2015 Deaths

January:

1^st:  Staryl C. Austin, 94, American air force brigadier general

1^st: Mario Cuomo, 82, American politician, Governor of New York (1983–1994), heart failure

1^st: Donna Douglas, 82, American actress (The Beverly Hillbillies, The Twilight Zone), pancreatic cancer

1^st: Géry Leuliet, 104, French Roman Catholic prelate, world's oldest Catholic bishop, Bishop of Amiens (1963–1985).

7^th: Rod Taylor, 84, Australian actor (The Time Machine, The Birds), heart attack

8^th: Curtis Lee, 75, American singer ("Pretty Little Angel Eyes"), cancer.

9^th: Robert V. Keeley, 85, American diplomat, Ambassador to Mauritius (1976–1978), Zimbabwe (1980–1984) and Greece (1985–1989), stroke.

9^th: Józef Oleksy, 68, Polish politician, Prime Minister (1995–1996), cancer

10^th: Taylor Negron, 57, American comedian and actor (Angels in the Outfield, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Bio-Dome), cancer

12^th: Darrell Winfield, 85, American rancher and model, Marlboro Man (1968–1989)

13^th: Robert White, 88, American diplomat, Ambassador to Paraguay (1977–1980) and El Salvador (1980–1981).

14^th: Robert White, 88, American diplomat, United States Ambassador to Paraguay (1977–1980) and El Salvador (1980–1981).

15^th: Ethel Lang, 114, British supercentenarian, nation's oldest person (since 2013), last living Briton born during reign of Queen Victoria.

15^th: Harvey Sweetman, 93, New Zealand World War II pilot.

19^th: Peter Wallenberg, Sr., 88, Swedish financier and industrialist, patriarch of the Wallenberg family

20^th: James L. Fowler, 84, American military veteran, founded the Marine Corps Marathon

21^st: George Goodwin, 97, American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner (1948).

23^rd: Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, 90, Saudi royal, King (since 2005), complications from pneumonia

27^th: Charles H. Townes, 99, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate in Physics (1964)

28^th: Yves Chauvin, 84, Belgian-born French Nobel Prize-winning chemist (2005).

28^th: Edward Saylor, 94, American World War II veteran, member of Doolittle's Raiders.

29^th: Danny McCulloch, 69, English bassist (The Animals), heart failure

29^th: Peter Towe, 92, Canadian diplomat, Ambassador to the United States (1977–1981)

29^th: Alexander Vraciu, 96, American World War II Navy fighter ace, Navy Cross recipient

30^th: Richard Clark Barkley, 82, American diplomat, Ambassador to East Germany (1988–1990).

30^th: Kenji Goto, 47, Japanese journalist and ISIS hostage, beheading.

30^th: Zhelyu Zhelev, 79, Bulgarian politician, President (1990–1997).

31^st: Richard von Weizsäcker, 94, German politician, President of West Germany (1984–1990) and Germany (1990–1994).

February:

1^st: Marie-José Villiers, 98, British-born Belgian WWII spy and countess

5^th: Val Logsdon Fitch, 91, American Nobel Prize-winning physicist (1980).

6^th: Kayla Mueller, 26, American activist, humanitarian aid worker, ISIS hostage.(death announced)

9^th: Roman Frister, 87, Polish-Israeli journalist and Holocaust survivor

9^th: Max Yalden, 84, Canadian civil servant and diplomat

11^th: Bob Simon, 73, American television journalist (60 Minutes), traffic collision.

12^th: Cornelis Pieter van den Hoek, 93, Dutch resistance fighter, recipient of the Military William Order.

14^th: Alan Howard, 77, English actor (The Lord of the Rings), pneumonia

14^th: Philip Levine, 87, American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, pancreatic cancer

15^th: Eileen Essell, 92, English actress (Duplex, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Producers)

16^th: Feliks Tych, 85, Polish historian, director of the Jewish Historical Institute (1995–2006).

21^st: Aleksei Gubarev, 83, Russian Soviet-era cosmonaut.

24^th: Mefodiy Kudriakov, 65, Ukrainian Orthodox hierarch, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Primate of the UAOC (since 2000).

26^th: Rowley Richards, 98, Australian WWII Army medical officer

27^th: Leonard Nimoy, 83, American actor and director (Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Fringe), COPD.

27^th: Anna Szatkowska, 86, Polish resistance fighter

March

4^th: Emory Bass, 89, American actor (Dark Shadows, 1776, Angie).

5^th: Jim McCann, 70, Irish musician (The Dubliners).

7^th: F. Ray Keyser, Jr., 87, American politician, Governor of Vermont (1961–1963).

9^th: Windell Middlebrooks, 36, American actor (Body of Proof, The Suite Life on Deck, Scrubs), pulmonary embolism.

10^th: Claude Sitton, 89, American Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper reporter, heart failure.

11^th: Jimmy Greenspoon, 67, American keyboard player and composer (Three Dog Night), melanoma

12^th: Carl, Prince of Wied, 53, German royal, heart attack

13^th: Lilian Bader, 97, British WAAF aircraftwoman and teacher

13^th: George Connell, 84, Canadian academic and biochemist, President of the University of Toronto (1984–1990).

13^th: Jeff Rees, 94, British WWII RAF officer

16^th: Buddy Elias, 89, German-born Swiss actor (Sunshine, The Monuments Men

16^th: Arthur A. Hartman, 89, American diplomat, Ambassador to France (1977–1981) and the Soviet Union (1981–1987), complications after leg surgery

16^th: Paul Rogers, 96, American WWII soldier (Easy Company).

20^th: Malcolm Fraser, 84, Australian politician, Prime Minister (1975–1983).

20^th: Walter Grauman, 93, American director (633 Squadron, Murder, She Wrote).

20^th: Viktor Viktorovych Yanukovych, 33, Ukrainian politician, People's Deputy (2006–2014), drowned

21st: Jørgen Ingmann, 89, Danish musician ("Apache"), 1963 Eurovision Song Contest winner

21^st: Alberta Watson, 60, Canadian actress (La Femme Nikita, 24, The Prince and Me), cancer.

23^rd: Gary Dahl, 78, American entrepreneur, inventor of the Pet Rock, COPD

23^rd: Søren Kam, 93, Danish Nazi war criminal.

23^rd: Lee Kuan Yew, 91, Singaporean politician, Prime Minister (1959–1990), pneumonia.

24^th: Ian Isles, 96, British WWII army officer and actuary.

26^th: Dinkha IV, 79, Iraqi Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East (since 1976).

26^th: Tomas Tranströmer, 83, Swedish poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate in Literature (2011), stroke

28^th: Leon Bass, 90, American educator and WWII soldier

28^th: Denis Eadie, 98, British WWII army officer

April

1^st: Robert Walker, 54, Canadian-born American animator and director (Aladdin, Brother Bear, Mulan, The Lion King), heart attack

2^nd: Robert H. Schuller, 88, American televangelist (Hour of Power).

3^rd: Algirdas Vaclovas Patackas, 71, Lithuanian politician and poet, signatory of the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania

5^th: Tony Hutton, 82, British Royal Navy officer, organized the refugee evacuation effort following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus

6^th: Romualdas Ozolas, 76, Lithuanian politician, signatory of the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania

7^th: Kardam, Prince of Turnovo, 52, Bulgarian royal, lung infection

7^th: Dickie Owen, 88, British actor (Zulu, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang).

7^th: James B. Rhoads, 86, American public servant, Archivist of the United States (1968–1979).

8^th: Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac, 98, French resistant, civil servant and historian

9^th: Betty Tackaberry Blake, 92, American WWII aviator

10^th: Raúl Héctor Castro, 98, Mexican-born American politician and diplomat, Governor of Arizona (1975–1977), Ambassador to El Salvador (1964–1968), Bolivia (1968–1969) and Argentina (1977–1980).

10^th: Judith Malina, 88, German-born American actress (Dog Day Afternoon, Awakenings, The Addams Family) and director, lung disease

11^th: Guy Hannen, 90, British WWII army officer and auctioneer.

11^th: Peter Jones, 95, British WWII army officer.

12^th: Bill Etches, 93, British WWII army officer (St Nazaire Raid).

13^th: Günter Grass, 87, German novelist (The Tin Drum), Nobel Prize laureate in Literature (1999), lung infection.

14^th: Norman H. Bangerter, 82, American politician, Governor of Utah (1985–1993), stroke.

14^th: Meir Rosenne, 84, Israeli lawyer and diplomat, Ambassador to France (1979–1983) and United States (1983–1987).

14^th: Percy Sledge, 73, American R&B singer ("When a Man Loves a Woman"), liver cancer

15^th: Joseph A. Bennett, 47, British actor (The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles), suicide by hanging

15^th: Jonathan Crombie, 48, Canadian actor (Anne of Green Gables), brain hemorrhage

17^th: Viktor Korshunov, 85, Russian actor, People's Artist of the USSR

21^st: Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters, 95, Canadian WWII tank commander

22^nd: Gennadi Vengerov, 55, Belarusian-born Soviet actor (Enemy at the Gates), lung and bone cancer

24^th: Władysław Bartoszewski, 93, Polish politician and resistance fighter, Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1995, 2000–2001).

25^th: Christine Stewart, 74, Canadian politician, Secretary of State (1993–1997) and Minister of the Environment (1997–1999).

26^th: Józef Paczyński, 95, Polish WWII prisoner, barber of Rudolf Hoss.

27^th: Suzanne Crough, 52, American actress (The Partridge Family).

28^th: Jack Ely, 71, American singer ("Louie Louie").

29^th: Jean Nidetch, 91, American businesswoman, founder of Weight Watchers

29^th: Dan Walker, 92, American politician, Governor of Illinois (1973–1977), heart failure

30^th: Rutger Gunnarsson, 69, Swedish bassist (ABBA, Elton John).

30^th: Nigel Terry, 69, British actor (The Lion in Winter, Excalibur, Troy), emphysema

May

1^st: Grace Lee Whitney, 85, American actress (Star Trek, Irma la Douce, Some Like It Hot).

2^nd: Stuart Archer, 100, British army colonel, recipient of the George Cross (1941).

2^nd: Nick Mead, 93, British WWII Royal Navy officer

2^nd: Maya Plisetskaya, 89, Russian ballet dancer, heart attack

4^th: Ellen Albertini Dow, 101, American actress (The Wedding Singer, Patch Adams, Wedding Crashers), pneumonia

9^th: Elizabeth Wilson, 94, American actress (The Birds, The Graduate, 9 to 5), Tony Award winner (1972)

14^th: B.B. King, 89, American Hall of Fame blues guitarist, singer and songwriter ("The Thrill Is Gone"), complications from Alzheimer's disease.

15^th: John Jarvis-Smith, 93, British WWII naval officer and shipbroker

18^th: Halldór Ásgrímsson, 67, Icelandic politician, Prime Minister (2004–2006), heart attack

19^th: Happy Rockefeller, 88, American socialite and philanthropist, Second Lady of the United States (1974–1977), First Lady of New York (1963–1973).

20^th: Mary Ellen Trainor, 62, American actress (Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, The Goonies), pancreatic cancer

22^nd: John Mosley, 93, American football player (Colorado A&M Aggies) and WWII RAF officer (Tuskegee Airmen).

22^nd: Michael Osborne Waddell, 92, British WWII army officer

23^rd: Hugh Ambrose, 48, American historian and author (The Pacific), cancer

23^rd: Anne Meara, 85, American comedian (Stiller and Meara) and actress (Archie Bunker's Place, The King of Queens).

23^rd: John Forbes Nash, Jr., 86, American mathematician, laureate of the Nobel Prize in Economics (1994), subject of A Beautiful Mind, traffic collision

28^th: Gyles Longley, 96, British WWII army officer.

29^th: Betsy Palmer, 88, American actress (I've Got a Secret, Mister Roberts, Friday the 13th).

June

1^st: Alexandra Prinzessin von Hannover, 77, German politician

1^st: Jacques Parizeau, 84, Canadian politician, Premier of Quebec (1994–1996).

2^nd: Irwin Rose, 88, American biologist, Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry (2004).

2^nd: Kenneth Tempest, 93, British WWII Royal Air Force navigator

4^th: Leonid Plyushch, 77, Ukrainian Soviet dissident and mathematician.

7^th: John Hurry, 95, British WWII air force officer.

7^th: Sir Christopher Lee, 93, British actor, voice artist, and singer (Dracula, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars), heart failure.

8^th: Elizabeth Peet McIntosh, 100, American spy, heart attack.

9^th: Igor Kostin, 78, Romanian-born Ukrainian photographer, took first pictures of Chernobyl disaster, traffic collision

10^th: Hugo Höllenreiner, 81, Sinti Porajmos survivor.

11^th: Ron Moody, 91, British actor (Oliver!, The Animals of Farthing Wood, EastEnders).

12^th: Monica Lewis, 93, American singer and actress (Earthquake), voice of Chiquita Banana (since 1947).

18^th: Allen Weinstein, 77, American historian, Archivist of the United States (2005–2008), pneumonia

20^th: JoAnn Dean Killingsworth, 91, American actress and dancer (Lullaby of Broadway, Red Garters), first person to play Snow White at Disneyland, cancer

20^th: Anthony Sydes, 74, American child actor (Miracle on 34th Street, Cheaper by the Dozen, Johnny Comes Flying Home).

23^rd: Dick Van Patten, 86, American actor (Eight Is Enough, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights), complications from diabetes

25^th: Sir Graham Dorey, 82, Guernsey judge, Bailiff of Guernsey (1992–1999).

26^th: Norman Poole, 95, British WWII paratrooper

26^th: Yevgeny Primakov, 85, Russian politician and diplomat, Prime Minister (1998–1999).

29^th: Bill Cross, 97, British WWII soldier

July

3^rd: Amanda Peterson, 43, American actress (Can't Buy Me Love, Explorers).

5^th: Yoichiro Nambu, 94, Japanese-born American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.

6^th: Rachel Margolis, 93, Lithuanian WWII partisan and Israeli biologist

8^th: Dewitt Lowrey, 93, American WWII soldier.

10^th: Omar Sharif, 83, Egyptian actor (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Funny Girl), heart attack

16^th: Denis Avey, 96, British World War II veteran and memoirist

28^th: David Faber, 86, Polish-born Holocaust survivor and author (Because of Romek).

August

4^th: Les Munro, 96, New Zealand pilot, last surviving pilot of Operation Chastise.

5^th: Ellen Vogel, 93, Dutch actress (The Knife, Zonder Ernst, Twin Sisters).

8^th: Sir Alec Atkinson, 96, British WWII air force officer and civil servant

20^th: Armin, Prince of Lippe, 91, German nobleman, head of the former reigning family of the Principality of Lippe

23^rd: Augusta Chiwy, 94, Congolese-born Belgian nurse, volunteer in the Siege of Bastogne.

23^rd: Paul Royle, 101, Australian prisoner-of-war, escapee from Stalag Luft III.

24^th: Marcy Borders, 42, American 9/11 survivor, subject of "Dust Lady" photograph, stomach cancer

29^th: William McCormick Blair, Jr., 98, American diplomat, Ambassador to Denmark (1961–1964) and the Philippines (1964–1967), hypertension

30^th: Marvin Mandel, 95, American politician, Governor of Maryland (1969–1979), Speaker of the House of Delegates (1964–1969).

September

1^st: Dean Jones, 84, American actor (The Love Bug, Company, Beethoven), Parkinson's disease

1^st: Ben Kuroki, 98, American bomber crewman

1^st: Jiří Louda, 94, Czech heraldist, designer of the current Coat of arms of the Czech Republic

^3rd: Daniel Thompson, 94, Canadian-born American inventor, creator of the automatic bagel maker and the folding ping pong table

3^rd: Yevgeny Ukhnalyov, 83, Russian artist, co-creator of the current coat of arms of Russia

4^th: Jean Darling, 93, American silent film actress (Our Gang), radio personality and author

6^th: Fred Ohr, 96, American World War II flying ace

6^th: Calvin J. Spann, 90, American fighter pilot (Tuskegee Airmen).

9^th: Einar H. Ingman, Jr., 85, American Army Medal of Honor recipient (Korean War).

10^th: Radim Palouš, 90, Czech dissident

13^th: Sir James Belich, 88, New Zealand politician, Mayor of Wellington (1986–1992).

13^th: Jane Jacobs, 91, American baseball player (AAGPBL).

13^th: Gary Richrath, 65, American guitarist and songwriter (REO Speedwagon)

16^th: Allan Wright, 95, British World War II flying ace

18^th: William E. Paul, 79, American immunologist and AIDS researcher, acute myeloid leukemia

19^th: Mishael Cheshin, 79, Israeli judge, member of the Supreme Court (1992–2006), cancer

19^th Georg Eder, 87, Austrian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Salzburg (1989–2002)

19^th: Todd Ewen, 49, Canadian ice hockey player (St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim), suicide by gunshot to head.

22^nd: John J. McNeill, 90, American Jesuit priest and gay rights activist

24^th: Patrick O'Donnell, 75, Canadian general, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (1993–1995).

24^th: Hugo Saint-Cyr, 36, Canadian actor (Watatatow, October 1970), bone cancer

25^th: John Galvin, 86, American army general, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1987–1992).

28^th: Siert Bruins, 94, Dutch war criminal

30^th: Robert M. Polich, Sr., 94, American WWII bomber pilot

October

1^st: Jacob Pressman, 95, American Conservative rabbi, co-founder of American Jewish University

2^nd: Naim Araidi, 65, Israeli Druze academic and poet, Ambassador to Norway (2012–2014), cancer

2^nd: Eric Arturo Delvalle, 78, Panamanian politician, President (1985–1988).

2^nd: Alan Prince, 100, Canadian bureaucrat, Director of the Nuclear Safety Commission (1975–1978), oversaw the clean up of Kosmos 954

3^rd: Denis Healey, 98, British politician, Secretary of State for Defence (1964–1970), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1974–1979), heart attack

6^th: Árpád Göncz, 93, Hungarian writer and politician, President (1990–2000).

9^th: Ben Abraham, 90, Polish-born Brazilian Holocaust survivor, author and journalist            

10^th: Alvin P. Adams, Jr., 73, American diplomat, Ambassador to Peru (1993–1996), Haiti (1989–1992), and Djibouti (1983–1985), heart attack

12^th: Joan Leslie, 90, American actress (High Sierra, Sergeant York, Yankee Doodle Dandy).

14^th: Nurlan Balgimbayev, 67, Kazakh politician, Prime Minister (1997–1999), cancer

14^th: Mathieu Kérékou, 82, Beninese politician, President (1972–1991, 1996–2006).

14^th: Robert M. White, 92, American meteorologist, director of the National Weather Service (1963–1965), ESSA (1965–1970), NOAA (1970–1977), complications of dementia

15^th: Kenneth D. Taylor, 81, Canadian diplomat, Ambassador to Iran (1977–1980), awarded U.S. Congressional Gold Medal for role in "Canadian Caper", colorectal cancer

21^st: Rhoda Leonard, 87, American baseball player (AAGPBL).

24^th: Maureen O'Hara, 95, Irish-American actress (How Green Was My Valley, Miracle on 34th Street, The Quiet Man).

25^th: David Cesarani, 58, British Jewish historian, Holocaust specialist, complications from spinal surgery

30^th: Al Molinaro, 96, American actor (The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi), complications from infected gall bladder

31^st: Thomas Blatt, 88, Polish writer and Holocaust survivor following escape from Sobibór, complications from dementia

November

1^st: Fred Thompson, 73, American politician and actor (Die Hard 2, Law & Order, Sinister), U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1994–2003), minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, lymphoma

1^st: Günter Schabowski, 86, German politician, editor-in-chief of Neues Deutschland, First Secretary of the East Berlin SED, prematurely announced the fall of the Berlin Wall

3^rd: Judy Cassab, 95, Austrian-born Australian painter and Holocaust survivor, only woman to win two Archibald Prizes (1960, 1967)

5^th: Ritch Brinkley, 71, American actor (Murphy Brown, Cabin Boy, Beauty and the Beast).

5^th: Czesław Kiszczak, 90, Polish soldier and politician, last Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Poland (1989) and Minister of Internal Affairs (1981–1990).

7^th: Eddie Hoh, 71, American rock drummer (The Mamas & the Papas, The Monkees, Donovan)

7^th: Yitzhak Navon, 94, Israeli politician, President (1978–1983)

10^th: Helmut Schmidt, 96, German politician, Chancellor of West Germany (1974–1982), complications from surgery

17^th: Milton Crenchaw, 96, American aviator (Tuskegee Airmen), cardiovascular disease and pneumonia

17^th: Sir John Leahy, 87, British diplomat, High Commissioner to Australia (1984–1988).

23^rd: Ankie Stork, 94, Dutch World War II resistance fighter

29^th: Oʻtkir Sultonov, 76, Uzbek politician, Prime Minister (1995–2003).

30^th: Eldar Ryazanov, 88, Russian film director (Carnival Night, The Irony of Fate, Promised Heaven), respiratory and heart failure

December

2^nd: Anthony Valentine, 76, British actor (Colditz, Coronation Street, Escape to Athena).

2^nd: Luz Marina Zuluaga, 77, Colombian beauty queen, Miss Universe (1958).

2^nd: George T. Sakato, 94, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient

2^nd: Sandy Berger, 70, American political consultant, United States National Security Advisor (1997–2001), cancer

4^th: Robert Loggia, 85, American actor (Jagged Edge, Scarface, Big), Alzheimer's disease

5^th: Dimitar Iliev Popov, 88, Bulgarian politician, Prime Minister (1990–1991).

5^th: Tibor Rubin, 86, Hungarian-born American Medal of Honor recipient and Holocaust survivor

5^th: Peter Cochrane, 96, Scottish WWII army officer

12^th: Gregory Baker Wolfe, 93, American diplomat and academic

18^th: Andreja Preger (sr), 104, Hungarian-born Serbian pianist and Holocaust survivor.

18^th: Stuart Milton Hodgson, 91, Canadian politician, Commissioner of the Northwest Territories (1967–1979).

22^nd: Carson Van Osten, 70, American artist, Disney Legend

25^th: George Clayton Johnson, 86, American writer (Logan's Run, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek), prostate and bladder cancer

26^th: William O'Callaghan, 94, Irish Army lieutenant general, Force Commander (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon).