Deaths in 1981

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
- Ceferino Garcia, Filipino champion boxer (b. 1906)
- Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Australian pianist, writer, and human rights campaigner (b. 1921)
- 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)
- Felton Jarvis, American record producer of Elvis, Willie Nelson, and other musicians and a singer (b. 1934)
- Marvin Opler, American anthropologist (b. 1914)
January 4 – Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and songwriter (b. 1914)
January 5
- Guy Paquinet, French jazz trombonist
- 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 7
- Jose Ardevol, Cuban composer and conductor of Spanish derivation (b. 1911)
- Alvar Lidell, English radio announcer and newsreader for the BBC and compere (b. 1908)
January 9
- Donald H. Bochkay, 64, American Air Force pilot and flying ace (b. 1916)
- Obdulio Morales, Cuban pianist, conductor, composer and ethnomusicologist (b. 1910)
- Kazimierz Serocki, Polish composer and one of the founders of the Warsaw Autumn contemporary music festival (b. 1922)
January 10
- Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
- Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917)
- Fawn M. Brodie, American biographer and history professors at UCLA (b. 1915)
January 11 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1889)
January 12
- Isobel Elsom, English film, theatre, and television actress (b. 1893)
- Sir John Nicoll, British colonial administrator, governor of Singapore (b. 1899)^[4]
January 15
- David E. Lilienthal, American attorney and public administrator (b. 1899)
- Emanuel Celler, American Democratic politician from New York (b. 1888)
January 16 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
January 17 – Loukas Panourgias, Greek athlete and footballer (b. 1899)
January 19 – Francesca Woodman, American photographer (b. 1958)
January 21 – Allyn Joslyn, American actor (b. 1901)
January 22 – Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani nationalist historian and playwright (b. 1903)
January 23
- Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- Bobby Sherwood, American guitarist, trumpeter, bandleader, actor and radio host (b. 1914)
- Olin E. Teague, American politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from 1946 to 1978 (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)
- Louise Lorraine, American actress (b. 1904)
February 3 –
- J Harlen Bretz, American geologist (b. 1882)
- Jan Donner, Dutch politician (b. 1891)
February 4 – Mario Camerini, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1895)
February 5
- Ella Grasso, American politician and member of the Democratic Party (b. 1919)
- Kuda Bux, magician and firewalker (b. 1905)
February 6 –
- Frederica of Hanover, Queen Consort of the Hellenes and wife of King Paul of Greece (b. 1917)
- Hugo Montenegro, American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks (b. 1925)
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 13 – Jack Crapp, English cricketer (b. 1912)
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
- Robert Aickman, English writer and conservationist (b. 1914)
- Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
February 27 – Jacob H Gilbert, American lawyer and politician (b. 1920)

March

March 1 – Roberto Francisco Chiari Remón, 14th President of Panama (b. 1905)
March 2
- Brenda De Banzie, British actress (b. 1909)
- Janear Hines, American actress and Earl Hines' daughter (b.1950)^[5]
- Tony Gulotta, American racing driver (b. 1903)
March 4 – Torin Thatcher, American actor (b. 1905)
March 5 –
- Yip Harburg, American lyricist (b. 1896)
- Paul Hörbiger, Austrian theatre and film actor (b. 1894)
- Red Saunders, American jazz drummer and bandleader (b. 1912)
March 6 – George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
March 7
- Peter Birch, Irish Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1911)
- Jon Gnagy, self-taught artist remembered for being America's original television art instructor
- Kirill Kondrashin, Russian conductor (b. 1914)^[6]
- 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)^[7]
March 10 – Flavio Calzavara, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1900)
March 11 – Kazimierz Kordylewski, Polish astronomer (b. 1903)
March 14
- Ken Barrington, English international cricketer (b. 1930)
- Paolo Grassi, Italian actor (b. 1919)
March 15 – René Clair, French film director (b. 1898)
March 17 – Paul Dean, American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher (1912)
March 19 – Frank Lane, American executive in professional baseball (b. 1895)
March 20 – Gerry Bertier, American college football player (b. 1953)
March 21 – Mark Donskoy, Russian Soviet film director (b. 1901)
March 22
- Jumbo Elliott, American track and field coach (b. 1915)
- John S. McCain Jr., American admiral (b. 1911)
- Gil Puyat, Filipino businessman and politician, Senator of the Philippines and Senate President (b. 1907)^[8]
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)^[9]
March 29 – Eric Williams, 1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1911)
March 30
- Sherman Edwards, American songwriter (b. 1919)
- Noel Harford, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1930)
- Douglas Lowe, British Olympic athlete (b. 1902)
- DeWitt Wallace, American magazine publisher (b. 1889)
March 31
- Enid Bagnold, British writer and playwright (b. 1889)
- Frank Tieri, American gangster (b. 1904)

April

April 1 – Eua Sunthornsanan, singer, Thai composer and bandleader of the Suntaraporn Band (b. 1910)
April 2 – Delfo Cabrera, Argentine athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1948 Summer Olympics (b. 1918)
April 3
- Juan Trippe, American airline entrepreneur (b. 1899)
- Leo Kanner, Austrian-American psychiatrist, physician, and social activist (b. 1894)
April 5
- Bob Hite, American musician (Canned Heat) (b. 1943)
- Maurice Zbriger, Canadian violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1896)^[10]
April 7
- Kit Lambert, British producer, record label owner and manager of The Who (b. 1935)
- Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)^[11]
April 8 – Omar Bradley, American army general (b. 1893)^[12]
April 10
- George Carlyle Marler, Canadian politician, notary and philatelist (b. 1901)
- Howard Thurman, American author, philosopher, theologian, Christian mystic, educator, and civil rights leader (b. 1899)
April 11
- Caroline Gordon, American novelist and literary critic (b. 1895)
- Marie Ney, British character actress (b. 1895)
April 12
- Hendrik Andriessen, Dutch composer (b. 1892)
- Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan (b. 1887)
- Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)^[13]
- Hans Chemin-Petit, German composer, conductor and music educator (b. 1902)
April 14 – Ivan Galamian, Armenian-American violin teacher (b. 1903)
April 15
- John Thach, American naval aviator and admiral (b. 1905)
- Lorenzo Guerrero, former President of Nicaragua (b. 1900)
April 16 –
- Eric Hollies, English cricketer (b. 1912)
- Effa Manley, American sports executive (b. 1897)
April 18 – James H. Schmitz, German-American writer (b. 1911)
April 19 – Ernst Levy, Swiss musicologist, composer, pianist and conductor (b. 1895)
April 21 – Eddie Sauter, American composer and arranger (b. 1914)
April 23 – Josep Pla, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1897)^[14]
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)
- Mickey Walker, American professional boxer (b. 1903)
April 30 – Peter Huchel, German poet and editor (b. 1903)

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)^[15]
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)
- Nip Pellew, Australian cricketer (b.1893)
May 10 – Ismail of Johor, Malaysian sultan (b. 1894)
May 11
- Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)^[16]
- Bob Marley, Jamaican singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1945)
- Hoyt W. Fuller, American editor, educator, critic, and author during the Black Arts Movement (b. 1923)
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 16 – Ernie Freeman, American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger (b. 1922)
May 17 –
- Hugo Friedhofer, German-American film composer (b. 1901)
- Jeannette Ridlon Piccard, American high-altitude balloonist, and in later life an Episcopal priest (b. 1895)
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)^[17]
- Arthur O'Connell, American actor (b. 1908)
- William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)^[18]
May 20 – Dositej II, Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia (b. 1906)
May 21
- Yuki Shimoda, American actor (b. 1921)
- Patsy O'Hara, Irish republican hunger striker and member of the Irish National Liberation Army (b. 1957)
- Raymond Mccreesh, Irish volunteer in the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (b. 1957)
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)
- Rayner Heppenstall, British novelist, poet, diarist, and a BBC radio producer (b. 1911)
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)
- Fredric Warburg, British publisher, who in 1935 founded the company Secker & Warburg (b. 1898)
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)^[19]
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 9 – Allen Ludden, 63, American television host (Password), stomach cancer.
June 10
- Jenny Maxwell, American actress (b. 1941)
- Phelps Phelps, 38th Governor of American Samoa, United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic (b. 1897)
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)^[20]
July 27 – William Wyler, American movie director (b. 1902)^[21]
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)