The following is a list of notable deaths in January 2003.
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.
January 2003
1 Royce D. Applegate, 63, American actor (seaQuest DSV, Diff'rent Strokes, Dallas, Home Improvement). Joe Foss, 87, American politician, fighter pilot, recipient of the Medal of Honor. Giorgio Gaber, 63, Italian singer-songwriter and playwright, lung cancer. Ben Hightower, 84, American football player (Cleveland Rams, Detroit Lions). Milan Janić, 45, Serbian canoeist and Olympian (1980, 1984). Joel, 71, Brazilian association footballer. A. K. Salim, 80, American jazz composer, and arranger. Cyril Shaps, 79, British actor (The Pianist, Doctor Who, The Spy Who Loved Me). David Young, 72, British politician (Member of Parliament for Bolton East, Bolton South East).
2 Pilar Bellosillo, 89, Spanish teacher and Catholic feminist. Edilberto Campadese, 87, Italian Olympic bobsledder (1948). Frank Cremeans, 59, American politician, respiratory failure. Hiralal Gaekwad, 79, Indian cricket player. Peter Harris, 77, British footballer. Leonia Janecka, 93, Polish painter and illustrator. Eric Jupp, 80, British-Australian musician, composer, arranger and conductor. Stanisław Kaźmierczak, 88, Polish footballer. Jack Keller, 80, American comic book artist. Bud Metheny, 87, American baseball player (New York Yankees). Sydney Omarr, 76, American astrologer and newspaper columnist, heart attack. Joe Ruetz, 86, American football player (Chicago Rockets), and coach. Bill Shelton, 73, British politician, Alzheimer's disease. Leroy Warriner, 83, American midget car racing driver (National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame).
3 Sir James Ainsworth Campden Gabriel Eyre, 72, British Army general. Sid Gillman, 91, American football coach (San Diego Chargers) and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. José María Gironella, 85, Spanish author, stroke. Flóra Kádár, 74, Hungarian actress. Eddy Marnay, 82, French songwriter, singer. N. P. Mohammed, 74, Indian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Mohammad Mohsin, 60, Indian actor, director and producer. Edmund L. Morris, 79, Canadian politician, broadcaster and university administrator. Halima Nosirova, 89, Soviet and Uzbek singer. Joe Ostrowski, 86, American baseball player (St. Louis Browns, New York Yankees). Jim Westlake, 72, American baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies). Harry Willsie, 74, Canadian Olympic sports shooter (1964, 1968, 1972). Monique Wittig, 67, French writer, poet and social theorist, heart attack.
4 Raoul Bortoletto, 77, Italian footballer. Hanno Drechsler, 71, German politician and mayor of Marburg. Henri Garnier, 94, Belgian road cyclist. Conrad Hall, 76, American cinematographer (American Beauty, Cool Hand Luke, Road to Perdition), Oscar winner (1970, 2000, 2003), bladder cancer. Yfrah Neaman, 79, Lebanese-British violinist and teacher. Louis Spector, 84, American judge (United States Court of Federal Claims). Lila Zali, 84, Georgian-American prima ballerina and ballet director.
5 Maurice Boutel, 79, French film director, screenwriter and dialoguist. King Biscuit Boy, 58, Canadian blues musician. Buzz Busby, 69, American bluegrass mandolinist, songwriter and bandleader. Doreen Carwithen, 80, British composer of classical and film music. Massimo Girotti, 84, Italian film actor, heart attack. Johnny Harms, 77, Canadian ice hockey player (Chicago Black Hawks). Roy Jenkins, 82, British politician and biographer, heart attack. Jean Kerr, 80, American author and playwright, pneumonia. Félix Loustau, 80, Argentine football player. Daphne Oram, 77, British composer and musician. Sanders Sims, 81, American Olympic field hockey player (1948).
6 Olle Bexell, 93, Swedish decathlete (Swedish champion: 1935 to 1938 decathlon, 1938 pentathlon), and Olympian (1936). Vic Bottari, 86, American college football player (California Golden Bears). Miriam Byrd-Nethery, 73, American actress. Gerald Cash, 85, Governor-General of the Bahamas. Glyn Davies, 83, Welsh economist. Peter de Smet, 58, Dutch comic-strip artist. Paula Pöhlsen, 89, German gymnast and Olympic champion (1936). Kari Skjønsberg, 76, Norwegian academic, writer and feminist. Jorma Taitto, 85, Finnish Olympic sports shooter (1956). Jarvis Tatum, 56, American baseball player (California Angels). Mamie Till, 81, American educator and civil rights activist. Philip Ward, 78, British army general. Harry Woolf, 79, American historian and academic, director of Institute for Advanced Study.
7 Ed Albosta, 84, American baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates). Ken Biddulph, 70, British cricketer. Vance Longden, 72, American thoroughbred horse trainer. Gordon Kidd Teal, 95, American electrical engineer. Mario Tonelli, 86, American football player (Chicago Cardinals). Wilfred Tull, 85, Trinidadian Olympic athlete (1948). Sebastian von Hoerner, 83, German astrophysicist and radio astronomer. Beatrice Willard, 77, American botanist, known for her research in alpine tundra ecosystems.
8 Simeon Aké, 71, Ivorian politician. Fouad Abdel Meguid El-Kheir, 81, Egyptian basketball player and Olympian (1948, 1952). Dante "Tex" Gill, 72, American gangster and pimp. Ron Goodwin, 77, British film music composer and conductor, asthma. Sarah McClendon, 92, American journalist and White House reporter. Kir Nesis, 68, Russian marine biologist and malacologist, specialising in cephalopods. Reg Revans, 95, British professor, administrator, management consultant, and Olympic long jumper (1928). Angelo Romani, 68, Italian swimmer and Olympian (1952, 1956, 1960). Billy Van, 68, Canadian comedian, actor and singer (Nightcap, The Hilarious House of Frightenstein), lung cancer.
9 Kurt Andersen, 104, German Luftwaffe general during World War II. Ignace Heinrich, 77, French Olympic athlete (1948). Elizabeth Irving, 98, British actress. Qamar Jalalabadi, 84, Indian poet and lyricist of songs for Hindi movies. Don Landrum, 66, American baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants). Will McDonough, 67, American sportswriter for The Boston Globe, heart attack. Peter Tinniswood, 66, British writer, esophageal cancer. Penny Valentine, 59, British music journalist and critic, cancer.
10 Júlio Botelho, 73, Brazilian football player, heart failure. C. Douglas Dillon, 93, American diplomat (U.S. Ambassador to France) and politician (Secretary of the Treasury, National Security Council). Wolfgang Kasack, 75, German Slavic studies scholar and translator. João Maio, 73, Brazilian Olympic rower (1952). Jorge "Lobito" Martínez, 50, Paraguayan musician, murdered. Ensio Siilasvuo, 81, Finnish general. Denis Zanette, 32, Italian professional racing cyclist, heart attack.
11 Mickey Finn, 55, English musician and percussionist of T. Rex. Anthony Havelock-Allan, 98, British producer and screenwriter, heart attack. Virginia Kidd, 81, American literary agent, writer and editor. Bolesław Lewandowski, 67, Polish footballer. Ada Lunardoni, 91, American Olympic gymnast (1936). Bob Maertens, 72, Belgian footballer. Arne Månsson, 77, Swedish footballer. Silvanus Njambari, 28, Namibian footballer. Maurice Pialat, 77, French movie director, kidney failure. Jože Pučnik, 70, Slovenian intellectual, sociologist and politician. William Russo, 74, American composer, arranger, and musician. Richard Simmons, 89, American actor (Sergeant Preston of the Yukon), Alzheimer's disease. Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, 56, Nigerian politician and administrator. Yuri Tishkov, 31, Russian football player, sports agent and commentator, stabbed.
12 Dean Amadon, 90, American ornithologist and an authority on birds of prey. Clarence H. Burns, 84, American politician, mayor of Baltimore in 1987. Jack Douglas, 72, Canadian ice hockey player and Olympian (1960). Kinji Fukasaku, 72, Japanese film director and screenwriter, prostate cancer. Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, 76, former dictator of Argentina, heart attack, pancreatic cancer. Maurice Gibb, 53, British band member of Bee Gees, heart attack. W. M. Gorman, 79, Irish economist and academic. Valentyn Kravchuk, 58, Ukrainian rower and Olympic medalist (1968). Alan Nunn May, 91, British nuclear physicist and convicted Soviet spy. Paul Pender, 72, American boxer and world middleweight champion. Koloman Sokol, 100, Slovak artist. Wang Tieya, 89, Chinese jurist and Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
13 James Bradshaw Adamson, 81, American U.S. Army major general, commander of the Military District of Washington. Elisabeth Croft, 95, English actress (Crossroads). Hertha Guthmar, 98, German film actress.Hertha Guthmar, filmportal.de. Retrieved 13 October 2025 . Bob MacLeod, 85, American football player (Dartmouth Big Green, Chicago Bears). Norman Panama, 88, screenwriter and director, Parkinson's disease. Ernie Rudolph, 93, American baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers). George Senick, 73, Canadian ice hockey player (New York Rangers). Erik Stadigh, 74, Finnish Olympic sailor (1952).
14 Mirza Babayev, 89, Azerbaijani actor and singer. Mel Bourne, 79, American set designer and art director (Annie Hall, Fatal Attraction, Manhunter). Alberto Capilla, 76, Mexican Olympic diver (1952, 1956). Alan Edwards, 77, Australian actor. Monica Furlong, 72, British author, journalist, and activist, cancer. Eric Greenwood, 35, Costa Rican Olympic swimmer (1988). Dirk Karkuth, 41, German football manager. Vahé Katcha, 74, French Armenian author, screenwriter and journalist, heart attack. Georg Knepler, 96, Austrian pianist, conductor and musicologist. John Mantley, 82, Canadian theatrical actor, screenwriter and producer of television series, Gunsmoke, Alzheimer's disease. Paul Monash, 85, American television and film producer and screenwriter, pancreatic cancer. Sujit Mukherjee, 72, Indian writer, literary critic and publisher. Karl Rafreider, 85, Austrian Olympic cross-country skier (1948, 1952, 1956). Johnny Ritchey, 80, American baseball player. Emilio Villa, 88, Italian poet, visual artist, and biblical scholar.
15 Eduardo Alquinta, 57, Chilean guitarist and vocalist (Los Jaivas), heart attack. Robert Bart, 72, French Olympic sprinter (1952). Linda Braidwood, 93, American archaeologist and pre-historian, influenza. Robert John Braidwood, 95, American archaeologist and anthropologist, a leading pioneer in prehistoric archaeology. Jeannette Campbell, 86, Scottish-Argentine swimmer and Olympian (1936). Frank Drea, 69, Canadian journalist, broadcaster, and politician, pneumonia. Doris Fisher, 87, American singer and songwriter ("Put the Blame on Mame", "You Always Hurt the One You Love"). Ernesto Foldats, 77, Venezuelan botanist and orchidologist. Shimon Garidi, 90, Israeli politician. László Hidvégi, 86, Hungarian diver and Olympian (1936). Vivi-Anne Hultén, 91, Swedish figure skater and Olympian (1932, 1936), heart failure. Přemysl Kočí, 85, Czech operatic baritone, actor, stage director, and theatre manager. Derek Oatway, 72, Bermudian Olympic swimmer (1948). Eleanore Pettersen, 86, American architect.
16 Shōtarō Akiyama, 82, Japanese photographer. Henryk Czyż, 79, Polish musician with a high reputation for conducting and teaching. Bruce Juddery, 61, Australian journalist. Phil McCullough, 85, American baseball player (Washington Senators). Chris Mead, 62, British ornithologist, author and broadcaster. Susie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri, Australian indigenous artist. Ray Owen, 97, Australian agricultural scientist and politician. Hans Pietsch, 34, German professional Go player, shot during robbery. Richard Wainwright, 84, British politician (Member of Parliament for Colne Valley).
17 Hylo Brown, 80, American bluegrass and country music singer, guitarist and bass player.