- Jan 2 (Woodward) "Tex" Ritter, American country singer (5 Star Jubilee, "Wayward Wind"), dies of a heart attack at 67
- Jan 3 Arthur Daley, American sportswriter (NY Times-Pulitzer 1956), dies from a heart attack at 69
- Jan 3 Gino Cervi, Italian actor (Les Miserables, Naked Maja), dies at 72
- Jan 4 Karel Janeček, Czech composer, dies at 70
- Jan 5 Lev Oborin, Russian-Soviet pianist (winner of 1st International Chopin Competition, 1927), composer and pedagogue, dies at 66
- Jan 6 David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican sculptor/muralist, dies at 77
- Jan 7 Charles Alfred Coulson, British chemist (theoretical), dies at 63
- Jan 10 Eddie Safranski, American jazz double bassist and orchestra leader (Jonathan Winters Show), dies at 55
- Jan 13 Raoul Jobin, French-Canadian operatic tenor (1930-58), and educator (Conservatoire de musique du Québec, 1960-71), dies at 69
- Jan 13 Salvador Novo, Mexican writer and poet, dies at 69
- Jan 14 Josef Smrkovský, Czechoslovak communist politician, dies at 62
- Jan 15 Karel Salmon [Karl Salomon], Israeli operatic bass-baritone singer, composer, and conductor, dies at 76
- Jan 16 Roy Bargy, American pianist and composer (Jimmy Durante Show), dies at 79
- Jan 20 Edmund Blunden, English poet and critic (Undertones of War), dies at 77
- Jan 21 Jan Arends, Dutch poet and author, commits suicide at 48
- Jan 21 Ken Viljoen, South African cricket batsman (27 Tests, 2 x 100, HS 124; Griqualand West, Orange Free State, Transvaal), dies at 63
- Jan 21 Lewis L Strauss, head US Atomic Energy Comm (1953-58), dies at 78
- Jan 22 Leon Lontoc, Filipino-American character actor (The Ugly American; Burke's Law - "Henry"), and restaurateur, dies at 64
- Jan 26 Siegfried von Vegesack, German writer, dies at 85
- Jan 26 Wiktor Labunski, Polish-American composer, dies at 78
- Jan 27 Georgios Grivas, Cypriot leader and patriot (fought guerilla war for independence against British), dies at 75
- Jan 27 Paula Ludwig, Austrian German poet, dies at 74
- Jan 29 H. E. Bates [Herbert Ernest Bates ], English writer (Love for Lydia, The Darling Buds of May), dies at 68
- Jan 30 Bill Whitty, Australian cricketer (left-arm bowler 1909-12), dies at 87
- Jan 31 Glenn Morris, American athlete (Olympic gold decathlon 1936) and actor (Tarzan's Revenge; Hold That Co-ed), dies of congestive heart failure at 61
- Jan 31 Paul Haesaerts, Belgian architect and painter (Flandre), dies at 72
- Jan 31 Roger Pryor, American actor (Lady by Choice, Belle of the Nineties, Identity Unknown), dies at 72
Samuel Goldwyn (1882-1974)
Jan 31 Polish born Jewish-American film producer (The Best Years of Our Lives) and movie magnate, dies of natural causes at 91
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning