The following is a list of notable deaths in March 1997.
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
- Stanislaus Joseph Brzana, 79, American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.[1]
- Hans Robert Jauss, 75, German academic.[2]
- Martin Furnival Jones, 84, British Director General of MI5 (1965–1972).[3]
- Monte Kennedy, 74, American baseball player.[4]
- Václav Roziňák, 74, Czechoslovak ice hockey player.[5]
- Annie Beatrice van der Biest Thielan Wetmore, 87, Dutch-American ornithologist.[6]
2
- Yahaya Ahmad, 49, Malaysian businessman, helicopter crash.[7]
- Abdel Azim Ashry, 85, Egyptian basketball player and referee.
- Judi Bari, 47, American environmentalist, feminist, and labor leader, breast cancer.[8]
- Douglas Blackwood, 87, British publisher and fighter pilot during World War II.[9]
- Horace Cutler, 84, British politician.[10]
- Richard De Smet, 81, Belgian Jesuit priest, missionary and indologist.
- Amleto Frignani, 64, Italian football player.
- Herman H. Fussler, 82, American librarian, writer and editor.[11]
- Albert Gazier, 88, French trade union leader and politician.[12]
- Grete Heublein, 89, German track and field athlete and Olympian.[13]
- Walter Leinweber, 89, German ice hockey player.[14]
- J. Carson Mark, 83, Canadian-American mathematician, complications from a fall.[15]
- Waldo Nelson, 98, American pediatrician, stroke.[16]
- Vicente Parra, 66, Spanish actor, lung cancer.[17]
- Wendell Thompson Perkins, 69, American painter.[18]
- Martin Smith, 50, English rock drummer, internal bleeding.
3
- Bradford Angier, 86, American wilderness survivalist.[19]
- Jascha Brodsky, 89, Russian-American violinist.[20]
- Eric Edwards, Baron Chelmer, 82, English peer and solicitor.[21]
- Harry Davis, 88, American baseball player.[22]
- Lola Beer Ebner, 86, Israeli fashion designer.
- Billy Jurges, 88, American baseball player.[23]
- Mulumba Lukoji, 53, Congolese politician and professor.
- William Edward McManus, 83, American prelate of the Catholic Church.
- Santiago Ojeda Pérez, 52, Spanish judoka.
- Erik Waaler, 94, Norwegian professor of medicine.[24]
4
- Joe Baker-Cresswell, 96, English Royal Navy officer and aide-de-camp to King George VI.[25]
- Roger Brown, 54, American basketball player, colon cancer.[26]
- Leo Catozzo, 84, Italian film editor.
- Robert H. Dicke, 80, American astronomer and physicist.[27]
- Stanley Fink, 61, American lawyer and politician, cancer.[28]
- Edward Klabiński, 76, Polish racing cyclist.
- Robert Lampman, 76, American economist, lung cancer.[29]
- Carey Loftin, 83, American actor and stuntman.
- Paul Préboist, 70, French actor.
- József Simándy, 80, Hungarian tenor.
5
- Zalman Abramov, 88, Israeli politician.
- Amjad Ali, 89, Pakistani politician and a civil servant.[30]
- Samm Sinclair Baker, 87, American self-help writer.[31]
- Ralph Bass, 85, American R&B record producer.[32]
- Frank Brennan, 72, Scottish footballer.[33]
- Jean Dréville, 90, French film director.[34]
- William Roberts, 83, American screenwriter, respiratory failure.[35]
- Edmund Brinsley Teesdale, 81, Hong Kong Colonial Secretary.
6
- Frank Anderson, 83, Australian rules football player.
- Rosalyn Boulter, 80, British film actress.[36]
- Ed Furgol, 79, American golfer.[37]
- Cheddi Jagan, 78, President of Guyana.[38]
- Michael Manley, 72, Prime Minister of Jamaica (1972–1980; 1989–1992), prostate cancer.[39]
7
- Wilfred Conwell Bain, 89, American music educator.[40]
- Gösta Brännström, 70, Swedish sprinter and Olympian.[41]
- Chuck Green, 77, American tap dancer.[42]
- Martin Kippenberger, 44, German artist and sculptor, liver cancer.[43]
- Agnieszka Osiecka, 60, Polish poet, writer, film director and journalist, cancer.[44]
- Edward Mills Purcell, 84, American physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, respiratory failure.[45]
- Kim Yale, 43, American comic book writer and editor (Suicide Squad, Deadshot, Sgt. Rock), breast cancer.
8
- Leon Danielian, 76, American ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer.[46]
- Masuo Ikeda, 63, Japanese painter, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, ceramist, novelist, and film director from Nagano Prefecture.[47]
- Gershon Liebman, 92, French rabbi and Holocaust survivor.
- Lefter Millo, 30, Albanian football player, traffic collision.[48]
- Alexander Salkind, 75, French-Mexican film producer (Superman).[49]
- Alfred Sheinwold, 85, American bridge player and writer, stroke.[50]
9
- The Notorious B.I.G., 24, American rapper ("Juicy", "Big Poppa", "Mo Money Mo Problems"), shot.[51]
- Jean-Dominique Bauby, 44, French journalist and author (Elle magazine), pneumonia during locked-in syndrome.[52]
- John Boyd, 70, United States Air Force fighter pilot and military strategist, cancer.[53]
- Robert B. Leighton, 77, American experimental physicist.[54]
- John S. McKiernan, 85, American politician.
- Terry Nation, 66, Welsh television writer (Doctor Who), emphysema.[55]
- Ray Prochaska, 77, American gridiron football player and coach.[56]
- Bezawada Gopala Reddy, 89, Indian politician.
- Veronica Wedgwood, 86, English historian.[57]
- Dwight Locke Wilbur, 93, American medical doctor and president of the A.M.A.[58]
10
- Jimmy Airlie, 60, Scottish trade unionist, cancer.[59]
- LaVern Baker, 67, American R&B singer, cardiovascular disease.[60]
- Raymond Bass, 87, American Navy rear admiral, gymnast and Olympian.[61]
- Stan Drake, 75, American cartoonist.[62]
- Yorozuya Kinnosuke, 64, Japanese kabuki actor, pneumonia, laryngeal cancer.[63]
- David Moroder, 66, Italian luger and sculptor.
- Imam Mustafayev, 87, Azerbaijani communist politician.
- Ossie O'Brien, 68, British politician.[64]
- Wesley Ramey, 87, American boxer.
- Ghulam Rasool Santosh, 68, Indian painter and poet.[65]
- Johannes Theodor Suhr, 101, Danish Roman Catholic bishop.[66]
- Wilf Wooller, 84, Welsh cricketer, rugby player, and journalist.
- Hideo Ōba, 87, Japanese film director and screenwriter.
11
- Lars Ahlin, 81, Swedish author and aesthetician.[67]
- Robert Browning, 83, Scottish Byzantinist.[68]
- Stefan Fernholm, 37, Swedish discus thrower, shot putter, and Olympian.[69]
- Hugh Lawson, 61, American jazz pianist, cancer.[70]
- Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, 80, Indian poet, playwright, film director and actor, kidney failure.
- Hugo Weisgall, 84, American composer and conductor.[71]
12
- Shamsul-hasan Shams Barelvi, 79-80, Pakistani Islamic scholar.
- Hendrik Brugmans, 90, Dutch academic and linguist.[72]
- Ernst-Georg Drünkler, 76, German Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II.
- Bertram Myron Gross, 84, American social scientist, congestive heart failure.[73]
- William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel, 90, Anglo-Irish peer and Labour politician.
- Wally Wolf, 66, American swimmer, water polo player, and Olympic champion.[74]
14
- Jurek Becker, 59, Polish-German writer, film author and GDR dissident, colorectal cancer.[77]
- Joseph Fuchs, 97, American classical violinist.[78]
- Alija Isaković, 65, Bosnian writer, publicist, and playwright.[79]
- Jim McConn, 68, American politician and mayor of Houston, Texas.
- Nicolas Morn, 65, Luxembourgian cyclist and Olympian.[80]
- Terence O'Sullivan, 73, Irish Fianna Fáil politician.
- Veerendra Patil, 73, Indian politician.[81]
- Fred Zinnemann, 89, Austrian-American film director (From Here to Eternity, A Man for All Seasons, High Noon), Oscar winner (1954), heart attack.[82]
15
- C. Arulampalam, 88, Sri Lankan Tamil politician.
- Gail Davis, 71, American actress (Annie Oakley) and singer, cancer..[83]
- Victor Dumitrescu, 72, Romanian football player.
- Svend Wiig Hansen, 74, Danish sculptor and painter.
- Vernon Harrell, 56, American R&B singer and songwriter.
- Kåre Holt, 80, Norwegian author.
- Ed Kullman, 73, Canadian ice hockey player.[84]
- Dorab Patel, 72, Pakistani jurist and lawmaker, leukemia.
- Victor Vasarely, 90, Hungarian-French artist, cancer.[85]
16
- Berta Bojetu, 51, Slovene writer, poet and actress.
- Paal Frisvold, 89, Norwegian general.
- Leda Gloria, 88, Italian actress.[86]
- Harry Holgate, 63, Australian politician and Premier of Tasmania, cancer.[87]
- Zvonko Monsider, 76, Croatian football goalkeeper.[88]
- John Montague Stow, 85, British colonial official.[89]
- Star Stowe, 40, American model and Playboy centerfold, strangled.
- John White, 80, American rower and Olympian.[90]
17
- Prem Jayanth, 64, Sri Lankan actor and film producer.
- Fritz Moravec, 74, Austrian mountaineer and author.
- Charles G. Overberger, 76, American chemist, Parkinson's disease.[91]
- Ferenc Sipos, 64, Hungarian football player and trainer.[92]
- Jermaine Stewart, 39, American R&B singer, AIDS-related liver cancer.
19
- José Crespo, 96, Spanish film actor.
- Willem de Kooning, 92, Dutch abstract expressionist artist, Alzheimer's disease.[95]
- Jacques Foccart, 83, French businessman and politician.[96]
- Eugène Guillevic, 89, French poet.[97]
- Purnendu Pattrea, 66, Indian poet, writer, illustrator and film director.
- Claude Pierson, 66, French film director, writer and producer.[98]
- Shoukry Sarhan, 72, Egyptian actor.
- Mac Van Valkenburg, 75, American electrical engineer and university professor.[99]
20
- Ronnie Barron, 53, American actor and musician, heart problems, heart attack.[100]
- Jean Engstrom, 76, American actress.
- Carlo Fassi, 67, Italian figure skater and coach.[101]
- Britt G. Hallqvist, 83, Swedish hymnwriter, poet, and translator.
- Marino Marini, 72, Italian musician.[102]
- V. S. Pritchett, 96, British writer and literary critic.[103]
- Tony Zale, 83, American boxer, Alzheimer's disease.[104]
24
- Martin Caidin, 69, American author, screenwriter, and aviator, cancer.[112]
- U. Alexis Johnson, 88, American diplomat, pneumonia.[113]
- Bill Miller, 69, American professional wrestler, heart attack.
- Roberto Sánchez Vilella, 84, Governor of Puerto Rico (1965–1969).[114]
25
- Baltazar, 71, Brazilian footballer.[115]
- Stan Coster, 66, Australian country music singer-songwriter.
- Rosario Granados, 72, Argentine-Mexican film actress, heart attack.[116]
- Pedro Medina, 39, Cuban refugee and murder convict, execution by electric chair.[117]
- Norm Ryan, 86, Australian politician.
- C. J. F. Williams, 66, British philosopher, cardiac arrest.[118]
26
- Norman Alexander, 89, New Zealand physicist.[119]
- Marshall Applewhite, 65, leader of the Heaven's Gate cult group, suicide by asphyxiation.
- Otto John, 88, German defector and spy.[120]
- Hartmut Losch, 53, German athlete.[121]
- George Post, 90, American watercolorist and art educator, pneumonia.[122]
- Nina Mason Pulliam, 90, American journalist, author, and civic leader, complications from respiratory infection.
- Dickie Williams, 72, Welsh rugby player.
27
- George Malcolm Brown, 71, English geologist.[123]
- David A. Clarke, 53, American civil-rights worker, attorney, and politician, PCNSL.
- Bob Dillabough, 55, Canadian ice hockey player.[124]
- Lane Dwinell, 90, American manufacturer and politician, heart failure.[125]
- Hugh Horner, 72, Canadian physician and politician, heart attack.
- Charles Lillard, 53, American-Canadian poet and historian.[126]
- Ella Maillart, 94, Swiss adventurer, travel writer and photographer.[127]
- Benno Premsela, 76, Dutch designer, visual artist and art collector.[128]
- Émile Stijnen, 89, Belgian footballer.[129]
28
- Arthur Arntzen, 90, Norwegian politician.[130]
- Lesley Cunliffe, 51, American journalist and writer, stomach cancer.[131]
- Claro Duany, 79, Cuban baseball player.[132]
- Tai Kanbara, 98, Japanese poet, painter, author, art critic and Japanese futurism pioneer, heart failure.[133]
29
- George William Gregory Bird, 80, British medical doctor, researcher and haematologist, renal failure.
- Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt, 61, German football player.[134]
- Wilhelm Friedrich de Gaay Fortman, 85, Dutch politician and jurist.[135]
- Finn Høffding, 98, Danish composer.[136]
- Aleksandr Ivanov, 68, Soviet football player.[137]
- Pupul Jayakar, 81, Indian cultural activist and writer.[138]
- Norman Pirie, 89, British biochemist and virologist.[139]
- Ellen Pollock, 94, British actress.[140]
- Hans Quest, 81, German actor and film director, cancer.[141]
- Anthony Roberts, 41, American basketball player, shot.[142]
- Eddie Ryder, 74, American actor, writer, and television director.
- Ruth Sager, 79, American geneticist, bladder cancer.[143]
- Gordon Stephenson, 88, British-Australian town planner and architect.
- Edmundo Pisano Valdés, 77, Chilean plant ecologist, botanist and agronomist, stomach cancer.
30
- Jack Bernhard, 82, American film and television director.[144]
- Bill Smith, 62, American baseball player.[145]
- Jon Stone, 64, American writer, director and producer, ALS.[146]
- Maria Śliwka, 61, Polish volleyball player.[147]
- Tadeusz Żenczykowski, 90, Polish lawyer and political activist.
31
- Eugenie Anderson, 87, American diplomat.[148]
- Friedrich Hund, 101, German physicist.[149]
- John Norman Davidson Kelly, 87, British theologian and academic.[150]
- Marvin Liebman, 73, American activist and gay rights advocate.[151]
- Dorothy Liu, 62, Hong Kong pro-Beijing politician and lawyer, pancreatic cancer[152]
- Stephen Kalong Ningkan, 76, Malaysian politician.[153]
- Lyman Spitzer, 82, American theoretical physicist and astronomer, heart disease.[154]