom Wesselmann, 73, American pop artist, following heart surgery. [74]

Sir James Wilson, 83, British army general. [75]

18

Noel Beaton, 78, Australian MP (Bendigo, 1960–1969) and journalist, after short illness.[76]

John W. Downey, 77, American classical musician. [77]

Vijay Hazare, 89, Indian cricketer, Captain of India (1951–1953), illness following intestinal cancer. [78]

Albert Nordengen, 81, Norwegian Conservative politician, Mayor of Oslo (1976–1990), heart failure. [79] (Norwegian)

Anthony Sampson, 78, British journalist and author, official biographer of Nelson Mandela, heart attack. [80]

Princess Takamatsu, 92, Japanese member of the imperial family, blood poisoning. [81]

19

Michael Alexander, 84, British soldier and Prominente German Prisoner of War. [82]

Richard Best, 88, British film editor. [83]

Herbert C. Brown, 92, British Nobel Prize-winning chemist (Chemistry, 1979), heart attack. [84]

Mel Gabler, 89, American conservative textbook critic, brain hemorrhage after fall. [85]

Renata Tebaldi, 82, Italian opera singer, after short illness. [86]

20

Jack Newfield, 66, American journalist, metastatic kidney cancer. [87]

Son Seals, 62, American blues musician, complications of diabetes. [88]

21

Lennart Bernadotte, 95, Swedish prince. [89]

22

Doug Ault, 54, American Major League Baseball player (Toronto Blue Jays), suicide by gunshot. [90]

23

Richard Abel Smith, 71, British Army officer and landowner, stroke. [91]

Richard Barnet, 75, American political activist. [92]

John W. Duarte, 85, British classical guitarist and writer, cancer. [93]

Ifor James, 73, British horn player. [94]

Roger Moorey, 67, British archaeologist and historian. [95]

P. V. Narasimha Rao, 83, Indian Prime Minister (1991–1996), heart attack. [96]

24

Capt. Richard Annand, 90, British soldier, first Victoria Cross recipient of World War II. [97]

Sir Anthony Meyer, 84, British Conservative MP (West Flintshire, 1970–1983; Clwyd North-West, 1983–1992), cancer. [98]

Johnny Oates, 58, American Major League Baseball catcher (Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees) and manager (Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers), brain tumor. [99]

Dame Rosemary Rue, 76, British physician and civil servant. [100]

25

Sandy Cameron, 66, Canadian politician. [101]

James Hunter Blair, 78, Scottish historic preservationist. [102]

Jane Muskie, 77, American former model and bookkeeper, widow of politician Edmund Muskie, Alzheimer's disease. [103]

Antony Preston, 66, British naval historian and writer.

Eddie Spicer, 82, English footballer (Liverpool). [104]

Gennady Strekalov, 64, Russian cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union, cancer. [105]

26

Troy Broadbridge, 24, Australian Football League player (Melbourne), in 2004 Asian tsunami. [106]

Jonathan Drummond-Webb, 45, South African paediatric heart surgeon, suicide by overdose. [107]

Kristina Fröjmark, 47, Swedish reality TV show star, in 2004 Asian tsunami. [108]

Garard Green, 80, British actor. [109]

Marianne Heiberg, 59, Norwegian diplomat, Oslo Accords mediator, heart attack. [110]

Bhumi Jensen, 21, Thai prince, in 2004 Asian tsunami. [111]

Sujeewa Kamalasuriya, 39, Sri Lankan cricketer, in 2004 Asian tsunami. [112]

Sigurd Køhn, 45, Norwegian composer, in 2004 Asian tsunami. [113]

Eddie Layton, 77, American organist (New York Yankees), after short illness. [114]

David McKay, 83, Australian journalist and racing driver, cancer. [115]

Sir Angus Ogilvy, 76, British businessman, husband of HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy, throat cancer. [116]

Markus Sandlund, 29, Swedish cellist, in 2004 Asian tsunami. [117]

Aki Sirkesalo, 42, Finnish musician, in 2004 Asian tsunami. [118]

Mieszko Talarczyk, 30, Swedish musician, in 2004 Asian tsunami. [119]

Reggie White, 43, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers) and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, cardiac arrhythmia. [120]

Robert Whymant, 60, British journalist (The Times) and author, in 2004 Asian tsunami. [121]

27

Hank Garland, 74, American studio guitarist (Elvis Presley, Charlie Parker), staphylococcus infection. [122]

Heorhiy Kirpa, 58, Ukrainian industrialist and politician (Transport Minister since 2002), shot. [123]

28

Jerry Orbach, 69, American actor (Law & Order), prostate cancer. [124]

Susan Sontag, 71, American author, literary theorist and activist, acute myeloid leukemia. [125]

29

Julius Axelrod, 92, American Nobel Prize-winning biochemist (Medicine, 1970), natural causes. [126]

William Boyett, 77, American actor (Adam-12), complications from pneumonia and kidney failure. [127]

John Bridgeman, 88, British sculptor. [128]

Ken Burkhart, 89, American Major League Baseball pitcher and umpire, emphysema. [129]

Arthur B. Chapman, 96, British-born American geneticist. [130]

Liddy Holloway, 57, New Zealand actress (Shortland Street) and writer, liver cancer. [131]

30

Mark Fiennes, 71, English photographer and illustrator. [132]

Masao Kato, 57, Japanese go player. [133]

Artie Shaw, 94, American jazz musician, complications of diabetes. [134]

31

John Chataway, 57, Canadian politician, complications from stroke. [135]

Gérard Debreu, 83, French-born American Nobel Prize-winning economist (Economics, 1983), natural causes. [136]

George Wackenhut, 85, American businessman, founder of Wackenhut Corporation, heart failure. [137]