References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

1961 January 2 Bob Catterall cricketer (1555 runs/24 Tests for South Africa 1922-31), dies. [1] January 4 Barry Fitzgerald actor (Going My Way), dies at age 72. [1] Death of Erwin Schrödinger in Vienna, Austria; theoretical physicist, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933 for his work on the wave theory of matter. [37] January 6 Regina Ullmann writer, dies at age 76. [1] January 7 Clarice Baright first woman admitted to American Bar Association dies at age 74. [1] January 10 Dashiell Hammett author (Maltese Falcon, Thin Man), dies from throat cancer at age 66. [1] January 14 Ernest Thesiger actor (Brass Monkey, Ghoul), dies at age 81. [1] Henry Geehl composer, dies at age 79. [1] January 15 Francesco Maria Saraceni composer, dies at age 49. [1] January 16 Janos Viski composer, dies at age 54. [1] January 21 Blaise Cendrars Swiss/French poet (J'ai tué), dies at age 73. [1] John Joseph Becker composer, dies a day before 75th birthday. [1] January 24 Willem J M van Eysinga people rights scholar, dies at age 82. [1] January 26 Morris Nichols cricketer (41 wickets in 14 Tests for England 1930-39), dies. [1] February 2 Adolf Vogl composer, dies at age 87. [1] Anna May Wong actress (Thief of Baghdad), dies at about age 56. [1] February 3 Anna May Wong actress (Gallery of Madame Lui-Tsang), dies at age 54. [1] Viscount Dunrossil Governor-General of Australia (1959-61), dies at age 67. [1] February 5 Anthony G de Rothschild British philanthropist, dies at age 73. [1] February 6 Archibald T Davison composer, dies at age 77. [1] February 7 Louis-Ferdinand Céline French physician/author/anti-Semite, dies at age 67. [1] February 8 William Duncan actor (Hopalong Rides Again), dies at age 81. [1] February 9 Grigory Levenfish International chess grandmaster from Russia, dies at age 70. [1] February 11 Eduard R Verkade Dutch actor/director (Pygmalion), dies at age 82. [1] Patrice Lumumba first premier Congo, murdered at age 34. [1] February 14 Wallis Clark actress (Easy Money), dies at age 78. [1] February 15 Entire US figure skating team of 18, dies in Belgian Sabena 707 crash. [1] Jack Whiting actor (Top Speed, Life of the Party), dies at age 59. [1] Marubel Vinaon Owen figure skater (Olympics-silver-1932), dies. [1] February 17 Nita Naldi actress (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde), dies of heart attack at age 63. [1] February 20 Otto E Huiswoud [Frank Billings], editor (Negro Worker), dies at age 67. [1] Percy Aldridge Grainger Australian/US composer/pianist, dies at age 78. [1] February 21 Blaise Cendrars [Frédéric Sauser-Hall], Switzerland, poet, dies at age 73. [1] February 22 George de las Cuevas Bustillo y Teheran Chilean marquis, dies at age 75. [1] February 23 Wilf Ferguson cricket leg spinner (34 wickets for West Indies), dies. [1] February 24 Léon Jeunehomme Belgian teacher (Pédagogie en Cours), dies at age 77. [1] February 26 Karl Albiker German sculptor (Problem of the Plastic), dies at age 83. [1] Mohammed V ibn Yusuf, sultan/King of Morocco, dies at age 51. [1] February 27 Platt Adams high jumper (Olympics-gold-1912), dies. [1] February 28 Joris Vriamont Flemish writer/music publisher, dies at age 64. [1] March 6 George Formby British singer/comedian, dies at age 56. [1] Kjeld Abell Danish playwright/director of Tivoli, dies at age 59. [1] March 7 Englebert van Anderlecht Belgian painter, dies at age 42. [1] Max Hymans WWII resistance fighter/Head of Air France, dies at age 60. [1] March 8 Thomas Beecham English conductor (Last Night of the Prom), dies at age 81. [1] March 12 Belinda Lee actress (Joseph and his Brethren), dies in car crash at age 25. [1] March 14 Akiba Rubinstein Polish chess player (opening theorist), dies at age 78. [1] March 17 Suzanna Salter first US female mayor/temperance leader, dies at age 101. [1] March 19 Edric Cundell composer, dies at age 68. [1] March 23 A C Russell cricketer (10 Tests for England 910 runs), dies. [1] James Edward Murray (Senator-Democrat-MT) (1935-61), dies. [1] Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko cosmonaut, dies in accident at age 24. [1] March 27 Jack Kane orchestra leader (Steve and Eydie, Andy Williams Show), dies at age 37. [1] March 30 P J Melotte discovered Jupiter's 8th satellite Pasiphae, dies. [1] March 31 Seerp Anema Dutch poet/writer (Modern Art and Degenerating), dies at age 85. [1] April 2 August Defresne Dutch director (Anno Christi 969), dies at age 67. [1] Wallingford Riegger US composer (Bacchangle), dies at age 75. [1] April 6 Jules J B V Bordet Belgian bacteriologist (Nobel Prize 1919), dies at age 90. [1] April 7 Jesus Guridi composer, dies at age 74. [1] Marian Jordan radio comedienne (Fibber McGee and Molly), dies at age 62. [1] Yusef Greiss composer, dies at age 61. [1] April 9 Zog I [Ahmed Zogu] King of Albania (1925-39), dies at age 65. [1] April 10 Irene Warfield silent screen actress (Satan Sanderson), dies at age 65. [1] April 11 Francis de Bourguignon composer, dies at age 70. [1] April 12 Nils-Eric Fougstedt composer, dies at age 50. [1] Philippine "Pine" Belder [Mary de Klerk] actress, dies at age 93. [1] April 21 James Melton opera tenor (Ford Festival), dies at age 57. [1] April 22 Maria Radulphus [Adrian Hermus] Curaçao school inspector, dies at age 91. [1] April 24 Lee Moran actor (Circus Clown), dies of heart ailment at age 72. [1] April 25 Hans F Blunck writer, dies. [1] April 26 Gail Russell actress (Calcutta, Moonrise, El Paso), dies at age 36. [1] April 27 Roy Del Ruth director (About Face, Folies Bergere), dies at age 67. [1] May 2 J C White cricketer (49 wickets in 15 Tests for England 1921-31), dies. [1] May 3 Maurice [Jean Jacques] Merleau-Ponty French philosopher, dies at age 53. [1] May 4 Anita Stewart dies of heart attack at age 66. [1] May 6 Lucian Blaga philosopher/poet (Transcendental censor), dies at age 65. [1] May 8 James Fairfax actor (Gale Storm Show), dies at age 63. [1] May 13 Gary Cooper two time Academy award winning actor (High Noon), dies at age 60. [1] May 17 French of Cauwelaert Flemish minister/mayor of Antwerp, dies at age 81. [1] Henri Gagnon composer, dies at age 74. [1] May 18 Henry O'Neill actor (Lady Killer, Nothing But Trouble), dies. [1] May 19 Joe Howard singer (Gay Nineties Revue), dies at age 94. [1] May 22 Joan Davis actress (I Married Joan), dies of heart attack at age 53. [1] May 23 Joan Davis comedic actress (I Married Joan), dies at age 53. [1] May 29 Uuno Kalervo Klami composer, dies at age 60. [1] May 30 Rafael L Trujillo Molina dictator Dominican Republic (1930-61), murdered at age 69. [1] May 31 Dominican Republic President Trujillo is assassinated at age 69. [1] June 2 George S Kaufman playwright/dir/pulitzer prize winner, dies at age 72. [1] June 6 Dr Carl Gustav Jung Swiss psychatrist, dies at age 85. [1] June 7 Robert Griffith producer of Pajama Game, dies. [1] June 13 Ben Jones Missouri, horse trainer (Citation, Whirlaway), dies at age 79. [1] June 17 Jeff Chandler actor, dies at age 40. [1] June 22 Betty Elder actress (Annie Get Your Gun), dies. [1] June 30 Dr Lee De Forest radio pioneer, dies at age 87. [1] July 2 Ernest Hemingway shot himself to death in Ketchum Idaho. [1] July 13 Arnold Schoenberg Austrian-US composer (Second Quartet), dies at age 86. [1] July 17 Ty Cobb, Detroit Tiger hall of fame baseball player, dies at age 75. [1] [5] August 5 Sir Sidney Holland Prime Minister of New Zealand (1949-57), dies at age 67. [1] August 8 Charlie Gemora actor who portrayed King Kong, dies at age 58. [1] August 18 Learned Hand Chief judge of US court of Appeals, dies at age 89. [1] August 20 Vilhjalmur Stefansson Arctic explorer, dies at age 82. [1] August 28 Thomas Connolly first baseball umpire elected to hall of fame, dies. [1] August 30 Charles Coburn Acad award winning actor, dies at age 84. [1] September 10 Leo Carrillo actor who portrayed Pancho on Cisco Kid, dies at age 81. [1] September 17 Adnan Menderes Prime Minister of Turkey (1950-60), dies at age 62. [1] September 21 Earle Dickson inventor (band-aid), dies at age 68. [1] September 28 Michael Shepley actor (Dick and the Duchess), dies at age 54. [1] October 1 Donald Cook actor (Too Young To Go Steady), dies at age 60. [1] October 11 Leonard "Chico" Marx (Marx Brothers), dies at age 74. [1] October 24 Dr Milan Stoyadinovich Fascist Yugoslavia Prime Minister (1935-9), dies at age 73. [1] October 25 Peter Jensen co-inventer (loud speaker), dies at age 75. [1] November 1 Joan McCracken actress (Claudie The Story of a Marriage), dies at age 38. [1] November 2 James Thurber humorist (The Male Animal), dies at age 66. [1] November 13 Wally Brown actor (Jed Fame-Cimarron City), dies at age 57. [1] November 16 Sam Rayburn Speaker of the House for 17 years, dies. [1] December 3 Jekabs Graubins composer, dies at age 75. [1] Mary Charleson actress (Upstairs and Downstairs), dies at age 76. [1] December 8 William Beatton Moonie composer, dies at age 78. [1] December 12 Daiun Sogaku Harada Zen founder of Sanbo Kyodan lineage, dies at age 91. [1] December 13 Grandma [Anna M] Moses US painter, dies at age 101. [1] December 15 William "Dummy" Hoy professional baseball player, dies at age 99. [1] December 16 Boris Semyonovich Shekhter composer, dies at age 61. [1] Cato Engelen-Sewing Dutch soprano singer/primadonna, dies at age 93. [1] December 17 Marion Perkins sculptor (Man of Sorrow), dies at age 53. [1] December 20 Moss Heart US dramatist (You can't take it with you), dies at age 57. [1] December 24 Guy de Lioncourt composer, dies at age 76. [1] December 25 Dr Rheinhold Rudenberg inventor of the electron microscope dies. [1] December 26 Charlie Frank cricketer (South Africa Test centurion vs Australia 1921-22), dies. [1] December 28 Edith Bolling Galt Wilson first lady (1915-21), dies at age 89. [1] December 30 Jacobus "Ko" van den Bosch Dutch actor (Amsterdamned)/director, dies at age 53. [1]