- Jan 4 Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (Academy Award, Going My Way), dies at 72
- Jan 13 Blanche Ring, American singer ("In The Good Old Summer Time"), and stage and screen actress, dies at 89
- Jan 14 Ernest Thesiger, English actor (Brass Monkey, Ghoul), dies at 81
- Feb 3 Anna May Wong, American actress, 1st Chinese American movie star (Gallery of Mme Lui-Tsang), dies at 56
- Feb 8 William Duncan, Scottish actor (Hopalong Rides Again, Thunder Trail), dies at 81
- Feb 11 Eduard R Verkade, Dutch actor and director (Pygmalion), dies at 82
- Feb 14 Wallis Clark, British-American stage and screen actor (Penny Serenade; Great Guy; Postal Inspector; Easy Money), dies at 78
- Feb 15 Jack Whiting, American actor and singer (Marge & Gower Champion Show), dies at 59
- Feb 17 Nita Naldi [Anita Donna Dooley], American stage and silent film actress (Blood & Sand; Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde), dies of a heart attack at 66
- Mar 6 George Formby, British singer and comedian, dies at 56
- Mar 6 Kjeld Abell, Danish playwright and director (Tivoli), dies at 59
- Mar 10 Esperanza Baur, Mexican film actress, and John Wayne's second wife, dies of a heart attack at 40
- Mar 12 Belinda Lee, English actress (Joseph & his Brethren), dies in car crash at 25
- Apr 2 August Defresne, Dutch playwright and director (Anno Christi 969), dies at 67
- Apr 10 Irene Warfield, silent screen actress (Satan Sanderson), dies at 65
- Apr 12 Philippine "Pine" Belder [Mary de Klerk], actress, dies at 93
- Apr 24 Lee Moran, American actor (Circus Clown), dies of heart ailment at 72 (b. 1888)
- May 4 Anita Stewart, American silent film actress (South of Hell Mountain), producer, and mystery novelist,, dies of heart attack at 66
Gary Cooper
May 13 Gary Cooper, American 2 time Academy award-winning actor (High Noon), dies at 60
- May 18 Henry O'Neill, American actor (Lady Killer, Nothing But Trouble), dies
- May 22 Joan Davis, American actress (I Married Joan), dies of heart attack at 53
- Jun 2 Peter H "Paul" Huf, actor and director (Dutch Comedy), dies at 70
- Jun 17 Jeff Chandler [Ira Grossel], American actor (Broken Arrow), dies as a result of medical malpractice at 42
- Jun 22 Betty Elder, actress (Annie Get Your Gun), dies
- Jun 27 Paul Guilfoyle, American actor and director (White Heat, Cyrano de Bergerac), dies of a heart attack at 58
- Jul 4 William Franklin "Frank" Smith, American actor (Cowboy & Bandit, Scarlet Car, Frontier Days), dies of lung cancer at 83
- Jul 8 Julián Bautista, Spanish orchestral and film score composer, and conductor, dies at 60
- Jul 9 Alan Marshal, Australian actor (Lydia, Irene, Exile Express), dies from a heart attack at 52
- Jul 16 [Louise] Sophie M E de Vries, actress (English Prof), dies at 88
- Jul 18 Kit Guard, Danish actor (El Diablo Rides, Kid Courageous), dies of cancer at 67
- Jul 23 Esther Dale, American actress (Curly Top; The Egg and I; Ma and Pa Kettle films), dies after surgery at 75
- Aug 5 Eva JC Beck, actress (Elckerlyc, Resurrection), dies at 63
- Aug 8 Charlie Gemora, actor (who portrayed King Kong), dies at 58
- Aug 11 Antanas Škėma, Lithuanian writer actor and director (b. 1910)
- Aug 13 Adeline De Walt Reynolds, American actress (Son of Dracula), dies at 78
- Aug 27 Gail Russell, American actress (The Uninvited, Moonrise, Unseen), dies from complications of alcohol abuse at 36 [1]
- Aug 30 Charles Coburn, American actor (Around the World in 80 Days, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), dies at 84
- Sep 10 Leo Carrillo, American actor (American Empire, Cisco Kid), dies at 80
- Sep 22 Marion Davies, American actress (Not So Dumb, 5 & 10) and mistress of William Randolph Hearst, dies of cancer at 64
- Sep 23 Billy House, American actor (Imitation of Life; Bedlam; The Egg and I), dies at 71
- Sep 25 Frank Fay, American vaudeville comedian and actor (God's Gift to Women), dies at 69
- Sep 26 Eily Malyon, actress (Jane Eyre, I Married a Witch), dies at 81
- Sep 26 Juanita Hansen, actress (Fast Company), dies of heart ailment at 67
- Sep 28 Michael Shepley, British actor (Squibs, Dick & the Duchess), dies at 54
- Oct 1 Donald Cook, American actor (Too Young To Go Steady), dies at 60
- Oct 11 Leonard "Chico" Marx, comedian (Marx Brothers), dies at 74
- Oct 13 Maya Deren (born Eleanora Derenkowskaia) American filmmaker dies of a brain hemorrhage aged 44
- Oct 13 Zoltan Korda, Hungarian-British film director (Jungle Book, 4 Feathers), dies at 66
- Oct 18 Tsuru Aoki, Japanese-born American silent film actress (The Dragon Painter) dies at 69
- Nov 1 Joan McCracken, American stage and screen actress, dancer and comedienne (Oklahoma!; Claudia: Story of a Marriage), dies of a heart attack at 43
- Nov 2 James Thurber, American humorist (The Male Animal), dies at 66
- Nov 13 Fredrik J "Frits" Bakker Jr, Dutch actor (Unknown Woman), dies at 63
- Nov 13 Wally Brown, American actor (Jed Fame-Cimarron City), dies at 57
- Nov 15 Douglas Walton, actor (Bad Lands), dies of heart attack at 51
- Nov 15 Elsie Ferguson, American actress (Footlights, Scarlet Pages), dies at 78
- Nov 24 Ruth Chatterton, actress (Female, Dodsworth), dies after illness at 67
- Dec 3 Mary Charleson, Irish-American silent film actress (Upstairs And Down), dies at 71
- Dec 30 Jacobus "Ko" van den Bosch, Dutch actor (Amsterdamned)/dir, dies at 53