- May 1 Gordon Jenkins, American arranger and orchestra leader (Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra), dies of Lou Gehrig's disease at 73
- May 1 Jüri Lossmann, Estonian athlete (Olympic silver marathon 1920), dies at 93
- May 2 Jack Barry, American game show emcee (Joker's Wild), dies of cardiac arrest at 66
- May 2 Piet van Aken, Flemish writer (Klinkaart, Het begeren), dies at 64
- May 4 Bob Clampett, American cartoonist (b. 1913)
- May 4 Diana Dors [Fluck], British actress and singer (Berserk!; Steaming), dies of cancer at 52
- May 4 Larry Stock, American singer-songwriter ("Blueberry Hill"; "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You"), dies at 87
- May 6 Mary Cain, Mississippi newspaper editor and politician (b. 1904)
- May 8 Gino Bianco, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1916)
- May 9 Nudie Cohn, Ukrainian-American tailor (created the rhinestone 'nudie suits' worn by musicians), dies at 81 [1]
- May 10 Jean-Louis Viale, French jazz drummer, dies at 51
- May 10 Joaquin Agostinho, Portuguese cyclist, dies at 41
- May 10 Robert Moore, American director and actor (Murder by Death, Marshall-Diana), dies from AIDS-related pneumonia at 56
- May 12 Doris May, American silent film actress (Peck's Bad Boy), dies at 81 of heart failure
Stanislaw Ulam (1909-1984)
May 13 Polish-American mathematician and nuclear physicist (Manhattan Project, H-bomb), dies at 75
- May 14 Elmer Riddle, American baseball pitcher (NL wins leader 1943; Cincinnati Reds), dies at 69
- May 14 Walter Rauff, Nazi German military officer, mobile gas chamber developer, and spy, dies of a heart attack while suffering from lung cancer at 77
- May 15 Francis Schaeffer, American theologian, philosopher, and pastor (b. 1912)
- May 15 Lionel Charles Robbins, British economist, dies at 85
- May 16 Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (Taxi -"Latka"), dies of cancer at 35
- May 16 Irwin Shaw, American writer (Rich Man, Poor Man), dies at 71
- May 16 Wessel Couzijn, Dutch sculptor and cartoonist (Auschwitz-monument), dies at 71
- May 19 Bill Holland, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1949; runner-up 1947, 48, 50), dies at 76
- May 19 John Betjeman, poet (Mount Zion) and English Poet Laureate (1972-1984), dies at 77
- May 20 Peter Bull, British actor and author (The African Queen, Tom Jones, Dr Strangelove), dies of a heart attack at 72
- May 21 Andrea Leeds, actress (Stage Door, Earthbound), dies of cancer at 70
- May 21 Ann Little, actress (Roaring Road), dies at 93
- May 22 John Marley [Mortimer Marlieb], American actor (Cat Ballou; Love Story; The Godfather), dies following unsuccessful open-heart surgery at 76
- May 24 Vincent J. McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
- May 25 Piet Ketting, Dutch pianist, conductor and composer, dies at 79
- May 28 Eric Morecambe [John Bartholomew], British comedian (Morecambe & Wise, Picadilly Palace), dies of a heart attack at 58
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning