The following is a list of notable deaths in September 1988.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:
Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
September
1
- Luis Walter Alvarez, 77, American physicist
- Hugh Hunt, 86, American production designer
- Leonor Sullivan, 86, American politician
2
- Gabriele Patriarca, 72, Italian painter
- Robert Watts, 65, American artist
3
- Ferenc Sas, Hungarian footballer
- Richard Torriani, Swiss ice hockey player
4
- Dick Clark, American basketball player
- Leonard Huxley, Australian physicist
5
- Lawrence Brown, American trombonist
- Gert Fröbe, German actor
- Giuseppe Garlato, Italian politician
6
- Harold Rosson, American cinematographer
- Vojtěch Věchet, Czechoslovak footballer
7
- Pietro Conti, Italian politician
- Raymond Dubly, French footballer
- Vivi Janiss, American actress
- Thelma Payne, American diver
8
- Mandrake, Brazilian singer and percussionist
9
- Maisie Carr, Australian ecologist
10
- Ghulam Qadir Khan, Pakistani prince
- Virginia Satir, American psychotherapist
- Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, Brazilian film director
11
- Vincas Bartuška, Lithuanian footballer
- Wilhelm Batz, German aviator
- Roger Hargreaves, British writer
- Giuseppe Lanza, Italian writer, playwright
12
- Stephen B. Grimes, American production designer
- Bill Mitchell, American designer
- Lauris Norstad, U.S. general
13
- Gerd Hornberger, German sprinter
- Christian Kampmann, Danish writer
15
- Vasily Mzhavanadze, Soviet politician
- Jean Sacha, French film editor
16
- Richard Paul Lohse, Swiss painter
- Dick Pym, English footballer
17
- Hilde Güden, Austrian soprano
- Emment Kapengwe, Zambian footballer
18
- David Dodd, American economist
- Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar, Iranian poet
19
- Călin Alupi, Romanian painter
- Enrico Cerulli, Italian diplomat
20
- Tim Davis, American percussionist
- Roy Kinnear, British actor
- Tibor Sekelj, Yugoslav writer
21
- Henry Koster, German film director
22
- Maximilien de Fürstenberg, Belgian cardinal
24
- September 24 – Pietro Verri, Italian general (b.1908))
25
- September 25 – Antonino Saetta, Italian magistrate (b.1922))
26
- September 26 – Bruce Haack, Canadian composer and record producer (b. 1931)
- September 26 – Paolo Spriano, Italian historian (b. 1925))
- September 26 – Branko Zebec, Yugoslav football manager (b.1929))
27
- September 27 – Willis Edwards, English footballer and manager (b. 1903))
- September 27 – David Nelson, Scottish football manager (b. 1918))
28
- September 28 – Giovanni Bontate, Italian mobster (b. 1946))
- September 28 – Marcello Conversi, Italian physicist (b. 1917))
- September 28 – Alexander Goldstein, Polish chess composer (b. 1911))
- September 28 – Ethel Grandin, American actress (b.1894))
29
- September 29 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist (b.1912))
- September 29 – Raúl Landini, Argentine boxer (b. 1909))
30
- September 30 – Chick Chandler, American actor (b.1905))
- September 30 – David E. Satterfield III, American politician (b. 1920))
- September 30 – Joseph Sullivan, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1901))
- September 30 – Trường Chinh, Vietnamese politician (b. 1907))