Deaths in March 1989

The following is a list of notable deaths in March 1989.

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.

1

 * Mukul Dey, 93, Indian artist (drypoint-etching).
 * Vasantdada Patil, 71, Indian politician, Governor of Rajasthan.
 * Odie Payne, 62, American blues drummer.
 * Frank W. Preston, 92, English-American engineer, ecologist and conservationist.
 * Mark M. Ravitch, 78, American surgeon (surgical staples), colon and prostate cancer.

2

 * Liviu Cornel Babeș, 46, Romanian electrician and painter, committed suicide by self-immolation as a political protest.
 * John Bryans, British actor (Blake's 7).
 * Luigi Firpo, 74, Italian historian and politician.
 * Tamás Kertész, 59, Hungarian international footballer and coach (Ferencvárosi, Hungary).
 * Ernest Steven Monteiro, 84, Singaporean physician, Singapore Ambassador to the United States, Cambodia and Brazil, liver failure.

3

 * Richard B. Morris, 84, American historian, melanoma.
 * Dong Qiwu, 89, Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army.
 * Vytautas Vičiulis, 37, Lithuanian painter, self-immolation as a political protest.

4

 * Agha Ibrahim Akram, 65, Pakistani army general.
 * Tiny Grimes, 72, American jazz and R&B guitarist, meningitis.
 * Viktor Nikiforov, 57, Soviet ice hockey player and Olympic gold medalist.
 * Edward Makuka Nkoloso, 69–70, member of Zambian resistance movement, planned to beat the U.S. and Soviet Union to the moon.

5

 * Prithvi Singh Azad, 96, Indian independence activist, founder of Ghadar Party.
 * Daniel Webster Cluff, 72, United States Coast Guard officer, rescued thirty-two survivors from SS Pendleton.
 * James Edwin Doyle, 86, American advertising executive, co-founder of Doyle Dane Bernbach agency, emphysema.
 * Richmond Barthé, 88, American sculptor of busts.

6

 * Harry Andrews, 77, English actor (The Hill, The Agony and the Ecstasy).
 * Alla Ilchun, 62, Chinese-born Kazakh fashion model.
 * Raja Hossain Khan, 50–51, Bangladeshi composer and violinist, road accident.
 * Franca Marzi, 62, Italian film actress (Nights of Cabiria).
 * Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi, 79, Indian-born Pakistani freedom fighter.

7

 * Paul Boesch, 76, American professional wrestler and promoter (Houston Wrestling), heart attack.
 * Jerry Bywaters, 82, American artist, museum director and art critic.
 * Jean Colin, 83, English actress.
 * Avis DeVoto, 84, American culinary editor and cook, pancreatic cancer.
 * Gi Hyeong-do, 28–29, Korean poet (The Black Leaf in My Mouth).
 * Judson Philips, 85, American writer, emphysema.
 * Norman Saunders, 82, American commercial artist.
 * Jack Stanton, 67, American NBL basketballer (Anderson Duffey Packers).
 * Karel Velebný, 57, Czech jazz musician and composer.

8

 * Elisaveta Bykova, 75, Soviet chess player and dual Women's World Chess Champion.
 * Charles Exbrayat, 82, French fiction writer.
 * Stuart Hamblen, 80, American singer and songwriter (This Ole House), Billy Graham crusader, brain cancer.
 * Herman Kogan, 74, American journalist (Chicago Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times).
 * Robert Lacoste, 90, French socialist politician, member of the National Assembly and senator.
 * Chhuttan Lal Meena, 68, Indian politician, Member of Parliament.
 * Stanley Wijesundera, 65, Sri Lankan professor of Biochemistry, vice chancellor of the University of Colombo, assassinated.

9

 * Kermit Beahan, 70, American officer in the U.S. Air Force, bombardier on the Bockscar atomic bomb flight, heart attack.
 * André Hornez, 83, French lyricist (C'est si bon; Rien dans les mains, rien dans les poches).
 * Robert Mapplethorpe, 42, American photographer, complications from AIDS.
 * Sam Melville, 52, American film and television actor, heart failure.
 * Sean O'Sullivan, 37, Canadian politician and Roman Catholic priest, leukemia.
 * Mihemed Şêxo, 41, Kurdish folk singer.
 * Hilda Strike, 78, Canadian track athlete and Olympic medalist.

10

 * Selwyn Jepson, 89, English mystery and detective author and screenwriter (Man Running).
 * Maurizio Merli, 49, Italian film actor (Catene, Violent Rome), myocardial infarction.

11

 * William Challee, 84, American actor (Five Easy Pieces).
 * Joseph Ferriola, 61, American mobster, boss of the Chicago Outfit, complications after heart transplant.
 * James Kee, 71, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
 * John J. McCloy, 93, American diplomat and presidential advisor, Assistant Secretary of War, pulmonary edema.
 * Edward A. Weeks, 91, American writer, editor of The Atlantic.

12

 * Maurice Evans, 87, English actor (Planet of the Apes), (Bewitched), heart failure.
 * Jakob Gimpel, 82, Polish-born concert pianist.
 * Kiyoshi Mutō, 86, Japanese architect and structural engineer (Keio Plaza Hotel, Kasumigaseki Building).
 * John Baptist Lucius Noel, 99, British mountaineer and filmmaker (1924 British Mount Everest expedition).
 * Chet Soda, 80, American businessman, general manager of the Oakland Raiders.
 * Carlos Terry, 32, American NBA basketballer (Washington Bullets), car accident.
 * Luigi Tosi, 73, Italian actor.

13

 * L. E. Baynes, 86, English aeronautical engineer, developed the Scud gliders.
 * Carl Dahlhaus, 60, German musicologist, kidney failure.
 * Carl von Horn, 85, Swedish Army general.
 * Aubrey Menen, 76, British author and theatre critic.
 * James G. O'Hara, 63, American soldier and politician, member of U.S. House of Representatives, lung cancer.
 * Fahrettin Özdilek, 90–91, Turkish Army general and politician, acting Prime Minister of Turkey.

14

 * Edward Abbey, 62, American author (The Monkey Wrench Gang, Desert Solitaire), environmentalist and anarchist, complications from surgery.
 * Stephen Bechtel Sr., 88, American president of Bechtel Corporation.
 * Charles Billingslea, 74, American general in the U.S. Army (Distinguished Service Cross), pneumonia.
 * Charles Roy Henderson, 77, American statistician (Best linear unbiased prediction), pioneer in animal breeding.
 * Happy Humphrey, 62, American wrestler, heaviest professional wrestler of all time (364 kg), heart attack.
 * Mark Kilroy, 21, American kidnapped and murdered in Mexico.
 * Omar Knedlik, 72, American inventor and businessman (ICEE frozen drink).
 * Timothy Meyers, 43, American actor (Grease), AIDS.
 * Egon Morbitzer, 62, German violinist, concertmaster of Staatskapelle Berlin, cancer.
 * Gladys Pyle, 98, American politician, U.S. Senator.
 * Zita of Bourbon-Parma, 96, last Queen of Hungary and Empress of Austria, wife of Charles I.

15

 * Henry Cass, 85, British director.
 * Muhammad Jameel Didi, 73, Maldivian politician, Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

16

 * Raymond Affleck, 66, Canadian architect, founder of architectural firm Arcop (Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver).
 * Georges Blond, 82, French writer, sympathiser with fascism.
 * Eddie Buczynski, 42, American archaeologist and follower of Wicca, parasitic infection.
 * Jesús María de Leizaola, 92, Spanish politician, President of the Basque government in exile.
 * George Lynn, 73, American composer, conductor and pianist.
 * Marcus Morris, 73, English Anglican priest, founded the Eagle weekly comic.
 * Alan Redpath, 82, British-American evangelist and author.

17

 * Beulah Ream Allen, 92, American nurse and physician, civilian physician during World War II (Medal of Freedom).
 * Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, 69, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, consequence of surgery.
 * Merritt Butrick, 29, American actor (Square Pegs), toxoplasmosis complicated by AIDS.
 * Jacob Pieter Den Hartog, 87, Dutch-American mechanical engineer.
 * George Vernon Russell, 83, American architect in California.

18

 * Helen Beebe, 80, American teacher of the deaf and pioneer of auditory-verbal therapy.
 * Harold Jeffreys, 97, British geophysicist, opponent of plate tectonics.
 * Ryūzō Kikushima, 75, Japanese writer and film producer (Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress).
 * Piet Kruiver, 51, Dutch international footballer (Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands).
 * George P. Mahoney, 87, American politician.
 * William Olander, 38, American curator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, AIDS.
 * Duane Purvis, 76, American footballer and javelin thrower.
 * Max Tishler, 82, American organic chemist, emphysema.

19

 * Alan Civil, 59, British horn player (BBC Symphony Orchestra), liver and kidney failure.
 * Normie Glick, 61, American NBA basketballer (Minneapolis Lakers).
 * Ethel Hays, 97, American syndicated cartoonist (Raggedy Ann).
 * Charles Lamb, 88, British stage, film, radio and television actor (Mrs Dale's Diary).
 * Valérie Quennessen, 31, French theatre and film actress (Summer Lovers, Conan the Barbarian), car accident.
 * Joe Rose, 23, Canadian LGBT rights activist, murdered.

20

 * Archie Bleyer, 79, American song arranger and bandleader (Gordon MacRae show), and founder of Cadence Records.
 * Alan Gifford, 78, American-born actor in the UK (2001: A Space Odyssey).
 * Francis Russell, 79, American author (Sacco-Vanzetti case).
 * Dina Sfat, 50, Brazilian actress.

21

 * Sneeze Achiu, 86, American NFL footballer (Dayton Triangles).
 * David Cairns, 79, English Navy rear-admiral, president of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
 * Otis Douglas, 77, American NFL footballer and coach (Philadelphia Eagles, Calgary Stampeders).
 * Louis Dupree, 63, American archaeologist and anthropologist, lung cancer.
 * Milton Frome, 80, American actor, congestive heart failure.
 * John Kenneth Hilliard, 87, American acoustical and electrical engineer.

22

 * Park Am, 64, South Korean actor.
 * Wally Heider, 66, American recording engineer and recording studio owner.
 * Gino Piserchio, 44, American actor, composer and musician, AIDS.

23

 * F. W. S. Craig, 69, Scottish psephologist, suicide.
 * Adrien Deschryver, 49, Belgian photographer and conservationist, chief warden of Kahuzi-Biega National Park.
 * Pavle Gregorić, 96, Yugoslavian communist politician, Minister for Croatia.
 * George Marthins, 83, Indian hockey player and gold medalist.
 * Bob McTaggart, 43, Scottish politician, Member of Parliament, heart attack.
 * Berl Repetur, 86–87, Soviet-born Zionist activist and Israeli politician.

24

 * Robert Arundell, 84, British diplomat, Governor of the Windward Islands and Barbados.
 * Arnett Cobb, 70, American tenor saxophonist.
 * Reuben David, 76, Indian zoologist, founder of Kankaria Zoo.
 * Edward P. Hurt, 89, American football, basketball and track coach.
 * St. Julien R. Marshall, 85, American officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, cardiopulmonary arrest.

25

 * Sa'id Mufti, 90, Jordanian politician, Prime Minister of Jordan.
 * C. L. Anandan, 55, Indian actor and producer (Vijayapuri Veeran).
 * Reginald Le Borg, 86, Austrian film director (San Diego, I Love You), heart attack.

26

 * Albert Guérisse, 77, Belgian general and resistance leader.
 * Māris Liepa, 52, Latvian ballet dancer
 * Marina Ried, 67, Russian-German stage and film actress.
 * Lewis William Walt, 76, United States Marine Corps four-star general.
 * Harry Wicks, 83, British socialist activist (Communist Party of Great Britain).
 * Hai Zi, 25, Chinese poet, suicide.

27

 * May Allison, 98, American stage and silent screen actress (David Harum), respiratory failure.
 * Don Basham, 62, Bible teacher and author.
 * Malcolm Cowley, 90, American writer, heart attack.
 * Scott Safran, 21, American video gamer, set world-record score on Asteroids, fall from building.
 * Cláudio Santoro, 69, Brazilian composer, conductor and violinist.
 * Jack Starrett, 52, American actor and film director (Blazing Saddles, First Blood), kidney failure.

28

 * Joseph Adefarasin, 67, Nigerian lawyer and High Court judge.
 * Nick Bremigan, 43, American Major League baseball umpire (American League), heart attack.
 * Fang Chih, 93, Chinese politician, diplomat, author and Kuomintang official.
 * William D. Cox, 79, American businessman and sports executive (Philadelphia Phillies, International Soccer League).
 * Ian Dalrymple, 85, British screenwriter, film director and producer (The Lion Has Wings, The Wooden Horse).
 * Richard H. Ellis, 69, United States Air Force general, commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command.
 * Josiah Zion Gumede, 69, president of unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
 * Arthur Hill, 94, Irish peer, Marquess of Downshire.
 * Madeleine Ozeray, 80, Belgian stage and film actress, cancer.
 * Patrick Vallençant, 42, French alpinist and skier, pioneer in ski mountaineering, abseiling accident.
 * Lockwood West, 83, British actor, cancer.
 * Robert J. Wilke, 74, American film and television actor.

29

 * Abdullah al-Ahdal, Imam of Belgium, shot.
 * Bernard Blier, 73, Argentina-born French actor.
 * Chico Che, 43, Mexican musician, singer and songwriter, stroke.
 * Fernand Gambiez, 86, French Army general.
 * Aleksandr Prokopenko, 35, Belarusian international footballer (Dinamo Minsk, Soviet Union), choked on food.
 * Xiao Jinguang, 86, Chinese fleet admiral, Commander of People's Liberation Army Navy, colon cancer.
 * Nicolae Steinhardt, 76, Romanian writer and Orthodox monk.
 * Charles Taylor, 78, English businessman and politician, Member of Parliament.

30

 * Bill Chappell, 67, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, bone cancer.
 * Peter D'Aguiar, 76–77, Guyanese-Portuguese businessman and politician, Minister of Finance.
 * Mike Sekowsky, 65, American comics artist (Wonder Woman).
 * Arto Tolsa, 43, Finnish international footballer (Beerschot, KTP, Finland).
 * Huang Wei, 85, Chinese Nationalist military general.

31

 * Edgar C. Erickson, 92, United States Army major general, Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
 * Francis H. Russell, 84, American diplomat, U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, Ghana and New Zealand, heart attack.
 * Millard Sheets, 81, American artist and architectural designer.
 * Carlos Tobalina, 63–64, Peruvian-born American adult filmmaker and actor, suicide.

Unknown date

 * Juliette Compton, 89, American actress (That Hamilton Woman).
 * Michael Lubbock, 82, British military officer and businessman.
 * Allan H. Mogensen, 87, American industrial engineer.
 * Yoshio Shiga, 88, member of the Japanese Communist Party.