- January 7
- Sid Emery, cricket leg-spinner (New South Wales and Australia, five wicket in 1912 series), dies. [1]
- January 8
- Zbigniew Cybulski, Polish actor (See You Tommorrow), dies at age 39. [1]
- January 10
- Emerson Treacy, actor (Prowler), dies after surgery at age 66. [1]
- January 16
- Dirk Vansina, Flemish playwright (Sage of Kai-Roi), dies at age 72. [1]
- Robert J Van De Graaff, US nuclear physicist, dies at age 65. [1]
- January 17
- Evelyn Nesbit, actress (Redemption), dies at age 82. [1]
- January 18
- Albert Conti, actor (Eagle, Jazz Heaven, Topaz), dies at age 79. [1]
- Barney Ross, Welterweight Boxing Champ (1934), dies at age 57. [1]
- Harry Antrim, actor (Ma and Pa Kettle), dies of heart attack at age 83. [1]
- Reese "Goose" Tatum, basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at age 45. [1]
- Simon Berkelbach van der Sprenkel, vicar/theologist, dies at age 84. [1]
- January 19
- Grace Cunard, actress (Untamed, Ressurection), dies at age 73. [1]
- January 21
- Ann Sheridan, actress (Pistols 'n' Petticoats), dies of cancer at age 51. [1]
- January 22
- Jobyna Ralston, actress (Wings, Girl Shy, Freshman), dies at age 66. [1]
- January 26
- Albert Remy, actor (Blows), dies at age 55. [1]
- Kenneth Thomson, actor (White Gold), dies of emphysema at age 68. [1]
- January 27
- Alphonse Juin, French marshal, dies at age 78. [1]
- At Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, a fire breaks out during a manned launch-pad test of the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket, killing astronauts Virgil I Grissom, Lieutenant-Colonel US Air Force Edward Higgins White II, and Roger B Chaffee. [1] [129] [452.94]
- January 28
- Stanley Coen, cricket player (two Tests for South Africa, hs 41 not out, avg 50), dies. [1]
- January 30
- Lee Morgan, actor (Dungeons of Harrow, Last Rebel), dies. [1]
- January 31
- Chief Thundercloud, actor (Ambush, Colt 45, Typhoon), dies at age 100. [1]
- Otto Dibelius, German theologian/bishop, dies at age 86. [1]
- February 1
- Ernie Bromley, cricket player (two Tests for Australia 1933-34), dies. [1]
- Langston Hughes, poet/translator (Weary Blues), dies on 65th birthday. [1]
- February 3
- Joe Meek, rocker (Tornados)/producer (Telstar), commits suicide. [1]
- Winifred Kingston, silent screen actress (David Garrick), dies at age 72. [1]
- February 5
- Herman Teirlinck, Belgian writer (Jokaste against God), dies at age 87. [1]
- February 6
- Martine Carol, French actress (Nana), dies of heart attack at age 46. [1]
- February 7
- Henry Morgenthau, US minister of Finance (devalued dollar), dies at age 74. [1]
- February 14
- James Schneider, actor (Keystone Kops), dies at age 85. [1]
- Sig Ruman, actor (Schultz - Life With Luigi), dies at age 82. [1]
- February 15
- Antonio Moreno, Spanish actor/director (It, Careers), dies at age 79. [1]
- William C Bullitt, first US ambassador in USSR, dies at age 76. [1]
- February 16
- Smiley Burnette, cowboy (Charlie - Petticoat Junction), dies at age 55. [1]
- February 18
- Robert J Oppenheimer, creator of atomic bomb, dies at age 62. [1]
- February 19
- Wilmer King, first casuality on Tappan Zee Bridge in New York, dies. [1]
- February 22
- Fritz Erler, German politician (SDP), dies at age 53. [1]
- Joe Forte, actor (Horwitz - Life With Luigi), dies at age 70. [1]
- February 24
- Franz Waxman, German composer (Day at the races), dies at age 60. [1]
- February 25
- John Griggs, actor (Joey Bishop Show), dies at age 57. [1]
- February 26
- Harry McNaughton, comedian (It Pays to be Ignorant), dies at age 70. [1]
- March 2
- Gordon Harker, actor (Inspector Hornleigh), dies at age 81. [1]
- March 5
- Mischa Auer, actor (My Man Godfrey), dies at age 61 of a heart attack. [1]
- Mohammed H Mossadeq, premier of Persia (1951-53), dies. [1]
- March 6
- Oscar Shaw, actor (Rhythm on the River, Marianne), dies at age 76. [1]
- Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (Háry Janos), dies at age 84. [1]
- March 7
- American actor/singer Nelson Eddy dies at age 65 in hospital in Miami, Florida, after suffering a stroke while performing onstage at the Doral Country Club in Miami the previous day. [1] [467]
- March 8
- John F Bothwell, actor (Freckles - Our Gang), dies at age 46. [1]
- March 11
- Geraldine Farrar, soprano/actress (Such Sweet Compulsion), dies at age 85. [1]
- March 12
- Death of American Isaac Scott Hathaway, "the Dean of Negro Ceramics". [416.90]
- March 13
- Frank Worrell, West Indian cricket player, dies. [1]
- March 17
- Frank Wisbar, director (Fireside Theater), dies at age 67. [1]
- Richard Reeves, actor (Murph - Date With an Angel), dies at age 54. [1]
- March 18
- Jimmy Blaine, singer ("Stop the Music"), dies at age 42. [1]
- March 20
- A J F Moody is first US Army General to die in Vietnam. [1]
- March 23
- Duncan Macrae, actor (Casino Royale, Kidnapped), dies at age 61. [1]
- March 27
- Gerardus H de Vet the Bold, bishop of Breda (1962-67), dies at age 49. [1]
- March 31
- Don Alvarado, actor (Morning Glory, Big Steal), dies at age 62. [1]
- April 4
- Mischa Elman, Ukraine/US violinist, dies at age 76. [1]
- April 13
- Luis Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua (1956-63), dies at age 44. [1]
- April 19
- Conrad Adenauer, West Germany chancellor (1949-63), dies at age 91. [1]
- April 21
- André L Danjon, French astronomer, dies at age 77. [1]
- April 22
- Tom Conway, actor (Mark Saber, Betty Hutton Show), dies at age 62. [1]
- April 24
- Frank Overton, actor (12 O'Clock High), dies at age 48. [1]
- Vladimir M Komarov, cosmonaut (Voshkod I), is first to die in space, aboard Soyuz 1 at age 40. [1]
- April 29
- Anthony Mann, US director (El Cid, Last Frontier), dies at age 60. [1]
- May 8
- Barbara Payton, actress (Dallas, Trapped, Bad Blonde), dies at age 39. [1]
- Elmer Rice, New York playwright/director/novelist, dies at age 74. [1]
- Laverne Andrews, singer (Andrews Sisters), dies at age 51. [1]
- May 9
- Elmar Berkovich, Dutch industrial designer (Eindhoven theater), dies. [1]
- May 13
- Frank McGrath, actor (Wagon Train), dies at age 64. [1]
- May 15
- Edward Hopper, US painter (House by Railroad), dies at age 84. [1]
- May 18
- Andy Clyde, Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick, dies at age 75. [1]
- Richard Ainley, actor (I Dood It, Above Suspicion), dies at age 56. [1]
- May 22
- Henry C Rümke, psychiatrist (Light of Man), dies at age 74. [1]
- May 23
- Philip Coolidge, actor (I Want to Live, Tingler), dies at age 58. [1]
- May 26
- Antoon Spinoy, Belgian politician, dies at age 60. [1]
- George E Stone, actor (5 Star Final, Front Page), dies at age 64. [1]
- May 30
- Claude Rains, actor (Invisible Man), dies at age 77. [1]
- June 2
- Zamah Cunningham, actress (Menosha the Magnificent), dies at age 74. [1]
- June 6
- Edward G Givens Jr, astronaut, dies in an auto accident at age 37. [1]
- June 26
- Francoise Dorléac, actress (That Man From Rio), dies at age 35. [1]
- June 29
- Actress Jayne Mansfield dies in a car crash at age 34. [1] [5]
- July 7
- Vivian Leigh, Scarlet in Gone With the Wind, dies at age 53. [1]
- July 21
- Actor Basil Rathbone of Johannesburg, South Africa, dies at age 75. [1]
- Jimmy Foxx, baseball hall of famer (Detroit Tigers/534 home runs), dies at 59. [1]
- July 22
- Carl Sandburg, poet (Abraham Lincoln: The Prarie Years), dies at age 89. [1]
- August 2
- Claude A Barnett, founded Associated Negro Press, dies at age 78. [1]
- August 24
- Amanda Randolph, actress (Danny Thomas, Amos n Andy), dies at age 65. [1]
- August 25
- George Lincoln Rockwell, head of American Nazi Party, assassinated. [1]
- August 27
- Brian Epstein, The Beatles' manager, dies. [1]
- September 1
- James Dunn, actor (Uncle Earl - It's a Great Life), dies at age 65. [1]
- September 19
- Martin Block, TV announcer (Chesterfield Supper Club), dies at age 64. [1]
- October 5
- Clifton C Williams Jr, astronaut, dies at age 35, in T-38 jet crash. [1]
- October 9
- Che Guevara executed in Bolivia. [1]
- October 21
- Ejnar Hertzsprung, Danish astrophysicist, dies at age 94. [1]
- November 1
- Benita Hume, actress (Vicky - The Halls of Ivy), dies at age 61. [1]
- November 9
- Death of American actor Charles Bickford (Playhouse 90, Ford TV Theater, The Virginian, Wagon Train, The Dick Powell Show) of a blood infection at age 75. [1] [457]
- December 2
- Cardinal Francis Spellman, archbishop of New York, dies at age 78. [1]
- First human heart transplant performed by Dr Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa. Louis Waskansky receives the heart of Denise Darvali in an operation taking six hours. (Waskansky dies of pneumonia 18 days later.) [55.33] (December 3 [1])
- December 3
- Fred Engelen, Flemish actor/director (Kritisch Theater), dies at age 54. [1]
- Manuel A Fraai Curaçao, author (Silly Agüero), dies at age 70. [1]
- December 4
- Bert Lahr [Irving Lahrheim], US comic (Wizard of Oz), dies at age 72. [1]
- December 7
- House Peters, silent film actor (Kansas Territory), dies at age 87. [1]
- December 8
- Robert H Lawrence, US Air Force/astronaut, dies at age 32. [1]
- December 10
- Otis Redding, singer ("Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay"), dies in plane crash at age 26. [1]
- Carl Cunningham, rocker (Bar-kays), killed in a plane crash. [1]
- Jimmy King, rocker (Bar-kays), dies in a plane crash. [1]
- Phalin Jones, rocker (Bar-kays), dies in plane crash. [1]
- Ron Caldwell, rocker (Bar-kays), dies in a plane crash. [1]
- December 11
- Howard Freeman, actor (Double Dynamite), dies after illness, in New York City, New York. [1]
- December 17
- Harold Holt, Australian premier (1966-67), drowns at age 59. [1]
- December 19
- Alfred Courtens, Belgian sculptor, dies at age 78. [1]
- December 21
- The first man to undergo a heart transplant (Louis Washkansky, age 55) dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days. [1] [5] (December 20 [55])
- Stuart Erwin, actor (Trouble With Father), dies of heart attack at age 64. [1]
- December 22
- Lee Krieger, actor (Clambake, One Way Wahini), dies at age 48. [1]
- December 23
- Karen Verne, actress (Ships of Fools, Underground), dies at age 49. [1]
- Ruth Fuller Sasaki, head of first Zen Institute of America, dies at age 75. [1]
- December 26
- S F Barnes, cricket player (27 Tests for England, 189 wickets), dies. [1]
- December 28
- Béla Schick, Hungarian/American children's physician (Scarlet Fever), dies at age 90. [1]
- December 29
- Paul Whiteman, US orchestra leader (Fabulous Dorseys), dies at age 77. [1]
- December 30
- Bert Berns, US songwriter/producer ("Twist and Shout"), dies at about age 38. [1]
- December 31
- Arthur Mailey, cricket player (10-66 and Australia versus Gloucestershire 1921), dies. [1]
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