- January 12
- Agatha Christie, mystery writer (Ten Little Indians), dies at age 85. [1]
- January 13
- Margaret Leighton, British actress (Much Ado About Nothing), dies at age 53. [1]
- January 18
- Ad Verhoeven, soccer player (Xerxes, Sparta), dies in crash. [1]
- Sonia Dresdel, actor (Fallen Idol, Secret Tent), dies at age 67. [1]
- January 19
- Kevin Coughlin, actor (T R Ryan - Mama), killed in hit-and-run at age 30. [1]
- January 23
- Aleksey Vasilyevich Sorokin, Russian cosmonaut, dies at age 44. [1]
- January 28
- Chris Kenner, rocker ("I Like it Like That"), dies. [1]
- January 29
- Michael Gwynn, actor (Dunkirk, Barabbas, Cleopatra), dies at age 59. [1]
- January 30
- Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller, San Francisco Blues Great, dies at age 80. [1]
- Percy Tyson "Plum" Lewis, cricket player (pair in only Test for South Africa), dies. [1]
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- February 1
- Edgar Pangborn, sci-fi author (Judgment of Eve, Davy), dies at age 66. [1]
- Werner C Heisenberg, German physicist (Nobel Prize 1932, field theory), dies at age 74 in Munich. [1] [37]
- February 2
- Harry Elliott, England cricket wicketkeeper (3 Tests 1927-34), dies. [1]
- Johan[nes A] Kaart, Dutch actor (My Fair Lady), dies at age 78. [1]
- February 3
- Neville Lindsay, cricket player (South Africa batsman in Test versus Australia 1921), dies. [1]
- February 5
- Roger Livesey, actor (Drum, Vice Versa, Colonel Blimp), dies at age 69. [1]
- February 6
- Vince Guaraldi, jazz pianist (Charlie Brown TV specials), dies at age 43. [1]
- February 9
- Death of Percy Faith at age 67 of cancer; orchestra conductor, arranger and composer ("Song from the Moulin Rouge" (1953), "Theme From a Summer Place" 1960 Grammy award). [457]
- February 11
- Alice Allen, actress (Call of the Hills), dies. [1]
- Charlie Naughton, actor (Frozen Limits), dies at age 89. [1]
- Death of Lee J Cobb at age 64 of a heart attack; actor (The Virginian TV show, 12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront, The Young Lawyers TV show, Willie Loman - Death of a Salesman). [1] [457]
- Death of Alexander Lippisch in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA (born in Munich, Germany); designed delta-winged aircraft in the 1920's and 30's. He designed the world's first rocket airplane which used solid fuel and first flew in 1928. He also worked on the first liquid-fuel rocket airplane, the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, which began to be used by the Luftwaffe in 1944. [37]
- February 12
- James Clifton Williams, composer/band master (Sinfonians), dies at age 52. [1]
- Death of Sal Mineo at age 37, stabbed to death behind his apartment building; actor/singer (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause film, The Gene Krupa Story film). [1] [457]
- February 13
- General Murtala Mohammed, head of Nigeria, killed during a coup. [1]
- Lily Pons, French/US soprano/opera diva (Metropolitan Opera), dies at age 71. [1]
- February 17
- Jean Servais, Belgian actor (Every Man is My Enemy), dies at age 65. [1]
- Johan[nes A] Card, actor/stage manager (My Fair Lady), dies at age 78. [1]
- February 18
- Eddie Dowling, composer (Anywhere USA), dies at age 81. [1]
- Joseph Henabery, actor/director (Cobra), dies at age 88. [1]
- February 20
- Kathryn Kuhlman, religious leader/faith healer, dies. [1]
- Death of Louis Eliasberg, Senior; only person to complete, in 1950, a collection of all known Unites States coins by date and mint mark. [421.125] [599.33]
- February 21
- Frieda Inescort, Scottish actress (Meet Corliss Archer), dies at age 74. [1]
- February 22
- Angela Baddeley, actress (Mrs Kate Bridges - Upstairs, Downstairs), dies from pneumonia at age 71. [1]
- Florence Ballard, rocker (Supremes), dies of a heart attack at age 32. [1]
- Michael Polany, Hungarians/English chemist/sociologist, dies at age 84. [1]
- February 23
- Fuzzy Knight, actor (Gun Town, Ragtime Cowboy Joe), dies at age 74. [1]
- February 24
- H Allen Smith, TV host (Armchair Detective), dies at age 68. [1]
- Julian Rivero, actor (Via Pony Express), dies at age 85. [1]
- March 4
- Death of Walter Schottky in Pretzfeld, Germany; physicist at the Universities of Würzburg and Rostock; a number of discoveries are named after him: the Schottky effect, the Schottky defect, and the Schottky barrier. [37]
- March 6
- "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom, light-heavyweight boxing champion (1932-34), dies at age 71. [1]
- March 14
- Busby Berkeley, US choreographer/director (Strike Up the Band), dies at age 80. [1] [5]
- March 17
- Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Italian director (Terra Diaeresis), dies at age 69. [1]
- March 19
- Paul Kossoff, rock guitarist (Free), dies of heart failure at age 25. [1]
- March 20
- Michael Goodliffe, actor (Gorgon, 7th Dawn, Way Out), dies at age 61. [1]
- March 24
- Bernard L Montgomery, British General, defeated Rommel, dies at age 88. [1]
- Nelson Case, TV host (Trash or Treasure), dies at age 66. [1]
- March 25
- Death of Josef Albers in New Haven, Connecticut, USA; painter and poet; taught at Bauhaus (1923+), Black Mountain College in North Carolina, and at Yale University. [37]
- March 26
- Richard Arlen, actor (Apache Uprising, Wings), dies at age 75. [1]
- March 30
- Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg, actress (Hostage Rights), dies at age 99. [1]
- Death of Richard Irvine at age 55; art director for films, some Disney, headed Imagineering (WED) for creation of every Disneyland attraction, Walt Disney World, retired 1973, named Disney Legend 1990. [510.219]
- April 1
- Max Ernst, German/French surrealist painter/sculptor, dies at age 85. [1]
- April 2
- Death of Ray Teal at age 74; versatile character actor (Sheriff Roy Coffee - Bonanza, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, Cheyenne, Wide Country, Disneyland). [1] [457]
- April 5
- Howard Hughes, reclusive billionaire, dies at age 72. [1]
- April 7
- Mary Margaret McBride, TV hostess (Mary Margaret McBride), dies at age 76. [1]
- April 9
- Death of Phil Ochs at age 35 by suicide; singer/songwriter ("Draft Dodger Rag", "Joe Hill"). [1] [457]
- April 12
- Death of Paul Ford at age 74; actor (Colonel Hall - The Phil Silvers Show). [1] [457]
- April 14
- Maude Prickett, actress (Rosie - Hazel), dies at age 60. [1]
- April 15
- Gerald Smith, antisemite/catholic (National Christian Crusade), dies at age 78. [1]
- April 18
- Percy Julian, holder of more than 138 chemical patents, dies at age 78. [1]
- April 23
- James Flavin, actor (Man With a Camera), dies at age 69. [1]
- Ronald Radd, actor (King Lear, Up Jumped a Swagman), dies at age 47. [1]
- Shimen Ruskin, actor (Meyer - Corner Bar), dies at age 68. [1]
- April 24
- Mark Tobey, US abstract painter, (Broadway Norm), dies at age 85. [1]
- April 25
- Carol Reed, director (Agony and Ecstasy), dies. [1]
- Margaret Bannerman, actress (Great Defender), dies at age 79. [1]
- April 26
- Allan Jackson, newscaster (Youth Takes a Stand), dies at age 60. [1]
- Neil McCallum, actor (Pete - Saber of London), dies at age 45. [1]
- Sid James, British comedy actor (Lavander Hill Mob, Carry On movies) collapses from a heart attack onstage at the Sunderland Empire during a performance of The Mating Game and dies in hospital shortly thereafter at age 65. [1] [467]
- May 1
- Rex O'Malley, actor (Camille, Zara, Midnight, Thief), dies at age 75. [1]
- May 3
- Ernie Nevers, college fullback (Stanford), dies at age 72. [1]
- May 5
- Thomas Burnett Swann, sci-fi author (Day of Minotaur), dies at age 47. [1]
- May 6
- Karel Cruysberghs, Flemish author (On the Pulpit), dies at age 85. [1]
- May 11
- Alvar Aalto, architect (Finlandia House), dies at age 78. [1]
- J Anaya, Bolivian military/ambassador to France, is murdered. [1]
- May 14
- Keith Relf, rock vocalist (Yardbirds), electrocuted while tuning his guitar at age 33. [1]
- May 15
- Samuel Eliot Morison, American historian (Admiral of Ocean Sea), dies at age 88. [1]
- May 24
- Henk Lankhorst, pacifist/Dutch Member of Parliament (PSP), dies at age 62. [1]
- Melle J Oldeboerrigter ("Melle"), painter/cartoonist, dies at age 65. [1]
- May 26
- Death of Martin Heidegger in Messkirch, Germany; philosopher, taught at University of Freiburg. [1] [37]
- May 27
- Ruth McDevitt, actress (Jo - All in the Family), dies at age 80. [1]
- May 31
- Jacques Monod, French biochemist, dies. [1]
- Martha Mitchell, wife of former Attorney General John Mitchell, dies in New York at age 57. [1]
- June 2
- Alan Dewitt, actor (Mr Tyler - It's About Time), dies at age 52. [1]
- June 6
- J Paul Getty, oil magnate, dies at age 83 in London, England. [1] [5]
- June 12
- Death of Arlene Harris at age 78; comedienne/actress (The Chatterbox - NBC's Al Pearce Gang radio show, Fannie Brice - Baby Snooks radio shows, Dick Van Dyke Show TV show (1964). [457]
- June 16
- Francis E Meloy Junior, US ambassador to Lebanon, kidnapped and killed. [1]
- June 25
- Death of Johnny Mercer at age 66 of brain cancer; songwriter/singer and broadcast personality (wrote the lyrics to more than 1,000 songs, including "That old Black Magic", "Swinging on a Star", "Accentuate the Positive", "Hooray for Hollywood", "Days of Wine and Roses", received 19 Academy Award nominations), co-founder of Capitol Records (1942). [457]
- July 12
- Death of Ted Mack at age 72; radio/TV host (Original Amateur Hour). [1] [457]
- July 21
- Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British ambassador to Ireland, is assassinated. [1]
- July 27
- Ray Brennan becomes first to die of "Legionnaire's Disease". [1]
- July 30
- Death of the theologian, Rudolf Bultmann in Marburg, Germany; New Testament scholar, professor at the University of Marburg. [37]
- August 2
- Death of Fritz Lang in Los Angeles, California (born in Vienna, Austria); German film maker der Spieler (1922), Die Nibelungen (1924), Metropolis (1926), Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1932), Fury (1936), Western Union (1941), and Hangmen also Die (1943). [37]
- August 6
- Death of Betty Clooney at age 46 of a brain aneurism; singer (Clooney Sisters, Robert Q. Lewis Show TV show, Jack Paar Show). [457]
- August 7
- Murvyn Vye, actor (Bob Cummings Show), dies at age 63. [1]
- August 8
- John Roselli, hired by US Central Intelligence Agency to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro, is found murdered. [1]
- August 10
- Ray "Crash" Corrigan, cowboy (Crash Corrigan's Ranch), dies at age 74. [1]
- August 17
- William Redfield, actor (Jimmy Hughes Rookie Cop), dies at age 48. [1]
- August 26
- Death of Lotte Lehmann in Santa Barbara, California (born in Perleberg, Germany); German/Austrian/American opera singer. [37]
- Warner Anderson, actor (Doctor, Lineup, Peyton Place), dies at age 65. [1]
- August 28
- Death of Anissa Jones at age 18 from accidental overdose of cocaine and PCP; actress (Buffy - Family Affair TV show). [1] [457]
- August 30
- Death of Paul Felix Lazarsfeld in Vienna, Austria; taught at the University of Vienna, Princeton University, Columbia University. [37]
- September 9
- Mao Tse-Tung, Chinese communist party chairman (1949-76), dies at age 82. [1]
- September 10
- Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University, dies at age 86. [1]
- September 21
- In Washington, DC, Orlando Letelier (age 44) is killed by remote-controlled bomb in his car. Also killed is Ronni Moffit (age 25) in the car. The killer is Michael Townley, member of Argentina's secret police. [46.118]
- September 26
- Death of Leopold Ruzicka in Zürich, Switzerland; professor of chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1939 for his research on ringed molecules and terpenes. [37]
- September 30
- Death of Mary Ford AKA Colleen Summers at age 52 of complications from diabetes; American singer ("How High the Moon", "Vaya Con Dios", "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise"). [457]
- October 4
- Alexander Gray, singer ("This is Music"), dies at age 74. [1]
- October 5
- Death of Barbara Nichols at age 46 of a liver ailment; actress (The Bob Cummings Show, Jack Benny, Disneyland, Pajama Game, Loved One). [1] [457]
- October 10
- Connee Boswell, singer (Pete Kelly's Blue), dies at age 68. [1]
- October 11
- Death of Connee Boswell at age 68 of cancer; singer (Boswell Sisters, Pete Kelly's Blues TV show (1959)). [457]
- November 5
- Death of Willi Hennig in Ludwigsburg, Germany; scientist of phylogenetic systematics at the German Entomological Institute in East Berlin. [37]
- November 9
- Death of Billy Halop at age 56 from a heart attack; actor (Bert Munson - All in the Family TV show). [1] [457]
- November 23
- Andre Malraux, French novelist/art historian/puplic office ("The Voices of Silence"), dies at age 75. [1]
- November 28
- Death of Rosalind Russell at age 68 of breast cancer; actress (Wonderful Town TV show, Letter to Loretta, GE Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, The Crooked Hearts). [1] [457]
- November 29
- Death of Godfrey Cambridge at age 43 from a heart attack; comedian/actor (Ed Sullivan, Dean Martin, Hollywood Palace, Laugh In, Naked City, Police Story, Night Gallery, Disneyland). [457]
- December 2
- Danny Murtaugh, baseball manager (Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at age 59. [1]
- Death of William Tannen at age 65; actor (The Adventures of Kit Carson, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Daniel Boone, Rawhide, Bat Masterson, Annie Oakley, Lone Ranger, The Roy Rogers Show). [1] [457]
- December 3
- Mary Nash, actress (Philadelphia Story, Till the Clouds Roll By), dies at age 91. [1]
- December 4
- Benjamin Britten, British composer (Beggar's Opera, War Requiem), dies at age 63. [1]
- Death of Tommy Bolin at age 25 of a heroin overdose; guitarist (Deep Purple). [1] [457]
- December 9
- Nino Martini, actor (Here's to Romance), dies at age 71. [1]
- December 12
- Jack [John Joseph Edward] Cassidy, actor (Oscar - He and She, Eiger Sanction), dies in fire at age 49. [1]
- December 16
- George, a goose that lived to 49 years 8 months, dies. [1]
- December 18
- George Emmett, cricket player (England opener versus Australia Old Trafford 1948), dies. [1]
- December 20
- Richard J Daley, Chicago mayor, dies at age 74. [1]
- Walter Fitzgerald, actor (Adventures of Sadie, Fallen Idol), dies at age 80. [1]
- December 21
- Edward Bartlett, cricket player (West Indies Test batsman in five Tests 1928-31), dies. [1]
- December 23
- Paul M Frank Forest, actor (Big Broadcast of 1937, Champagne Waltz), dies at age 80. [1]
- December 24
- Victor Stanitsin, actor (War and Peace, Jubilee), dies at age 79. [1]
- December 25
- Arthur Mitchell, cricket player (batted in six Tests for England 1933-36), dies. [1]
- Frankie Darro, actor (Radio Ranch, Valley of Wanted Men), dies at age 58. [1]
- December 26
- Philip A Hart, American politician (Senator-Democrat-Michigan), dies at age 64. [1]
- December 29
- Ivo van Damme, Belgian 800/1500 metre sprinter (Olympics-silver-1976), dies at age 22. [1]
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