- Jan 2 David Lynch, American singer (Platters - "Twilight Time"; "Only You"; "The Great Pretender"), dies of cancer at 51
- Jan 8 Matthew Beard, American actor (Our Gang shorts - "Stymie"). dies of pneumonia after a stroke and fall, at 56
- Jan 8 Woody Chamblis, American actor (Mr Lathrop-Gunsmoke), dies at 66
- Jan 10 Richard Boone, American actor (The Richard Boone Show, Have Gun Will Travel), dies of throat cancer at 63
- Jan 11 Beulah Bondi, American actress (It's a Wonderful Life), dies at 88
- Jan 12 Isobel Elsom, British actress (My Fair Lady, Love From a Stranger), dies at 87
- Jan 16 Bernard Lee, British actor (M in James Bond movies, Fallen Idol, Dr No), dies at 73
- Jan 21 Allyn Joslyn, American actor (They Won't Forget; Cafe Society), dies at 79
- Jan 25 Richard Talmadge, German-American actor (Speed Reporter) and stuntman, dies at 88
- Feb 1 Wanda Hendrix, American actress (Sierra, Ride the Pink Horse), dies at 52
- Feb 2 Louise Lorraine, American actress (Adventures of Tarzan), dies at 76
- Feb 5 Barend Barendse, Dutch sports reporter and actor (Zeskamp, Oebele), dies at 73
- Feb 12 Jean Dixon, American actress (Joy of Living; You Only Live Once), dies at 87
- Mar 2 Janear Hines, American actress (Julia - "Roberta"), dies of Bright's disease at 30
- Mar 4 Torin Thatcher, British actor (Houdini, Isranbul, Lady Godiva), dies of cancer at 76
- Mar 5 Brenda De Banzie, actress (39 Steps, Hobson's Choice), dies at 64
- Mar 5 Paul Horbiger, actor (3rd Man), dies at 86
- Mar 15 René Clair, French film director (I Married a Witch, It Happened Tomorrow), dies at 82
- Mar 21 Mark Donskoy, Soviet-Ukrainian film director (Rainbow, A Mother's Heart) and screenwriter, dies at 80
- Apr 4 Brad Johnson, actor (Annie Oakley), dies at 56
- Apr 8 Margaret Landis, American silent movie actress (A Million to Burn; The Empire Builders), dies at 90
- Apr 8 Norman Taurog, American film director (Skippy), dies at 82
- Apr 11 Marie Ney, British character actress (The Lavender Hill Mob), dies at 85
- Apr 26 Jim Davis, American actor (Dallas - "Jack Ewing"), dies at 65
- May 8 Margaret Lindsay, American actress (G Men, Lady Killer, Jezebel), dies at 70
- May 17 Hugo Friedhofer, American cellist and film and television composer, dies at 80
- May 18 Arthur O'Connell, American actor (Mr Peepers, Second Hundred Years), dies at 73
- May 21 Yuki Shimoda, actor (Farewell to Manzanar), dies
- May 23 George Jessel, American stage and screen actor, singer, producer and host known as "The Toastmaster General", dies of a heart attack at 83
- May 24 Jack Warner [Waters], British actor (Dixon of Dock Green, Christmas Carol), dies from pneumonia at 85
- Jun 5 Philo McCullough, actor (Branded, Ridin' Thru), dies
- Jun 9 Allen Ludden [Ellsworth], American TV personality and gameshow host (Password), husband of Betty White, dies of stomach cancer at 63
- Jun 9 Russell "Lucky" Hayden [Pate Lucid], American actor (Judge Roy Bean, Three Men from Texas), dies from pneumonia at 68
- Jun 18 Richard Goolden, British actor (Two Days to Live, School for Husbands), dies at 86
- Jun 22 Lola Lane, actress (Zanzibar, Mystery Ship, Big Fight), dies
- Jun 23 Zarah Leander, Swedish/German singer/actress (Gabriela), dies at 79
- Jun 28 Peter Paul Kreuder, German-Austrian pianist and film score composer, dies at 75
- Jul 1 George Voskovec [Jirí Wachsmann], Czech actor (12 Angry Men, Somewhere in Time), dies from a heart attack at 76
- Jul 2 Robert Emmett Keane, American stage and screen actor (The Rookie Cop; The Red Dragon), dies at 98
- Jul 3 Ross Martin [Martin Rosenblatt], Polish-American actor (Mr Lucky, The Wild Wild West), dies of a heart attack at 61
- Jul 7 Keefe Brasselle [John Brasselli], American actor (The Eddie Cantor Story, Be Our Guest), dies of liver disease at 58
- Jul 8 Loring Smith, American actor (Hartmans), dies at 86
- Jul 25 Ian Martin, American actor (Uncle Bill-O'Neills), dies at 69
William Wyler (1902-1981)
Jul 27 American film director (Ben-Hur, Mrs Miniver), dies at 79
- Aug 1 (Sidney) "Paddy" Chayefsky, American Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Marty; The Hospital; Network), novelist, and playwright, dies of cancer at 58
- Aug 4 Melvyn Douglas [Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg], American actor (Hud, Being There, Ghost Story), dies at 80
- Aug 18 Anita Loos, American screenwriter, novelist (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and playwright, dies at 88
- Aug 19 Jessie Matthews, English actress (Gangway, First a Girl), dies at 74
- Aug 21 Eddie Byrne, British actor (Star Wars, Island of Terror), dies from a stroke at 70
- Aug 29 Lowell Thomas, American newscaster (High Adventure), dies in Pawling, NY at 89
Vera-Ellen (1921-1981)
Aug 30 American actress and dancer (White Christmas; Big Leaguer; On the Town), dies of cancer at 60
- Sep 1 Ann Harding, actress (When Ladies Meet, Devotion), dies
- Sep 4 Verne Rowe, American character actor (Fernwood 2-Night - "Verne"), dies at 59
- Sep 6 Maria Palmer, Austrian-American actress (Days of Glory, Web), dies at 64
- Sep 11 Frank McHugh, American actor (Going My Way, Front Page, Gold Diggers 1935, Mighty Joe Young), dies at 83
- Sep 11 Harold Bennett, English actor (Are You Being Served? - "Young Mr. Grace"), dies at 82
- Sep 15 Sara Haden, American actress (A Family Affair), dies at 83
- Sep 21 Nigel Patrick, English actor and director (Sapphire, Prize of Gold), dies of lung cancer at 69
- Sep 23 Chief Dan George [Tes-wah-no], Canadian Indian author, poet and actor (Harry & Tonto, Little Big Man, Smith!), dies from heart failure at 82
- Sep 24 Patsy Kelly, American actress (Rosemary's Baby, North Ave Irregulars), dies at 71
- Sep 27 Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (Robert Montgomery Presents, Earl of Chicago, Yellow Jack), dies at 77
- Oct 5 Gloria Grahame [Hallward], American actress (Crossfire; Sudden Fear; Rich Man, Poor Man), dies of peritonitis and cancer at 57
- Oct 5 Jud Strunk, American singer-songwriter ("Daisy a Day"), and comedian (Laugh-In), dies of aheart attack while piloting a private plane in Maine at 45
- Oct 13 Nils Asther 'the male Greta Garbo', Swedish actor (Son of Lassie, Wild Orchids), dies at 84
- Oct 15 Frank DeKova, American actor (Chief Wild Eagle-F Troop), dies at 71
- Oct 16 Stanley Clements, actor (Boys' Prison, Army Bound, Hot News), dies
- Oct 21 Karel Šrom, Czech composer, musicologist, critic, and broadcaster, dies at 77
- Oct 22 Michael Granger, actor (Creature with Atom Brain, Pier 5 Havana), dies
- Oct 24 Deborah Baltzell, actress (Karen-I'm a Big Girl Now), dies at 25
- Oct 27 John Warburton, British actor (Saratoga Trunk, King Rat, Cavalcade), dies at 82
- Oct 30 Georges Brassens, French poet and singer-songwriter (Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète), dies of cancer at 60
- Nov 10 Abel Gance, French movie director (J'accuse), dies at 92
William Holden (1918-1981)
Nov 12 American actor (The Blue Knight, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, The Bridge on the River Kwai), slips on a rug and bleeds to death at 63
- Nov 15 Enid Markey, American actress, 1st to play Tarzan's Jane, dies at 85
- Nov 16 Morgan Conway, American actor (Dick Tracy, Brother Orchid), dies at 78
- Nov 21 Harry Von Zell, American radio announcer and actor (The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show), dies of cancer at 75
- Nov 22 Andreina Pagnani, actress (Il Commandante), dies at 74
- Nov 25 Jack Albertson, American actor (Chico and the Man, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory), dies from colon cancerr at 74
- Nov 27 Lotte Lenya [Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer], Austrian-American singer, muse and wife of Kurt Weill, and actress (The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone; From Russia with Love), dies of cancer at 83
Natalie Wood (1938-1981)
Nov 29 American actress (Miracle on 34th Street; Gypsy; Rebel Without A Cause; West Side Story), dies due to "drowning and other undetermined factors" at 43
- Nov 30 Robert H. Harris, American actor (Jake-The Goldbergs, Mirage), dies at 70
- Dec 10 John Kieran, American columnist and author (Natural History of NYC), dies at 89
- Dec 11 I. D. du Plessis, South African writer and director (3rd World), dies at 81
- Dec 13 Pigmeat [Dewey] Markham, American comedian (Here Comes da Judge-Laugh In), dies at 75
- Dec 20 Dimitris Rontiris, Greek actor and director (b. 1899)
- Dec 26 Savithri, Indian actress (b. 1937)
Hoagy Carmichael (1899-1981)
Dec 27 American composer, singer ("In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening"; "Stardust"; "Two Sleepy People"), dies at 82
- Dec 28 (Joseph Aloysius) "Allan" Dwan, Canadian-American screenwriter and film director (Robin Hood; Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms; Sands Of Iwo Jima), dies at 96
- Dec 30 Alfie Anido, Filipino model and actor (Temptation Island), dies under mysterious circumstances on his 22nd birthday
- Dec 31 Frantisek Chaun, Czech pianist, composer, painter, and actor, dies at 60
Actors
Actresses
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