Deaths
January
- January 5 – Harold Urey, American physical chemist (b. 1893)
- January 10 – Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917)
- January 11 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
- January 16 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
- January 23 – Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- January 25 – Adele Astaire, American dancer and entertainer (b. 1896)
February
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- February 9 – Bill Haley, American rock and roll music pioneer (b. 1925)
- February 18 – Ibrahim Abdel Hady Pasha, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1896)
- February 26 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
March
- March 1 – Roberto Francisco Chiari Remon, 31st President of Panama (b. 1905)
- March 4 – Torin Thatcher, British actor (b. 1905)
- March 9 – Max Delbrück, German-American biophysicist (b. 1906)
- March 22 – John S. McCain Jr., United States Navy admiral (b. 1911)
April
May
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- May 3 – Nargis, Indian actress (b. 1929)
- May 11 – Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1945)
- May 18 – Arthur O'Connell, American actor, acting on stage, film and television (b. 1908)
- May 28 – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1901)
- May 29 – Soong Ching-ling, Chinese political figure and spouse of Sun Yat-sen (d. 1893)
- May 30 – Sven Andersson, Swedish footballer (b. 1907)
- May 30 – Ziaur Rahman, President of Bangladesh (b. 1936)
- May 31 – Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian footballer (b. 1923)
- May 31 – Giuseppe Pella, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1902)
June
- June 9 – Allen Ludden, American game show host (b. 1917)
- June 23 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1907)
- June 28 – Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)
July
- July 3 – Ross Martin, Polish-born American radio, stage, film and television actor (b. 1920)
- July 7 – Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi, President of South Yemen (b. 1920)
- July 27 – William Wyler, French-American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1902)
- July 29 – Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)
August
- August 1 – Paddy Chayefsky, American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (b. 1923)
- August 4 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
- August 28 – Béla Guttmann, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1899)
- August 30 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, President of Iran (b. 1933)
- August 30 – Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1933)
- August 30 – Vera-Ellen, American actress (b. 1921)
September
- September 1 – Albert Speer, German architect (b. 1905)
- September 8 – Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian guru (b. 1897)
- September 23 – Chief Dan George, Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (b. 1899)
- September 27 – Robert Montgomery, American actor (b. 1904)
- September 28 – Rómulo Betancourt, 47th & 54th President of Venezuela (b. 1908)
- September 29 – Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)
October
- October 5 - Gloria Grahame, American actress (b. 1923)
- October 6 – Anwar Sadat, 3rd President of Egypt (b. 1918)
- October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
- October 19 – Dan Coe, Romanian footballer (b. 1941)
- October 24 - Edith Head, American costume designer (b. 1897)
November
- November 5 – Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa (b. 1924)
- November 7 – Will Durant, American historian, philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
- November 12 – William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
- November 25 - Jack Albertson, American actor, singer, comedian, musician, and dancer (b. 1907)
- November 29 – Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)
December
- December 8 – Ferruccio Parri, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1890)
