- Jan 1 Cyril Shaps, British actor, producer and voice artist (The Pianist), dies at 79
- Jan 1 F. William Free, American advertising executive (I'm Cheryl – Fly Me.), dies at 74
- Jan 1 Joe Foss, American fighter ace, football executive (Medal of Honor-1943; first commissioner American Football League) and politician, dies at 87
- Jan 2 Eric Jupp, British-born musician, dies at 80
- Jan 3 Sid Gillman, Pro & College Football Hall of Fame end (Ohio State U) and coach (U of Cincinnati, LA Rams, Houston Oilers), dies at 91
- Jan 4 Conrad Hall, Tahitian-American cinematographer, dies at 76
- Jan 4 Sabine Ulibarri, Mexican American writer (b. 1919)
- Jan 4 Yfrah Neaman, Israeli-British concert violinist, and pedagogue, dies of cancer at 79
- Jan 5 Doreen Carwithen, British composer, widow of William Alwyn (b. 1922)
- Jan 5 Jean Kerr, Irish-American novelist (Please Don't Eat the Daisies), dies at 80
- Jan 5 Massimo Girotti, Italian actor (Last Tango in Paris, In the Name of the Law), dies of a heart attack at 84
- Jan 5 Roy Jenkins, British MP (Labour, Liberal Democrats) and President of the European Commission (1977-81), dies at 82
- Jan 7 David Harries, Welsh composer (Epithalamium), dies at 69
- Jan 8 Patrick Edmund Pery, 6th Earl of Limerick, Irish peer and public servant, dies at 72
- Jan 8 Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor, dies at 77
- Jan 9 Will McDonough, American sports journalist (b. 1935)
- Jan 11 Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (The Naked Childhood), dies at 77
- Jan 11 Mickey Finn, British rock percussionist and bongocero (T. Rex), dies at 55
- Jan 11 Richard Simmons, American actor (Sergeant Preston of the Yukon), dies from Alzheimer's disease at 89
- Jan 11 William Joseph Russo, American composer, dies at 74
- Jan 12 Allan Nunn May, English physicist and Soviet spy (b. 1911)
- Jan 12 Dean Amadon, American ornithologist, dies at 90
- Jan 12 Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese director (b. 1930)
Leopoldo Galtieri (1926-2003)
Jan 12 Argentine general, dictator and President of Argentina (1981-82) who invaded the Falkland Islands, dies of a heart attack at 76 [1]
Maurice Gibb (1949-2003)
Jan 12 English rock-pop-disco singer-songwriter and bassist (Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever), dies of cardiac arrest at 53
- Jan 12 Paul Pender, American boxer (World Middleweight Champion 1960–61; The Ring Middleweight Champion 1962–63 Retired; Lineal Middleweight Champion 1962–63 Retired), dies at 72
- Jan 13 Geoffrey Tucker, British political consultant who helped Macmillan, Heath and Thatcher into office, dies at 77
- Jan 13 Norman Panama, American screenwriter and director (b. 1914)
- Jan 14 Koloman Sokol, Slovak painter, dies at 100
- Jan 15 Doris Fisher, American singer and songwriter ("Tutti Frutti"; You Always Hurt the One You Love": "Tampico"), dies at 87
- Jan 16 Henryk Czyz, Polish composer and musician, dies at 79
- Jan 16 Richard Wainwright, English politician, Liberal MP for Colne Valley (1966–70), dies at 84
- Jan 17 Balint Vazsonyi, Hingarian pianist (b. 1936)
- Jan 17 Richard Crenna, American actor (Rambo, Summer Rental, Sand Pebbles), dies at 76
- Jan 18 Edward "The Sheik" Farhat, American professional wrestler (b. 1926)
- Jan 18 Gavin Lyall, British author (Conduct of Major Maxim, The Secret Servant), dies of cancer at 70
- Jan 19 Françoise Giroud, French journalist and politician (French Minister of Culture), dies at 86
- Jan 20 Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (NINA, NY Times), dies at 99
- Jan 20 Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (b. 1947)
- Jan 20 Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
- Jan 21 Paul Haines, American-born Canadian poet (b. 1933)
- Jan 22 Bill Mauldin, American cartoonist famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers (Pulitzer-1945, 59), dies of Alzheimer's disease and a bathtub scalding at 81
- Jan 23 Nell Carter, American actress (Gimme A Break; Lobo), dies at 54
- Jan 24 (Giovanni) "Gianni" Agnelli, Italian industrialist, executive (President of Fiat Automobiles, 1966-96), and Italian Senator-for-life (1991-2003), dies of prostate cancer at 81
- Jan 24 Lucien Blackwell, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania), dies at 71
- Jan 25 Samuel Weems, Armerican lawyer (disbarred), Armenian genocide denier, and writer, dies of a heart attack at 66
- Jan 26 George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, British politician (b. 1931)
- Jan 26 Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian (The Last Days of Hitler), dies at 89
- Jan 26 John Browning, American pianist (Leventritt Award-1956), dies at 69
- Jan 26 Valeriy Brumel, Soviet Olympic athlete (b. 1942)
- Jan 27 Henryk Jabłoński, President of Poland (b. 1909)
- Jan 27 Louis Archambault, Quebec sculptor (b. 1915)
- Jan 29 Frank Moss, American politician (Senator (D) Utah 1959-77), dies at 91
- Jan 30 Joan Franks Williams, American contemporary classical composer, and promoter (founder of New Dimensions in Music (NDM)), dies of complications from Parkinson's disease at 72
- Jan 31 Michael Ogden, British barrister and judge (Ogden Tables), dies at 76
- Jan 31 Werenfried van Straaten, Dutch anti-communist priest (founder of Oostpriesterhulp), dies at 90
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning