- Jan 13 Edna Purviance, American actress (Charlie Chaplin, Sunnyside), dies at 61
- Jan 13 Jesse L. Lasky, U.S. film producer (b. 1880)
- Feb 7 Walter Kingsford, British actor (Carefree, My Favorite Blonde), dies at 76
- Feb 10 Billy Vine, actor (54th Street Revue), dies at 42
- Feb 20 Thurston Hall, American actor (Roaming Lady; In Society), dies at 75
- Mar 8 Josephina "Frieda" Herberich, German actress (Salontiroler), dies at 85
- Apr 4 Johnny Stompanato, American organized crime figure and abusive partner of actress Lana Turner, stabbed to death by her teenage daughter in self-defense at 32
- Apr 15 Estelle Taylor, American actress, dies at 64
- Apr 25 Herman Hickman, American College Football Hall of Fame guard, coach and broadcaster (Army, Yale), dies at 46
- May 9 Bill Goodwin, American television announcer (Burns & Allen), dies at 47
Ronald Colman
May 19 Ronald Colman, British actor (Lost Horizon, The Prisoner of Zenda, Phantom Shot), dies at 67
- May 27 Ainslie Pryor, actor (Adventures of Hiram Holiday), dies at 46
Robert Donat
Jun 9 Robert Donat, English actor (Citadel, Goodbye Mr Chips, 39 Steps), dies at 53
- Jun 27 Robert Greig, Australian actor (Sullivan's Travels, Horse Feathers), dies at 78
- Jul 7 Raymond Hackett, American husband of Blanche Sweet and actor (Faithless Lover), dies at 55
- Jul 18 John Gobau, Flemish actor (Electricity, Hostage Rights, The Cross-Patch), dies at 67
- Jul 20 Franklin Pangborn, American actor (My Best Gal, Hats Off, Easy Living), dies at 69
- Jul 29 Charles O'Malley, actor in silent westerns (Iron Horse), dies at 61
- Aug 16 Paul Panzer, German-American silent film actor (The Perils of Pauline, Mildred Pierce, Hotel Berlin), dies at 85
- Sep 26 Carl Brisson, Danish actor (Ship Cafe, Ring, Song of Soho, Murder at the Vanities), dies of jaundice at 64
- Oct 12 Ed Hinton, actor (Henderson-I Lived 3 Lives), dies at 30
- Oct 12 Gordon Griffith, American actor (first actor to portray Tarzan on film) and director, dies at 51
- Oct 15 John Hamilton, American actor (The Adventures of Superman - "Perry White"), dies of heart failure at 71
- Oct 24 Esther Delterne, Flemish actress/revue-artists, dies at 81
- Nov 3 Harry Revel, American film score composer (Sitting Pretty, Gay Divorcee), dies
- Nov 15 Tyrone Power, American actor (The Mark of Zorro; Nightmare Alley), dies of a heart attack at 44
- Dec 1 Patricia "Boots" Mallory, American dancer and actress (Handle With Care), dies from chronic throat disease at 45
- Dec 13 Brand Dirck Ochse, Dutch filmmaker and co-founder (Polygoon), dies at 66
- Dec 13 Tim Moore, American actor (Amos 'n' Andy), dies at 71
- Dec 21 H. B. Warner, British actor (Sunset Boulevard, The King of Kings), dies at 83