// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy was Feb 1981 data dying to meet you? It had a fatal attraction.

The following is a list of notable deaths in February 1981.

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.

February 1981

1

• Aleksandra Beļcova, 88, Soviet Latvian painter.
• Joe Carroll, 61, American jazz singer, heart attack.
• Lourdes Casal, 42, Cuban poet and activist, diabetes.
• Edwin K. Cheadle, 85, American jurist.
• Gene Comstock, 70, American racing driver.
• Donald Wills Douglas Sr., 88, American aircraft designer and industrialist (Douglas Aircraft Company).
• James H. Doyle, 83, American naval admiral.
• Wanda Hendrix, 52, American actress (Prince of Foxes, Ride the Pink Horse), pneumonia.
• Roscoe Holcomb, 68, American singer and musician.
• Eric Hultén, 86, Swedish botanist and explorer.
• Hans Kalm, 91, Estonian soldier.
• Charles Luck, 94, British Olympic gymnast (1912).
• Fred Luehring, 99, American college sports coach.
• Mischa Mischakoff, 85, Russian-American violinist, heart failure.
• Ernst Pepping, 79, German composer.
• Steven Hayden Pollock, 33, American mycologist, shot.
• Roy H. Sengstock, 67, American politician, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly (1941–1942, 1947–1955).
• Geirr Tveitt, 72, Norwegian composer and pianist.
• Morris Weitz, 64, American philosopher.

2

• Hugh J. Addonizio, 67, American politician, mayor of Newark (1962–1970) and member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1949–1962), cardiac arrest.
• Anne X. Alpern, 77, Russian-born American jurist, Pennsylvania attorney general (1959–1961).
• Xenia Belmas, 91, Russian-South African opera singer, cancer.
• Jan Donner, 89, Dutch jurist and politician.
• Einar Larsen, 80, Danish footballer.
• Hans Leyers, 84, German general.
• Louise Lorraine, 76, American actress (The Adventures of Tarzan, The Radio King, Near the Rainbow's End).
• Hector B. McKinnon, 90, Canadian civil servant.
• Richard Muckermann, 89, German politician.
• Jack Parsons, 90, English cricketer and reverend.
• Al Van Camp, 77, American baseball player.

3

• J Harlen Bretz, 98, American geologist.
• Jerry Corcoran, 87, American football player and executive.
• Sammy Crooks, 73, English football player and manager.
• Charles Ferster, 58, American behavioral psychologist, heart attack.
• Isabel Garcés, 80, Spanish actress.
• J. W. Jones, 86, American football player and college basketball coach.
• Margaret McNamara, 65, American literacy advocate (Reading Is Fundamental), cancer.
• Normand Poirier, 53, American journalist.

4

• Percival Beale, 74, English civil servant, Chief Cashier of the Bank of England (1949–1955).
• Mario Camerini, 85, Italian filmmaker (Ulysses).
• Deng Chumin, 91, Chinese social scientist.
• Grant Gillis, 80, American baseball player, cancer.
• Kathy Godfrey, 66, American talk show host, heart attack.
• Cyril Goulden, 83, Canadian agriculturalist.
• Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi, 84–85, Pakistani politician.
• Holger Henning, 75, Swedish naval admiral.
• Joan Ingram, 70, English tennis player.
• Joe Jacques, 36, English footballer, heart attack.
• Douglas McAlpine, 90, British neurologist.
• Adhaury Rocha, 60, Brazilian Olympic sports shooter (1956).
• Robert H. Roche, 89, American politician.
• Michele Busiri Vici, 86, Italian architect and urban planner.
• Sir John Whitworth-Jones, 84, British RAF commander.

5

• Nadija Bilokin, 86, Soviet Ukrainian painter.
• Kuda Bux, 75, Indian-American magician and firewalker.
• Paul Couderc, 81, French mathematician and astronomer.
• Hilda Dresen, 84, Estonian translator and telegraphist.
• Karl Feller, 66, American trade unionist.
• Ella Grasso, 61, American politician, governor of Connecticut (1975–1980) and member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1971–1975), heart attack.
• Benjamin Kaufman, 86, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient.
• Sir William Scotter, 58, British general.
• Jake Stephens, 80, American baseball player.

6

• Gilbert Ashton, 84, English cricketer.
• Raymond Bossus, 77, French politician.
• Roualeyn Cumming, 89, English cricketer.
• Ludwig Damminger, 67, German footballer.
• Frederica of Hanover, 63, German-born Greek queen consort (1947–1964), heart failure.
• Suzanne Guité, 54, Canadian artist, murdered.
• Bernie Heselton, 78, American football coach.
• Cactus Keck, 82, American baseball player.
• Hugo Montenegro, 55, American composer, emphysema.
• Marthe Robin, 78, French mystic and charity worker.
• Giovanni Stradone, 69, Italian painter.
• A. H. Vedel, 86, Danish naval admiral.

7

• Du Junhui, 76, Chinese feminist activist.
• Clarence Eldridge, 92, American baseball umpire and advertising executive.
• Hermann Esser, 80, German politician, journalist and Nazi government propagandist (Völkischer Beobachter).
• Connie Kunzmann, 24, American basketball player, bludgeoned.
• Paul Mattick, 76, German-American political theorist.
• Marius Mondelé, 67, Belgian footballer.
• Joseph Plavcan, 72, American painter.
• Emil Spiridonov, 55, Soviet naval admiral, plane crash.

8

• Jakob Bender, 70, German footballer.
• María Cervantes, 95, Cuban musician and singer.
• Muhammad Usman Diplai, 72, Pakistani writer and journalist.
• Joe Dougherty, 79, American Olympic rower (1928, 1936).
• Hendrik Hagens, 80, Dutch Olympic fencer (1928).
• Marvin Johnson, 53, American football player.
• Józef Kiszkurno, 86, Polish Olympic sports shooter (1952).
• Brendan Nestor, 69, Irish footballer.
• Spud Owen, 75, American college sports coach.
• Mary Ryan, 83, Irish politician, TD (1944–1961).
• Iosif Șilimon, 62, Romanian aircraft designer.

9

• Jack Z. Anderson, 76, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1939–1953), suicide by gunshot.
• Franz Andrysek, 75, Austrian Olympic weightlifter (1924, 1928).
• M. C. Chagla, 80, Indian jurist and politician, heart attack.
• Mercedes Gleitze, 80, British swimmer.
• Bill Haley, 55, American musician (Bill Haley & His Comets) and singer ("Rock Around the Clock"), heart attack.
• Aase Hansen, 87, Danish writer.
• Stephen Hughes, 61, English footballer.
• John Russell Love, 86, Canadian politician.
• Helen Schucman, 71, American psychologist, pancreatic cancer.
• Martha Priscilla Shaw, 76, American politician and educator.
• Tiny Thompson, 77, Canadian ice hockey player.
• Burr Williams, 72, American ice hockey player.
• Hisa Yoneyama, 84, Japanese politician and poet.

10

• John Bahadur, 63, Guyanese cricketer.
• J. D. Batton, 69, American police chief.
• Hans Helbæk, 73, Danish archaeologist.
• Paul C. Jones, 79, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1948–1969).
• Mary McCormic, 91, American opera singer and professor.
• Nándor von Orbán, 71, Hungarian Olympic pentathlete (1936).
• Sir Hubert Shirley-Smith, 79, British civil engineer.

11

• Chan Choy Siong, 49, Singaporean politician, traffic collision.
• Sir Charles Daniel, 86, British naval admiral.
• Nicholas Falcone, 88, Italian-American clarinetist and conductor.
• Ketti Frings, 71, American playwright (Look Homeward, Angel) and screenwriter, cancer.
• Ichikawa Fusae, 87, Japanese politician and women's rights activist.
• Max Leichter, 60, German Olympic wrestler (1952).
• Maurice Mandrillon, 78, French Olympic skier (1924, 1928).
• Kermit Murdock, 72, American actor.
• Al Sarafiny, 74, American football player and coach.
• Franz Sondheimer, 54, German-born British chemist, suicide by cyanide poisoning.
• Haakon Olsen Wika, 81, Norwegian politician.

12

• Andreas Alföldi, 85, Hungarian historian and archaeologist.
• Lev Atamanov, 75, Soviet animator.
• Trygve de Lange, 62, Norwegian lawyer and businessman.
• Murray Deloford, 64, British tennis player.
• Lester A. Dessez, 84, American general, cardiovascular disease.
• Jean Dixon, 87, American actress.
• Art Frahm, 74, American painter.
• Sir Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, 93, British naval admiral.
• Frank Genovese, 66, American baseball player, manager and scout.
• Marjorie Wong Hee, 75, American painter.
• Shabir Ibrahim Kaskar, 25–26, Indian career criminal, shot.
• Leung Sing Poh, 71, Hong Kong actor and singer, intestinal cancer.
• Gerard J. Muccigrosso, 69, American lawyer and politician, member of the New York State Assembly (1938).
• Christen Møller, 96, Danish Olympic sports shooter (1920, 1936).
• Bill Sadler, 84, English cricketer.
• Vasily Sokolov, 69, Soviet footballer.
• Oliver Trinder, 73, British Olympic fencer (1936).

13

• Bainbridge Bunting, 67, American architectural historian.
• Jack Crapp, 68, English cricketer.
• Aniceto Fernández Alonso, 85, Spanish Roman Catholic priest.
• Wacław Kuchar, 83, Polish athlete, football player and manager.
• Hanna Mwais, 67–68, Israeli politician, MK (since 1977).
• Lambertus Nicodemus Palar, 80, Indonesian diplomat.
• Ella Simon, 78–79, Australian Aboriginal activist.
• René Taupin, 76, French-American translator and academic.
• Fred Tomley, 49, English footballer.
• Evert Verwey, 75, Dutch chemist.
• Merrik Ward, 72, English cricketer.
• Eric Whelpton, 86, British writer and traveler.

14

• John H. Boylan, 73, American politician, member of the Vermont House of Representatives (1951–1953) and Senate (1955–1965).
• Esteban Canal, 84, Peruvian-Italian chess player.
• Sir Angus Cunninghame Graham, 87, British naval admiral.
• Gerry Hartigan, 76, Australian footballer.
• Sacha Kolin, 69, French-American painter.
• Pepe Martínez, 27, Mexican footballer, traffic collision.
• Edward McEntee, 74, American judge.

15

• Pierre Blanchy, 83, French politician.
• Mike Bloomfield, 37, American blues musician, drug overdose.
• Edward T. Dicker, 67, American politician, member of the Texas House of Representatives (1951–1953).
• Dezső Ernster, 82, Hungarian opera singer, cancer.
• Mečislovas Gedvilas, 79, Lithuanian politician.
• Eugen Hasler, 69, Liechtensteiner politician.
• Joris in 't Veld, 85, Dutch politician.
• Isaac Don Levine, 89, Russian-born American journalist, heart attack.
• Hubert Pagden, 83, South African cricketer.
• Cotton Pippen, 69, American baseball player.
• Clemente Primieri, 86, Italian general.
• Karl Richter, 54, German conductor, heart attack.

16

• Luigi Bosatra, 75, Italian Olympic racewalker (1924).
• May Campbell, 65, Australian field hockey player.
• A. Doris Banks Henries, 68, American-Liberian educator and writer, cancer.
• John Hudson, 76, Australian Anglican prelate.
• Mel Maceau, 59, American football player.
• Miye Matsukata, 59, Japanese-born American jewelry designer, meningitis.
• Khan Mohammad Moinuddin, 50, Bangladeshi writer.
• William Pidgeon, 72, Australian cartoonist and illustrator.
• Genevieve Clark Thomson, 86, American suffragist.
• Charles E. Waring, 72, American chemist.
• Herman Wirth, 95, Dutch-German historian.

17

• Marcel Bezençon, 73, Swiss media executive and journalist, creator of Eurovision.
• Janina Broniewska, 76, Polish writer and communist activist.
• Carlos Casaravilla, 80, Uruguayan actor (El Lazarillo de Tormes).
• Norris Embry, 60, American painter, stroke.
• Roberto Etxebarria, 72, Spanish footballer.
• Al Fitch, 68, American Olympic runner (1936).
• Mick Gardner, 82, Australian politician.
• David Garnett, 88, English writer and novelist (Aspects of Love, Lady into Fox, The Sailor's Return).
• Ellen Gottschalch, 86, Danish actress.
• Carl Kruse-Jensen, 91, Norwegian jurist.
• Arthur O'Sullivan, 69, Irish actor.
• Dante Secchi, 70, Italian Olympic rower (1936).
• Sam Warhurst, 73, English footballer.
• Alberto Zozaya, 72, Argentine footballer.

18

• Eddie Billimoria, 80–81, Indian actor.
• Arne Bryngelsson, 66, Swedish footballer.
• Peter Cavanagh, 66, English impressionist.
• Mario Gachet, 101, Italian painter.
• Ibrahim Abdel Hady Pasha, 85, Egyptian politician, prime minister (1948–1949).
• George Hammond, 77, American racing driver.
• Andy High, 83, American baseball player.
• Georges Henri Kaestlin, 88–89, Russian-English banker and philatelist.
• Wally Laidlaw, 89, Australian footballer.
• Antonio Modesto Quirasco, 76, Mexican politician, governor of Veracruz (1956–1962).
• Gösta "Snoddas" Nordgren, 54, Swedish singer ("Flottarkärlek") and entertainer.
• Jack Northrop, 85, American aircraft industrialist (Northrop Corporation).
• Frederick Nymeyer, 83, American economist and industrialist.
• Del Ritchhart, 70, American football player.
• Joe Thomas, 78, American jazz musician.
• Karl Wahl, 88, German politician.

19

• Sam Barnes, 81, American baseball player.
• Sven Hugo Borg, 84, Swedish-American actor.
• Islwyn Davies, 72, British Anglican priest.
• Sir Bernard Evans, 75, Australian architect and politician.
• Olive Gilbert, 82, British singer ("We'll Gather Lilacs") and actress.
• Ryurik Ivnev, 89, Soviet Russian poet and novelist.
• William W. Knight, 72, American newspaper publisher.
• Dorothy McCullough Lee, 79, American politician, mayor of Portland, Oregon (1949–1953).
• Douglas Lewis, 82, Canadian boxer.
• Nino Marchetti, 75, Italian actor.
• Warren McGuirk, 75, American football player and coach.
• Leonard Plugge, 91, British politician and radio entrepreneur, MP (1935–1945).
• Zeferino Vaz, 72, Brazilian academic and physician, heart disease.
• Lloyd White, 62, New Zealand diplomat.
• Harry Winkler, 65, American screenwriter (The Addams Family, The Doris Day Show, The Brady Bunch).

20

• Jaap Bakema, 66, Dutch architect.
• Bernard B. Brown, 82, American composer and sound engineer.
• Katherine A. Foley, 91, Irish-born American politician, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1935–1938).
• Frederic Fox, 63, American historian and presidential aide.
• Nicolas de Gunzburg, 76, French-American magazine editor and socialite, stroke.
• Marcus Pereira, 50, Brazilian lawyer and record producer, suicide.
• Germaine Poinso-Chapuis, 79, French politician.
• Lynn Probert, 68, Welsh lawn bowler.
• Brian Sellers, 73, English cricketer.
• Ioannis Theodorakopoulos, 80, Greek philosopher.
• Athanasios Toutoungi, 81, Syrian Melkite Greek Catholic prelate.

21

• Ahmad bin Rashid Al Mualla, 78–79, Emirati royal.
• Gaylord G. Cummings, 86, American politician, member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives (1974–1976).
• Claiborne Foster, 84, American actress.
• Ron Grainer, 58, Australian composer (Doctor Who theme music), spinal tumor.
• Amory Houghton, 81, American diplomat and businessman.
• Kevin C. McCann, 76, American biographer and academic administrator, complications from surgery.
• John F. McCarthy, 57, American politician, member of the California State Senate (1950–1971).
• Julla Sæthern, 79, Norwegian barrister and politician.

22

• Curtis Bernhardt, 81, German-American film director.
• Helen Burbank, 82, American public servant.
• Guy Butler, 81, British Olympic sprinter (1920).
• Imrich Karvaš, 77, Slovak economist.
• Pierre Korb, 72, French footballer.
• Kenan Kutub-zade, 74, Soviet photographer and photojournalist.
• Michael Maltese, 73, American screenwriter and storyboard artist (Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies), co-creator of Pepé Le Pew, cancer.
• Saul K. Padover, 75, Austrian-born American historian and political scientist, stroke.
• Walter Simon, 87, German-English sinologist.
• Joe Smith, 97, American vaudeville comedian (Smith and Dale).
• Ilo Wallace, 91, American socialite, second lady of the United States (1941–1945).

23

• Myrl Brown, 86, American baseball player.
• Albert Dejonghe, 87, Belgian racing cyclist.
• Chester Stairs Duffus, 89, Canadian-British flying ace.
• Shep Fields, 70, American bandleader, heart attack.
• Robert L. Fish, 68, American novelist, heart attack.
• Bruce Rhodes, 28, American football player, shot.
• John Solomon, 77, New Zealand Olympic rower (1932).

24

• John Moors Cabot, 79, American diplomat, stroke.
• Louis J. Camuti, 87, Italian-born American veterinarian, heart attack.
• Zoltán Glass, 77, Hungarian photographer.
• Ty Hunter, 40, American singer, lung cancer.
• Jerry Landauer, 49, German-born American journalist, heart attack.
• Georgi Nadjakov, 84, Bulgarian physicist.
• Moshe Nathanson, 81, Ottoman-born American composer.
• Annette Pearse, 87, New Zealand art gallery curator.

25

• Maria Åkerblom, 82, Finnish evangelical leader.
• Imtiaz Ali 'Arshi', 75, Indian scholar.
• William Claypoole, 73, American politician, member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1967–1970).
• Tomás de la Noval, 67, Cuban-American baseball player.
• Alf Goddard, 83, English actor.
• Richard Honig, 91, German penologist.
• Ella Hill Hutch, 57, American politician, member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (since 1978).
• Ann Lowe, 82, American fashion designer.
• Matty Malneck, 77, American jazz musician.
• Laurel McAlister, 88, New Zealand community activist.
• Frank McCrea, 84, American baseball player.
• Gunichi Mikawa, 92, Japanese naval admiral.
• Zalman Susayeff, 70, Israeli politician, MK (1951–1959).
• Mary Sykes, 84, British politician and lawyer.

26

• Robert Aickman, 66, English conservationist and writer, cancer.
• Josef Caska, 67, Czech tennis player.
• Gerald Cross, 69, English actor.
• Ismael Díaz, 33, Salvadoran footballer, murdered.
• Ulf Grönholm, 38, Finnish racing driver, traffic collision.
• Howard Hanson, 84, American composer ("Symphony No. 4").
• Charles M. Justice, 72, American college football player and coach.
• Don Koehler, 55, American salesman, world's tallest living man (since 1969), heart ailment.
• Jean-Pierre Lehman, 66, French paleontologist.
• Bud Lindberg, 71, American basketball player.
• Alexander Lozovsky, 73, Soviet general.
• Justin McCarthy, 86, Australian footballer.
• Sir William Oliver, 79, British general.
• Henry Richardson, 63, American politician, member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives (1975–1979)
• Jennie Smillie Robertson, 103, Canadian surgeon.
• Walter Rohland, 82, German industrialist.
• Tatjana Sais, 71, German actress.
• Tee Yai, 29, Thai bandit, shot.
• F.C. Terborgh, 79, Dutch writer.
• Roger Tonge, 35, British actor (Crossroads), heart failure.
• Ferenc Tóth, 72, Hungarian Olympic wrestler (1948).

27

• Børge Bæth, 61, Danish Olympic swimmer (1936).
• Charles-Philbert de Couët de Lorry, 69, French Olympic equestrian (1952).
• Pierre Deley, 87, French aviator.
• Joaquín Domingo, 63, Spanish billiards player.
• Jacob H. Gilbert, 60, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1960–1971).
• Francis Irby Gwaltney, 59, American author.
• Ike Isaacs, 57, American jazz bassist.
• J. C. Johnson, 84, American pianist and songwriter.
• Paul F. Kerr, 84, American minerologist, heart attack.
• Sebastian Russo, 56, Italian-American physician, shot.
• Nan Shepherd, 88, Scottish writer and poet.
• Marion Tylee, 80, New Zealand artist.

28

• Gasret Aliev, 58, Soviet soldier.
• Edna Beilenson, 71, American typographer and publisher.
• André Devaux, 86, French Olympic sprinter (1920).
• Virginia Huston, 55, American actress, cancer.
• Albin Lesky, 84, Austrian classical philologist.
• Nicolae Penescu, 84, Romanian politician and dissident, injuries sustained in an explosion.
• Carel Polak, 71, Dutch politician.
• William Renwick, 65, American politician, member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1955–1978).
• Talbot Rothwell, 64, English screenwriter (Carry On).
• Anatoly Shirshov, 59, Soviet mathematician.
• Rodolphe Spillmann, 85, Swiss Olympic fencer (1948).
• Robert L. Wolfe, 52, American film editor (All the President's Men, On Golden Pond, The Rose).

External links

• List of February 1981 deaths at IMDb