- Jan 1 Julia Phillips, American film producer, dies at 57
- Jan 2 Margaret "Bibi" Osterwald, American actress (As Good as It Gets, Bridget Loves Bernie), dies of lung disease at 83
- Jan 2 Armi Aavikko, Finnish beauty queen (Miss Finland, 1977), and pop singer, dies at 43
- Jan 2 Zac Foley, English rock bassist (EMF "Unbelievable"), dies at 31
- Jan 3 Juan García Esquivel, Mexican band leader (b. 1918)
- Jan 3 Freddy Heineken, Dutch beer brewer (Heineken), dies at 78
- Jan 3 Al Smith, American baseball outfielder and third baseman (3-time MLB All Star; Cleveland Indians), dies at 73
- Jan 6 Fred Taylor, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster (Ohio State University 1959-76; MLB Washington Senators 1950-52), dies at 77
- Jan 7 Avery Schreiber, American comedian and actor (My Mother the Car), dies at 66
- Jan 7 Jon Lee, Welsh drummer (Feeder) takes his own life at 33
- Jan 8 Alexander Prochorow, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (b. 1916)
- Jan 8 Dave Thomas, American businessman who founded Wendy's Restaurants, dies at 69
- Jan 10 W.A. Criswell, American (Baptist) preacher (b. 1909)
- Jan 10 John Buscema, American comics artist (Conan the Barbarian), dies at 74
- Jan 11 Henri Verneuil, French-Armenian playwright and film director (Mélodie en sous-sol), dies at 81
- Jan 11 Struan Sutherland, Australian medical researcher (b. 1936)
- Jan 11 (Charles) Gene Dinwiddie, American blues saxophonist (Paul Butterfield Blues Band), dies at 65
- Jan 11 George Jinda, Hungarian-American smooth jazz and world music percussionist (Special EFX), dies from multiple medical condition complications at 41
- Jan 12 Stanley Unwin, South African comedian (b. 1911)
- Jan 12 Cyrus Vance, 57th U.S. Secretary of State (1977-80), dies at 84
- Jan 12 Edward Staempfli, Swiss pianist, conductor, and composer, dies at 93
- Jan 13 Ted Demme, American film director, dies at 38
- Jan 13 Gregorio Fuentes, Cuban fisherman, reputed model for Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (b. 1897)
- Jan 13 Frank Shuster, Canadian comedian (Wayne and Shuster), dies at 85
- Jan 13 Kurt Brüggemann, German composer, conductor, and music educator, dies at 93
- Jan 15 Steve Gromek, American baseball player (b. 1920)
- Jan 16 Robert Hanbury Brown, British-Australian astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
- Jan 16 Michael Bilandic, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
- Jan 16 Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
- Jan 16 Eddie Meduza, Swedish composer (b. 1948)
- Jan 16 Ron Taylor, American actor (b. 1952)
- Jan 17 Bishop Karas, Sudanese-born American religious leader (b. 1955)
- Jan 17 Camilo Jose Cela, Spanish writer, (Nobel Prize laureate 1989), dies at 85
- Jan 17 Queenie Leonard, American actress (b. 1905)
- Jan 17 Héctor Tosar, Uruguayan pianist and composer, dies at 78
- Jan 18 Alex Hannum, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach (1st ABA, NBA winning coach), dies at 78
- Jan 20 Carrie Hamilton, American actress (Fame), dies at 38
- Jan 20 Henry Cosby, American songwriter, musician and producer for Motown ("Tears of a Clown"), dies at 73
- Jan 20 Ivan Karabits, Ukrainian composer, conductor, and educator, dies at 57
Peggy Lee
Jan 21 Peggy Lee [Norma Delores Egstrom], American singer ("Fever"; "Is That All There Is?"), songwriter ("Mañana"), and actress (Pete Kelly's Blues; Lady and the Tramp), dies of a heart attack at 81
- Jan 22 Stanley Marcus, American business executive (b. 1905)
- Jan 22 Peter Bardens, English musician (Camel), dies of cancer at 56
- Jan 22 Sheldon Allman, American-Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter (Nevada Smith, Harris Against the World), dies at 77
- Jan 22 Kenneth Armitage, English sculptor, dies at 85
- Jan 22 John Shea, American 500m/1500m speed skater (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 91
- Jan 23 Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist and anthropologist, dies at 71
- Jan 23 Paul Aars, American racecar driver (b. 1934)
- Jan 23 Robert Nozick, American philosopher (Anarchy, State, and Utopia), dies at 63
- Jan 23 Igor Kipnis, American harpsichordist, pianist, conductor, and educatordies of renal cancer at 71
- Jan 24 Elie Hobeika, Lebanese Forces militia commander (b. 1956)
- Jan 24 Peter Gzowski, Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter (b. 1934)
- Jan 24 Kurt Schaffenberger, American comics artist (Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane), dies at 81
- Jan 25 Winston Place, English cricketer (England opener in West Indies 1948), dies at 87
- Jan 28 Astrid Lindgren, Swedish children book author (Pippi Longstocking), dies at 94
- Jan 29 Dick 'Night Train' Lane, American Pro Football HOF cornerback (7 x Pro Bowl; 7 x First-team All-Pro; LA Rams, Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions), dies at 74
- Jan 29 Harold Russell, Canadian actor (Best Years of Our Life, Dogtown), dies from a heart attack at 88
- Jan 29 James Marjoribanks, British ambassador to the European Economic Community, dies at 90
- Jan 30 Ingeborg "Inge" Morath, Austrian born Magnum photographer and wife of Arthur Miller
- Jan 30 Louis Salica, American flyweight boxer (Olympic bronze 1932), dies at 89
- Jan 30 Carlo Karges, German guitarist and songwriter (Nena - "99 Luftballons"), dies of liver failure at 50
- Jan 30 Ellis Larkins, American classically trained (1st Black student at Peabody Institute) jazz pianist (Ruby Braff), and accompanist (Ella Fitzgerald; Eartha Kitt, Mildred Bailey), dies at 79
- Jan 31 Francis Gabreski, American fighter pilot (b. 1919)
- Jan 31 Henry Kloss, American audio engineer (acoustic loudspeaker), dies at 73