List of Famous people who died in 1988

María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés, 1st Lady of Meirás, Grandee of Spain was the wife of General and caudillo Francisco Franco.

Paul Esser was a German stage and television actor and voice actor. He is remembered for playing the lead role in the Sender Freies Berlin version of the detective series Tatort. Esser was born in Geldern-Kapellen and died in Tenerife.

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations within the cool jazz subgenre leading him to be nicknamed the "prince of cool".

Pierre Desproges was a French humorist. He was born in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis. According to himself, he made no significant achievements before the age of 30. From 1967 to 1970, he worked as: life insurance salesman, opinion pool investigator, "lonely hearts" columnist, horse racing forecaster, and sales manager for a styrofoam beam company.

Frank Donald Goodish was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, The Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the years Brody became synonymous with the hardcore wrestling brawling style that often saw one or more of the participants bleeding by the time the match was over. In his prime he worked as a "special attraction" wrestler in North America, making select appearances for various promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Central States Wrestling (CSW), Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWFF), and the American Wrestling Association (AWA) among others. He worked regularly in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW).

Walter Percy Chrysler Jr. was an American art collector, museum benefactor, and collector of other objects such as stamps, rare books, and glassworks. He was also a theatre and film producer.

Monte Kay was an American musicians' agent and record producer.

Dennis Day was an American singer, radio, television, and film personality, and comedian. He was of Irish descent.

‘Abdul-Basit ‘Abdel-Samad, or Abd ul-Basit Abd us-Samad, or Abdul Basit Muhammad Abdus Samad was an Egyptian Quran reciter and is regarded as one of the best reciters of the Quran of his time. He had won three world Qira'at competitions in the early 1970s. ‘Abdus-Samad was one of the first huffaz to make commercial recordings of his recitations, and the first president of the Reciters' Union in Egypt. At 10, Abdul Basit finished learning the entire Quran by heart in his village. He also learned 7 styles of Quran recitation by the age of 12 and the 10 styles by 14. The quadrumvirate of El Minshawy, Abdul Basit, Mustafa Ismail, and Al-Hussary are generally considered the most important and famous Qurra' of modern times to have had an outsized impact on the Islamic world.. He gained the reputation of being called the Golden Throat and the Voice of Heaven due to his melodious style, remarkable breath control, and unique emotional and engaging tone. His legacy remains unmatched as Qur'an reciters attempt to imitate his unique style.

Alexander Nikolaevich Bashlachev was a Soviet poet, singer-songwriter and guitarist, a performer in Russian rock music, included in the 27 Club.