List of Famous people who died in 1997

Jacques Foccart was a French businessman and politician, best known as a chief adviser to French presidents on African affairs. He was also a co-founder of the Gaullist Service d'Action Civique (SAC) in 1959 with Charles Pasqua, which specialized in covert operations in Africa.

Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial in 1965.

Donald Francis Henderson was an English actor of stage, television and screen. Henderson was known for playing both "tough guy" roles and authority figures, and is remembered for his portrayal of detective George Bulman between 1976 and 1987 in the popular Granada Television police drama series The XYY Man, Strangers, and Bulman, as priest Frank Kane in BBC drama The Paradise Club (1989–90), and as General Tagge in the first Star Wars film (1977). This last role also brought him attention from science fiction fans, and he later appeared in cult science fiction television series Red Dwarf and Doctor Who.

Peter Jeffrey, was a senior officer and fighter ace in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, he joined the RAAF active reserve in 1934, and transferred to the Permanent Air Force (PAF) shortly before World War II. Posted to the Middle East in July 1940, Jeffrey saw action with No. 3 Squadron and took command of the unit the following year, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his energy and fighting skills. He was appointed wing leader of No. 234 Wing RAF in November 1941, and became an ace the same month with his fifth solo victory. The next month he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his achievements, which included rescuing a fellow pilot who had crash landed in the desert.

Ana Orantes Ruiz was a Spanish woman who was a victim of gender violence. After her testimony was shown on a television program, she was killed by her ex-husband, José Parejo Avivar, on December 17, 1997 at age 60. Her death provoked a national reckoning about gender violence, and as a consequence, legal protections against gender and domestic violence were added to the Criminal Code of Spain.

Juzo Itami , born Yoshihiro Ikeuchi , was a Japanese actor, screenwriter and film director. He directed eleven films, all of which he wrote himself.

Harry Lewis was an English saxophonist and clarinetist and the husband of singer Vera Lynn.

Ho Feng-Shan was a Chinese diplomat for the Republic of China. When he was consul-general in Vienna during World War II, he risked his life and career to save "perhaps tens of thousands" of Jews by issuing them visas, disobeying the instruction of his superiors. It is known that Ho issued the 200th visa in June 1938, signed the 1906th visa on 27 October 1938, and was recalled to China in May 1940. Ho died in 1997 and his actions were recognized posthumously when the Israeli organization Yad Vashem in 2000 decided to award him the title "Righteous Among the Nations".

Paul Louis Marius Ricard was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and the developer of two Mediterranean islands, as well as the builder of the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet.

José Luis Cabezas (1961–1997) was an Argentine news photographer and reporter who worked for Noticias, a leading local newsmagazine.