- Jan 1 Malcolm Campbell, English cyclist (world speed-record), dies at 63
Victor Fleming
Jan 6 Victor Fleming, American film director (The Wizard of Oz, Gone With Wind), dies at 65
Victor Fleming
- Jan 9 Amilcare Zanella, composer, dies at 75
- Jan 10 Erich von Drygalski, German geographer, geophysicist, and polar scientist (b. 1865)
- Jan 14 Joaquín Turina, Spanish pianist/conductor/composer (Rima), dies at 66
- Jan 15 Pompeo Aloisi, Italian baron, diplomat and senator, dies at 63
- Jan 18 Charles Ponzi [Carlo], Italian con-man (Ponzi scheme in the US), dies at 66
- Jan 20 Joseph Cuypers, architect Dutch (Amsterdam Stock Exchange), dies at 87
- Jan 22 William Thomas Walsh, American author (Isabella of Spain), dies at 57
- Jan 25 Emil Axman, Czech composer, dies at 61
- Jan 25 Makino Nobuaki, Japanese statesman (b. 1861)
- Jan 27 Boris Asafiev, composer, dies at 64
- Jan 28 Gustaf Lazarus Nordqvist, composer, dies at 62
- Jan 31 Henri de Vries [Hendricus Van Walterop], Dutch actor (Cleopatra, White Cargo), dies at 84
- Feb 1 Herbert Stothart, American composer, dies at 63
- Feb 5 Juozas Tallat-Kelpsa, composer, dies at 50
- Feb 8 Franco Leoni, composer, dies at 81
- Feb 8 Leonid Alexeyevich Polovinkin, Russian composer, dies at 54
- Feb 9 Poul Schierbeck, Danish organist and composer, dies at 60
- Feb 12 Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
- Feb 14 Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi-Assyrian communist leader (b. 1901)
- Feb 18 Niceto A Zamora y Torres, premier of Spain (1931-36), dies at 71
- Feb 19 Auguste Jean Maria Charles Serieyx, composer, dies at 83
- Feb 21 Ernest Walker, composer, dies at 78
- Feb 22 Russell Porter, actor (Betsy, Hanna's War, British Empire), dies
- Feb 28 Stanley Marchant, English composer, dies at 65
- Mar 2 Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter and poet, dies at 70
- Mar 7 Francis Dodd, English artist (b. 1874)
- Mar 10 James Rector, American athlete (b. 1884)
- Mar 11 Juan Lamonte de Grignon, composer, dies at 76
- Mar 12 Maria "Beppie" Bakker, Dutch actress/wife of Piet Vink Sr, dies at 95
- Mar 13 Henri Giraud, French general (b. 1879)
- Mar 14 John Callan O'Laughlin, American political and military figure and journalist (b. 1873)
- Mar 17 Felix Bressart, German actor (Ninotchka, Escape, Crossroads), dies from Leukemia at 57
- Mar 17 Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (b. 1882)
- Mar 25 Hanns A Rauter, German SS-commandant in Netherland, executed at 54
- Mar 28 Grigoras Dinicu, Romanian violin virtuoso and composer, dies at 59
- Mar 30 Dattaram Hindlekar, Indian cricketer (4 Tests for India), dies at 40
- Mar 30 Friedrich Bergius, German chemist (benzine from brown coal, Nobel 1931), dies at 64
- Apr 3 Basil Harwood, English composer, dies at 89
- Apr 6 Stanley Christopherson, cricketer (1884, MCC President during WWII), dies
- Apr 6 Seymour Hicks, British actor and theatrical impresario (Scrooge), dies at 78
- Apr 13 C V France, British actor (The Skin Game, Adventure in Blackmail), dies at 80
- Apr 14 Joseph A Cushman, US paleontologist, dies at 68
Wallace Beery
Apr 15 Wallace Beery, American circus performer (Ringling Brothers Circus) and actor (Alias a Gentleman, Dinner at 8), dies from a heart attack at 64
Wallace Beery
- Apr 16 Sutan Ibrahim gelor Datuk Tan Malaka, Indon communist, executed at 54
- Apr 18 Leonard Bloomfield, linguist/philosopher, dies
- Apr 18 Will Hay [William Thomson Hay], British comedian, actor and amateur astronomer, dies from a stroke at 60
- Apr 19 Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (b. 1877)
- Apr 19 Stephen Samuel Wise, American Rabbi and President of Zionist Org of America, dies at 75
- Apr 25 Jankel Adler, Polish painter and printmaker, dies at 53
- Apr 28 Aurora Quezon, First Lady of the Philippines (shot) (b. 1888)
- May 6 A L Ochse, cricketer (10 wickets in 3 Tests for South Africa 1927-29), dies
Maurice Maeterlinck
May 6 Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian philosopher (Nobel 1911), dies at 86
Maurice Maeterlinck
- May 9 Louis II [Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi], Prince of Monaco, dies at 78
- May 11 Adrianus PHA de Kleyn, throat/nose/otologist (ear doctor), dies at 65
- May 16 William Newzam Prior Nicholson, painter/engraver, dies
- May 18 James T Adams, US historian (Pulitzer 1921)
- May 20 Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)
- May 21 Klaus Mann, German writer, dies at 42
- May 22 Hans Erich Pfitzner, Russian/German composer, dies at 80
- May 22 Klaus H T Mann, German/US writer (Turning Point), dies
- May 24 Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
- May 25 Simon H Spoor, intelligence officer/general (WWII), dies at 47
- May 27 Ropert L Ripley, cartoonist (Believe It or Not), dies at 55 in NY
- Jun 2 Dynam-Victor Fumet, French composer, dies at 82
- Jun 3 Amedos Peter Giannine, founder of Bank of America dies at 79
Amadeo Giannini
Jun 3 Amadeo Giannini, American banker and entrepreneur (founded Bank of America), dies at 79
Amadeo Giannini
- Jun 10 Sigrid Undset, Norwegian writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
- Jun 11 Koci Xoxe, Albanian vice-premier, executed
- Jun 11 Oton Zupanic, Slavs poet (Zimzelen pod snegom), dies at 71
- Jun 19 Syed Zafarul Hasan, Indian-Pakistani Prominent Muslim philosopher, dies at 64
- Jun 25 Buck Freeman, baseball player (b. 1871)
- Jun 26 Kim Gu, President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (1939-48), dies at 72
- Jun 29 Walter Giffen, cricketer (brother of George, 3 Tests), dies
- Jul 1 Louis Davids [Simon David], cabaret artist, dies at 65
- Jul 2 Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgaria premier (1946-49), dies at 67
- Jul 7 Bunk Johnson, American musician (b. 1879 or 1889)
- Jul 8 Antun Sa'ada, Syrian rightwing politician, executed in Lebanon
- Jul 8 Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli, Italian composer, dies at 66
- Jul 9 Fritz Bennicke Hart, composer, dies at 75
- Jul 12 Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland (b. 1860)
- Jul 14 Frank Hearne, cricketer (2 Tests for England, 4 Tests for South Africa), dies
- Jul 16 Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian philosopher, playwright and poet, dies at 83
- Jul 18 Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer (b. 1870)
- Aug 9 Harry Davenport, American actor and director (Her Unborn Child, My Sin), dies at 83
- Aug 9 Edward Thorndike, American psychologist (father of modern educational psychology), dies at 74
- Aug 11 Karl Weigl, Austrian-American composer, dies at 68
- Aug 14 Husni al-Barazi, premier of Syria, shot to death
- Aug 14 Husni el-Zaim, president/dictator of Syria, shot to death
Margaret Mitchell
Aug 16 Margaret Mitchell, American writer (Gone With the Wind), dies at 48
Margaret Mitchell
- Aug 17 Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino jurist & politician (b. 1891)
- Aug 18 Paul J Mares, US jazz trumpetist/composer (Tin Roof Blues), dies at 49
- Aug 21 Gerhard von Keussler, German composer, dies at 75
- Aug 26 Nico van Suchtelen, Dutch writer and publisher, dies at 70
- Aug 27 Arthur Chesney, actor (Lodger, Chelsea Life), dies at 67
- Aug 30 Arthur Fielder, English cricket fast bowler (6 Tests 1903-08), dies at 72
- Aug 31 Andre Debierne, French chemist/physicist (actinium), dies
- Aug 31 Paul Hoffer, German composer, dies at 53
- Sep 7 José Clemente Orozco, Mexican painter (b. 1883)
- Sep 8 Richard Strauss, German composer (Also sprach Zarathustra), dies at 85
- Sep 11 Henri Rabaud, French composer/conductor (L'ete), dies at 75
August Krogh
Sep 13 August Krogh, Danish zoophysiologist, dies at 75
August Krogh
- Sep 18 Frank Morgan, American actor (The Wizard of Oz), dies at 59
- Sep 19 Will Cuppy, American humorist (The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody), dies at 65
- Sep 19 George Shiels, Irish dramatist (b. 1886)
- Sep 20 Nikolaos Skalkottas, composer, dies at 45
- Sep 20 Richard Dix, American actor (10 Commandments, Cimarron, The Ghost Ship), dies from a heart attack at 56
- Sep 22 Sam Wood, American communist fighter and director (For Whom the Bell Tolls), dies at 66
- Sep 24 Pierre de Bréville, French composer, author and professor (Une histoire du théâtre lyrique en France), dies at 88
- Oct 1 Oswald Garrison Villard, American journalist and editor of the New York Evening Post, dies at 77
- Oct 4 Edmund Eysler, Austrian composer, dies at 75
- Oct 6 Robert Lynd, Irish writer and critic (News Chronicle), dies at 70
- Oct 9 Viktor Alexandrovich Uspensky, composer, dies at 70
- Oct 16 Hale A. VanderCook, American composer, dies at 85
- Oct 24 Joaquin Nin y Castellanos, composer, dies at 70
- Oct 27 Marcel Cerdan, French boxer (b. 1916)
- Oct 27 Ginette Neveu, French violinist (b. 1919)
- Oct 29 G. I. Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic (b. 1872)
- Oct 31 Edward Stettinius Jr. 48th US Secretary of State (1944-45) and diplomat, dies at 49
- Nov 1 Leslie Gay, cricket wicket-keeper/goalkeeper (England in 1890's), dies
- Nov 2 Jerome F. Donovan, American politician (b. 1872)
- Nov 3 Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and art collector (Guggenheim Museum New York), dies at 88
- Nov 8 Cyriel Verschaeve, Belgian clergyman (b. 1874)
- Nov 12 Hendrik A de Fish, [Henri Pauwels], Flemish philological, dies at 64
- Nov 14 Matsudaira Tsuneo, Japanese diplomat, dies at 72
- Nov 19 James Ensor, Flemish painter/etcher (Oestereetster), dies at 89
- Nov 23 Gustav Radbruch, German Min of Justice, dies
Bill Robinson
Nov 25 Bill Robinson "Bojangles" American famed tap dancer (The Little Colonel, Stormy Weather), dies at 71
Bill Robinson
Lead Belly
Dec 6 Lead Belly, [Huddie William Ledbetter], blues singer, dies at 64
Lead Belly
- Dec 10 Duncan Stewart, 2nd British Governor of Sarawak (1949), dies at 45 after being fatally stabbed in the streets of Sibu by pro-Indonesian Malay student Rosli Dhoby
- Dec 16 Traitsjo Kostov, Bulgarian communist vice-premier, executed
- Dec 16 Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (Ben Hur), dies at 76
- Dec 17 David Stanley Smith, American composer (Merrymount), dies at 72
- Dec 28 Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (Olympic gold 1,500m 1936), dies in rail accident at 39
- Dec 28 W Hervey Allen, US writer/poet (Anthony Adverse), dies at 60