- May 1 Grant Mitchell, American actor (Great Lie, Laura, Cairo, Conflict), dies at 82
Joseph McCarthy (1909-1957)
May 2 American Senator (Rep - Wisconsin) who claimed communists infiltrated the US government, dies of acute hepatitis, exacerbated by chronic alcohol abuse at 48
- May 2 Tadeusz Zygfryd Kassern, Polish composer and cultural attache, dies at 53
- May 5 Joseph W Kennedy, American chemist (Manhattan Project; 1 of 4 discoverers of plutonium), and educator, dies of stomach cancer at 40
- May 5 Mikhail Gnesin, Russian composer (Vrubel; The Youth Of Abraham), dies at 74
- May 7 Wilhelm Filchner, German explorer who led the German Antarctic expedition of 1911–12, dies at 79
- May 8 Jan Sluyters, Dutch painter (Moderne Kunstkring), dies at 75
- May 9 Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan business magnate & philanthropist, dies at 69
- May 9 Ezio Pinza, Italian American operatic bass (NY Metropolitan Opera, 1926-48), and Tony Award-winning singer (South Pacific), dies at 64
- May 9 Heinrich Campendonk, German painter and wood carver, dies at 67
- May 12 Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
- May 12 Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-American film director and actor (Greed; La Grande Illusion; Sunset Boulevard), dies of prostate cancer at 71
- May 14 Marie Vassilieff [Mariya Vassiliéva], Russian-French Left Bank artist, dies at 73
- May 16 Dick Irvin, Canadian Hockey HOF center (Chicago Black Hawks) and coach (Stanley Cup 1932 Toronto Maple Leafs; 1944, 46, 53 Montreal Canadiens), dies at 64
- May 16 Eliot Ness, American federal agent "The Untouchables" (put away Al Capone), dies of a heart attack at 54
- May 17 Shalva Azmayparashvili, composer, dies at 54
- May 21 Aleksandr Vertinsky, Russian singer (b. 1889)
- May 29 George Bacovia [Vasiliu], Romanian poet and composer (Plumb), dies at 75
- May 29 James Whale, English film director (Frankenstein, Show Boat), commits suicide by drowning at 67
- May 30 Toivo R Pekkanen, Finnish writer (Black Ecstasy), dies
- May 31 John Kilbane, American featherweight boxer and World Featherweight Champion (1912-23), dies at 68
- May 31 Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning