- January 14
- Jeanette MacDonald, soprano ("When I'm Calling You"), dies at age 63. [1]
- January 15
- Pierre Ngendandumwe, premier of Burundi, is murdered. [1]
- January 19
- Frank Reicher, actor (King Kong, Nazi Agent, Son of Kong), dies at age 89. [1]
- January 20
- Death of Alan Freed (disc jockey, coined "rock 'n' roll") in a California hospital at age 42. [1] [457]
- January 21
- Harvey Zorbaugh, doctor/TV host (Play the Game), dies at age 68. [1]
- January 24
- Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Britain (Conservative) (1940-45, 1951-55), dies at age 90. [1] [289.153]
- January 25
- Staff Nees, Flemish composer (Maria-oratorio), dies at age 63. [1]
- January 26
- Ali Mansoer, premier of Persia, murdered. [1]
- January 27
- Theo Uden Marsman, Dutch orchestra leader, dies at age 63. [1]
- January 28
- Johan Fiolet, Dutch actor/director, dies at age 63. [1]
- Tich Freeman, cricket player (3776 FC wickets leg-spin, 304 in 1928), dies. [1]
- January 29
- John Larkin, actor (Saints and Sinners, 12 O'Clock High), dies at age 52. [1]
- January 30
- Vic Jackson, cricket player (New South Wales/Leicerstershire off-spinner), dies in car. [1]
- February 2
- Richard P Blackmur, American critic/publisher (Good European), dies at age 61. [1]
- February 4
- U C Greyhound, champion trotter (horse), dies at age 33. [1]
- February 5
- Irving Bacon, actor (Fort Ti, Petticoat Fever), dies at age 71. [1]
- February 6
- Jack Wagner, actor (Jive Junction), dies at age 68. [1]
- February 7
- Nance O'Neil, actor (Cimarron, Royal Bed, Rogue Song), dies at age 90. [1]
- February 12
- Henry Kulky, actor (Otto - Life of Riley), dies at age 53. [1]
- February 13
- Jerry Burke, pianist (Lawrence Welk Show), dies. [1]
- February 15
- Nat King Cole, singer (Unforgettable, Mona Lisa), dies at age 45. [1]
- February 19
- Forrest Taylor, actor (This is Life, Man Without a Gun), dies at age 81. [1]
- Gheorge Gheorghiu Dej, Romanian President, dies at age 63. [1]
- February 21
- In New York City, New York, USA, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Nation of Islam members while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity. [1] [129]
- February 23
- Stan Laurel, comedian (Laurel and Hardy), dies in California of heart attack at age 74. [1]
- February 26
- Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist, dies of injuries. [1]
- February 28
- Adolf Schärf, President of Austria (1957-65), dies at age 74. [1]
- March 6
- Margaret Dumont [Daisy Baker], actress (Animal Crackers), dies at age 75. [1]
- March 7
- Queen Louise of Sweden dies peacefully. [7]
- March 8
- Esther Howard, actress (Detour), dies of heart attack at age 72. [1]
- March 9
- Anthon van der Horst, Dutch organist/composer, dies at age 65. [1]
- March 11
- James Reeb, US vicar/civil rights activist, is murdered. [1]
- March 13
- George Calinescu, Romanian author (Lauda Lucrorilor), dies at age 65. [1]
- March 17
- Almos Alonzo Stagg, football coach (University of Chicago), dies in California at age 102. [1]
- Quentin Reynolds, newscaster (It's News to Me)/author (FBI), dies at age 62. [1]
- March 18
- Farouk I, last King of Egypt (1936-52), dies at age 45 in Rome, Italy. [1] [405.34] [606.38]
- March 23
- Mae Murray, actress (Bachelor Apartment), dies of heart ailment at age 75. [1]
- March 25
- Viola Gregg Liuzzo, US civil rights activist, is murdered. [1]
- April 1
- Henry D G Crerar, Canadian General (World War I, Normandy), dies at age 76. [1]
- April 8
- Erik A Blomberg, Swedish art historian/poet/author, dies at age 70. [1]
- Jack Durston, cricket player (one Test for England, 4-102 and 1-34), dies. [1]
- Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (Flesh and Devil), dies after illness at age 78. [1]
- April 12
- Linda Darnell, US actress (Dakota Incident), dies at age 43. [1]
- April 14
- Leonard Mudie dies of heart ailment at age 82. [1]
- Perry E Smith, US murderer (In Cold Blood), hanged. [1]
- Robert E Hickok, US murderer (In Cold Blood), hanged. [1]
- April 15
- Syd Chaplin dies at age 80. [1]
- April 19
- George Davis, actor (Private Lives, Devil May Care), dies at age 75. [1]
- April 20
- Richard Wessell, actor (Carney - Riverboat), dies of heart attack on 52nd birthday. [1]
- April 21
- Edward V Appleton, English physicist (Nobel Prize 1947), dies at age 72. [1]
- April 23
- Josephina J "Fien" de la Mar, Dutch actress (Pygmalion), dies at age 67. [1]
- April 24
- Louise Dresser, actress (State Fair, Ship Comes In, Mammy), dies at age 86. [1]
- April 27
- Alan Bunce, actor (Albert - Ethel and Albert), dies at age 61. [1]
- Edward R Murrow, newscaster (Person to Person), dies at age 57. [1]
- April 28
- Ferdinand Bordewijk, Dutch lawyer/writer (Character), dies at age 80. [1]
- April 30
- Helen Chandler, actress (Dracula, Salute, Last Flight), dies at age 56. [1]
- May 1
- Spike Jones, composer (Spike Jones Show), dies at age 53. [1] [5]
- May 3
- Howard Spring, British author (Heaven Lies About Us), dies at age 76. [1]
- Otto Forst de Battaglia, Austrian diplomat/genealogist, dies at age 75. [1]
- May 4
- Norman Brokenshire, TV moderator (Four Square Court), dies at age 66. [1]
- May 8
- H T W Hardinge, cricket player (scored 25 and five in only Test for England), dies. [1]
- May 9
- Leopold Figl, premier of Austria, dies at age 62. [1]
- May 10
- Hubertus J van Mook, Dutch minister of Colonization (1942-45), dies at age 70. [1]
- May 11
- Ludovicus H "Lode" Baekelmans, Flemish playwright, dies at age 86. [1]
- May 12
- Roger Vailland, French playwright (La Truite), dies at age 57. [1]
- May 14
- Frances Perkins, US first female minister of Labor (1933-45), dies at age 83. [1]
- May 15
- Adrian Schoevers, Dutch director (Schoevers Institution), dies. [1]
- May 18
- Eduard J Dijksterhuis, mathematician (Archimedes), dies at age 72. [1]
- May 19
- Maria Dabrowska, Polish writer (Znaki Zycia), dies. [1]
- May 22
- Bobby Watson, comedian (Hitler Gang, Boys Town), dies at age 77. [1]
- Heinrich Barth, Swiss philosopher (Das Sein in der Zeit), dies. [1]
- May 23
- David Smith, sculptor, dies. [1]
- May 25
- Sonny Boy Williamson [Aleck Miller], blues player, dies at age 65. [1]
- June 6
- Lester Matthews, actor (Sir Dennis - Adventures of Fu Manchu), dies at age 64. [1]
- June 14
- H.V. Kaltenborn, newscaster (Who Said That?), dies at age 86. [1]
- June 20
- Ira Louvin, country singer (Louvin Brothers), dies at age 41. [1]
- June 22
- David O Selznick, Gone With the Wind's producer, dies at age 63. [1]
- James D. Lathan and George York are hanged for the murders of 12 people in Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas, and Colorado, which took place over 12 days in 1961. [565.163]
- July 8
- Aviation pioneer and movie stunt pilot Paul Mantz dies in Yuma, Arizona, during the filming of The Flight Of The Phoenix. His plane hit a small sand dune, overturned and disintegrated. [467]
- July 11
- Ray Collins, actor (Halls of Ivy, Perry Mason), dies at age 75. [1]
- August 6
- Nancy Carroll, actress (Alice - Aldrich Family), dies at age 60. [1]
- September 27
- Harry Reser, orchestra leader (Sammy Kaye Show), dies at age 69. [1]
- October 3
- Zachary Scott, actor (Spotlight Playhouse), dies at age 51. [1]
- October 15
- Carl Hoff, orchestra leader (Music Hall), dies at age 60. [1]
- October 18
- Henry Travers, actor (Bells of Saint Mary, High Sierra), dies at age 91. [1]
- October 31
- Rita Johnson, actress (All Mine to Give), dies at age 53. [1]
- November 8
- Dorothy Kilgallen, columnist (What's My Line?), dies at age 52. [1]
- November 16
- Alexander King, writer (Jack Paar Show), dies at age 66. [1]
- November 27
- Harry Harvey Sr, actor (It's a Man's World), dies at age 64. [1]
- December 2
- The Rajkumar of Vizianagram, cricket player (Indian Test captain 1936), dies. [1]
- December 6
- Alberto Vaccari, Italian jesuit/old testament scholar, dies at age 90. [1]
- December 10
- Henry (Dixon) Cowell, US pianist/composer (Aeolian Harp), dies at age 68. [1]
- December 12
- Johnny Lee, actor (Calhoun - Amos 'n' Andy), dies at age 67. [1]
- December 16
- William Somerset Maugham, English author (Razor's Edge, Of Human Bondage), dies at age 91. [1]
- December 17
- Tito [Raffaele A] Schipa, Italian tenor/composer (Rondine), dies at age 76. [1]
- December 20
- Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt, German anthropologist, dies at age 73. [1]
- December 22
- Al Ritz, actor (Gorilla, Hi Ya Chum), dies at age 62. [1]
- December 26
- Anthonie Donker, Dutch [Professor N Donkersloot] literary, dies at age 63. [1]
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