Fausto Coppi (1919-1960)
Jan 2 Italian cyclist (Giro d'Italia 1940, 47, 49, 52-53; Tour de France 1949, 52; World Championship gold Individual pursuit 1947, road race 1953), dies from malaria at 40
- Jan 2 Friedrich Adler, Austrian socialist politician and revolutionary (assassinated Count von Storgkh), dies at 80
- Jan 2 Paul Sauvé, Canadian politician, dies at 52
- Jan 3 Victor Sjöström, Swedish director (Wind, Under the Red Robe), dies at 80
Albert Camus (1913-1960)
Jan 4 French playwright (Les Justes - The Just Assassins), novelist (L'Étranger - The Stranger), and philosopher (Nobel Prize for Literature 1957), dies in an auto accident at 46
- Jan 5 Donald Knight, English cricket batsman (2 Tests; Surrey CCC, Oxford University CC), dies at 65
- Jan 5 Pavel Parenago, Soviet scientist and astronomer (stellar astronomy) dies at 53
- Jan 6 Edith Barstow, American choreographer (Frankie Laine Time, The Gem of the Ocean), dies at 54
- Jan 6 Erik Lindahl, Swedish economist (Theory of Money & Capital), dies at 68
- Jan 7 Dorothea Lambert Chambers, British tennis player (Wimbledon 1903-04, 06, 10-11, 13-14), dies at 81
- Jan 7 Luiz Costa, Portuguese pianist, and composer, dies at 80
- Jan 9 Elsie J. Oxenham, British children's author (Abbey Series), dies at 79
- Jan 10 Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player, dies at 80
- Jan 11 Johan E. Elias, Dutch historian (Amsterdam's regency), dies at 84
- Jan 12 Nevil Shute [Norway], English-Australian novelist (On the Beach, Town like Alice), dies at 60
- Jan 13 Sibilla Aleramo [Rina Faccio], Italian feminist and poet (Una Donna), dies at 83
- Jan 18 Gladys Bentley, American blues singer, performer and drag king pioneer during the Harlem Renaissance, dies of pneumonia at 52 [1]
- Jan 20 Matt Moore, Irish-American actor and director (Coquette, Deluge), dies at 72
- Jan 24 Edwin Fischer, Swiss concert pianist and conductor, dies at 73
- Jan 24 John Miljan, American actor (The Ten Commandments, Possessed, Final Extra, Susan Lenox), dies at 67
- Jan 25 Diana Barrymore, American actress (Nightmare, Lady Courageous, Fired Wife), dies of an alcohol and drug overdose at 38
- Jan 25 Rutland Boughton, British composer (The Immortal Hour), dies at 82
- Jan 27 Oswaldo Aranha, Brazilian politician and statesman (President of the UN General Assembly 1948-49), dies at 65
- Jan 28 Jacques de Menasce, Austrian-American composer, dies at 54
- Jan 28 Zora Neale Hurston, American author, dies at 69
- Jan 29 Louis Jean Heydt, American character actor (Waterfront; Gone With The Wind; The Great McGinty), dies from a heart attack at 56
- Jan 31 Lowell Gilmore, American actor (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Living Christ Series), dies at 53
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning