Celebrity Deaths in 1981
115 notable figures died in 1981. Listed below in order of date of death.
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Kozo Ota
1889 – 1981 · Educators, Leader -
Adele Astaire Douglass
1897 – 1981 · Entertainers Jan 1 -
Archibald Joseph “A.J.” Cronin
1896 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Jan 1 -
Fawn McKay Brodie
1915 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Jan 1 -
Marie Eline
1902 – 1981 · Actresses Jan 1 -
Matthew “Stymie” Beard, Jr
1925 – 1981 · Actors Jan 1 -
Robert Elmer Callahan
1892 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Jan 1 -
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Roman Andrejewich Rudenko
1907 – 1981 · Crime Fighters and Lawyers Jan 1 -
Richard Boone
1917 – 1981 · Actors Jan 10 -
Isobel Elsom
1893 – 1981 · Actresses Jan 12 -
Mack Gray
1905 – 1981 · Actors Jan 17 -
Wanda Hendrix
1928 – 1981 · Actresses Feb 1 -
Louise Lorraine
1904 – 1981 · Actresses Feb 2 -
Michael Maltese
1908 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Feb 22 -
Matty Malneck
1903 – 1981 · Musicians and Composers Feb 25 -
Alois Lecoque
1891 – 1981 · Artists and Architects Mar 3 -
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Alvin Gittins
1922 – 1981 · Artists and Architects Mar 3 -
Enid Bagnold
1889 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Mar 3 -
Jon Gnagy
1907 – 1981 · Actors Mar 3 -
Leonard Cecil “Len” Grosvenor
1905 – 1981 · Native Americans Mar 3 -
Ray Allen Billington
1903 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Mar 3 -
Yip Harburg
1896 – 1981 · Musicians and Composers, Song Writers Mar 5 -
René Clair
1898 – 1981 · Authors and Writers, Director, Film Director Mar 15 -
Tampa Red
1904 – 1981 · Musicians and Composers Mar 19 -
James Mitose
1916 – 1981 · Criminals, Eccentrics and Oddities Mar 26 -
DeWitt Wallace
1889 – 1981 · Business Magnates Mar 30 -
Flo Bert
1898 – 1981 · Actresses Apr 4 -
Jim Davis
1909 – 1981 · Actors Apr 4 -
Mabel Trunnelle
1879 – 1981 · Actresses Apr 4 -
Norman Taurog
1899 – 1981 · Director, Film Director Apr 7 -
Marie Ney
1895 – 1981 · Actresses Apr 11 -
Joe Louis
1914 – 1981 · Boxers Apr 12 -
Alice Lon
1926 – 1981 · Entertainers, Singer Apr 24 -
Madge Evans
1909 – 1981 · Actresses, Model Apr 26 -
John Aspinwall Roosevelt
1916 – 1981 · Politicians Apr 27 -
David Wechsler
1896 – 1981 · Scientists and Inventors May 2 -
Nargis
1929 – 1981 · Celebrities, Politicians May 3 -
Bobby Sands
1954 – 1981 · Criminals, Eccentrics and Oddities May 5 -
Margaret Lindsay
1910 – 1981 · Actresses May 5 -
Nelson Algren
1909 – 1981 · Authors and Writers May 5 -
Paul Eliot Green
1894 – 1981 · Native Americans May 5 -
Reiko Sato
1931 – 1981 · Actresses May 5 -
Richard Hale
1892 – 1981 · Actors May 5 -
Bob Marley
1945 – 1981 · Musicians and Composers May 11 -
Ron Ormond
1910 – 1981 · Director, Film Director May 11 -
Hugo Friedhofer
1901 – 1981 · Musicians and Composers May 17 -
George Jessel
1898 – 1981 · Actors May 23 -
Jack Warner
1895 – 1981 · Actors May 24 -
Soong Ching-ling
1893 – 1981 · Politicians May 29 -
Arturo Ballester Marco
1892 – 1981 · Artists and Architects Jun 6 -
Kid Cann
1900 – 1981 · Criminals, Eccentrics and Oddities Jun 6 -
Martin Garralaga
1894 – 1981 · Actors Jun 6 -
Rosl Mayr
1895 – 1981 · Actresses Jun 6 -
Zarah Leander
1907 – 1981 · Actresses Jun 6 -
Allen Ludden
1917 – 1981 · Entertainers Jun 9 -
Russell Hayden
1912 – 1981 · Actors Jun 9 -
Jenny Maxwell
1941 – 1981 · Actresses, Victims of crime and disaster Jun 10 -
Evalyn Knapp
1906 – 1981 · Actresses Jun 12 -
Don Megowan
1922 – 1981 · Actors Jun 26 -
Peter Kreuder
1905 – 1981 · Musicians and Composers Jun 28 -
George Voskovec
1905 – 1981 · Actors Jul 1 -
Ross Martin
1920 – 1981 · Actors Jul 3 -
Arthur T. Barry
1896 – 1981 · Criminals, Eccentrics and Oddities Jul 7 -
Dan Daniel
1890 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Jul 7 -
Edwin W. Pauley
1903 – 1981 · Business Magnates Jul 7 -
Keefe B. Brasselle
1923 – 1981 · Actors Jul 7 -
Mercedes Prendes
1908 – 1981 · Actresses Jul 7 -
Peace Pilgrim
1908 – 1981 · Social Reformers Jul 7 -
Will Hudson
1908 – 1981 · Musicians and Composers Jul 16 -
William Wyler
1902 – 1981 · Actors Jul 27 -
Stanley Rother
1935 – 1981 · Victims of crime and disaster Jul 28 -
Paddy Chayefsky
1923 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Aug 1 -
Melvyn Douglas
1901 – 1981 · Actors Aug 4 -
Joan Edwards
1919 – 1981 · Actresses Aug 8 -
Shirley Grey
1902 – 1981 · Actresses Aug 8 -
Jessie Matthews
1907 – 1981 · Actresses, Singer Aug 19 -
Rolf Herricht
1927 – 1981 · Actors Aug 23 -
Mohammad-Ali Rajai
1933 – 1981 · Politicians Aug 30 -
Vera Ellen
1921 – 1981 · Actresses Aug 30 -
Ann Harding
1902 – 1981 · Actresses Sep 1 -
Ella Hall
1896 – 1981 · Actresses Sep 3 -
Maria Palmer
1917 – 1981 · Actresses Sep 6 -
Roy Wilkins
1901 – 1981 · American journalist, Social Reformers Sep 8 -
Christy Brown
1932 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Sep 9 -
Ella A. Hall
1897 – 1981 · Actresses Sep 9 -
Sylvia Picker
1912 – 1981 · Actresses Sep 9 -
Frank McHugh
1898 – 1981 · Actors Sep 11 -
Eugenio Montale
1896 – 1981 · Politicians Sep 12 -
Harold Bennett
1899 – 1981 · Actors Sep 15 -
Sara Haden
1899 – 1981 · Actresses Sep 15 -
Chief Dan George
1899 – 1981 · Actors, Authors and Writers Sep 23 -
Patsy Kelly
1910 – 1981 · Actresses Sep 24 -
Robert Montgomery
1904 – 1981 · Actors Sep 27 -
Gloria Grahame
1923 – 1981 · Actresses Oct 5 -
Anwar Sadat
1918 – 1981 · Politicians Oct 6 -
Antonio Berni
1905 – 1981 · Artists and Architects Oct 10 -
Dorothy Dare
1911 – 1981 · Actresses Oct 10 -
Frank DeKova
1910 – 1981 · Actors Oct 10 -
Mary Coyle Chase
1906 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Oct 10 -
Stanley C. Clements
1926 – 1981 · Actors Oct 10 -
Moshe Dayan
1915 – 1981 · Politicians Oct 16 -
Stanley Clements
1926 – 1981 · Actors, Comedian Oct 16 -
Edith Head
1897 – 1981 · Designer Oct 24 -
Tina Harmon
1969 – 1981 · Victims of crime and disaster Oct 29 -
James Scott Kemper
1886 – 1981 Nov 11 -
Natalie Wood
1938 – 1981 · Actresses Nov 11 -
William Holden
1918 – 1981 · Actors Nov 12 -
Jack Albertson
1907 – 1981 · Actors Nov 25 -
Lotte Lenya
1898 – 1981 · Actresses, Singer Nov 27 -
Estrid Ericson
1894 – 1981 Dec 12 -
Evangeline Benson Hemming
1903 – 1981 · Actresses Dec 12 -
Natalia Pavlovna Wilson Paley
1905 – 1981 · Actresses Dec 12 -
Nathaniel Benchley
1915 – 1981 · Authors and Writers Dec 12 -
Noel Drayton
1913 – 1981 · Actors Dec 12 -
Allan Dwan
1885 – 1981 · Director, Film Director Dec 28