1977

January 2

• Erroll Garner, jazz pianist (Misty), dies at age 53. [1]

January 3

• Avraham Ofer, Israeli minister of housing, commits suicide. [1]
• Benno Stokvis, Dutch attorney/politician, dies at age 75. [1]

January 5

• Onslow Stevens, actor (Mr Fisher-This is the Life), dies at age 74. [1]

January 9

• Alexey Kozlovsky, composer, dies at age 71. [1]
• Hal Sawyer, TV host (Sawyer Views Hollywood), dies at age 62. [1]

January 12

• Henri-Georges Clouzot, director (Diabolique, Truth), dies at age 69. [1]

January 14

• Abdul Razak bin Hussain, premier of Malaysia (1970-77), dies at age 53. [1]
• Anaïs Nin, Cuban/American writer (Delta of Venus), dies at age 73. [1]
• Anthony Eden, British premier (1955-57), dies at age 79. [1]
• Peter Finch, actor (Network, Nun's Story, Judith), dies at age 60. [1]

January 17

• Gary Gilmore executed in Utah, first US execution since 1967. [1]

January 18

• Death of Karl Zuckmayer in Visp, Switzerland; German/Swiss/American writer, Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1931), Des Teufels General (1946) and Das Kalte Licht (1955), won the Kleist Prize for Der fröhliche Weinberg (1923) and the Goethe Prize in 1952 for his collected works. [1] [37]
• Paul Nordoff, US composer (Frog Prince), dies at age 67. [1]
• Yvonne Printemps, actress (Paris Waltz, Voyage to America), dies at age 81. [1]

January 19

• Geraldine Brooks, actress (Faraday and Co, Dumplings), dies at age 51. [1]

January 21

• John Vincent, composer, dies at age 74. [1]
• Zoltan Vasarhelyi, composer, dies at age 76. [1]

January 23

• Bernard "Toots" Shor, barkeeper, dies at age 73. [1]

January 25

• Donald Kerr, actor (Devil Bat, Killer Bats), dies at age 85. [1]

January 26

• Margaret Hayes, actress (Robert Montgomery Presents), dies at age 61. [1]

January 27

• Walter Baldwin, actor (Gay Amigo), dies at age 88. [1]

January 28

• Burt Mustin, actor (All in the Family, Andy Griffith Show), dies at age 92. [1]

January 29

• E P "Buster" Nupen, cricketer (50 wickets for South Africa, lost eye), dies. [1]
• Freddie Prinze, comedian/actor (Chico and the Man), shoots himself dead at age 22. [1] [5]

February 1

• Edmond [Moore] Hamilton, American sci-fi author (Danger Planet), dies at age 72. [1]

February 3

• Pauline Starke, actress (Dante's Inferno, Viking, Sun Up), dies at age 76. [1]

February 5

• Izaak Boleslavski, Russian chess player, dies at age 67. [1]

February 7

• Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher/lawyer, dies at age 82. [1]

February 9

• Denys Amiel, French dramatist/playwright (Le mouton noir), dies at age 92. [1]
• Death of Gaus, an orangutan who lived to be 59. [1]
• Sergei Ilyushin Russian, airplane builder (Ilyushin), dies at age 82. [1]

February 10

• Grace Mary Williams, composer, dies at age 70. [1]

February 11

• Louis J M Beel, Dutch premier (1946-48, 1958-59), dies at age 74. [1]

February 13

• Jack Gardner, actor (Wild Bill Hickok, Three Russian Girls), dies at age 77. [1]

February 17

• Quincy Howe, newscaster (CBS Weekend News), dies at age 76. [1]

February 18

• Andy Devine [Jeremiah Schwartz], actor (Andy's Gang), dies at age 71. [1]
• Maria Realino, teacher (Botany of Curaçao), dies at age 87. [1]
• Ralph Graves, actor (Extra Girl), dies at age 77. [1]

February 22

• Edith Barrett, actress (Molly and Me, Ghost Ship), dies at age 64. [1]
• Jack O'Connor, cricketer (batted in four Tests for England 1929-30), dies. [1]

February 26

• Bukka White, rocker, dies at age 43. [1]
• Maxime Jacob, composer, dies at age 71. [1]

February 27

• Allison Hayes, actress (Attack of 50 Foot Woman), dies at age 47. [1]

February 28

• Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, comedian (Jack Benny Show), dies at age 71. [1]

March 3

• Percy Marmont, actor (Secret Agent, Lisbon), dies at age 93. [1]

March 5

• Lockrem Johnson, composer, dies at age 52. [1]
• Moses Pergament, composer, dies at age 83. [1]

March 8

• Henry Hull, actor (Werewolf of London, Boys Town), dies at age 86. [1]

March 10

• E Power Biggs, English organist/composer (CBS), dies at age 70. [1]
• Pieter Jan Bouman, Dutch sociologist/historian, dies at age 74. [1]
• Willem Schermerhorn, Dutch premier (1945-46), dies at age 82. [1]

March 13

• Fanie Lou Hamer, freedom fighter, dies. [1]
• Jan Patocka, Czechoslovakian philosopher, dies in prison. [1]

March 15

• Kamal Joemblat, Lebanese politician, murdered. [1]

March 18

• Marien Ngouabi President of Congo-Brazzaville, is murdered. [1]

March 24

• Saburo Moroi, composer, dies at age 73. [1]

March 27

• Diana Hyland, actress (Peyton Place, Eight is Enough), dies at age 41. [1]
• Eve Meyer [Turner], Playboy Playmate/actress (Immoral Mr Teas), dies in a plane crash at age 46. [1]
• Lodewijk de Vocht, composer, dies at age 89. [1]

March 30

• Levko Mykolayevich Revutsky, composer, dies at age 88. [1]

April 3

• Jack Ryder, cricketer (20 Tests for Australia, 1394 runs), dies. [1]

April 4

• Jeno Zador, composer, dies at age 82. [1]

April 5

• John Marriott dies at age 83. [1]

April 8

• Frank Milan, actor (The Witness), dies at age 71. [1]

April 11

• Jacques Prévert, French poet (La puil et le beau), dies at age 77. [1]

April 12

• Philip K Wrigley, baseball owner (Chicago Cubs), dies at age 82. [1]

April 14

• Riekus Waskowsky, Dutch poet, dies at age 44. [1]

April 17

• Marjorie Gateson, actress (One Man's Family), dies at age 86. [1]

April 20

• Bryan Foy, director/writer, dies at age 80. [1]
• Len Johnson, cricketer (one Test for Australia, 3-66 and 3-8), dies. [1]

April 21

• Gummo [Milton] Marx, US comic (Marx Brothers), dies at age 84. [1]

April 22

• Charles Sanford, orchestra leader (Your Show of Shows), dies at age 71. [1]

April 27

• Stanley Adams, actor (Lillies of the Field, Thunder Alley), dies at age 61. [1]

April 28

• Ricardo Cortez, actor/director (Bad Company, Flesh), dies at age 87. [1]

April 30

• Clive Martin Douglas, composer, dies at age 73. [1]

May 5

• Death of Ludwig Erhard at age 80 in Fürth, Germany; the "Father of the Economic Miracle", minister of Economic Affairs (1949), chancellor of West Germany (1963). [1] [37]

May 7

• Irwin Fischer, composer, dies at age 73. [1]

May 9

• James Jones, US writer (Bad Blood, From Here to Eternity), dies at age 55. [1]
• Walter Kraft, composer, dies at age 71. [1]

May 10

• Joan Crawford, actress (Mildred Pierce), dies at age 69. [1]

May 22

• Gijsbert van Hall, banker/mayor of Amsterdam (1957-67), dies at age 73. [1]
• Marius Monnikendam, Dutch choir composer, dies at age 80. [1]

May 26

• Jim Boles, actor (Kraft Music Hall, One Man's Family), dies at age 63. [1]
• William Powell, rocker (O'Jays), dies of cancer at age 35. [1]

May 28

• Jiri Reinberger, composer, dies at age 63. [1]

May 29

• Goddard Lieberson, composer, dies at age 66. [1]

May 30

• Claire Goll, writer, dies at age 86. [1]
• Paul Desmond, US jazz saxophonist, dies at age 52. [1]

June 2

• Forrest Lewis, actor (Great Gildersleeve, Ichabod and Me), dies at age 77. [1]

June 13

• Tom C Clark, former US Supreme Court Justice, dies in New York at age 77. [1]

June 14

• Alan Reed, actor (Mr Adams and Eve/voice of Fred Flintstone), dies at age 69. [1]
• Robert Middleman, actor (Barney-The Monroes), dies at age 66. [1]

June 16

• German-born rocket engineer, Wernher von Braun dies in Alexandria, Virginia at age 65. Von Braun was the world leader in developing rocket technology, director of the experimental unit at Peenemünde where the V1 and V2 rockets were developed, worked for the U. S. Army in White Sands, New Mexico. [1] [37]

June 20

• Abner Biberman, actor (Imhook-Kodiak), dies at age 68. [1]

July 9

• Dr Loren Eiseley, professor of Anthropology (Animal Secrets), dies at age 69. [1]

July 10

• Norman Paris, orchestra leader (For Your Pleasure), dies at age 41. [1]

July 12

• Ed Holmes, actor (Growing Paynes, Once Upon a Tune), dies at age 66. [1]

July 26

• Death of Oskar Morgenstern in Princeton, N. J. (born in Görlitz, Germany); economist, professor at University of Vienna, Princeton University and New York University, author of Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944). [37]

July 30

• Terrorists murder the head of the Dresdener Bank, Jürgen Ponto. [37]

July 31

• Stacy Moskowitz shot to death by Son of Sam, at age 20. [1]

August 4

• Death of the Marxist philosopher, author (Das Prinzip Hoffnung) Ernst Bloch, in Stuttgart, Germany. [37]

August 10

• Vince Barnett, actor (Star is Born, Human Jungle), dies at age 75. [1]

August 16

• Elvis Presley dies of heart ailment at Graceland, in Memphis, Tennesee, USA at age 42. [1]

August 19

• Julius (Groucho) Marx, comedian (Marx Bros), dies in Los Angeles at age 86. [1]

August 22

• Sebastian Cabot, actor (Mr French - Family Affair), dies at age 59. [1]

August 26

• HA Rey, author of popular constellation book, dies at age 78. [1]

August 27

• Steve Dunne, actor (Professional Father), dies at age 59. [1]

September 1

• Ethel Waters, actress (Beulah)/singer (Stormy Weather), dies at age 76. [1]

September 10

• Hamida Djandoubi, convicted murderer, last to die in the guillotine. [1]

September 12

• Steven Biko, South African black student leader, dies in police custody. [1]

September 13

• Leopold Stokowski, symphonic conductor, dies in England, at age 95. [1]

September 16

• Maria Callas, American-born prima donna, dies in Paris, France at age 53. [1]

October 11

• Dr Mason Gross, professor (Think Fast, Two for the Money), dies at age 66. [1]

October 14

• Bing Crosby dies of a heart attack at age 74, in Madrid, Spain. [1]

October 20

• Three members of rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd die in charter plane crash. [1]

November 5

• Guy Lombardo, orchestra leader ("Auld Lang Syne"), dies in Houston, Texas, at age 75. [1]

November 8

• Bucky Harris dies on his 81st birthday in Bethesda, Maryland, USA; Major League Baseball player-manager for the Washington Senators in the 1920s. [56]

November 25

• Richard Carlson, actor (Colonel MacKenzie-MacKenzie's Raiders), dies at age 65. [1]

November 28

• Trevor Bardette, actor (Clanton-Legend of Wyatt Earp), dies at age 75. [1]

November 29

• George Hamilton Combs, TV host (Through the Curtain), dies at age 78. [1]

December 1

• Paul Hardy, Belgian designer (Italian Country), dies at age 69. [1]

December 4

• Leila Hyams, actress (Red Headed Woman, Freaks), dies at age 72. [1]

December 7

• Paul Gibb, cricketer (England batsman, 8 Tests), dies. [1]

December 9

• Clarice Lispector, writer, dies. [1]

December 12

• Clementine O Spencer-Churchill (Hozier), British barones, dies at age 92. [1]

December 18

• Cyril Ritchard, actor (Peter Pan), dies at age 80. [1]
• Louis Untermeyer, poet/critic/TV panelist (What's My Line?), dies at age 92. [1]

December 19

• Nellie Taylor Ross, first woman governor, dies at age 101. [1]

December 22

• Johann Nepomuk David, composer, dies at age 82. [1]

December 24

• Harriët Freezer, Dutch journalist/author, dies at age 66. [1]

December 25

• Charlie Chaplin, actor (Modern Times), dies in Switzerland at age 88. [1] [5]

December 26

• Howard Hawks, director (Rio Lobo, Hatari!), dies at age 81. [1] [5]
• Ivan Rezak, composer, dies at age 53. [1]

December 31

• Nora Marlowe, actress (Sara - Governor and JJ), dies at age 62. [1]