- Jan 1 Michèle Mercier, French actress (Angelique, Marquise des Anges.), born in Nice, France
- Jan 1 Phil Read, English motorcycle racer (World C'ship 125cc 1968, 250cc 1964-65, 68, 71 & 500 cc 1973-74; Formula TT 1977), born in Luton, England (d. 2022)
Jim Bakker (84 years old)
Jan 2 American televangelist (Assemblies of God, The PTL Club) and convicted fraud, born in Muskegon, Michigan
- Jan 3 (Gwendolyn) Dianne Brooks, American R&B, jazz, session and touring vocalist (Three Playmates - "Sugah Wooga"; solo - "Walking On My Mind"; Anne Murray), born in New Jersey (d. 2005)
Bobby Hull (1939-2023)
Jan 3 Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame left wing (Stanley Cup 1961 Chicago Black Hawks; 3 x Art Ross Trophy; 2 x Hart Memorial Trophy; Winnipeg Jets), born in Pointe Anne, Ontario
- Jan 3 Janice Crosio, Australian politician
- Jan 3 Nikos Alefantos, Greek soccer midfielder and manager (Olympiacos), born in Edessa, Greece (d. 2020)
- Jan 4 Jens Jørgen Hansen, Danish soccer right back (40 caps; Esbjerg fB), born in Struer, Denmark (d. 2022)
- Jan 4 Jon Appleton, American electronic and electro-acoustic music composer, educator, and co-developer of the Synclavier, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2022)
- Jan 5 Bridget Parker, British equestrian 3 day event (Olympic gold 1972)
- Jan 5 Peter Struycken, Dutch artist, born in The Hague, Netherlands
- Jan 6 Murray Rose, Australian Olympic swimmer (4x oly gold), born in Birmingham, United Kingdom (d. 2012)
- Jan 7 Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, born in Rome, Kingdom of Italy
- Jan 7 Romualdo Arppi Filho, Brazilian football referee (FIFA-listed 1963–89; FIFA World Cup Final 1986), born in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil (d. 2023)
- Jan 7 Tom Kiernan, Irish rugby union fullback (54 caps [captain 24]; British & Irish Lions 5 [captain 1968]; Munster RUFC), born in Cork, Ireland (d. 2022)
- Jan 8 Bob Talamini, American football guard (Super Bowl 1968 NY Jets; 3 × First-team All-AFL; 6 × AFL All-Star; Houston Oilers), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 2022)
- Jan 9 Susannah York, English actress (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Superman), born in London, England
- Jan 10 Bill Toomey, American decathlete (Olympic gold 1968), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Jan 10 David Horowitz, American author & political commentator, born in NYC, New York
- Jan 10 Davie Wilson, Scottish soccer forward (22 caps; Rangers, Dundee United) and manager (Dumbarton), born in Cambuslang, Scotland (d. 2022)
- Jan 10 Jared Carter, American poet, born in Elwood, Indiana
- Jan 10 Sal Mineo, American actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause), born in NYC, New York (d. 1976)
- Jan 10 Scott McKenzie, American singer (San Francisco), born in Jacksonville Beach, Florida (d. 2012)
- Jan 10 William Levy, American writer, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2019)
- Jan 11 Anne Heggtveit, Canadian alpine skier (Olympic gold 1960), born in Ottawa, Ontario
- Jan 12 Helmut Eisendle, Austrian writer, born in Graz, Austria (d. 2003)
- Jan 12 Jacques Hamelink, Dutch writer & poet (Cold Unrest), born in Terneuzen, Netherlands
- Jan 13 Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach
- Jan 14 Fred Arbanas, American football tight end (All-AFL 1962–67; Super Bowl 1970; Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2021)
- Jan 15 Christopher Steel, British composer ("Changing Moods"; "The Morning Stars Sang Together"), born in London (d. 1992)
- Jan 15 Tony Bullimore, British yachtsman (1997 solo around-the-world yacht race, dramatic rescue), born in Southend-on-Sea, England (d. 2018) [1]
- Jan 16 Ramon "Ray" Philips, Welsh rock singer (Nashville Teens - "Tobacco Road"), born in Tiger Bay, South Wales
- Jan 17 Antao D'Souza, Pakistani cricket medium pace bowler (6 Tests, 17 wickets; Karachi, Peshawar), born in Nagoa, Goa, India
- Jan 17 Maury Povich, TV host (Current Affair, Maury)/Mr Connie Chung
- Jan 17 Toini Gustafson, Swedish cross country skier (Olympic gold 5k/10k 1968), born in Suomussalmi, Finland
- Jan 18 Bernard Glassman, American Zen Buddhist roshi (Zen Center of NY), born in Brighton Beach, New York
Phil Everly (1939-2014)
Jan 19 American rock and roll singer-guitarist (The Everly Brothers - "Bye, Bye Love"; "Wake Up Little Susie"; "When WIll I Be Loved"), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Jan 20 Murle Breer, American golfer (US Women's Open 1962), born in St. Petersburg, Florida
- Jan 20 Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan-born British mathematician & astronomer, born in Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Jan 20 Paul Coverdell, American politician, born in Des Moines, Iowa (d. 2000)
- Jan 21 Friedel Lutz, German soccer full-back (12 caps West Germany; Eintracht Frankfurt e.V.), born in Bad Vilbel, Gau Hesse-Nassau, Germany (d. 2023)
- Jan 21 Mary Ellen McAnally, American poet (Dance of the Zygotes), born in Vandalia, Illinois
- Jan 22 J.C. Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey defenseman (Stanley Cup x 5 Montreal Canadiens; 7 x NHL All Star), born in Bagotville, Quebec (d. 1994)
- Jan 22 Jeff Smith, American chef (d. 2004)
- Jan 22 Luigi Simoni, Italian soccer midfielder (Napoli, Torino, Juventus, Brescia, Genoa) and manager (UEFA Cup 1998, Inter; Genoa, Torino, Napoli), born in Crevalcore, Italy (d. 2020)
- Jan 22 Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba [Sadaho Maeda], Japanese martial artist and actor (The Street Fighter; Kill Bill: Volume 1), born in Fukuoka, Japan (d. 2021)
- Jan 23 Ray Elliott, Irish rock and jazz saxophonist, flutist, and keyboard player (Them), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland (d. 1993)
- Jan 24 Ray Stevens [Ragsdale], American country, pop, and novelty singer-songwriter ("Ahab the Arab"; "Everything Is Beautiful"; "The Streak"), born in Clarkdale, Georgia
- Jan 25 Angela Thorne, British stage and screen actress (To The Manor Born; Three Up, Two Down), born in Karachi, British India (now Pakistan)
- Jan 25 Gabriel Romanus, Swedish politician, born in Helsingborg, Sweden
- Jan 26 Marshall Leib [Leibovitz], American pop singer (Teddy Bears - "To Know Him Is To Love Him"), and record producer, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2002)
- Jan 27 Mike Hill, American golfer (3 PGA; PGA 18 Senior titles), born in Jackson, Michigan
- Jan 27 N R Bomford, head master (Harrow School)
- Jan 27 Tigran Yegiayi Mansuryan, composer
- Jan 28 John M Fabian, Goosecreek Tx, Col USAF/astronaut (STS 7, STS 51G)
- Jan 29 Germaine Greer, Australian feminist and author (Female Eunuch), born in Melbourne, Victoria
- Jan 30 Frank Wolf, American politician (Rep-R-VA, 1981-2015), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Jan 31 Claude Gauthier, Canadian folk singer-songwriter, and actor, born in Lac-Saguay, Quebec
- Jan 31 Johnny Egan, American basketball point guard (Detroit Pistons, NY Knicks, Baltimore Bullets, LA Lakers, SD/Houston Rockets) and coach (Houston Rockets 1973-76), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 2022)
About January 1939
How Old? 84 years old
Generation: Silent Generation
Leap Year: No