The following is a list of notable deaths in 1981. Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.

Deaths in 1981

January

• January 1
  • Kazimierz Michałowski, Polish archaeologist (b. 1901)
  • Mauri Rose, American race car champion (b. 1906)
• January 3
  • Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria (b. 1883)
  • Marvin Opler, American anthropologist (b. 1914)
• January 5
  • Harold Urey, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)^[1]
  • Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher, poet and activist (b. 1901)^[2]
• January 6 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish novelist (b. 1896)^[3]
• January 9 – Donald H. Bochkay, 64, American Air Force pilot and flying ace (b. 1916)
• January 10
  • Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
  • Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917)
• January 11 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1889)
• January 16 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
• January 19 – Francesca Woodman, American photographer (b. 1958)
• January 21 – Allyn Joslyn, American actor (b. 1901)
• January 23 – Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
• January 25 – Adele Astaire, American dancer and actress (b. 1896)
• January 29 – Lajos Korányi, Hungarian footballer (b. 1907)
• January 30 – John Gordon, Irish Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1912)
• January 31 – Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)

February

• February 1
  • Donald Wills Douglas Sr., American industrialist (b. 1892)
  • Wanda Hendrix, American actress (b. 1928)
  • Ernst Pepping, German composer (b. 1901)
  • Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
• February 2 – Hugh J. Addonizio, Italian-American politician and Mayor of Newark (b. 1914)
• February 3 – J Harlen Bretz, American geologist (b. 1882)
• February 4 – Mario Camerini, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1895)
• February 6 – Frederica of Hanover, Queen Consort of the Hellenes and wife of King Paul of Greece (b. 1917)
• February 7 – Hermann Esser, German journalist and editor of the Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter (b. 1900)
• February 9 – Bill Haley, American rock musician, member of Bill Haley & The Comets (b. 1925)
• February 12 – Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, British admiral (b. 1888)
• February 15
  • Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
  • Mike Bloomfield, American blues guitarist (b. 1943)
• February 17 – David Garnett, English novelist and writer (b. 1892)
• February 18
  • Jack Northrop, American airplane manufacturer (b. 1895)
  • Ibrahim Abdel Hady Pasha, Egyptian politician, 28th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1896)
• February 20
  • Bernard B. Brown, American sound engineer and composer (b. 1898)
  • Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, French magazine editor and playboy (b. 1904)
• February 22
  • Michael Maltese, American screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • Curtis Bernhardt, German film director (b. 1899)
• February 25
  • Leonard Howell, Founder of Rastafari (b. 1898)
  • Gunichi Mikawa, Japanese admiral (b. 1888)
• February 26 – Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)

March

• March 1 – Roberto Francisco Chiari Remón, 14th President of Panama (b. 1905)
• March 4 – Torin Thatcher, American actor (b. 1905)
• March 5 – Yip Harburg, American lyricist (b. 1896)
• March 6 – George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
• March 7
  • Peter Birch, Irish Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1911)
  • Kirill Kondrashin, Russian conductor (b. 1914)^[4]
  • Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, German-Danish tennis player (b. 1908)
• March 9 – Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)^[5]
• March 10 – Flavio Calzavara, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1900)
• March 11 – Kazimierz Kordylewski, Polish astronomer (b. 1903)
• March 14 – Paolo Grassi, Italian actor (b. 1919)
• March 15 – René Clair, French film director (b. 1898)
• March 20 – Gerry Bertier, American college football player (b. 1953)
• March 21 – Mark Donskoy, Russian Soviet film director (b. 1901)
• March 22
  • John S. McCain Jr., American admiral (b. 1911)
  • Gil Puyat, Filipino businessman and politician, Senator of the Philippines and Senate President (b. 1907)^[6]
• March 23
  • Sir Claude Auchinleck, British field marshal (b. 1884)
  • Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer (b. 1940)
  • Beatrice Tinsley, English astronomer (b. 1941)
• March 26 – Cyril Dean Darlington, English biologist, geneticist and eugenicist, (b. 1903)
• March 27 – Mao Dun, Chinese novelist, cultural critic, and minister of culture (b. 1896)^[7]
• March 29 – Eric Williams, 1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1911)
• March 30
  • Sherman Edwards, American songwriter (b. 1919)
  • Douglas Lowe, British Olympic athlete (b. 1902)
  • DeWitt Wallace, American magazine publisher (b. 1889)
• March 31 – Frank Tieri, American gangster (b. 1904)

April

• April 3 – Juan Trippe, airline entrepreneur (b. 1899)
• April 5
  • Bob Hite, American musician (Canned Heat) (b. 1943)
  • Maurice Zbriger, Canadian violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1896)^[8]
• April 7 – Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)^[9]
• April 8 – Omar Bradley, American army general (b. 1893)^[10]
• April 10 - George Carlyle Marler, Canadian politician, notary and philatelist (b. 1901)
• April 12
  • Hendrik Andriessen, Dutch composer (b. 1892)
  • Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan (b. 1887)
  • Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)^[11]
• April 15
  • John Thach, American naval aviator and admiral (b. 1905)
  • Lorenzo Guerrero, former President of Nicaragua (b. 1900)
• April 18 – James H. Schmitz, German-American writer (b. 1911)
• April 23 – Josep Pla, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1897)^[12]
• April 26
  • Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909)
  • Madge Evans, American actress (b. 1909)
  • Muhammad Lafir, Sri Lankan snooker player (b. 1930)
• April 27 – John Aspinwall Roosevelt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
• April 28 – Cliff Battles, American football player (Boston Redskins) and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (b. 1910)

May

• May 1 – Barry Jones, American actor (b. 1893)
• May 3 – Nargis, Indian actress (b. 1929)
• May 4 – Paul Green, American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (b. 1894)^[13]
• May 5 – Bobby Sands, Irish republican hunger striker (b. 1954)
• May 6 – Frank O'Grady, Australian public servant (b. 1900)
• May 7 – Hiromichi Yahara, Imperial Japanese Army officer (b. 1902)
• May 8 – Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia (b. 1897)
• May 9
  • Nelson Algren, American author (b. 1909)
  • Margaret Lindsay, American actress (b. 1910)
• May 10 – Ismail of Johor, Malaysian sultan (b. 1894)
• May 11
  • Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)^[14]
  • Bob Marley, Jamaican singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1945)
• May 12 – Benjamin Sheares, Singaporean politician and professor, 2nd President of Singapore (b. 1907)
• May 13 – Ben Andrews, American actor (b. 1942)
• May 14 – J. Posadas, Argentine politician (b. 1912)
• May 17 – Hugo Friedhofer, German-American film composer (b. 1901)
• May 18
  • Eleonore Baur, German Nazi and only woman to participate in Munich Beer Hall Putsch (b. 1885)
  • Richard Hale, American singer and actor (b. 1892)^[15]
  • Arthur O'Connell, American actor (b. 1908)
  • William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)^[16]
• May 20 – Dositej II, Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia (b. 1906)
• May 21 – Yuki Shimoda, American actor (b. 1921)
• May 22 – Boris Sagal, Ukrainian-American television and film director (b. 1923)
• May 23
  • George Jessel, American actor (b. 1898)
  • Donald Macintyre, British naval officer and naval historian (b. 1904)
• May 24
  • Jaime Roldós Aguilera, 33rd President of Ecuador (b. 1940)
  • Jack Warner, British actor (b. 1895)
• May 25
  • Rosa Ponselle, American soprano (b. 1897)
  • Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian radio astronomer (b. 1912)
  • A. Thiagarajah, Sri Lankan Tamil teacher and politician (b. 1916)
• May 28
  • John Bryan Ward-Perkins, British archaeologist (b. 1912)
  • Mary Lou Williams, American jazz pianist (b. 1910)
  • Stefan Wyszyński, Polish Roman Catholic prelate, archbishop and Servant of God (b. 1901)
  • Lem Billings, American businessman (b. 1916)
• May 29 – Soong Ching-ling, Acting head of State of the People's Republic of China (b. 1893)
• May 30
  • Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
  • Peter Lindgren, Swedish actor (b. 1915)
  • Ziaur Rahman, 7th President of Bangladesh (b. 1936)
• May 31
  • Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, British economist (b. 1914)
  • Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1923)
  • Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 31st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1902)

June

• June 1 – Carl Vinson, American politician (b. 1883)^[17]
• June 2 – Rino Gaetano, Italian musician and singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
• June 5 – Miguel Contreras Torres, Mexican actor, director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1899)
• June 10 – Jenny Maxwell, American actress (b. 1941)
• June 11 – Botak Chin, Malaysian criminal and gangster (b. 1951)
• June 12 – Mahmoud Fawzi, Egyptian diplomat and political figure, 35th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1900)
• June 13 – George Walsh, American actor (b. 1889)
• June 16 – Sir Thomas Playford, Australian politician, Premier of South Australia (b. 1896)
• June 17 – Sir Richard O'Connor, British general (b. 1889)
• June 19 – Lotte Reiniger, German silhouette animator (b. 1899)
• June 22
  • Henri Bouillard, French Jesuit theologian (b. 1908)
  • Lola Lane, American actress and singer (b. 1906)
• June 23 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1907)
• June 28
  • Mohammad Beheshti, Chief Justice of Iran (b. 1928)
  • Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)

July

• July 1
  • Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-American architect (b. 1902)
  • George Voskovec, Czech-American actor, writer, dramatist and director (b. 1905)
• July 3 – Ross Martin, American actor (b. 1920)
• July 7 – Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi, South Yemenite socialist leader, 1st President of South Yemen (b. 1920)
• July 8
  • Jugah Barieng, Malaysian politician (b. 1903)
  • Joe McDonnell, Irish republican hunger striker (b. 1951)
• July 10 – Giorgio De Lullo, Italian actor and director (b. 1921)
• July 16 – Harry Chapin, American singer and songwriter (b. 1942)
• July 26 – Stafford L. Warren, American physician and radiologist; inventor of the mammogram (b. 1896)^[18]
• July 27 – William Wyler, American movie director (b. 1902)^[19]
• July 28 – Stanley Francis Rother, American priest, martyr, and Blessed (b. 1935)
• July 29 – Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)
• July 31 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian leader (b. 1929)

August

• August 1 – Paddy Chayefsky, American screenwriter (b. 1923)
• August 2
  • Delfo Cabrera, Argentine athlete (b. 1919)
  • Stefanie Clausen, Danish diver (b. 1900)
• August 4 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
• August 14 – Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
• August 15
  • Carlo Buscaglia, Italian football player (b. 1909)
  • Karl Gero, Duke of Urach, Lichtenstein noble (b. 1899)
• August 18
  • Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and arranger (b. 1894)
  • Anita Loos, American screenwriter (b. 1888)
• August 19 – Jessie Matthews, English dancer, singer and actress (b. 1907)
• August 22 – Glauber Rocha, Brazilian filmmaker (b. 1939)
• August 27 – Valeri Kharlamov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1948)
• August 28 – Béla Guttmann, Hungarian Association footballer and coach (b. 1899)^[20]
• August 29 – Lowell Thomas, American writer and broadcaster (b. 1892)
• August 30
  • Mohammad-Ali Rajai, 47th Prime Minister of Iran and 2nd President of Iran (assassinated) (b. 1933)
  • Mohammad-Javad Bahonar, Iranian theologian and politician, 48th Prime Minister of Iran (assassinated) (b. 1933)
  • Vera-Ellen, American actress and dancer (b. 1921)

September

• September 1
  • Ann Harding, American actress (b. 1902)
  • Albert Speer, German Nazi architect and war minister (b. 1905)
• September 2 – Dame Enid Lyons, Australian politician (b. 1897)
• September 7 – Christy Brown, Irish writer and painter (b. 1932)^[21]
• September 8
  • Uri Zvi Greenberg, Israeli poet and journalist (b. 1896)^[22]
  • Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)^[23]
  • Roy Wilkins, American civil rights activist (b. 1901)
• September 9
  • Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist (b. 1901)
  • Ricardo Balbín, Argentine politician, leader of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) (b. 1904)
  • Sir Robert Askin, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1907)
• September 11 – Frank McHugh, American actor (b. 1898)
• September 12 – Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)^[24]
• September 14 – Charles L. Melson, American admiral (b. 1904)
• September 15
  • Harold Bennett, British actor (b. 1899)
  • Rafael Méndez, Mexican trumpet virtuoso (b. 1906)
• September 17 – Sir Milton Allen, Governor of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla (b. 1888)^[25]
• September 21 – Nigel Patrick, English actor (b. 1912)
• September 22 – Harry Warren, American songwriter (b. 1893)
• September 23 – Chief Dan George, Canadian actor and writer, tribal chief of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation (b. 1899)
• September 24 – Patsy Kelly, American actress (b. 1910)
• September 27 – Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (b. 1904)
• September 28
  • Rómulo Betancourt, 2-time President of Venezuela (b. 1908)
  • Sir Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth, British Conservative cabinet minister (b. 1923)
• September 29
  • Javad Fakoori, Iranian military officer, former minister of Defence (b. 1913)
  • Mousa Namjoo, Iranian military officer, minister of Defence (b. 1938)
  • Bill Shankly, British football manager (b. 1913)

October

• October 2
  • Harry Golden, American journalist (b. 1902)
  • Hazel Scott, American jazz singer and pianist (b. 1920)
• October 3 – Chrysostom Blashkevich, Soviet Benedict monk (b. 1915)
• October 4 – Freddie Lindstrom, American baseball player (New York Giants) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1905)
• October 5 – Gloria Grahame, 57, American actress, breast cancer.
• October 6 – Anwar Sadat, 62, 37th Prime Minister of Egypt and 3rd President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, assassinated.
• October 13
  • Antonio Berni, Argentine painter (b. 1905)
  • Nils Asther, Danish-Swedish actor (b. 1897)
• October 16
  • Stanley Clements, American actor (b. 1926)
  • Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
• October 22 – Michael Granger, American actor (b. 1923)
• October 24 – Edith Head, American costume designer (b. 1897)
• October 25 – Barbara Bedford, American actress (b. 1903)
• October 27 – John Warburton, British actor (b. 1899)
• October 29 – Georges Brassens, French singer and songwriter (b. 1921)

November

• November 2 – Wally Wood, American cartoonist (b. 1927)
• November 5 – Jean Eustache, French film director (b. 1938)
• November 7 – Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
• November 10 – Abel Gance, French film director (b. 1889)
• November 12 – William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
• November 13 – Gerhard Marcks, German sculptor (b. 1889)
• November 15
  • Walter Heitler, German physicist (b. 1904)
    Fellow of the Royal Society^[26]
  • Enid Markey, American actress (b. 1894)
• November 17 – Wilhelm Pelikan, Austrian chemist (b. 1893)^[27]
• November 21 – Ejner Federspiel, Danish actor (b. 1896)^[28]
• November 22
  • Jack Fingleton, Australian cricketer (b. 1908)
  • Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)^[29]
• November 25
  • Jack Albertson, American actor and comedian (b. 1907)
  • Morris Kirksey, American athlete (b. 1895)^[30]
• November 26 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess grandmaster (b. 1901)
• November 27 – Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (b. 1898)
• November 29 – Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)

December

• December 2
  • Wallace Harrison, American architect (b. 1895)
  • Francis Hunter, American tennis player (b. 1894)
• December 6 – Harry Harlow, American psychologist (b. 1905)
• December 7 – William Edmunds, Italian stage and screen character actor (b. 1886)
• December 8 – Ferruccio Parri, Italian partisan and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1890)
• December 13 – Cornelius Cardew, English composer (b. 1936)
• December 15
  • Catherine T. MacArthur, American philanthropist (b. 1908)
  • Karl Struss, American cinematographer (b. 1886)
• December 17
  • Franz Dahlem, German politician. (b. 1892)
  • Mehmet Shehu, Albanian politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1913)
• December 18
  • Enrique Hertzog, Bolivian politician, 42nd President of Bolivia (b. 1896)
  • Juan Miles, Argentine polo player (b. 1895)
• December 23
  • Luther H. Evans, American political scientist and librarian, 3rd Director General of the UNESCO (b. 1902)
  • Reginald Miles Ansett, Australian businessman and aviator (b. 1909)
• December 26 – Suat Hayri Urguplu, Turkish politician, 11th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1903)
• December 27 – Hoagy Carmichael, American jazz composer (b. 1899)
• December 28 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-American film director (b. 1885)