- Jan 8 Richard Tauber [Denemy], Austrian-British operatic tenor and film actor, dies of lung cancer at 56
- Feb 9 Karl Valentin, Bavarian comedian and film producer, dies at 65
- Mar 3 Antonin Artaud, French songwriter and director (Theatre Seraphin), dies at 51
- Mar 4 Antonin Artaud, French poet/actor (Napoleon), dies at 51
- Mar 25 Warren Hymer, American actor (Girl From Havana, Meet the Mob), dies from a stomach ailment at 42
- Apr 24 Rosita Marstini, actress (I Cover Waterfront, Big Parade), dies at 54
- May 24 Jacques Feyder, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- May 29 May Whitty, English actress (Gaslight, Mrs Miniver, Suspicion), dies at 82
- Jun 26 Lilian Velez, Filipino actress (Sa Kabukiran), murdered by former co-star Narding Anzures at 24
- Jul 5 Carole Landis [Frances Ridste], American actress (I Wake Up Screaming; One Million BC; Topper Returns), allegedly commits suicide at 29
- Jul 9 James Baskett, American actor (Song of the South) 1st African American male to receive an Oscar, dies from diabetes at 44
- Jul 11 King Baggot, American actor and director (Tumbleweeds), dies at 68
D. W. Griffith (1875-1948)
Jul 23 American film director and producer (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 73
- Jul 31 Maria "Marie" Hens, Flemish actress (Female Revue), dies at 70
- Aug 13 Edwin Maxwell, Irish actor (Taming of the Shrew), dies at 62
- Aug 13 Elaine Hammerstein, American stage and silent film actress, dies in a Tijuana car crash at 51
- Aug 31 Billy Laughlin, American child actor (Froggy- Our Gang), dies in a car accident at 16
- Sep 13 Paul Wegener, German actor and director (The Golem, The Student of Prague), dies at 73
- Sep 17 Lillian Braithwaite, British actress (Man About the House), dies at 75
- Sep 24 Warren William [Krech], American actor (The Wolf Man, Cleopatra), dies of multiple myeloma at 53
- Sep 27 Frank Cellier, British actor (Quiet Wedding;, Big Blockade), dies from ill health at 64
- Sep 28 E. J. Ratcliffe, English stage and screen actor, dies at 85
- Sep 28 Gregg Toland, American influential cinematographer (Citizen Kane, Wuthering Heights), dies of coronary thrombosis at 44
- Oct 13 Samuel S. Hinds, American actor (Raven, Test Pilot), dies at 73
- Oct 15 Edythe Chapman, American actress (b. 1863)
- Nov 9 Edgar Kennedy, American silent and sound screen character actor famous for his 'slow burn' (Laurel & Hardy films; Duck Soup; "Average Man" shorts) and director (From Soup to Nuts), dies of throat cancer at 58
- Nov 23 Stanner E.V. Taylor, American director and screenwriter (Lucky Jim, Ramona), dies at 71
- Nov 25 Charles D. Brown, American actor (Eve Knew Her Apples), dies at 61
- Dec 18 Janet Fay, American murder victim of the Lonely Hearts Killers (later filmed as "The Honeymoon Killers"), hammered to death at 66
- Dec 20 C Aubrey Smith [Charles], British actor (The Prisoner of Zenda), dies at 85
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