- February 1
- Madame Sul-To-Wan [Conley], actress (Birth of a Nation), dies at age 85. [1]
- February 2
- Frank DeCaires, cricket player (West Indies bat versus England 1930, three Tests 232 runs), dies. [1]
- February 3
- Death of Buddy Holly AKA Charles Hardin Holley at age 22 in a plane crash in Iowa, USA; rock singer ("That'll be the Day"). [1] [457]
- Richie Valens, rock vocalist ("Donna", "La Bamba"), killed in plane crash in Iowa at age 17. [1] [457]
- Jiles Perry Richardson AKA The Big Bopper, rocker ("Chantilly Lace"), dies in a plane crash in Iowa at age 28. [1] [457]
- February 4
- Una O'Connor, actress (Banjo, Invisible Man), dies at age 78. [1]
- February 5
- Gwili Andre, actress (No Other Woman, Roar of the Dragon), dies. [1]
- February 7
- Daniel F Malan, premier of South Africa (1948-54), dies at age 84. [1]
- February 8
- William J "Wild Bill" Donovan, Office Strategic Services, dies at age 76. [1]
- February 12
- George Antheil, US pianist/composer (Ballet Mécanique), dies at age 58. [1]
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- February 15
- Owen W Richardson; English physicist (Nobel Prize 1928), dies at age 69. [1]
- February 17
- Kathryn Adams, actress (Meet the Chump, 5th Avenue Girl), dies. [1]
- Tim Mara, co-founder of NFL's New York Giants, dies. [1]
- February 22
- Helen Parrish, actress (Hour Glass), dies of cancer at age 36. [1]
- February 26
- Death of Lou Costello at age 52 of a heart attack; comic/actor (Abbott and Costello comedy team on radio, film, TV shows). [1] [457]
- February 28
- Maxwell Anderson, US dramatist (Key Largo, Bad Seed), dies at age 70. [1]
- March 2
- Eric Blore, actor (Abie's Irish Rose, Love Happy), dies at age 70. [1]
- March 6
- Fred Stone, actor (Hideaway, Westerner), dies at age 85. [1]
- March 7
- Arthur C Pigou, English economist (Economics of Welfare), dies. [1]
- Hinsdale Smith, developer of roll-down auto windows, dies at age 88. [1]
- March 8
- Pro-Egyptian coup fails in Mosul, Iraq. Abdel Wahab Shawwaf, Iraqi Colonel/putschist, is murdered. [1]
- March 16
- John Sailling, last documented US Civil War veteran, dies at age 111. [1]
- March 26
- Raymond T Chandler, US detective writer (Long Goodbye), dies at age 71. [1]
- March 27
- Grant Withers, actor (Oklahoma Annie), dies of suicide with sleeping pills at age 54. [1]
- March 28
- James Neblett, cricket player (one Test West Indies versus England 1935), dies. [1]
- March 29
- Barthelemy Boganda, Central African Republic's first President, dies. [1]
- March 31
- Peter Suhrkamp, German publisher (Suhrkamp Verlag), dies at age 68. [1]
- April 2
- Benjamin Christensen, Danish actor (Barnet, Mockery), dies at age 79. [1]
- April 4
- Stanley Snooke, cricket player (brother of S J, duck in South African Test), dies. [1]
- April 8
- Gustave Charlier, Belgian literature historian, dies. [1]
- April 9
- Frank Lloyd Wright, US architect (Guggenheim Museum, New York), dies at age 89. [1] [5]
- April 12
- Death of James Gleason at age 76 from asthma; actor (Playhouse 90, Leave It to Beaver). [1] [457]
- April 13
- Eduard van Beinum, chief conductor at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands, dies at age 58 while rehearsing a Brahms symphony. [1] [467]
- Rigardus "Rijn" Rijnhout, Giant of Rotterdam (2.375 metres tall), dies at age 38. [1]
- April 18
- Death of Irving Cummings at age 70 of a heart ailment; actor/director/host (Lux Radio Theatre radio show (1952-1955), In Old Arizona). [1] [457]
- April 27
- Gordon Armstrong, inventor of baby incubator, dies. [1]
- May 1
- Oscar Torp, Norwegian premier, dies. [1]
- May 20
- Alfred Schutz, Austrian/US architect/philosopher, dies at age 60. [1]
- May 24
- John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (1953-59), dies at age 71. [1]
- May 26
- Ed Walsh, baseball pitcher (1.82 ERA), dies at age 78. [1]
- Joe Kelly, TV host (Quiz Kids), dies at age 57. [1]
- May 28
- Bert Collins, cricket player (19 Tests for Australia 1920-26), dies. [1]
- June 16
- Death of George Reeves AKA George Lescher Bessolo at age 45 in his home Hollywood, California, USA, found shot, not known if murder or suicide; actor (supporting roles in 40 movies and many TV shows, The Silver Theatre, Suspense, Kraft TV Theatre, The Adventures of Superman TV show). [1] [457]
- June 29
- A Cecil Snyder, Chief Justice of Puerto Rico, dies at age 51. [1]
- July 8
- Dale Buisand and Chester Ovnand are first Americans killed in Vietnam War. [1]
- July 17
- Death of Billie Holliday AKA Ellinore Harris at age 44 of liver failure in New York hospital; jazz singer ("Strange Fruit", "God Bless the Child", "Yesterdays"). [1] [5] [457]
- July 25
- Dr Isaac Halevi Herzog, chief rabbi of Israel (1936-59), dies at age 71. [1]
- September 11
- Paul Douglas, actor (Adventure Theater), dies at age 52. [1]
- September 20
- Olin Howlin, actor (Swifty - Circus Boy), dies at age 63. [1]
- September 25
- S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Ceylon's Prime Minister, assassinated by a Buddhist monk. [1]
- September 29
- Harold Huber, actor (I Cover Times Square), dies at age 49. [1]
- September 30
- John H Kliegl, developer of the Klieg light, dies at age 89. [1]
- October 3
- William Bishop, actor (Steve - It's a Great Life), dies at age 42. [1]
- October 7
- Death of Mario Lanza AKA Alfred Cocozza at age 38 after a heart attack; singer/actor ("Be My Love", "The Loveliest Night of the Year", "Because You're Mine"). [1] [457]
- October 10
- Prince Friedrich of Liechtenstein dies. [1]
- October 11
- Bert Bell, NFL hall of famer, dies at age 64. [1]
- October 25
- Bob Murphy, TV host (RFD America), dies at age 42. [1]
- October 28
- Death of Walther Bauersfeld, 1919 inventor (first modern projection planetarium). [1]
- November 1
- Gershon Agron, mayor of Jerusalem, dies at age 66. [1]
- November 21
- Max Baer, American heavyweight boxing champion (1934), dies at age 49. [1]
- November 24
- Dr Lyman Bryson, educator (UN Casebook), dies at age 71. [1]
- December 4
- Rosetta Duncan (Duncan Sisters) dies in an auto accident at age 58. [1]
- December 5
- K S Duleepsinhji, cricket player (12 Tests for England, 995 runs), dies. [1]
- December 6
- Death of Len Doyle at age 66; actor (Harrington - Mr District Attorney radio and TV show). [1] [457]
- December 9
- Walter Compton, news anchor (DuMont Evening News), dies at age 47. [1]
- December 10
- Charles Jones, cricket batsman (West Indies in four Tests 1930-35, 63 runs), dies. [1]
- Henri Vidal, French actor (Fabiola), dies of a heart attack at age 40. [1]
- December 12
- Russell Simpson, actor (Abraham Lincoln), dies at age 79. [1]
- December 14
- Maria EG "Lizzy" Ansingh; Dutch painter (Cast Off), dies at age 84. [1]
- December 19
- Walter Williams, claimed to be last survivor of Civil War, dies at age 117. [1]
- December 22
- Gilda Gray, actress (Piccadilly), dies of heart attack at age 60. [1]
- December 23
- Edward Halifax, English viscount/viceroy of India, dies at age 78. [1]
- Lester Lonergan Junior, actor (Growing Paynes), dies at age 65. [1]
- Lord Irwin, ambassador to US (1940-46), dies at age 78. [1]
- December 27
- Alfonso Reyes, Mexican poet/historian/diplomat, dies at age 70. [1]
- December 30
- Maria Baers, Flemish social female worker/senator, dies at age 76. [1]
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