Nancy Astor (1879-1964)
May 2 American born British politician and the 1st female MP in UK House of Commons, dies at 84
- May 3 Diana Wynyard, British stage and film actress (Cavalcade), dies of renal disease at 58
- May 5 Howard Zahniser, American environmental activist (father of Wilderness Act), dies of heart failure at 58
- May 6 Harold Morris, American pianist and composer, dies at 74
- May 10 Carol Haney, dancer (Pantomime Quiz), dies at 35
- May 10 Ignace Lilien, Austrian-Dutch composer, poet, and chemical engineer, dies at 66 [1]
- May 10 Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter (b. 1881)
- May 15 Cornelis Hendrik Edelman, Dutch geologist, dies at 61
- May 15 Vladko Maček, Kingdom of Yugoslavia deputy prime minister (b. 1879)
- May 17 Otto V. Kuusinen, Finnish politician (founder of the Finnish Communist Party), dies at 82
- May 17 Steve Owen, American Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle (NY Giants) and coach (NFL C'ship 1927, 34, 38; NY Giants), dies at 66
- May 20 Rudy Lewis, American pop vocalist (The Drifters - "Up On The Roof"; "On Broadway), dies of a probable drug overdose at 27
- May 21 James Franck, German-born American physicist (Nobel Prize for Physics 1925), dies at 81
- May 24 Louis Alan Hazeltine, American inventor (neutrodyne circuit, making radio possible), dies at 77
- May 25 Vasily Andreyevich Zolotaryov, Russian composer (Rhapsodie hébraïque; Prince Lake), and teacher, dies at 92
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)
May 27 1st Prime Minister of India (1947-64) and important leader of the Indian independence movement, dies of an assumed heart attack at 74
Leó Szilárd (1898-1964)
May 30 Hungarian-German-American nuclear physicist (Manhattan Project) and peace activist, dies at 66
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning