- Jan 3 Mateusz Gliński, Polish conductor, musicologist (Scriabin, Chopin), composer, and pedagogue (Winsdor University), dies at 83
- Jan 3 Michael V. Love, American test pilot (X-24), dies in F-4 crash at 37
- Jan 4 Jan Cammans, Flemish actor (Brothers Karamazov), dies at 84
- Jan 5 Georges Migot, French composer, and poet (Les Agrestide; L'Arche), dies at 84
- Jan 5 John A. Costello, 3rd Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, dies at 84
- Jan 5 Mal Evans, British Beatles roadie and personal assistant, dies in a confrontation with police at his Los Angeles home at 40
- Jan 6 Albert Rice Leventhal, American publisher (Little Golden Books), dies at 68
- Jan 8 Herman van der Horst, Dutch cinematographer (Faja Lobbi), dies at 75
- Jan 8 Robert Forgan, British fascist (b. 1891)
Zhou Enlai (1898-1976)
Jan 8 Premier of the People's Republic of China, dies of bladder cancer at 77
Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
Jan 12 English crime writer (Murder on the Orient Express, Mousetrap), dies at 85
- Jan 13 Margaret Leighton, British actress (The Go-Between, The Night of the Iguana), dies of multiple sclerosis at 53
- Jan 14 Abdul Razak bin Hussain, Malaysian politician, Prime Minister of Malaysia (1970-77), dies at 53
- Jan 17 Ad Verhoeven, soccer player (Xerxes/Sparta), dies in a car crash [or 1/18]
- Jan 18 Ad Verhoeven, Dutch soccer player (Xerxes/Sparta), dies in a car crash at 42 [or 1/17]
- Jan 18 Sonia Dresdel, actor (Fallen Idol, Secret Tent), dies at 67
- Jan 19 Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese electrical engineer (b. 1886)
- Jan 19 Kevin Coughlin, American actor (T R Ryan-Mama), killed in a hit and run at 30
- Jan 23 Aleksey Vasilyevich Sorokin, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 44
- Jan 23 Paul Dupuis, French Canadian actor (The Fortress; Passport to Pimlico), dies at 62
Paul Robeson (1898-1976)
Jan 23 American stage and screen bass-baritone singer ("Old Man River"), actor, and civil rights activist, dies of stroke complications in Philadelphia at 77
- Jan 26 João Branco Núncio, Portuguese Bullfighter (b. 1901)
- Jan 28 Chris Kenner, American R&B singer-songwriter (I Like it Like That), dies at 46
- Jan 29 Jesse Fuller, American one-man blues band ("San Francisco Bay Blues"), dies of heart disease at 80
- Jan 29 Michael Gwynn, English actor (Dunkirk, Barabbas, Cleopatra), dies of a heart attack at 59
- Jan 30 Beau De Glen "Mance" Lipscomb, American blues singer and guitarist ("Shine On, Harvest Moon"), dies of a stroke at 80
- Jan 30 Percy Tyson "Plum" Lewis, South African cricketer (pair in only Test for South Africa), dies at 91
- Jan 31 Buster Brown, American blues singer and harmonica player (Fannie Mae), dies at 64
- Jan 31 Ernesto Miranda, American litigant, conviction on kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery charges, stabbed to death at 34
- Jan 31 Evert Axel Taube, Swedish ballad singer and composer, dies at 85
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning