2008 deaths

Haaken Andreas Christensen (16 February 1924 – 9 April 2008) was a Norwegian art historian, art collector and gallerist.
He was born in Kristiania to Arne Christensen and Ingeborg Wiese.Christensen graduated in art history from the University of Oslo in 1955. He opened his own gallery in Oslo in 1961, Galleri Haaken, which he was running for about forty years. Among his works is his thesis about Gustave Courbet, two books about Olivier Debré, essays on Serge Poliakoff, Horst Janssen and Alfred Manessier, and the memoir book En gallerists erindringer from 1985. He was decorated Knight of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Erik Borge (22 October 1924 – 11 May 2008) was a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. He was born in Kristiania. Among his productions was Trost i taklampa from 1955, based on Alf Prøysen's novel. He was manager of the company Norsk Film from 1966 to 1984. He received the Amanda Committee's Honorary Award in 1989, shared with Erik Diesen.

José Antonio Dammert Bellido (August 20, 1917 – September 10, 2008) was a Peruvian bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.
Bellido was born in Lima, Peru and ordained a priest on December 21, 1946. Bellido was appointed Auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Lima, along with Titular Bishop of Amathus in Palaestina, on April 14, 1958 and ordained bishop May 15, 1958. On March 15, 1962 he was appointed Bishop of Diocese of Cajamarca and would remain in post until his retirement on December 1, 1992.
Bellido died on September 10, 2008

Robert Nason Beck (March 26, 1928, in San Angelo, Texas – August 6, 2008, in Chicago, Illinois) was an American scientist and a pioneer in the field of nuclear medicine. Part of a University of Chicago team, he was the first to propose, in 1961, the use of the radioisotope technetium-99m to detect disease using Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, a technique that is used an estimated 20 million times a year throughout the world. Beck also helped develop collimators for sharpening the images produced by gamma-ray scanners, and was referred to as 'Mr. Collimator' by colleagues.

Dorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker (April 23, 1917 – July 7, 2008), known professionally as Dorian Leigh, was an American model and one of the earliest modeling icons of the fashion industry. She is considered one of the first supermodels, and was well known in the United States and Europe.

Mickey McMahan (August 23, 1930 – June 11, 2008) was an American born big band musician who played with the Lawrence Welk orchestra from 1966 to 1982. His instrument was the trumpet.

Mario Feliciani (12 March 1918 – 11 August 2008) was an Italian actor and voice actor.

Knut Bjørnsen (26 July 1932 – 14 November 2008) was a sports commentator and journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.
In his youth, Bjørnsen was a promising speed skater. He was junior Norwegian champion in 1951. He worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation between 1961 and 1991, and was NRK's main commentator for speed skating most of those years, together with fellow NRK veteran journalist Per Jorsett. He also hosted the popular Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation game show Kvitt eller dobbelt ("Double or Nothing") for many years. In 1991, Bjørnsen left the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, and began working for cable channel TV3, where he hosted the game show Lykkehjulet (a Norwegian adaptation of Wheel of Fortune).In his later years, he spoke out as a supporter of the Progress Party, having lost his confidence in the Conservative Party.In April 2008, Bjørnsen was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, and he died from the illness seven months later, on 14 November 2008.

Julio Rosado del Valle (1922 - September 20, 2008), was an internationally known abstract expressionist.

Raffaele Andreassi (L'Aquila, 2 August 1924 - 20 November 2008) was an Italian film director most known for his movie Flashback from 1969. The movie is about a soldier in World War II and received many awards. It was entered into the 1969 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the Golden Palm. Andreassi also did many documentaries during his director career.