- Jan 1 Arthur Pierson, Norwegian-born American actor and director (Hat Check Girl), dies at 73
- Jan 1 Ken Loeffler, American College and Basketball Hall of Fame coach (National Invitation Tournament 1952; NCAA Basketball Tournament 1954, La Salle Explorers), dies from a heart attack at 72
- Jan 2 Lenn Hjortzberg, Swedish director ("Persona"; "Through a Glass Darkly"), dies at 55
- Jan 2 Theo Osterkamp, German fighter pilot, dies at 82
- Jan 3 Milton Cross, American radio announcer (Metropolitan Opera's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, 1931-75), dies of a heart attack at 87
- Jan 3 René Thomas, Belgian jazz guitarist, dies of a heart attack at 47
- Jan 3 Robert Neumann, Austrian-British author (False Flag), dies at 77
- Jan 3 Walter Linck, Swiss sculptor (1948 Olympics), dies at 71
- Jan 4 Carlo Levi, Italian writer (Parole Sono Pietre), dies at 72
- Jan 5 Don Wilson, American baseball pitcher (2 x no-hitters 1967, 69; MLB All Star 1971; Houston Astros), dies of carbon monoxide poisoning at 29
- Jan 6 Noel Madison, actor (Jitterbugs, Black Raven), dies at 77
- Jan 8 Anthony Warde, American actor (Dangers of the Canadian Mounted, Buck Rogers, Black Widow), dies at 66
- Jan 8 John Dierkes, American actor (Shane, Daughter of Dr Jekyll, Hanging Tree), dies from emphysema at 69
- Jan 8 John Gregson, British actor (Gideon CID, The Longest Day, Shirley's World), dies from a heart attack at 55
- Jan 8 Louis de Bourbon, Dutch poet (Gypsy Blood), dies at 66
- Jan 8 Richard Tucker [Reuben Ticker], American tenor (La Gioconda), dies at 61
- Jan 9 John Slater, British actor (Deadlock, 3 on a Spree), dies at 58
- Jan 9 Pierre Fresnay, French actor (Monsieur Vincent, Grand Illusion), dies at 77
- Jan 9 Pyotr Sergeyevich Novikov, Russian mathematician (group theory), dies at 73
- Jan 11 Max Lorenz [Sülzenfuss], German operatic heldentenor famous for Wagner roles, dies at 73
- Jan 12 Caryn Campbell, Bundy victim, disappears from Snowmass, Colo
- Jan 16 Paul Beaver, American experimental, electronic, and psychedelic rock Moog synthesizer player (Beaver & Krause), dies of a cerebral aneurysm at 49
- Jan 16 Thor Johnson, American conductor (Cincinnati Symphony, 1947-58; Nashville Symphony, 1967-75), dies at 61
- Jan 18 Gertrude Olmstead, American silent film actress, dies at 77
- Jan 19 Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and muralist (Lonesome Road), dies at 85
- Jan 20 Franz Andre, Belgian conductor, dies at 81
- Jan 21 Ernst Gernot Klussmann, German composer, dies at 73
- Jan 21 Marie Lohr, actress (Pygmalion, Small Hotel, Escapade), dies at 84
- Jan 22 Andrew George Burry, Swiss-born manufacturer and businessman (b. 1873)
- Jan 22 Klaas Voskuil, Dutch journalist, dies at 79
- Jan 23 Karel Paul van der Mandele, Dutch financier and director (Rotterdam Bank), dies at 94
- Jan 24 Erich Kempka, German chauffeur to Adolf Hitler, dies at 64
- Jan 24 Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (3 Stooges), dies at 72
- Jan 25 Charlotte Whitton, Canadian politician, Mayor of Ottawa (1951-56), dies at 78
- Jan 25 Vivien Kellems, American industrialist, who battled the Federal tax system as discriminatory against single people, dies at 78
- Jan 26 Lubov Orlova, Russian actress (Moscow Laughs; Man of Music; Tanya), dies at 74
- Jan 27 Bill Walsh, American producer and writer (b. 1913)
- Jan 28 Ola Raknes, Norwegian psychoanalyst and philologist (b. 1887)
- Jan 30 Boris Blacher, German composer (Purloined Letter), dies at 72
- Jan 31 Štefan Németh-Šamorínsky, Slovak organist, choirmaster, composer and pedagogue (Birch Trees), dies at 78
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning