Cyrus Eaton (1883-1979)
May 9 Canadian-American financier, industrialist and steel magnate, dies at 95
- May 9 Eddie Jefferson, American jazz vocalese singer and lyricist ("Moody's Mood for Love"), shot to death by a disgruntled former employee at 60
- May 9 Lan Adomian, Russian-born American composer, dies at 73
- May 10 John Cameron Andrieu Bingham Morton, satirist (Beachcomber), dies
- May 10 Louis Paul Boon, Belgian writer (Eros & the Lonely Man), dies at 67
- May 11 Barbara Hutton 'poor little rich girl', American heiress (Woolworth fortune), dies at 66
- May 11 Joan Chandler, American actress, dies at 55
- May 11 Lester Flatt, American bluegrass guitarist (Flatt & Scruggs - "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"; "Ballad of Jed Clampett"), dies at 64
- May 14 Paul van 't Veeer, Dutch journalist/writer (Vrije Volk), dies at 57
- May 15 Curtis Stevens, American bobsledder (Olympic gold 2-man [with brother Hubert] 1932), dies at 80
- May 16 A. Philip Randolph, American labor leader (Railroad Porter's Union), dies at 90
- May 17 Donyale Luna [Peggy Ann Freeman], American model and actress "the first Black supermodel", dies of a heroin overdose at 33 [1]
- May 21 (Richard Allen) "Blue" Mitchell, American jazz trumpeter (Horace Silver Quintet; Riverside; Blue Note), dies of cancer at 49
- May 23 Hubert van Doorne, auto manufacturer (DAF Trucks), dies at 79
- May 24 Jan Arvan, actor (Red Skelton Show, Zorro), dies
- May 25 John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer (b. 1949)
- May 26 George Brent, American actor (Baby Face, Dark Victory, 42nd St), dies at 75
- May 28 William Edmonson, American bass harmony and gospel vocalist (Southernaires), radio, stage and screen actor (Thirty Years Later), dies at 76
- May 29 John H. Wood, Jr., American federal judge (b. 1916)
Mary Pickford (1892-1979)
May 29 Canadian actress (Poor Little Rich Girl, Suds, Secrets), dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 87
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning