2008 deaths

Bernard Rahis (12 February 1933 – 16 March 2008) was a French football striker.

Florestano Vancini (24 August 1926 – 18 September 2008) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.
He directed over 20 films since 1960. His 1966 film Le stagioni del nostro amore, starring Enrico Maria Salerno, was entered into the 16th Berlin International Film Festival. His 1973 film The Assassination of Matteotti was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Special Prize. In 1999 he was a member of the jury at the 21st Moscow International Film Festival.

Dieter Eppler (11 February 1927, in Stuttgart – 12 April 2008, in Stuttgart) was a German television actor and director of radio dramas. He was an actor, known for Jonas (1957), The Country Doctor (1987) and The Last Winter (1960). He was married to Magdalene Schnaitmann and they had five children. He was a prolific German character actor, seen in many TV crime series like Tatort, Derrick and The Old Fox. In the 1950s and 1960s, he had leading roles in several Edgar Wallace adaptations. Often portraying military types, he was noted for his starring role in U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien (1957). He also did horror as in the character of the evil vampire in the 1962 film Slaughter of the Vampires. He stayed in Germany and worked there and in European films until his death in 2008.

Wannes Van de Velde (29 April 1937 – 10 November 2008), born Willy Cecile Johannes Van de Velde, in Antwerp, was a Flemish folk singer, guitarist, musician, poet, puppeteer and artist. He is most famous for his songs Ik Wil deze Nacht in de Straten Verdwalen (1973), Mijn Mansarde and De Brug van Willebroek (1990). His work is often categorized as kleinkunst. Van de Velde was known for singing in his local dialect.

Stewart Rawlings Mott (December 4, 1937 – June 12, 2008) was an American philanthropist who founded the Stewart R. Mott Foundation. He was the son of Charles Stewart Mott (a co-founder of General Motors) and appeared on Nixon's Enemies List for his support of liberal causes.

George Eugene Moore (February 22, 1920 – May 19, 2008) was an American doctor and cancer researcher notable for his discovery of the link between chewing tobacco and mouth cancer. He was head of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. He was the author of two books and more than 700 papers.

Karl Otto Kassulke (March 20, 1941 – October 27, 2008) was a professional American football player.
Kassulke graduated from Drake, where he starred as a safety. He played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), all with the Minnesota Vikings. Kassulke started in Super Bowl IV, where he and teammate Earsell Mackbee missed a tackle on Otis Taylor on the final touchdown of the game, late in the third quarter. The next season, he was selected to the Pro Bowl.
On July 24, 1973, Kassulke suffered a motorcycle accident on the way to training camp that left him paralyzed from the waist down.After his playing career, Kassulke worked with Wings Outreach, a Christian Ministry to the disabled.Kassulke was immortalized in NFL lore by NFL Films' official highlight film for Super Bowl IV. Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram, who was wired for sound by NFL Films executive producer Ed Sabol, noted the confusion in the Vikings' defense due to the Chiefs' shifting offense and quipped, "Kassulke was running around there like it was a Chinese fire drill".

George Palmer Garrett (June 11, 1929 – May 25, 2008) was an American poet and novelist. He was the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2002 to 2004. His novels include The Finished Man, Double Vision, and the Elizabethan Trilogy, composed of Death of the Fox, The Succession, and Entered from the Sun. He worked as a book reviewer and screenwriter, and taught at Cambridge University and, for many years, at the University of Virginia. He is the subject of critical books by R. H. W. Dillard, Casey Clabough, and Irving Malin.

Nathaniel Benjamin Levi Bar-Jonah (born David Paul Brown; February 15, 1957 – April 13, 2008) was an American convicted child molester and suspected cannibalistic serial killer who was sentenced to 130 years in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of the kidnapping, aggravated assault, and sexual assault of various children.

Eileen Herlie (March 8, 1918 – October 8, 2008) was a Scottish-American actress.