- May 1 Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer and Father of the Philippine National Language and Grammar, dies at 83
- May 2 Jack Crawford, English cricket all-rounder (12 Tests, 2 x 50, 39 wickets; Surrey CCC, South Australia), dies at 76
- May 2 Tomás Vačkář, Czech composer, dies at 17
- May 2 Van Wyck Brooks, American literary historian and writer (Ordeal of Mark Twain), dies at 77
- May 5 Heinrich Gebhard, German-born American composer, dies at 84
- May 5 Jacobus JP Old, architect/co-founder (Stijl), dies at 73
- May 6 Monty Wooley, American actor (The Bishop's Wife, The Man Who Came to Dinner), dies at 74
- May 6 Ted Weems [Wemyes], American jazz trombonist, violin player and big band bandleader (Somebody Stole My Girl; Heartache), dies of emphysema at 61
- May 6 Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-born American physicist and aeronautic engineer (co-founder of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), dies at 81 [1]
- May 7 Max Miller [Thomas Henry Sargent], English comedian known as The Cheeky Chappie, dies at 68
Charles Vyner Brooke (1874-1963)
May 9 3rd and last White Rajah of Sarawak (1917-46), dies at 88
- May 10 Gene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb, American NFL football defensive lineman, 1953-62 (Baltimore Colts, and two other teams), and professional wrestler, dies of a heroin overdose at 31
- May 11 Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 74
- May 12 Robert Kerr, Canadian runner (1908 Olympics), dies at 80
- May 12 Stanisław Wiechowicz, Polish composer, dies at 69
- May 13 Alois Hudal, Austrian bishop who helped Nazi war criminals escape trial, dies at 77
- May 16 Oleg Penkovsky, Soviet military intelligence (GRU), dies at 44
- May 17 John Wilce, physician and former head football coach at the Ohio State University (b. 1888)
Ernie Davis (1939-1963)
May 18 American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (1st African-American to win Heisman Trophy 1961, Syracuse), dies of leukemia at 23
- May 24 Elmore James, American blues slide guitarist, dies of a heart attack at 45
- May 26 Sharon Lynn [D'Auvergne Sharon Lindsay], American silent and sound screen (Way Out West; The Big Broadcast), dies of multiple sclerosis at 62
- May 27 Lambrakis, Greek EDA-parliament leader, murdered
- May 28 Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin, Soviet composer, dies at 60
- May 31 Carel C. van Essen, Dutch archaeologist (Art of Ancient Rome), dies at 63
- May 31 Edith Hamilton, American classicist (Mythology), dies at 95
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning