Deaths in February 2006
The following is a list of notable deaths in February 2006.
February 2006
1
- Roy Alon, 63, British film stuntman, heart attack.
- Dick Bass, 68, American pro football player and radio analyst.
- Dick Brooks, 63, American NASCAR race car driver and radio broadcaster, heart attack.
- Ronald B. Cameron, 78, American politician, U.S. Representative from California (1963–1967).
- Robin Donkin, 75, British historian and geographer.
- Ernest Dudley, 97, British novelist, journalist, screenwriter, actor, radio broadcaster.
- Carlson Gracie, Sr., 72, Brazilian martial artist, complications from kidney stones.
- Samuel Pearson Goddard, Jr., 86, American politician, governor of Arizona 1965-1967.
- Jean-Philippe Maitre, 56, former President of the Swiss National Council, brain tumor.
- John Woollam, 78, former British Conservative Member of Parliament. (Who's Who 2007)
2
- Armando Castillo, 73, Guatemalan Olympic cyclist.
- Jill Chaifetz, 41, American lawyer and executive director of the nonprofit legal group Advocates for Children of New York, ovarian cancer.
- Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, 77, Bangladesh politician, former prime minister of Bangladesh.
- Chris Doty, 39, Canadian documentarian and playwright, suicide.
- Guglielmo Letteri, 80, Italian comic book artist.
- Pat Rupp, 63, goaltender for the 1964 and 1968 USA Olympic ice hockey teams, cancer.
- S. K. Ramachandra Rao, 78, Indian scholar.
- Athol Shephard, 85, Australian cricketer.
- Nicholas Swarbrick, 107, last remaining English merchant sailor of World War I.
- Sir Reginald Swartz, 94, Australian politician, Minister for Civil Aviation from 1966-1969.
- Chris Walton, 72, English cricketer.
- Stephen Worobetz, 91, Canadian politician, former lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan.
3
- Ustad Qawwal Bahauddin, 71 or 72, Indian-Pakistani Qawwali singer.
- Walerian Borowczyk, 82, Polish-born surrealist filmmaker , heart failure
- Jean Byron, 80, American actress, infection following hip replacement surgery.
- Ernie Clements, 83, British road racing cyclist.
- Kurt Emmerich, 76, German radio reporter.
- Frank Goodman, 89, Broadway press agent. , congestive heart failure.
- Lou Jones, 74, American Olympic runner.
- Sonny King, 83, American comedian-singer, Jimmy Durante's sidekick, cancer.
- Duma Kumalo, 48, one of the Sharpeville Six, human rights activist, film-maker and founding member of the Khulumani Support Group for victims of apartheid-related violence.
- Al Lewis, 82, American actor (Grandpa Munster on The Munsters), Green Party political candidate, restaurateur, and radio host.
- Romano Mussolini, 78, Italian jazz musician and painter, son of Benito Mussolini.
- Denne Petitclerc, 76, American journalist, screenwriter, and friend of Ernest Hemingway.
- Johnny Vaught, 96, NCAA championship-winning University of Mississippi football coach.
4
- George T. Davis, 98, American criminal defense lawyer
- Friedrich Engel, 97, German, former Nazi SS officer.
- Betty Friedan, 85, American feminist and writer, congestive heart failure.
- William Augustus Jones Jr., 71, American Civil Rights pioneer.
- Barbara W. Leyden, 56, American palynologist and paleoecologist.
- Joe McGuff, 79, American sportswriter and newspaper editor, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease).
- Elena Carter Richardson, 55, Mexico-born principal dancer and teacher, cancer.
- Myron Waldman, 97, American animator for Betty Boop and Superman cartoons, congestive heart failure.
5
- Roland S. Boreham Jr., 81, American businessman, former CEO of Baldor Electric Co.
- Norma Candal, 75, Puerto Rican comedian, actress and drama teacher, head injury.
- Franklin Cover, 77, American TV and movie actor, pneumonia.
- Reuven Frank, 85, American TV journalism pioneer and former NBC News president, complications from pneumonia.
- Peter Philp, 85, British dramatist and antiques expert.
- Jack Taylor, 60, one of the heaviest men in Britain, heart attack.
- Carl Vogel, 84, German art collector.
6
- John Brightman, Baron Brightman, 94, UK lawyer and former Lord of Appeal.
- Mario Condello, 53, Australian lawyer and gangland criminal.
- Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 80, American comedian and actor, cancer.
- Stella Ross-Craig, 99, one of the most prodigious of British flora illustrators.
- Esther Sandoval, 78, Puerto Rican actress.
- Karin Struck, 58, German writer, cancer.
- Kouji Totani, 57, Japanese voice actor, heart failure.
7
- Glenn Lee Benner II, 43, American convicted murderer, executed by lethal injection.
- George Millay, 76, American businessman and founder of SeaWorld, lung cancer.
- Max Rosenn, 96, American judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1970–2006).
- Mitchell Rupe, 51, American convicted murderer ruled too heavy to be hanged, liver disease.
- Alan Shalleck, 76, American TV writer, director (Curious George animated films), murdered.
8
- Larry Black, 54, American track and field medalist at 1972 Summer Olympics, aneurysm.
- Elton Dean, 60, English jazz saxophonist, heart and liver related problems.
- Michael Gilbert, 93, British mystery author and lawyer.
- Ron Greenwood, 84, British football manager, England national team, West Ham United.
- Akira Ifukube, 91, Japanese film composer, best known for Godzilla film series.
- Mart Kenney, 95, "Canada's Big Band King," bandleader/musician, complications from a fall.
- Gigi Parrish, 92, later known as Katherine Weld, American actress.
- Kuljeet Randhawa, 30, Indian television actress, suicide.
9
- Phil Brown, 89, American actor, best known for playing "Uncle Owen" Lars in Star Wars.
- Ibolya Csák, 91, Hungarian athlete, 1936 Olympic gold medalist in women's high jump.
- Gilles Kahn, 59, French computer scientist. (French)
- Sir Freddie Laker, 83, British entrepreneur, founder of Laker Airways.
- Nadira, 75, Indian Bollywood actress.
- Laurie Z, American musician, lung cancer
10
- John Belluso, 36, American playwright, Engleman-Camurdrie syndrome.
- Jill Fraser, 59, British theatre director, cancer.
- Dick Harmon, 58, American golfer and golf instructor.
- Knut-Olaf Haustein, 71, German physician.
- John Prentice, 79, Scottish football player and manager.
- Norman Shumway, 83, American surgeon performed first U.S. heart transplant, lung cancer.
- Peter Smith, 65, British trade union leader, oesophageal cancer.
- Juan Soriano, 85, Mexican painter and sculptor.
- André Strappe, 77, French football player.
- James Yancey, aka J Dilla, 32, American hip hop record producer and MC, lupus nephritis.
11
- Peter Benchley, 65, American author best known for Jaws, pulmonary fibrosis.
- Peggy Cripps Appiah, 84, British-Ghanaian children's author.
- Ken Fletcher, 65, Australian tennis player, cancer.
- Jackie "Mr. TV" Pallo, 79, British professional wrestler, cancer.
- Harry Schein, 81, Austrian-born founder of Swedish Film Institute, author and columnist.
- Jockey Shabalala, 62, South African singer with Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
- Thomas A. Spragens, 88, figure in American higher education, former President of Centre College.
- Harry Vines, 67, American wheelchair basketball coach.
12
- Henri Guédon, 61, French percussionist.
- Geordie Hormel, 77, American musician and studio owner, heir to the Hormel Foods fortune.
- Juan Sánchez-Navarro y Peón, 92, Mexican entrepreneur and co-founder of National Action Party.
- Ken Hart, 88, American composer, playwright, US veteran, lobbyist, journalist, World War II
13
- John Brooke-Little, 78, English author and officer of arms.
- Ilan Halimi, French Jew murdered by a gang from Banlieue. Possibly anti-Semitic murder.
- Andreas Katsulas, 59, American actor, lung cancer.
- Alan M. Levin, 79, American documentary filmmaker.
- Edna Lewis, 89, American author of cookbooks on Southern U.S. cuisine.
- Altynbek Sarsenbayev, 43, former Kazakhstan cabinet minister, assassinated.
- Sir Peter Strawson, 86, British philosopher.
- Joseph Ujlaki, 76, Hungarian-born French football player.
- Wang Xuan, 70, Chinese academic and IT expert.
- Bettie Wilson, 115, American supercentenarian who was Mississippi's oldest person, complications from congestive heart failure.
14
- Rabbi Yehuda Chitrik, 106, Lubavitch storyteller.
- Darry Cowl, 80, French actor and pianist, lung cancer.
- Shoshana Damari, 83, "Queen of Israeli song," pneumonia.
- Joel Dorius, 87, American professor of literature, bone marrow cancer.
- Michael G. Fitzgerald, 55, American film historian and author.
- Lynden David Hall, 31, British soul singer, Hodgkin's lymphoma.
- Benjamin Matthews, 72, American bass-baritone opera singer, co-founder of Opera Ebony.
- Tage Møller, 91, Danish Olympic cyclist.
- Don Paarlberg, 94, American agricultural economics adviser to three U.S. Presidents.
- Robert Taylor Sr., 89, American businessman, miniature golf pioneer.
- Putte Wickman, 81, Swedish jazz orchestra leader and clarinetist, cancer.
15
- Barbara Guest, 85, American poet of the New York School
- Anna Marly, 88, Russian-born songwriter, France's "Troubadour of the Resistance."
- Andrei Petrov, 75, Russian composer.
- Robert E. Rich, Sr., 92, American businessman, creator of first nondairy whipped topping.
- Sun Yun-suan, 93, former Premier of Republic of China, heart attack.
- Josip Vrhovec, 79, former foreign minister of Yugoslavia.
16
- Paul Avrich, 74, American professor and historian of anarchism, Alzheimer's disease.
- Benno Besson, 83, Swiss stage director.
- Johnny Grunge, 39, American pro wrestler, sleep apnea complications.
- Sid Feller, 89, American music arranger, conductor and record producer.
- Susie Gibson, 115, American supercentenarian who was Alabama's oldest person, heart failure.
- Dennis Kirkland, 63, British television producer and director, after a short illness.
- Ernie Stautner, 80, Bavarian-born American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers) and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Alzheimer's disease.
17
- Ray Barretto, 76, American-born Latin jazz percussionist and bandleader, heart failure.
- Sybille Bedford, 94, German-born British novelist and memoirist.
- Paul Carr, 72, American TV and movie actor, lung cancer.
- Bill Cowsill, 58, American singer, lead of The Cowsills, emphysema and other ailments.
- Harold Hunter, 31, American pro skateboarder, in movie Kids, suspected drug overdose.
- Bob Lewis, 81, American race horse owner, congestive heart failure.
- Jorge Pinto Mendonça, 51, Brazilian football player, heart attack.
- Yevgeny Samoilov, 94, Russian actor
18
- Richard Bright, 68, American movie and television actor, pedestrian accident.
- Bill Hartley, 75, Australian political activist and trade unionist.
- Laurel Hester, 49, American gay rights activist, lung cancer.
- Charles Leonard, 92, American US Army Major General and Olympic sharpshooter
- Tom Sellers, 83, American newspaper reporter and 1955 Pulitzer Prize winner, heart attack.
- Ruth Taylor, 44, Canadian poet, alcohol poisoning.
19
20
- Lou Gish, 35, British stage, film and television actress, cancer.
- Curt Gowdy, 86, American sports broadcaster, leukemia.
- Paul Marcinkus, 84, American Catholic archbishop, President of Vatican Bank and Pro-President of Vatican City State.
- Lucjan Wolanowski, 86, Polish journalist, writer and traveller.
21
- Gennadiy Aygi, 71, Russian author and poet who wrote in the Chuvash language.
- Theodore Draper, 93, American historian and political commentator.
- Mirko Marjanovic, 68, Serbian politician, Prime Minister of Serbia (1994–2000).
- Angelica Rozeanu, 84, Romanian-born table tennis world champion, cirrhosis.
- Stefan Terlezki, 78, British Conservative Member of Parliament 1983-1987.
22
- Atwar Bahjat, 30, Iraqi journalist for al-Arabiya, abducted and killed in Iraq.
- Anthony Burger, 44, American gospel music pianist, collapsed during performance.
- Hilde Domin, 96, German poet and writer.
- Donelson Hoopes, 73, American curator
- Edward Nalbandian, 78, owner of Zachary All Clothing in Los Angeles, Alzheimer's disease.
- Flossie Page, 112, American supercentenarian, oldest person from Kansas.
- Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, 90, former Second Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, heart failure.
- John Sullivan, 61, English cricketer.
- Bill Tung, 72, Hong Kong actor, horse racing commentator.
- Richard Wawro, 52, autistic savant internationally recognized artist, cancer.
23
- Giuseppe Amici, 67, former Captain Regent of San Marino
- Frederick Busch, 64, American author, heart attack.
- Said Mohamed Djohar, 87, former President of Comoros.
- Luna Leopold, 90, American ecologist and author
- Machteld Mellink, 88, Netherlands-born American archaeologist of sites in Anatolia
- Diane Shalet, 71, American actress and author
- Reverend Earl Stallings, 89, Baptist pastor praised by Martin Luther King in the Letter from Birmingham Jail
- Telmo Zarraonaindía, 85, Spanish football player, heart attack.
24
- Octavia Butler, 58, science fiction author and MacArthur Foundation Fellow, head injury.
- Harold Faragher, 88, English cricketer.
- Don Knotts, 81, American actor (The Andy Griffith Show, Three's Company), complications from aspiration pneumonia and lung cancer.
- John Martin, 58, Canadian broadcaster, throat cancer.
- Andrew Sherratt, 59, British archaeologist at the University of Sheffield, heart failure.
- Denis Twitchett, 80, Gordon Wu Professor of Chinese Studies, Princeton University (1980–1994), creator of the 15 volume The Cambridge History of China, poor health.
- Dennis Weaver, 81, American actor (Gunsmoke, McCloud), complications from cancer.
25
- Robin Coombs, 84, British immunologist, developed Coombs Antibody test
- Kenneth Deane, 45, Canadian police officer convicted in Ipperwash shooting, automobile accident.
- Thomas Koppel, 61, Danish musician and composer from the band Savage Rose.
- Darren McGavin, 83, American actor (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, A Christmas Story), natural causes.
- Henry M. Morris, 87, American young earth creationist leader, complications of stroke.
- Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, 69, Poet Laureate of Ethiopia, kidney disease.
- Imette St. Guillen, 24, Hispanic John Jay College of Criminal Justice student, murdered.
- Charlie Wayman, 83, English footballer, during the 1940s and 1950s, following a long illness
26
- Georgina Battiscombe, 100, British author & biographer
- Bill Cardoso, 68, American writer and editor, coined the term "gonzo", heart failure.
- Noel Diprose, 83, Australian cricketer.
- Sir Hans Singer, 95, German-born British economist, helped create the World Food Program and the United Nations Development Program.
27
- Alice Baker, 107, last surviving British woman to serve in the First World War, member of the Royal Flying Corps
- Ferenc Bene, 61, Hungarian football player, fall.
- Otis Chandler, 78, former publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Lewy body disease.
- Fahd Faraj al-Juwair, 36, Saudi Arabian alleged head of al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula, killed in foiled bombing attempt.
- Milton Katims, 96, long-time conductor and leader of the Seattle Symphony.
- Tsakani Mhinga, 27, South African R&B singer, drug overdose.
- William Musto, 88, former mayor of Union City, New Jersey, convicted of racketeering
- Robert Lee Scott, Jr., 97, retired United States Air Force brigadier general and fighter ace, author (God is My Co-Pilot).
- Linda Smith, 48, British comedian, ovarian cancer.
28
- James Ronald "Bunkie" Blackburn, 69, NASCAR driver
- Owen Chamberlain, 85, particle physicist, co-discoverer of the antiproton, winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics, complications from Parkinson's Disease.
- Travis Claridge, 27, American football player with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, pneumonia.
- Hugh McCartney, 86, former Labour Party MP.
- Ron Cyrus, 70, American politician, lung cancer.