List of Famous people who died in 1997

Raymond Lambert was a Swiss mountaineer who together with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached an altitude of 8611 metres of Mount Everest, as part of a Swiss Expedition in May 1952. At the time it was the highest point that a climber had ever reached. There was a second Swiss expedition in autumn 1952, but a party including Lambert and Tenzing was forced to turn back at a slightly lower point. The following year Tenzing returned with Edmund Hillary to reach the summit on 29 May 1953.

Adil Çarçani was an Albanian politician who served as the 24th Prime Minister of Albania in the Communist regime led by Enver Hoxha. He served as the titular head of the Albanian government in the years immediately preceding the fall of the Communist regime.

David Ian Gill was a British film historian, preservationist and documentarian who documented the history of motion pictures and helped restore many early, silent films.

Silvano Tranquilli was an Italian stage, television and film actor.

James Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.

Leda Gloria was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 66 films between 1929 and 1965. During the expansion of Italian cinema of the Fascist Era of the 1930s and early 1940s she appeared in starring roles, later transitioning into character parts after the Second World War. She appeared in the Don Camillo series of films, playing the wife of Gino Cervi's Giuseppe Bottazzi.