- Jan 5 Mistinguett [Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois], French actress and singer (Moulin Rouge star), dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 80
- Jan 13 Lyonel Feininger, German-American cartoonist and painter, dies at 84
- Jan 19 Charles Dingle, American actor (The Little Foxes), dies at 68
- Jan 23 Alexander Korda, British movie producer (Henry VIII), dies at 62
- Jan 27 Erich Kleiber, Austrian-Argentine conductor (Teatro Colón, 1937-49; NBC Symphony, 1947-48), dies at 65
- Jan 30 Jane Seymour [Marjorie S. Fitz-patrick], Canadian-American actress (Tom, Dick and Harry, Young Mr Bobbin), dies at 62
- Feb 2 Charley Grapewin, American actor (The Wizard of Oz; Libeled Lady), dies at 86
- Feb 16 Frank H. Wilson, American actor (Beware, Paradise in Harlem), dies at 69
Fred Allen (1894-1956)
Mar 17 American comedian (Fred Allen Radio Show), dies of a heart attack at 61
- Mar 25 Robert Newton, British actor (Treasure Island, Henry V, Around the World in 80 Days), dies from a heart attack at 50
- Apr 2 Chester Clute, American actor ("Arsenic and Old Lace"; "Too Many Girls"; "Niagara Falls"), dies of a heart attack at 65
- Apr 21 Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (The Scoundrel), dies at 60
- Apr 24 Henry Stephenson, British actor (Conquest, Little Old NY, Mr Lucky), dies at 85
- Apr 26 Edward Arnold, American actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington), dies at 66
- May 12 Louis Calhern, American actor (Julius Caesar; Blackboard Jungle), dies at 61
- May 20 Andre Eugene Maurice Charlot, actor (Summer Storm), dies
- May 24 Guy Kibbee, American actor (Capt Blood, Babes in Arms), dies at 74
- Jun 2 Jean Hersholt, Danish actor (Heidi, Greed, Men in White, Aryan), dies form cancer at 69
- Jun 4 Katherine MacDonald, American actress (b. 1881)
- Jun 6 Margaret Wycherly, English actress (Claudia), dies at 74
- Jun 11 Frank Brangwyn, Welsh painter, muralist and cartoonist (Official War Artist First World War), dies at 89
- Jun 11 Ralph Morgan [Wupperman], American actor (Creeper, Imposter, Jack London), dies at 73
Bela Lugosi (1882-1956)
Aug 16 Austrian actor (Dracula, Plan 9 From Outer Space), dies of a heart attack at 73
- Aug 24 Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese film director (Ugetsu), dies of leukemia at 58
- Sep 20 Theo Frenkel, Dutch actor (Footlights, Hague's Comedy), dies at 85
- Sep 23 Earl Godwin, newscaster (Meet the Veep), dies at 75
- Oct 2 George Bancroft, American actor (Texas, Stagecoach, Little Men), dies at 74
- Oct 9 Marie Doro, American stage and film actress of the early silent film era (The Heart of Nora Flynn, The White Pearl), dies at 74
- Oct 17 Anne Crawford, British film actress (Knights of the Round Table), dies of leukemia at 35
- Oct 18 Harry Parry, Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader (BBC's Radio Rhythm Club), dies at 44
- Nov 19 Francis L Sullivan, British actor (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Missing Rembrandt), dies from a lung ailment at 53
- Nov 22 Theodore Kosloff, Russian-born actor, ballet dancer and choreographer, dies at 74
- Dec 7 Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor, dies at 77
- Dec 17 Eddie Acuff, actor (Guns of Pecos), dies at 48
- Dec 26 Holmes Herbert, British actor (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Kiss), dies at 74
- Dec 30 Ruth Draper, American actress and dramatist (The Italian Lesson), dies at 72
Actors
Actresses
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TV Stars