List of Famous people who died in 1988

Marcel Hillaire was a German-born character actor who had a lengthy career, appearing on stage, in films and on television. Hillaire was recognizable by his gaunt appearance and his accent, which seemed to be a combination of French and German.

Felix Heinrich Wankel was a German mechanical engineer and inventor after whom the Wankel engine was named.

Félix Leclerc, was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968. Leclerc was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for his songs "Moi, mes souliers", "Le P'tit Bonheur" and "Le Tour de l'île" in 2006.

Hélène Gordon-Lazareff was a French journalist of Russian Jewish origin who founded Elle magazine in 1945. She was married to Pierre Lazareff, founder of the newspaper France-Soir. She had two daughters, Michèle Lazareff-Rosier from her first marriage and Nina Lazareff from her second marriage with Pierre.

Gabriel Parra (1947–1988) was the drummer of Chilean folk group Los Jaivas. He was the youngest of the three Parra brothers who formed the band.

Sir William Herbert Northam, CBE was an Australian Olympic yachtsman and businessman.

Erich Fried was an Austrian-born poet, writer and translator. He initially became known to a broader public in both Germany and Austria for his political poetry, and later for his love poems. As a writer he mostly wrote plays and short novels. He also translated works by different English writers from English into German, most notably works by William Shakespeare.

Roberto Succo was an Italian serial killer who committed several murders and other violent crimes mostly in Italy and France in the 1980s.

Iosif Romualdovich Grigulevich was a Soviet NKVD Operative between 1937 and 1953, when he took a leading role in assassinating Communist and Bolshevik individuals who were not loyal to Joseph Stalin.

Ballard Blascheck, known professionally as Ballard Berkeley, was an English actor of stage and screen. He played Major Gowen in the British television sitcom Fawlty Towers.