Deaths in May 2005

The following is a list of notable deaths in May 2005.

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

 * Edgar Baird, 93, Canadian businessman.
 * Rex Bergstrom, 79, New Zealand econometrician.
 * Kenneth B. Clark, 90, African-American civil rights activist and psychologist.
 * René Rivkin, 60, Australian stockbroker.
 * Edward von Kloberg III, 63, American lobbyist.

2

 * Renée Faure, 86, French actress.
 * Robert Hunter, 63, Canadian journalist and co-founder of Greenpeace.
 * Wee Kim Wee, 89, Singaporean politician, fourth President of Singapore from 1985 to 1993, prostate cancer.
 * Theofiel Middelkamp, 91, Dutch cyclist, first Dutchman to win a stage in the Tour de France and first Dutch world champion.
 * Jack Nichols, 67, American gay rights activist, cancer.
 * Börje Nyberg, 85, Swedish actor and film director.
 * John C. Pritzlaff Jr., 79, American politician and diplomat.
 * Raisa Struchkova, 79, Russian dancer and People's Artist of the USSR.

3

 * Henriette, Lady Abel Smith, 90, British courtier, lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II.
 * Jagjit Singh Aurora, 89, Indian army general.
 * David Batchelor, 63, British sound mixer.
 * George S. Bowman Jr., 93, United States Marine Corps officer and Naval aviator.
 * Don Canham, 87, American track and field athlete, former University of Michigan athletic director.
 * Bobby Forrest, 73, English footballer.
 * Michel Maurice-Bokanowski, 92, French politician.
 * Pierre Moerlen, 52, French drummer and percussionist.
 * Willi Steffen, 80, Swiss football player.

4

 * Mark Boyle, 70, Scottish artist.
 * Purwoto Gandasubrata, 75, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia.
 * David Hackworth, 74, American Vietnam War veteran, journalist.
 * Michael Kernan, 78, American author and journalist.
 * Joyce Lambert, 88, British botanist and ecologist, bronchopneumonia.
 * Evelyn Lutman Roberts, 88, American wife of preacher Oral Roberts.
 * Neal Pattman, 79, American electric blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, bone cancer.
 * Luis Taruc, 91, Filipino Communist revolutionary figure, leader of the HUKBALAHAP, a guerrilla group against the Japanese during World War II.
 * Don Trachte, 89, American cartoonist.

5

 * Ted Atkinson, 88, Canadian-born American Hall of Fame jockey.
 * Carolyn Brady, 67, American artist.
 * Donald Brian Doe, 84, British archaeologist and architect.
 * Elisabeth Fraser, 85, American actress (The Phil Silvers Show, A Patch of Blue, One Happy Family).
 * June MacCloy, 96, American actress.
 * Skip Minisi, 78, American football player.
 * Magdolna Nyári-Kovács, 83, Hungarian Olympic fencer.
 * Édgar Ponce, 30, Mexican actor, collision between car and motorcycle during filming of video for "Sólo para mujeres".

6

 * Theodore J. Bauer, 95, American specialist in infectious diseases.
 * Luis Cabellero, 42, Paraguayan footballer.
 * Miguel Contreras, 52, American labor union leader.
 * Rafael Díaz-Balart, 79, Cuban politician, opponent and former brother-in-law of Fidel Castro, father of U.S. Congressmen Lincoln Díaz-Balart and Mario Díaz-Balart.
 * Joe Grant, 96, American animator and screenwriter (Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, Pocahontas), heart attack.
 * Jost Gross, 59, Swiss politician, member of the National Council.
 * Earl Richmond, 43, American serial killer, execution by lethal injection.
 * Lisa Freeman Roberts, 56, American vocalist.
 * Herb Sargent, 81, American television comedy writer.
 * Lee Stine, 91, American baseball player, who pitched in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees.

7

 * Václav Boštík, 91, Czech artist.
 * Tristan Egolf, 33, American author, suicide.
 * Ray Hamann, 93, American basketball player and coach.
 * Peter W. Rodino, 95, American politician and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment process against Richard Nixon.
 * Otilino Tenorio, 25, Ecuadorian international football player, automobile accident.

8

 * Rafiqul Bari Chowdhury, Bangladeshi cinematographer and director.
 * Wolfgang Blochwitz, 64, German footballer.
 * Lloyd Cutler, 87, American attorney, former White House Counsel under Presidents Carter and Clinton.
 * Nasrat Parsa, 37, Afghan singer, murdered abroad.
 * A. J. Shepherd, 78, American ex-Indianapolis 500 racing driver.
 * Nino Terzo, 81, Italian actor.
 * Don Youngblood, 51, American IFBB professional bodybuilder, heart attack.

9

 * Billa Harrod, 93, British writer and architectural conservationist.
 * Ang Kiukok, 74, Filipino painter.
 * Sir Charles Morrison, 72, British landowner and Conservative politician.
 * Akihiko Saito, 44, Japanese hostage in Iraq.
 * Tiny Wharton, 77, British football referee.

10

 * Philip Agustin, Filipino publisher and editor.
 * Hal Griggs, 76, American baseball player (Washington Senators).
 * Veikko Hursti, 80, Finnish philanthropist.
 * Jim Love, 78, American sculptor.
 * Jay Marshall, 85, American magician and ventriloquist, dean of the Society of American Magicians.
 * David Wayne, 47, American singer of the heavy metal group Metal Church.

11

 * Léo Cadieux, 96, Canadian politician and diplomat.
 * Alfred Finnigan, 108, Welsh centenarian, oldest man in Wales and World War I survivor.
 * Michalis Genitsaris, 86, Greek rebetiko singer and composer.
 * Bob Stuart, 84, New Zealand rugby player.
 * Percy Trezise, 82, Australian painter, writer and explorer.

12

 * Carl Alpert, 92, American-born Israeli journalist.
 * Maurice "The Matador" Catarcio, 76, American former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler, cancer.
 * Sara Gadimova, 82, Azerbaijani khananda singer.
 * Evaristo Iglesias, 79, Cuban Olympic sprinter.
 * Ömer Kavur, 60, Turkish film director, producer, and screenwriter, lymphoma.
 * Martin Lings, 96, English writer, scholar, philosopher and arabist.
 * Kai Setälä, 91, Finnish physician and professor
 * Monica Zetterlund, 67, Swedish singer and actress.

13

 * Eddie Barclay, 84, French record producer and founder of Barclay Records.
 * George Dantzig, 90, American mathematician, "father of linear programming".
 * Hugh Montefiore, 85, English Bishop of Birmingham and environmental activist with Friends of the Earth.
 * Próspero Penados del Barrio, 79, Guatemalan Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Guatemala City.
 * Michael Ross, 45, American convicted serial killer, executed by lethal injection.

14

 * Michael Carson, 57, Australian television director.
 * Jimmy Martin, 77, American bluegrass singer.
 * Helvecio Martins, 74, Brazilian LDS leader.
 * Tibor Šalát, 79, Slovak mathematician.
 * Mary Treadgold, 95, English author, literary editor and BBC producer, cancer.

15

 * Povl Ahm, 78, Danish engineer, cancer.
 * Vakha Arsanov, Chechen warlord and vice president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, killed.
 * Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 11th Earl of Shaftesbury, 27, English peer, suspected heart attack.
 * Les Bartley, 51, Canadian former coach of the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League, colon cancer.
 * Alan B. Gold, 88, Canadian retired Chief Justice of the Quebec Superior Court, negotiated an end to the Oka standoff and numerous strikes.
 * Natalya Gundareva, 56, Russian actress, stroke.
 * Bob Haak, 79, Dutch art expert and founder of the Rembrandt Research Project.
 * Aulis Kallakorpi, 76, Finnish ski jumper, Olympic silver medalist (1956).
 * Mahipal, 86, Indian film actor, cardiac arrest.

16

 * L. Bruce Archer, 82, British mechanical engineer and designer.
 * Sir Rees Davies, 66, Welsh historian.
 * Dale Erdahl, 73, American businessman and politician.
 * Andrew J. Goodpaster, 90, American Army general, former leader of NATO and veteran of World War II.
 * June Lang, 90, American actor.
 * Jose M. Lopez, 94, Mexican US Army soldier, Medal of Honor-winning soldier in World War II.
 * Albert "Smiler" Marshall, 108, British veteran of World War I.
 * Arthur Naftalin, 87, American politician, former mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
 * Jiří Rubáš, 83, Czech football player and manager.

17

 * Keiiti Aki, 75, Japanese seismologist.
 * Ellis Batten Page, 81, American educational psychologist.
 * Luc-Peter Crombé, 85, Belgian painter.
 * Piero Dorazio, 77, Italian painter.
 * Frank Gorshin, 71, American actor (Batman, 12 Monkeys, That Darn Cat!), cancer.
 * Abrarul Haq Haqqi, 84, Indian Sunni Muslim scholar.
 * Elsa Hilger, 101, American cellist.

18

 * Gergely Pongrátz, 73, Hungarian anti-communist.
 * Shaima Rezayee, 24, Afghan TV presenter of Hop, an Afghan programme similar to MTV.
 * Bobby Thompson, 67, American banjoist (Area Code 615).
 * Whayne Wilson, 29, Costa Rican footballer.
 * Denis Wright, 94, British diplomat, prostate cancer.
 * Bob Wynn, 65, American golfer, lung cancer.
 * Stella Zázvorková, 83, Czech actress.

19

 * John Arthur, 85, South African boxer.
 * Richard Cartwright, 31, American convicted murderer, executed by lethal injection.
 * Henry Corden, 85, Canadian voice actor (The Flintstones, The Ten Commandments, Jonny Quest), emphysema.
 * Batya Gur, 57, Israeli author, lung cancer.
 * Richard Lewine, 94, American Broadway composer and TV producer.
 * Victor Wouk, 86, American scientist and electrical engineer.

20

 * Anthony Athanas, 93, Albanian-born American restaurateur.
 * J. D. Cannon, 83, American actor (McCloud, Cool Hand Luke, Raise the Titanic).
 * Marian Foik, 71, Polish Olympic sprinter.
 * Harriet White Medin, 91, American actress (Death Race 2000, The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, The Terminator).
 * Paul Ricœur, 92, French philosopher and teacher.
 * Lujo Tončić-Sorinj, 90, Austrian diplomat and politician, former Foreign Minister of Austria.

21

 * Monica Charlot, 81, British historian and political scientist.
 * Stephen Elliott, 86, American actor (Arthur, Beverly Hills Cop, Dallas).
 * Bedford Jezzard, 77, English footballer, former Fulham F.C. football player and manager.
 * David Lang, 37, American football player, former NFL running back with the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys.
 * Howard Morris, 85, American voice actor (The Flintstones, Garfield and Friends, Police Academy).
 * Subodh Mukherjee, 84, Indian filmmaker.
 * Fred Rosen, 74, American physician.

22

 * Terry Carisse, 62, Canadian singer-songwriter.
 * Charilaos Florakis, 91, Greek politician, honorary president and former secretary general (1972–1989) of the Communist Party of Greece.
 * Julia Randall, 81, American poet.
 * Thurl Ravenscroft, 91, American voice actor (Tony the Tiger, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!).
 * John Rothwell, 91, Australian cricketer.

23

 * John Albano, 82, American comic book writer (Jonah Hex).
 * Hugh Cabot III, 75, American artist.
 * Sígfrid Gràcia, 73, Spanish footballer.
 * Derek Ratcliffe, 75, British conservationist.
 * Billy Smart Jr, 71, British circus impresario.
 * Roderick Wright, 64, Scottish Roman Catholic bishop, disgraced and renounced the office of bishop.

24

 * Carl Amery, 83, German writer.
 * Arthur Haulot, 91, Belgian journalist, member of the resistance during World Waa II.
 * Robert McAuliffe, 66, Trinidadian-born Olympic sports shooter for the United States Virgin Islands.
 * Dick Raikes, 93, British Royal Navy officer.
 * Saeed Khan Rangeela, 68, Pakistani actor, singer and director.

25

 * Sunil Dutt, 75, Indian Bollywood actor and Union Minister, India.
 * Robert Jankel, 67, British limousine designer.
 * Graham Kennedy, 71, Australian TV celebrity and comedian.
 * Vera Komarkova, 62, Czech-American mountaineer and botanist, complications of breast cancer treatment.
 * Ruth Laredo, 67, American pianist.
 * Steve Mason, 65, American poet and war veteran.
 * Ismail Merchant, 68, Indian-born film producer.
 * Zoran Mušič, 96, Slovene painter, graphic artist and draughtsman.
 * Domenic Troiano, 59, Canadian guitarist, cancer.

26

 * Eddie Albert, 99, American actor (Roman Holiday, Green Acres, The Heartbreak Kid)
 * Albinas Albertynas, 71, Lithuanian politician.
 * John Hope Anderson, 93, American politician.
 * Charles Bouvet, 86, French Olympic pole vaulter.
 * James G. Butler, 84, American lawyer.
 * Chico Carrasquel, 77, Venezuelan shortstop, the first Latin American player to appear in an MLB All-Star game.
 * Israel Epstein, 90, Polish-Chinese communist journalist and author.
 * Sangoulé Lamizana, 89, Burkinabe politician, former president of Burkina Faso.
 * Krzysztof Nowak, 29, Polish football player for VfL Wolfsburg and the Poland national team, ALS.
 * Radius Prawiro, 76, Indonesian economist and politician, Minister of Finance.
 * Jim Ray, 60, American baseball player.
 * Terry Shannon, 52, American IT expert.
 * Dale Velzy, 77, American surfboard shaper.

27

 * Abuzar Aydamirov, 71, Chechen writer.
 * Morris Cohen, 93, American metallurgist.
 * Fay Godwin, 74, British photographer.
 * Terje Johanssen, 62, Norwegian poet.
 * Ian Mackenzie-Kerr, 75, British book designer.

28

 * Emil Appolus, 70, Namibian politician.
 * Benjamin Biaggini, 89, American railroad executive.
 * Clair A. Callan, 85, American politician, U.S. Representative from Nebraska (1965–1967).
 * John Sidney Garrett, 83, American politician, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
 * Arnold Morton, 83, American restaurateur, founder of Morton's of Chicago steakhouses.
 * David Oswald Thomas, 81, Welsh philosopher.

29

 * Ricky Allen, 70, American blues singer.
 * María de los Ángeles Alvariño González, 88, Spanish oceanographer.
 * Oscar Brown Jr., 78, American musician, playwright, activist.
 * Patsy Calton, 56, British Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, cancer.
 * Joseph Karth, 82, American politician, U.S. Representative from Minnesota (1959–1977).
 * Hamilton Naki, 78, South African surgeon.
 * Sir Frederick Page, 88, British aircraft designer.
 * Svatopluk Pluskal, 74, Czechoslovak footballer.
 * George Rochberg, 86, American composer.
 * Sir Gordon Tait, 83, British admiral.

30

 * Takanohana Kenshi, (née Mitsuru Hanada), 55, Japanese sumo wrestler, aka "The Prince of Sumo".
 * Jan Knappert, 78, Dutch linguist.
 * Fazal Mahmood, 78, Pakistani cricket captain.
 * Tomasz Pacyński, 47, Polish fantasy and science fiction author.
 * Herbert Warren Wind, 88, American sportswriter.
 * Alma Ziegler, 87, American baseball player (All-American Girls Professional Baseball League).

31

 * Sir John Aiken, 83, British air marshal.
 * Emily Blatch, Baroness Blatch, 67, British politician and life peer.
 * Archil Gomiashvili, 79, Soviet Georgian actor.
 * Yuri Kleschev, 74, Soviet volleyball coach, referee and writer.
 * Harry Larche, 81, American football player and coach.
 * Jaime Mendoza-Nava, 79, Bolivian-American composer and conductor.
 * Grisélidis Réal, 75, Swiss writer and sex worker, cancer.
 * Eduardo Teixeira Coelho, 86, Portuguese comic book artist.