- Jan 30 Herb Pennock, pitcher (NY Yankees)/GM (Phillies), dies
- Feb 2 Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (Olympic gold 400m 1920), dies at 53
- Feb 10 Ewart Astill, England cricket all-rounder (9 Tests, Leicestershire), dies at 59
- Feb 14 Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1907, 08; NL wins leader 1909; MLB ERA leader 1906; Chicago Cubs), dies at 71
- Feb 19 Bob Groom, American baseball pitcher (Washington Senators; no-hitter 1917 St. Louis Browns), dies at 63
- Mar 5 Charles Prince, cricketer (5 & 1 in only Test for South Africa), dies
- Apr 17 Percy Sherwell, South African cricket wicketkeeper and captain (13 Tests, 1 x 100, 36 dismissals; Transvaal), dies at 67
- Jun 8 Sammy Carter, Australian cricket wicketkeeper (28 Tests, 65 dismissals), dies at 70
- Jul 1 Achille Varzi, Italian auto racer (14 Grand Prix wins), dies in practise crash at 43
- Jul 3 Quintin McMillan, South African cricket spin bowler (13 Tests, 36 wickets), dies at 44
- Jul 8 Dave Nourse, South African cricket all-rounder (45 Tests, 1 x 100, 41 wickets; Natal, Transvaal, Western Province), dies at 69
- Jul 8 George Mehnert, American wrestler (Olympic gold flyweight 1904, bantamweight 1908), dies at 66
- Jul 26 Charles Mills, South African cricketer (Test v England 1891-92), dies
- Jul 27 Woolf Barnato, British financier and racing driver, dies at 52
- Jul 27 Joe Tinker, American professional baseball player and manager, dies at 68
- Aug 3 Tommy Ryan, American boxer (World Welterweight, Middleweight champion), dies at 78
- Aug 6 Cyril Walker, English golfer (US Open 1924), dies of pleural pneumonia at 55
Babe Ruth
Aug 16 Babe Ruth, American Baseball Hall of Fame slugger (MLB All-Star 1933, 34; 7 x World Series champion; 12 × AL home run leader 1918–21, 23-24, 1926–31), dies of Nasopharynx cancer at 53
- Sep 11 Albert Powell, cricketer (one Test South Africa v England 1898-99), dies
- Oct 16 Henry Foley, cricketer (one Test for NZ, scored 2 & 2), dies at 42
- Nov 23 (Lewis) "Hack" Wilson, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder, 1923-34, MLB single season record 191 RBI (1930) (Chicago Cubs and 3 other teams), dies of internal haemorrhaging at 48
- Dec 9 Sir Timothy O'Brien, cricketer (Bart 5 Tests England 1884-96), dies
- Dec 20 Ladha Ramji, cricketer (bro of Amar Singh, Test Ind 1933-34), dies
- Dec 31 Malcolm Campbell, British motor racer (world land and water speed record holder), dies of a stroke at 63