- January 17
- Gary Gilmore executed by firing squad in Utah, first US execution since 1967. [1] [57]
- January 18
- Death of Karl Zuckmayer in Visp, Switzerland; German/Swiss/American writer, Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1931), Des Teufels General (1946) and Das Kalte Licht (1955), won the Kleist Prize for Der fröhliche Weinberg (1923) and the Goethe Prize in 1952 for his collected works. [1] [37]
- Paul Nordoff, US composer (Frog Prince), dies at age 67. [1]
- Yvonne Printemps, actress (Paris Waltz, Voyage to America), dies at age 81. [1]
- January 19
- Geraldine Brooks, actress (Faraday and Co, Dumplings), dies at age 51. [1]
- January 25
- Donald Kerr, actor (Devil Bat, Killer Bats), dies at age 85. [1]
- January 26
- Margaret Hayes, actress (Robert Montgomery Presents), dies at age 61. [1]
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- January 27
- Walter Baldwin, actor (Gay Amigo), dies at age 88. [1]
- January 28
- Burt Mustin, actor (All in the Family, Andy Griffith Show), dies at age 92. [1]
- January 29
- E P "Buster" Nupen, cricket player (50 wickets for South Africa, lost eye), dies. [1]
- Death of Freddie Prinze at age 22, fatally shooting himself; comedian/actor (Chico and the Man). [1] [5] [457]
- February 1
- Edmond [Moore] Hamilton, American sci-fi author (Danger Planet), dies at age 72. [1]
- February 3
- Pauline Starke, actress (Dante's Inferno, Viking, Sun Up), dies at age 76. [1]
- February 9
- Denys Amiel, French dramatist/playwright (Le mouton noir), dies at age 92. [1]
- Death of Gaus, an orangutan who lived to be 59. [1]
- Sergei Ilyushin Russian, airplane builder (Ilyushin), dies at age 82. [1]
- February 11
- Louis J M Beel, Dutch premier (1946-48, 1958-59), dies at age 74. [1]
- February 13
- Jack Gardner, actor (Wild Bill Hickok, Three Russian Girls), dies at age 77. [1]
- February 17
- Quincy Howe, newscaster (CBS Weekend News), dies at age 76. [1]
- February 18
- Andy Devine AKA Jeremiah Schwartz, actor (Andy's Gang), dies at age 71. [1]
- Maria Realino, teacher (Botany of Curaçao), dies at age 87. [1]
- Ralph Graves, actor (Extra Girl), dies at age 77. [1]
- February 22
- Edith Barrett, actress (Molly and Me, Ghost Ship), dies at age 64. [1]
- Jack O'Connor, cricket player (batted in four Tests for England 1929-30), dies. [1]
- February 27
- Allison Hayes, actress (Attack of 50 Foot Woman), dies at age 47. [1]
- February 28
- Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, comedian (Jack Benny Show), dies at age 71. [1]
- March 3
- Percy Marmont, actor (Secret Agent, Lisbon), dies at age 93. [1]
- March 8
- Death of Henry Hull at age 86 in England; American character actor (74 movie roles, Werewolf of London, Boys Town, Wagon Train TV show, Restless Gun, Suspense, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Playhouse 90). [1] [457]
- March 9
- Death of Felix Oskar Schlag; sculptor (1938 US Jefferson nickel). [1831.53]
- March 10
- E Power Biggs, English organist/composer (CBS), dies at age 70. [1]
- Pieter Jan Bouman, Dutch sociologist/historian, dies at age 74. [1]
- Willem Schermerhorn, Dutch premier (1945-46), dies at age 82. [1]
- March 13
- Fanie Lou Hamer, freedom fighter, dies. [1]
- Jan Patocka, Czechoslovakian philosopher, dies in prison. [1]
- March 15
- Kamal Joemblat, Lebanese politician, is murdered. [1]
- March 18
- Marien Ngouabi, President of Congo-Brazzaville, is murdered. [1]
- March 27
- Diana Hyland, actress (Peyton Place, Eight is Enough), dies at age 41. [1]
- Eve Meyer [Turner], actress (Immoral Mr Teas), dies in a plane crash at age 46. [1]
- April 3
- Jack Ryder, cricket player (20 Tests for Australia, 1394 runs), dies. [1]
- April 5
- John Marriott dies at age 83. [1]
- April 8
- Frank Milan, actor (The Witness), dies at age 71. [1]
- April 11
- Jacques Prévert, French poet (La puil et le beau), dies at age 77. [1]
- April 12
- Philip K Wrigley, baseball owner (Chicago Cubs), dies at age 82. [1]
- April 17
- Death of Richard Brauer in Berlin, Germany; mathematician, taught at the University of Königsberg, the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan. [37]
- Marjorie Gateson, actress (One Man's Family), dies at age 86. [1]
- April 20
- Bryan Foy, director/writer, dies at age 80. [1]
- Len Johnson, cricket player (one Test for Australia, 3-66 and 3-8), dies. [1]
- April 21
- Gummo [Milton] Marx, US comic (Marx Brothers), dies at age 84. [1]
- April 22
- Charles Sanford, orchestra leader (Your Show of Shows), dies at age 71. [1]
- April 27
- Stanley Adams, actor (Lillies of the Field, Thunder Alley), dies at age 61. [1]
- April 28
- Ricardo Cortez, actor/director (Bad Company, Flesh), dies at age 87. [1]
- May 5
- Death of Ludwig Erhard at age 80 in Fürth, Germany; the "Father of the Economic Miracle", minister of Economic Affairs (1949), chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany (1963). [1] [37]
- May 9
- James Jones, US writer (Bad Blood, From Here to Eternity), dies at age 55. [1]
- May 10
- Joan Crawford, actress (Mildred Pierce), dies at age 69. [1]
- May 22
- Gijsbert van Hall, banker/mayor of Amsterdam (1957-67), dies at age 73. [1]
- Marius Monnikendam, Dutch choir composer, dies at age 80. [1]
- May 26
- Jim Boles, actor (Kraft Music Hall, One Man's Family), dies at age 63. [1]
- William Powell, rocker (O'Jays), dies of cancer at age 35. [1]
- May 30
- Death of Paul Desmond at age 52 of lung cancer; jazz saxophonist (Dave Brubeck Quartet). [1] [457]
- May 31
- Death of Ben Grauer of heart attack at age 68; American child actor, TV and radio announcer (NBC, 1932-73). [457]
- June 2
- Forrest Lewis, actor (Great Gildersleeve, Ichabod and Me), dies at age 77. [1]
- June 13
- Tom C Clark, former US Supreme Court Justice, dies in New York at age 77. [1]
- June 14
- Death of Alan Reed at age 69; actor (Mr Adams and Eve), voice actor (Falstaff Openshaw - Fred Allen's Alley radio show, Fred Flinstone - The Flintstones TV show). [1] [457]
- Death of Alan Mills at age 63 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; folksinger ("I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"), host (CBC Radio's Folk Songs For Young Folks). [457]
- Death of Robert Middleton AKA Samuel Messer at age 66 of congestive heart failure; actor (Barney - The Monroes TV show, The Honeymooners, Burke's Law, Rawhide, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Untouchables, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke). [1] [457]
- June 16
- German-born rocket engineer, Wernher von Braun dies in Alexandria, Virginia at age 65. Von Braun was the world leader in developing rocket technology, director of the experimental unit at Peenemünde where the V1 and V2 rockets were developed, worked for the U. S. Army in White Sands, New Mexico. [1] [37]
- June 20
- Abner Biberman, actor (Imhook - Kodiak), dies at age 68. [1]
- July 9
- Dr Loren Eiseley, professor of Anthropology (Animal Secrets), dies at age 69. [1]
- July 10
- Norman Paris, orchestra leader (For Your Pleasure), dies at age 41. [1]
- July 12
- Ed Holmes, actor (Growing Paynes, Once Upon a Tune), dies at age 66. [1]
- July 16
- Death of Marg Osburne at age 49; vocalist (Islanders). [457]
- July 26
- Death of Oskar Morgenstern in Princeton, New Jersey (born in Görlitz, Germany); economist, professor at University of Vienna, Princeton University and New York University, author of Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944). [37]
- July 30
- Terrorists murder the head of the Dresdener Bank, Jürgen Ponto. [37]
- July 31
- Stacy Moskowitz shot to death by Son of Sam, at age 20. [1]
- August 4
- Death of the Marxist philosopher, author (Das Prinzip Hoffnung) Ernst Bloch, in Stuttgart, Germany. [37]
- August 10
- Vince Barnett, actor (Star is Born, Human Jungle), dies at age 75. [1]
- August 16
- Death of Elvis Presley at age 42 of heart ailment at Graceland, in Memphis, Tennesee, USA; singer/actor ("Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog"). [1] [457]
- August 19
- Julius (Groucho) Marx, comedian (Marx Bros), dies in Los Angeles at age 86. [1]
- August 22
- Death of Sebastian Cabot at age 59 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; actor (Mr. French - Family Affair TV show, regular panelist on game show Stump the Stars, host of TV show Suspense). [1] [457]
- August 27
- Steve Dunne, actor (Professional Father), dies at age 59. [1]
- August 29
- Death of Jean Hagen at age 54 of throat cancer; actress (Margaret - Make Room for Daddy). [457]
- September 1
- Death of Ethel Waters at age 76; actress (Beulah) / singer ("Stormy Weather"). [1]
- September 2
- Death of Steve Dunne at age 59; actor (The Adventures of Sam Spade radio show, Professional Father TV show, The Brothers Brannigan, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Brady Bunch, The Millionaire, Lux Video Theatre). [457]
- September 10
- Hamida Djandoubi, convicted murderer, last to die in the guillotine. [1]
- September 12
- Steven Biko, South African black student leader, dies in police custody. [1]
- September 16
- Maria Callas, American-born prima donna, dies in Paris, France at age 53. [1]
- October 11
- Dr Mason Gross, professor (Think Fast, Two for the Money), dies at age 66. [1]
- October 14
- Death of Bing Crosby AKA Harry Lillis Crosby, of a heart attack while playing golf at a course near Madrid, Spain, at age 73; singer (The Bing Crosby Show, Hollywood Palace). [1] [457]
- October 18
- The convicted terrorist, Andreas Bader, is found shot in a prison cell. He had been one of the leaders of the Bader-Meinhoff terrorist group. [37]
- October 20
- A privately-chartered plane crashes in a swamp in Mississippi, killing three members of rock music group Lynyrd Skynyrd: lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines. [1] [457]
- November 5
- Guy Lombardo, orchestra leader ("Auld Lang Syne"), dies in Houston, Texas, at age 75. [1]
- November 8
- Bucky Harris dies on his 81st birthday in Bethesda, Maryland, USA; Major League Baseball player-manager for the Washington Senators in the 1920s. [56]
- November 18
- Death of Kurt von Schuschnigg in Riva del Garda, Italy. Von Schuschnigg was the Austrian chancellor at the time of the annexation by Germany (1938). [37]
- November 24
- Death of Richard Carlson at age 65 of a cerebral hemmorhage; actor (I Led Three Lives TV show, MacKenzie's Raiders TV show). [457]
- November 25
- Richard Carlson, actor (Colonel MacKenzie - MacKenzie's Raiders), dies at age 65. [1]
- November 28
- Death of Trevor Bardette at age 75; supporting actor (Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, Cheyenne, Clanton - Legend of Wyatt Earp). [1] [457]
- November 29
- George Hamilton Combs, TV host (Through the Curtain), dies at age 78. [1]
- December 1
- Paul Hardy, Belgian designer (Italian Country), dies at age 69. [1]
- December 4
- Leila Hyams, actress (Red Headed Woman, Freaks), dies at age 72. [1]
- December 7
- Paul Gibb, cricket player (England batsman, 8 Tests), dies. [1]
- December 12
- Clementine O Spencer-Churchill (Hozier), British barones, dies at age 92. [1]
- December 18
- Cyril Ritchard, actor (Peter Pan), dies at age 80. [1]
- Louis Untermeyer, poet/critic/TV panelist (What's My Line?), dies at age 92. [1]
- December 19
- Death of Nellie Davis Tayloe AKA Nellie Tayloe Ross at age 101 in Washington, DC; governor (Wyoming, 1925-1926), U.S. Mint director (1933-1952). [1835.46]
- Cyril Ritchard, American actor (Side By Side), dies at age 83 following heart attack during performance in Chicago on November 25 and subsequent coma. [467]
- December 25
- Charlie Chaplin, actor (Modern Times), dies in Switzerland at age 88. [1] [5]
- December 26
- Howard Hawks, director (Rio Lobo, Hatari!), dies at age 81. [1] [5]
- December 31
- Death of Nora Marlowe at age 62; actress (Sara - The Governor & JJ, The Waltons, Gunsmoke, Petticoat Junction, Family Affair, Disneyland). [1] [457]
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