- 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 AKA Moon Doggy at age 42 in a hospital in Palm Springs, California, USA; radio disc jockey (WJW Radio in Cleveland, WABC in New York), coined the phrase "rock 'n' roll". [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
- Tich Freeman, cricket player (3776 FC wickets leg-spin, 304 in 1928), dies. [1]
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- January 29
- Death of John Larkin at age 52 of a heart attack; actor (Perry Mason on radio, (Mike Karr - The Edge of Night TV show (1956-1961), Saints and Sinners, 12 O'Clock High). [1] [457]
- 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
- Death of Nat "King" Cole AKA Nathaniel Adams Cole at age 45 of lung cancer; singer/pianist ("Straighten Up and Fly Right", "Mona Lisa", "Too Young", "Unforgettable", "Pretend", "Ballerina", "Ramblin' Rose", "The Christmas Song", "Mona Lisa"). [1] [457]
- 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 22
- Death of Felix Frankfurter in Washington, D.C.; co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (1920), Supreme Court justice (1939-1962), recipient of the Medal of Freedom (1963). [37]
- February 23
- Death of Stan Laurel at age 74 of a heart attack in California, USA; US film comedian (Laurel and Hardy). [1] [457]
- 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 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]
- 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
- Death of Alan Bunce at age 61; actor (Albert - Ethel and Albert radio and TV show). [1] [457]
- Death of Edward R Murrow of lung cancer at age 57; CBS journalist and news executive (Person to Person). [1] [457]
- 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
- Death of Spike (Lindley Armstrong) Jones at age 53 from emphysema; band leader and drummer ("Cocktails for Two", "Der Fuhrer's Face", "You Always Hurt the One You Love", "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth", The Spike Jones Show TV Show). [1] [5] [457]
- 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 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 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 7
- Death of Judy Holliday AKA Judith Tuvim of breast cancer at age 43; actress ("dumb" blonde in many movies, Ed Sullivan Show Goodyear Playhouse, Ford Theatre Hour, The Arthur Murray Party, The Perry Como Show, Person to Person, The Name's the Same, The Steve Allen Show, What's My Line). [1] [457]
- June 13
- Death of Martin Buber in Jerusalem, Israel; Jewish religious philosopher, author (Ich und Du 1923), editor (Der Jude 1916-1924), teacher of Jewish adult education in Germany. [37]
- 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]
- August 25
- Death of Amelia zur Helle Thyssen in Puchhof, Bavaria; head of the Thyssen steel company, largest in Europe. [37]
- September 4
- Death of Albert Schweitzer in Lambarene, Gabon, Africa (born 1875); philosopher (doctorate 1899), theologian (doctorate 1900), musician, humanitarian (medicine doctorate 1913), author (Kulturphilosophie, 1923), won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1952. [1] [5] [37]
- September 8
- Death of Hermann Staudinger in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany; won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1953 for work on polymers. [37]
- September 22
- Death of Othmar Herman Ammann in Rye, New York, USA; bridge engineer (Queensboro bridge, Hell Gate Bridge, George Washington Bridge in New York City; Lincoln Tunnel, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco; chief engineer of the Port of New York Authority (1930-37), New York director of engineering (1937-39)). [37]
- September 27
- Harry Reser, orchestra leader (Sammy Kaye Show), dies at age 69. [1]
- October 3
- Death of Zachary Scott at age 51 of a malignant brain tumor; actor (Spotlight Playhouse). [1] [457]
- October 12
- Death of Paul Hermann Müller in Basel, Switzerland. chemist (1948 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the chemical DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)). [37]
- 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 10
- Henry (Dixon) Cowell, US pianist/composer (Aeolian Harp), dies at age 68. [1]
- December 12
- Death of Johnny Lee at age 67 of a heart attack; actor (Algonguin J. Calhoun (Amos 'n' Andy radio and TV series). [1] [457]
- 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 22
- Al Ritz, actor (Gorilla, Hi Ya Chum), dies at age 62. [1]
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