- May 1 Leo Spies, Russian-born German composer, dies at 65
- May 1 Spike Jones [Lindley Armstrong Jones], American bandleader (Der Fueher's Face, Cocktails For Two), dies from emphysema at 53
- May 3 Howard Spring, British author (Heaven Lies About Us), dies at 76
- May 3 Otto Forst de Battaglia, Austrian diplomat and genealogist, dies at 75
- May 4 Norman Brokenshire, TV moderator (Four Square Court), dies at 66
- May 8 H T W Hardinge, cricketer (scored 25 & 5 in only Test for England), dies
- May 9 Leopold Figl, Austrian politician (13th Chancellor of Austria), dies at 62
- May 10 Hubertus J van Mook, Dutch min of Colonization (1942-45), dies at 70
- May 11 Roger Vailland, French author, dies at 57
- May 12 Roger Vailland, French playwright (La Truite), dies at 57
- May 14 Frances Perkins, American politician and 1st woman to hold cabinet-level position (Labor 1933-45), dies at 83
- May 15 Adrian Schoevers, Dutch director (Schoevers Institution), dies
- May 18 Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis, Dutch historian of science (biography of Archimedes), dies at 72
- May 19 Maria Dabrowska, Polish writer (Znaki Zycia), dies
- May 21 Geoffrey de Havilland, British aircraft designer, dies at 82
- May 22 Bobby Watson, American comedian (Hitler Gang, Boys Town), dies at 77
- May 22 Heinrich Barth, Swiss philosopher (Das Sein in der Zeit), dies
- May 22 Christopher Stone, first disc jockey in the United Kingdom (b. 1882)
- May 23 David Smith, sculptor, dies
- May 23 Earl Webb, American baseball outfielder (MLB Record: 67 doubles, single season 1931; Boston Red Sox), dies at 67
- May 25 Sonny Boy Williamson II [Aleck Miller], American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, dies at 65