- May 5 Jerzy Skolimowski, Polish film director (Hands Up, Deep End), born in Warsaw, Poland
- May 5 Michael Murphy, American actor (McCabe & Mrs Miller, Unmarried Woman), born in Los Angeles, California
- May 10 Jean Becker, French director, screenwriter and actor
- May 10 Peter Davies, Major-General/Director-General (RSPCA)
- May 12 Millie Perkins, American actress (Diary of Anne Frank, Table for 5, Shooting), born in Passaic, New Jersey
- May 12 Susan Hampshire, English actress (Vanity Fair, Living Free), born in London, England
- May 13 Buck Taylor, American actor (Monroes, Gunsmoke), born in Hollywood, California
- May 15 Mireille Darc, French actress (Week End, Hurried Man), born in Toulon
- May 17 Don Dolan, actor (Guy Lewis- General Hospital), born in Staten Island, New York
- May 17 Jason Bernard, actor (Judge-Liar Liar)
- May 19 Girish Karnad, Indian playwright and filmmaker (Tuglaq), born in Dharwad, British India (d. 2019)
- May 20 Marinella [Kyriaki Papadopoulou], Greek pop, folk, and rebetiko singer, born in Thessaloniki, Greece
- May 21 David Groh, American actor (Rhoda - "Joe"; Another Day - "Don"), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2008)
- May 22 Frank Converse, American actor (It's About Time, Dr Cook's Garden, Movin' On), born in St. Louis, Missouri
- May 22 Richard Benjamin, American director and actor (Goodbye Columbus, He & She), born in New York City
- May 22 Susan Strasberg, American stage and screen actress (The Diary of Anne Frank; In Praise of Older Women;, Manitou), and memoirist, born in New York City (d. 1999)
- May 23 Graham "Johnny" Ball, British TV personality and mathematics educator (Play School), born in Bristol, England
- May 24 Tommy Chong, Canadian-American comedian (Cheech & Chong), actor (That '70s Show), and cannabis rights activist, born in Edmonton, Alberta
About May 1938
How Old? 86 years old
Generation: Silent Generation
Leap Year: No
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