- May 1 David Webster, South African white anti-apartheids activist, murdered
- May 1 Douglass Watson, American actor (Satan Murders, Another World), dies at 68
- May 1 Marion Mack, actress (General), dies
- May 1 Sally Kirkland, American fashion editor (Vogue magazine) and manager (Lord & Taylor), dies at 76
- May 2 Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic Cardinal (b. 1906)
- May 2 Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (b. 1902)
- May 3 Christine Jorgensen, 1st transsexual, dies at 62
- May 3 Muriel Ostriche, American silent film actress dies at 92
- May 3 Edward Ochab, Polish Communist politician (b. 1906)
- May 4 Evelle Jansen Younger, American prosecutor (Charles Manson, Sirhan Sirhan), dies at 70
- May 5 Frank Easton, cricket wicket-keeper (NSW 1933-39), dies
- May 9 Keith Whitley, American country music singer (Don't Close Your Eyes), dies of alcohol poisoning at 33
- May 10 Woody Shaw, American jazz musician (b. 1944)
- May 11 Jitka Snížková, Czech composer, music educator and musicologist, dies at 64
- May 12 Joe Valdez Caballero, creator of hard taco, shell, dies at 81
- May 12 Marcelle de Manziarly, French pianist and composer, dies at 89
- May 14 Joe Primeau, Canadian NHL center (Toronto Maple Leafs), dies at 83
- May 15 Johnny Green, American singer (Body and Soul) and film score composer who won 5 Academy Awards, dies at 80
- May 16 Hassan Khaled, sheik of Lebanon, murdered
- May 17 Dan Alderson, American scientist (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and sci-fi fandom figure, dies of diabetes at 47
- May 19 Abel Herzberg, Russian-Dutch Jewish lawyer (Eichmann in Jerusalem), dies at 95
- May 19 Robert Webber, American actor (12 Angry Men, Moonlighting, 79 Park Avenue), dies of Lou Gehrig's disease at 64
- May 19 CLR James, West Indian writer and journalist (b. 1901)
- May 20 Erzsébet Galgoczi, Hungarian writer, dies at 58
- May 20 Anton Diffring [Alfred Pollack], German character actor (Assignment Vienna), dies at 70
- May 20 Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (SNL, Haunted Honeymoon), dies of ovarian cancer at 42
- May 20 John R. Hicks, English economist (Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Sciences 1972), dies at 85
- May 22 Steven DeGroote, South African classical pianist (b. 1953)
- May 23 Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian theatre director (b. 1915)
- May 23 Lindembergue Cardoso, Brazilian composer, dies at 49
- May 24 Herwig Hensen [Flor Mielants], Flemish dramatist/poet, dies at 72
- May 26 Don Revie, English footballer and soccer manager (Leeds and England), dies at 61
- May 27 Jack Starrett, director/actor (Chase, Nightwish, 1st Blood), dies
- May 27 Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet (b. 1907)
- May 29 John Cipollina, American musician (Quicksilver Messenger Service), dies from a longterm illness at 45
- May 30 Zinka Milanov, Croatian soprano (Ljublama Opera 1927, NY Metropolitan Opera), dies of a stroke at 83
- May 30 Claude Pepper, American politician (Rep-D-FL, 1963-89), dies at 88
- May 31 C L R James, cricket writer (distinguished Trinidadian), dies
- May 31 Charles A Hufnagel, doc (artificial heart valve pioneer), dies at 72
- May 31 Terry Drinkwater, American CBS news correspondent, dies at 53 of cancer