Deaths in May 1986

The following is a list of notable deaths in May 1986.

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

 * Hylda Baker, 81, English actress and comedian, pneumonia.
 * John Bartlett, 40, New Zealand botanist.
 * Reg Boyle, 83, Australian footballer.
 * Dennis Emery, 52, English footballer.
 * Heinrich Fraenkel, 88, Polish-British screenwriter and biographer.
 * Mirrie Hill, 96, Australian composer.
 * Mirko Javornik, 76, Slovenian writer.
 * Arthur Lipsett, 49, Canadian filmmaker, suicide.
 * Alastair McIntyre, 59, British film editor, complications from a stroke.
 * Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, 87, American children's author.
 * Hugo Peretti, 69, American songwriter.
 * Sir James Ramsay, 69, Australian politician.
 * Millicent Silver, 80, English harpsichordist.
 * Alfredo Varela Jr., 73, Mexican screenwriter.
 * Ed Wells, 85, American baseball player.

2

 * Sir Marcus Beeck, 62, Australian farmer and business executive.
 * Wallace Bishop, 80, American drummer.
 * W. Sheffield Cowles, 87, American politician, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (1948–1956).
 * Sergio Cresto, 30, American racing driver, car explosion.
 * William Edward Doyle, 75, American jurist.
 * Georgy Gause, 75, Soviet biologist.
 * Edwin Sherbon Hills, 79, Australian geologist.
 * Wilfrid Kidson, 79, South African cricketer.
 * Lotte Brand Philip, 75, German art historian.
 * Edward Righton Jr, 73, English cricketer.
 * Violet Rucroft, 83, New Zealand conservationist.
 * Gertrud Theiler, 88, South African parasitologist.
 * Henri Toivonen, 29, Finnish racing driver, car explosion.
 * Jan Wojciechowski, 81, Polish footballer.

3

 * Robert Alda, 72, American actor.
 * Carlton W. Barrett, 66, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient.
 * Nicolò Nicolosi, 73, Italian footballer.
 * Royce S. Pitkin, 84, American academic administrator.
 * Wang Li, 85, Chinese linguist.

4

 * Kotti Chave, 74, Finnish-born Swedish actor.
 * Richard Daniel, 85, German general.
 * Jean Gagé, 83, French historian.
 * Paul Magnus Gross, 90, American chemist.
 * Enzo Liberti, 60, Italian actor, complications from heart surgery.
 * Hugh Luby, 72, American baseball player.
 * Benjamin Muse, 88, American politician and journalist, member of the Virginia Senate (1936).
 * Paul Richards, 77, American baseball player, heart attack.
 * Romeo Rivers, 79, Canadian ice hockey player.
 * Esther Van Wagoner Tufty, 89, American journalist.
 * James Allen Vann, 46, American historian.

5

 * Joe Childress, 52, American football player, cancer.
 * Bill Cook, 90, Canadian ice hockey player, cancer.
 * Emygdio de Barros, 90-91, Brazilian painter.
 * Käthe Haack, 88, German actress.
 * Knud Hvidberg, 58, Danish artist.
 * René Joffroy, 70, French archaeologist.
 * Sully Kothmann, 53, American Olympic figure skater (1956).
 * Billy Mackel, 73, American guitarist.
 * Louis Betbeder Matibet, 84, French chess player.
 * Satrio, 69, Indonesian military doctor and politician.
 * John Austin Victoreen, 83, American physicist.
 * George White, 81, Australian politician.
 * Julia Wojciechowska, 71, Polish Olympic gymnast (1936).

6

 * Fred C. Cole, 74, American librarian, heart failure.
 * Albert Ernest Forsythe, 89, American aviator.
 * Giuseppe Giaccone, 85, Italian footballer.
 * Lorenzo Minio-Paluello, 78, Italian linguist and translator.
 * Jack Rickards, 57, Zimbabwean Olympic sports shooter (1964).
 * Héctor Ruiz Martínez, 42, Puerto Rican politician.
 * Sri Sabaratnam, 33, Sri Lankan militant (Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization), shot.
 * Len Schulte, 69, American baseball player.
 * Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov, 92, Soviet weapon designer (SKS).
 * Stefan Sznuk, 89-90, Polish-Canadian aviator.
 * Toralf Westermoen, 71, Norwegian boat designer.

7

 * Laura Alves, 64, Portuguese actress.
 * Ferdinand Bruhin, 77, Swiss footballer.
 * Charlie Colombo, 65, American soccer player.
 * Florence Dagmar, 90, American actress.
 * Gaston Defferre, 75, French politician.
 * Cornelia Johanna de Vogel, 81, Dutch classical scholar and theologian.
 * Jean-Pierre Hagnauer, 73, French Olympic ice hockey player (1936).
 * Peter Haworth, 96-97, British-born Canadian painter.
 * André Jubelin, 79, French naval admiral.
 * Robert A. Lovett, 90, American politician, secretary of defense (1951–1953).
 * Al Mooney, 80, American aircraft designer.
 * Jeffrey Mylett, 36, American actor and songwriter, AIDS.
 * Juan Nakpil, 86, Filipino architect.
 * Jonas Persson, 72, Swedish Olympic cyclist (1936).
 * Alfredo Pezzana, 93, Italian Olympic fencer (1936).
 * Edward Root, 83, Australian rugby player.
 * Selman Selmanagić, 81, Bosnian-German architect.
 * Herma Szabo, 84, Austrian Olympic figure skater (1924).
 * Haldun Taner, 71, Turkish playwright, heart attack.
 * George Weaver, 77, Canadian politician, MP (1949–1957).

8

 * Ernle Bradford, 64, British historian.
 * Melanija Bugarinović, 80, Yugoslav singer.
 * Erwin Chamberlain, 71, Canadian ice hockey player.
 * Ivan Corry, 78, Australian footballer.
 * Eugenie Gershoy, 85, American artist.
 * R. M. Jackson, 82, British jurist.
 * Majid Salek Mahmoudi, 33, Iranian serial killer, suicide by hanging.
 * Raffaele Nasi, 76, Italian Olympic skier (1936).
 * Richard W. Richards, 91, Australian physicist.
 * Manny Shinwell, 101, British politician, MP (1922–1924, 1928–1931, 1935–1970).
 * Leland Stark, 78, American Anglican prelate.
 * Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach, 48, German socialite, oral cancer.

9

 * Mikhail Alpatov, 83, Soviet historian and art theorist.
 * Nelson Ball, 77, New Zealand rugby player.
 * Herschel Bernardi, 62, American actor (Arnie, Peter Gunn, Fiddler on the Roof), heart attack.
 * Mirosław Bojanowicz, 79-80, Polish-British philatelist.
 * Peter Jackson, 80, English footballer.
 * Eana Jeans, 95, New Zealand painter.
 * Thomas Liao, 76, Taiwanese politician.
 * Colin Lyman, 72, English footballer.
 * Tenzing Norgay, 71, Nepalese-Indian mountaineer (1953 British Mount Everest expedition), cerebral hemorrhage.
 * Alden Pasche, 75, American basketball coach.

10

 * Aleksandr Akimov, 33, Soviet engineer, acute radiation syndrome.
 * Al Burruss, 58, American politician, member of the Georgia House of Representatives (since 1964), pancreatic cancer.
 * Wilbur Hogg, 69, American Anglican prelate.
 * Anna Kamieńska, 66, Polish writer.
 * Tagir Kusimov, 77, Soviet general.
 * Leopoldo Ruiz, 59, Argentine golfer.
 * Gregory Ryan, 73, Australian cricketer.
 * Josimo Morais Tavares, 32-33, Brazilian Roman Catholic priest, homicide.
 * John Wheatley, 59, American physicist.
 * Charles "Hungry" Williams, 51, American drummer, Paget's disease of bone.

11

 * Edoardo Anton, 76, Italian filmmaker.
 * Jimmy Hines, 82, American golfer.
 * Viktor Kibenok, 23, Soviet firefighter, acute radiation syndrome.
 * Gerry H. Kisters, 67, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient.
 * Kilby MacDonald, 72, Canadian ice hockey player.
 * Walter K. Martinez, 55, American politician, member of the New Mexico House of Representatives (1966–1984), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
 * Henry Plumer McIlhenny, 75, American art curator and connoisseur.
 * Fritz Pollard, 92, American football player and coach.
 * Volodymyr Pravyk, 23, Soviet firefighter, acute radiation syndrome.

12

 * Helge Akre, 83, Norwegian diplomat.
 * Sofía Álvarez Vignoli, 86, Uruguayan jurist, first lady (1976).
 * Elisabeth Bergner, 88, Austrian-British actress, cancer.
 * Mary deGarmo Bryan, 94, American dietician.
 * Harold W. Clark, 94, American creationist.
 * Albert Cooper, 75, British politician, MP (1950–1966, 1970–1974).
 * Joseph Fadahunsi, 84-85, Nigerian politician.
 * Fred Kormis, 91, German sculptor.
 * Eleanor Frances Lattimore, 81, American writer.
 * William Harrington Leahy, 81, American naval admiral.
 * Wanda Jean Mays, 26, American missing persons case, fall.
 * Alicia Moreau de Justo, 100, Argentine social activist and politician.
 * Ramon Muller, 51, Argentine footballer.
 * Bill Nairn, 73, Canadian football player.
 * Reuben Harold Tweten, 87, American politician, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (1947–1956).

13

 * Alexander Archdale, 80, British-Australian actor.
 * Maria Bellonci, 83, Italian writer.
 * George Gaines, 52, American set decorator.
 * Vasily Ignatenko, 25, Soviet firefighter, acute radiation syndrome.
 * Robert LeFevre, 74, American libertarian autarchist activist.
 * Peadar O'Donnell, 93, Irish politician, TD (1923–1927).

14

 * Janne Aikala, 10, Finnish murder victim.
 * Solomon Blatt Sr., 91, American politician, member of the South Carolina House of Representatives (since 1932).
 * Henry E. Eccles, 87, American naval admiral.
 * Pierino Favalli, 72, Italian racing cyclist.
 * Fuang Jotiko, 70-71, Thai Buddhist monk.
 * William Lindsay, 40, British actor.
 * Norma Millay, 91-92, American singer and actress.
 * Frank O'Rourke, 92, Canadian-American baseball player.
 * Mose Rager, 75, American guitarist.
 * Joe Sparma, 44, American baseball player, complications from heart surgery.
 * Nelson Stacy, 64, American racing driver.
 * C. H. V. Sutherland, 78, English numismatist.
 * Leonid Toptunov, 25, Soviet electrical engineer, acute radiation syndrome.
 * Tom Turner, 69, American baseball player.
 * Steef van Musscher, 84, Dutch Olympic jumper (1928).
 * Cornelis Gijsbert Gerrit Jan van Steenis, 84, Dutch botanist.
 * Robert Zielinski, 84, American football player.

15

 * Constantine John Alexopoulos, 79, American mycologist.
 * John F. Bassett, 47, Canadian tennis player and businessman, brain cancer.
 * Hel Braun, 71, German mathematician.
 * Elio de Angelis, 28, Italian racing driver, smoke inhalation.
 * Johnny Gottselig, 80, Russian-born American ice hockey player.
 * Rose Lokissim, 30-31, Chadian soldier, shot.
 * Mieczysław Palus, 64, Polish ice hockey player.
 * Shirley Leon Quimby, 92, American physicist.
 * Sir Maxwell Richmond, 85, New Zealand naval admiral.
 * Willie Telfer, 77, Scottish footballer.
 * Luis Torres Nadal, 42, Puerto Rican playwright and theatre director, homicide.
 * Bill Tricklebank, 70, New Zealand cricketer.
 * Theodore H. White, 71, American political journalist, stroke.

16

 * Anton Banko, 58, Slovenian inventor and engineer.
 * Lothar Beutel, 84, German soldier.
 * Joe Bootham, 74, New Zealand painter.
 * Ronald Robson, 73, South African cricketer.
 * Mykola Tytenok, 23, Soviet firefighter, acute radiation syndrome.
 * John H. Yancey, 68, American soldier.

17

 * John Gibson, 37, American actor, plane crash.
 * Freddie Jakeman, 66, English cricketer.
 * Masaji Kitano, 91, Japanese general, physician, and war criminal (Unit 731).
 * Preben Lundgren Kristensen, 62, Danish Olympic cyclist (1952).
 * Roberts Pakalns, 74, Soviet Latvian footballer.
 * Lyudmila Pakhomova, 39, Soviet Olympic ice dancer (1976), leukemia.
 * Jack Waldman, 33, American musician, lymphoma.

18

 * Charles Albertine, 57, American composer.
 * Robert Page Arnot, 95, British journalist.
 * Gustl Berauer, 73, Czechoslovak skier.
 * John W. Bubbles, 84, American tap dancer and actor.
 * Yaşar Erkan, 75, Turkish Olympic wrestler (1936).
 * Gianni Gambi, 78, Italian Olympic swimmer (1928).
 * Giuseppe Lazzati, 76, Italian Roman Catholic priest and politician.
 * Louis L. Madsen, 78, American academic administrator.
 * John Guthrie Paterson, 84, Australian politician.
 * James Phemister, 93, Scottish geologist.
 * Kanuri Lakshmana Rao, 83, Indian politician, MP (1962–1977).
 * Peter Wehle, 72, Austrian actor.
 * Spades Wood, 77, American baseball player.
 * Zé Luiz, 56, Brazilian basketball player.

19

 * Howard Benge, 72, New Zealand rower.
 * George Boyes, 75, South African cricketer.
 * Joe Greenwald, 97, American Olympic equestrian (1920).
 * Jimmy Lyons, 54, American saxophonist, lung cancer.
 * Sarath Muttetuwegama, 68, Sri Lankan politician.
 * Bernard Naylor, 78, English-Canadian composer.
 * Tibor Nyilas, 71, Hungarian-born American Olympic fencer (1948).
 * Knut Rød, 85, Norwegian police officer and Nazi collaborator.
 * Len Stansbridge, 67, English footballer.
 * Leonard Trent, 71, New Zealand aviator.
 * Behçet Uz, 92-93, Turkish politician.
 * Titus Vibe-Müller, 73, Norwegian film director.

20

 * Helen Belyea, 73, Canadian geologist.
 * Clyde Bernhardt, 80, American trombonist.
 * Karol Olgierd Borchardt, 81, Polish naval captain and writer.
 * Danielle Chenard, 28, Canadian Olympic handball player (1976).
 * Evo Anton DeConcini, 85, American jurist.
 * Gordon Hickman Garland, 88, American politician, member of the California State Assembly (1937–1943).
 * Frank McMahon, 83, Canadian oil executive.
 * Fritz Moegle, 69, Austrian art director.
 * Melvin R. Novick, 53, American statistician.
 * James O'Keeffe, 73-74, Irish politician, TD (1961–1965).
 * Dudley Spurling, 72, Bermudian politician and Olympic swimmer (1936).
 * Helen B. Taussig, 87, American cardiologist, traffic collision.
 * Pim van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout, 93, Dutch politician and diplomat.
 * Robert Wood, 61, American television executive.

21

 * Kenny Carter, 25, British motorcycle racer, suicide by gunshot.
 * Ralph Evinrude, 78, American businessman.
 * Yetta Dorothea Geffen, 94, American musician and journalist.
 * Juozas Grušas, 84, Soviet Lithuanian writer.
 * Viggo Jørgensen, 86, Danish footballer.
 * Mary Kawena Pukui, 91, American writer.

22

 * Umar al-Tilmisani, 81, Egyptian Islamist (Muslim Brotherhood).
 * James "Lugs" Branigan, 76, Irish boxer.
 * George Chapman, 82, Australian cricketer.
 * Renaat Demoen, 71, Belgian cartoonist.
 * George Forrest, 81, Scottish-Canadian footballer.
 * Martin Gabel, 74, American actor and filmmaker, heart attack.
 * Desmond Gillespie, 74, Northern Irish politician.
 * James Gentle, 81, American soccer player.
 * Lol Hamlett, 69, English footballer.
 * Lon Hatherell, 55, Australian rugby player.
 * Hisatora Kumagai, 82, Japanese filmmaker.
 * Gordon Nell, 78, American baseball player.
 * Georgie Nokes, 49, American actor.
 * Avery Rockefeller, 82, American investment banker and conservationist, heart attack.
 * Yechezkel Taub, 90, Polish-Israeli rabbi.
 * Lady Gwen Thompson, 57, American writer.
 * Harvey Uhlenhopp, 70, American jurist.
 * Archie Van Winkle, 61, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient.
 * Charles F. Voegelin, 80, American linguist.

23

 * Gerald Covey, 58, Canadian Olympic canoer (1948).
 * Henri de La Bastide, 69, French writer.
 * William J. Garsoe, 68, American politician, member of the Maine House of Representatives (1973–1980).
 * Emma Genevieve Gillette, 88, American conservationist.
 * Edward Hart, 74-75, Scottish physician.
 * Sterling Hayden, 70, American actor (Dr. Strangelove, The Killing, The Asphalt Jungle), prostate cancer.
 * Lloyd Hulbert, 67, American botanist.
 * William Johnston, 71, British Anglican prelate.
 * Henry Arnold Karo, 82, American naval admiral.
 * Hugh McMullen, 84, American baseball player.
 * Archie Sam, 71, American Natchez leader.
 * August Schaffer, 80, Austrian Olympic cyclist (1928).
 * Altiero Spinelli, 78, Italian politician, MEP (since 1979).
 * George Thompson, 79, Australian footballer.
 * Movlid Visaitov, 72, Soviet soldier.
 * Elena Žalinkevičaitė-Petrauskienė, 85, Soviet Lithuanian actress.

24

 * Gunnar Björnstrand, 76, Swedish actor.
 * Yakima Canutt, 90, American actor and stuntman, cardiac arrest.
 * Mick Cossey, 51, New Zealand rugby player.
 * Margit Dajka, 78, Hungarian actress.
 * Tommy Dea, 77, Australian footballer.
 * Rich Ferguson, 54, Canadian runner.
 * Erich Gerberding, 64, German actor.
 * Eduardo González-Gallarza, 88, Spanish general and politician.
 * George Gordon, 79, American animator.
 * Chris Graham, 86, Canadian Olympic boxer (1920).
 * Robert Holmes, 60, British scriptwriter.
 * Sam B. Holt, 83, American sports coach.
 * Fazlul Karim, 80, Bangladeshi politician and lawyer.
 * Władysław Masłowski, 52, Polish journalist.
 * Gord Pettinger, 74, British-born Canadian ice hockey player.
 * Henry Power, 81, Australian footballer.
 * Arthur Rubloff, 83, American real estate developer.
 * John Santall, 78, English cricketer.
 * Stephen D. Thorne, 33, American aviator, plane crash.
 * Eva Waldemarsson, 82, Swedish writer.

25

 * Nisson Alpert, 58, Polish-born American rabbi.
 * Carlo Betocchi, 87, Italian poet.
 * Chester B. Bowles, 85, American politician and diplomat, governor of Connecticut (1949–1951), member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1959–1961), Parkinson's disease.
 * Árpád Lajtos, 75, Hungarian soldier.
 * Rolf Lauer, 54, German Olympic gymnast (1952).
 * Owen Hood Phillips, 78, British jurist.
 * Shrikant Verma, 54, Indian politician and poet.
 * John Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke, 90, British hereditary peer.

26

 * Vitaly Abalakov, 80, Soviet inventor and mountaineer.
 * Peggy Ann Clifford, 65, English actress.
 * Gian-Carlo Coppola, 22, American film producer and actor, boating accident.
 * Glynn R. Donaho, 81, American naval admiral, pneumonia.
 * Godfrey Higgs, 78, Bahamian Olympic sailor (1952).
 * James J. Y. Liu, 59-60, Chinese-American literary scholar.

27

 * Bernard Ades, 82, American attorney and civil rights activist.
 * Ismail al-Faruqi, 65, Palestinian-American philosopher, stabbed.
 * Lois Lamya al-Faruqi, 59, American art scholar, stabbed.
 * Chris Anderson, 60, Scottish footballer, motor neurone disease.
 * Tsendiin Damdinsüren, 77, Mongolian writer and linguist.
 * Henry Dreyer, 75, American Olympic hammer thrower (1936, 1948).
 * Harry Easton Godwin, 78, American musical scholar.
 * Jaakko Kunnas, 82, Finnish Olympic gymnast (1928).
 * Ajoy Mukherjee, 85, Indian politician.
 * Jaideva Singh, 92, Indian musicologist.
 * Johnny Sisk, 79, American football player.
 * Limmie Snell, 37, American singer, renal failure.
 * Giorgos Tzifos, 67-68, Greek actor.
 * Charles Bierer Wrightsman, 90, American oil executive.

28

 * Marguerite Courtot, 88, American actress.
 * Taylor Douthit, 85, American baseball player.
 * Bill Findlay, 72, Australian footballer.
 * Paul Florence, 86, American baseball player.
 * Gunnar Hägg, 82, Swedish chemist.
 * Lea Ivanova, 62, Bulgarian jazz singer.
 * Don MacLaughlin, 79, American actor.
 * Borislav Milić, 60, Yugoslav chess player.
 * Archibald Hugh Mitchell, 82, Canadian politician, MP (1935–1940).
 * Lurene Tuttle, 78, American actress, cancer.

29

 * Alena Aladava, 79, Soviet Belarusian art historian and curator.
 * Nicole Algan, 61, French sculptor.
 * Onelio Jorge Cardoso, 72, Cuban filmmaker.
 * José Luis Carreño, 80, Spanish Roman Catholic priest.
 * Mary Davidson, 83-84, Irish politician.
 * Inge Landgut, 63, German actress.
 * Thomas C. Lynch, 82, American lawyer.
 * Adriaan A. van der Willigen, 76, Dutch philatelist.

30

 * Richard Armstrong, 82, English writer.
 * José de Caralt, 79, Spanish Olympic field hockey player (1928).
 * Perry Ellis, 46, American fashion designer, AIDS.
 * Boy Gobert, 60, German actor.
 * Donald S. Klopfer, 84, American publisher (Random House).
 * Gulshan Mehra, 49, Indian cricketer.
 * Hank Mobley, 55, American saxophonist, pneumonia.
 * Teiichiro Morinaga, 75, Japanese banker and businessman.

31

 * Sylvia Coleridge, 76, British actress.
 * Roger W. Cutler Jr., 70, American Olympic rower (1936).
 * Jane Frank, 67, American artist.
 * Great Nephew, 22-23, British Thoroughbred racehorse.
 * Florence Elsie Inman, 94, Canadian politician, complications from a heart attack.
 * T. R. Mahalingam, 59, Indian flautist, cerebral hemorrhage.
 * Dixie McArthur, 94, American baseball player.
 * Ron Neville, 56, Australian-born Papua New Guinean politician, traffic collision.
 * James Rainwater, 68, American physicist, Nobel Prize recipient (1975).
 * Albert Reed Jr., 64, American actor.
 * Dora Russell, 92, British author and feminist.
 * Patrick Shea, 78, Northern Irish civil servant.
 * Hugh Webster, 58, Scottish-born Canadian actor.
 * Michel Wyder, 36, Swiss racing driver, racing collision.