- May 2 Brian Aherne, British actor (I Confess, Titanic, Juarez), born in King's Norton, Worcestershire, England (d. 1986)
- May 2 Erin O'Brien-Moore, American actress (Peyton Place, Our Little Girl), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1979)
- May 3 Alfred Kastler, French physicist (Nobel 1966 - Hertzian resonances within atoms), born in Guebwiller, Alsace, German Empire (d. 1984)
- May 3 Hugo Friedhofer, American composer, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1981)
- May 3 Jack La Rue, American actor and TV narrator (Lights Out, Mouthpiece, My Favorite Brunette), born in NYC, New York (d. 1984)
- May 3 Seton I. Miller, Hollywood screenwriter (Pete's Dragon, Istanbul), born in Chehalis, Washington (d. 1974)
- May 3 Walter Slezak, Austrian actor (Bedtime for Bonzo, Inspector General), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1983)
- May 4 (Nicolaas) "Cola" Debrot, Dutch lawyer, doctor.author and politician (Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, 1962-70), born in Kralendijk, Netherlands (d. 1981)
- May 4 Cvjetko Rihtman, Bosnian composer, born in Rijeka, Croatia (d. 1989)
- May 4 Rodney Meredith Thomas, English architect and painter, born in London (d. 1996)
- May 6 Harry Golden, Jewish-American journalist and writer (Only in America), born in Mikulintsy, Ukraine (d. 1981)
- May 6 Max Ophüls, German director (The Earrings of Madame de...), born in Saarbrücken, German Empire (d. 1957)
- May 6 Walter Dawson, British Air Chief marshal (d. 1994)
- May 8 Andre Michel Lwoff, French physiologist (1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries of genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis), born in Ainay-le-Château, France (d. 1994)
- May 8 Milford "Curly" Page, New Zealand cricket batsman & captain (14 Tests, 1 x 100, 2x 50, 5 wickets) and rugby union halfback (Canterbury RU), born in Lyttelton, New Zealand (d. 1987)
- May 10 Anatole Litvak, Russian-born American film director, writer and producer (Mayerling, Anastasia, The Snake Pit), born in Kiev, Russian Empire (d. 1974)
- May 10 David O Selznick, American Academy Award-winning producer (Gone With The Wind; Rebecca), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1965)
- May 10 Joachim Prinz, German-American Zionist leader, author and Rabbi of Berlin (1926-37), born in Bierdzany, Prussia (d. 1988)
- May 11 Kaarlo Sarkia, Finnish poet (Unen Kaivo)
- May 12 Heinrich Kirchner, German sculptor (d. 1984)
- May 15 Anny Ondra, Czech actress (Blackmail, Manxman), born in Tarnów, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1987)
- May 15 Richard J Daley, American politician (38th Mayor-Chicago-D:1955-76), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1976)
- May 16 Jan Kiepura, Polish vocalist and actor (Her Wonderful Lie; Give Us This Night), born in Sosnowiec, Poland (d. 1966)
- May 17 John Vincent, American composer, born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 1977)
- May 17 Maurice Kusell, American film choreographer (Puttin' On the Ritz), born in Champaign, Illinois (d. 1992)
- May 18 Meredith Willson, American composer for stage (The Music Man), and screen (The Great Dictator; Little Foxes), born in Mason City, Iowa (d. 1984)
- May 20 Hans Sahl, German American anti-Nazi Jewish writer, born in Dresden (d. 1993)
- May 21 Earl Averill, American Baseball HOF outfielder (6 × MLB All-Star 1933–1938; Cleveland Indians), born in Snohomish, Washington (d. 1983)
- May 21 Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer, born in Pécs, Hungary (d. 1981)
- May 22 Al Simmons, American Baseball HOF outfielder (career BA .334; 3 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1929, 30; AL batting champion 1930, 31; Philadelphia A's), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 1956)
- May 23 Mark Lothar, German composer (The Story of the Lazy Bear), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1985)
- May 25 Helvi Leiviskä, Finnish composer, born in Helsinki, Finland (d. 1982)
- May 27 Celius Dougherty, American pianist and composer, born in Glenwood, Minnesota (d. 1986)
- May 30 Seton Howard Frederick Lloyd, English Archaeologist (Arzawa civilization, Turkey)
- May 30 Stepin Fetchit [Lincoln Perry], American actor (Miracle in Harlem) 1st African American film star, born in Key West, Florida (d. 1985)
- May 31 Billy Mayerl, British pianist, music hall songwriter, and musical theatre composer, born in London (d. 1959)
- May 31 Henk Schaer [Hendricus Schaareman], Dutch actor (Majoor Barbara; Lijmen), born in Delft, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands (d. 1982)
- May 31 Ralph Wood, British composer, born in London, England (d. 1957)
About May 1902
How Old? 120 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: No