- 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, fashion editor at LIFE (b. 1912)
- 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 wicketkeeper (NSW 1933-39), dies
- May 6 Guy Williams [Armando Joseph Catalano], American actor (Zorro, Lost in Space), dies of a brain aneurysm at 65
- May 9 Keith Whitley, country singer (Don't Close Your Eyes), dies at 33
- May 10 Woody Shaw, American jazz musician (b. 1944)
- 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 15 John Waldo Green, composer, dies at 80
- May 15 Johnny Green, American songwriter (b. 1908)
- May 16 Hassan Khaled, sheik of Lebanon, murdered
- May 19 Able J Herzberg, Russ/Neth lawyer (Eichmann in Jerusalem), dies
- May 19 E Galgoczi, writer, dies
- 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 Anton Diffring [Alfred Pollack], German character actor (Assignment Vienna), dies at 70
- May 20 Gilda Radner, comedienne (SNL, Haunted Honeymoon), dies at 42
- May 20 John R Hicks, English economist (Nobel 1972), dies
- May 22 Steven DeGroote, South African classical pianist (b. 1953)
- May 23 Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian theatre director (b. 1915)
- 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 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, CBS news correspondent, dies at 53 of cancer