The following is a list of notable deaths in January 1981.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
January 1981
1 Neville Coleman, 50, English footballer. Frank Elsass, 67, American cornetist and conductor.Conductor Dies Oumarou Ganda, 45, Nigerien actor and film director. Ceferino Garcia, 74, Filipino-American boxer.Ceferino Garcia, Former Boxing Champion, 77 Albert Henry, 74, Cook Islands politician, prime minister (1965–1978), heart attack.Former Cook Islands PM dies at 73 Manuel de Irujo, 89, Spanish politician.Veteran Basque nationalist leader Manuel de Irujo, a Republican... Marjory Jarman, 79, English scouting leader, complications from surgery. Kathleen Le Messurier, 82, Australian tennis player. David Littmann, 74, American cardiologist. Hephzibah Menuhin, 60, American-Australian pianist and human rights activist.HEPHZIBAH MENUIN, SISTER OF VIOLINIST Kazimierz Michałowski, 79, Polish archaeologist.Kazimierz Michalowski Mauri Rose, 74, American racing driver.Mauri Rose Sir John Stacey, 56, British RAF commander.Obituary for Sir John Stacey Matt Vaniel, 61, American basketball player.VANIEL Carl Vitz, 97, American librarian and author. Wang Shanyuan, 73, Chinese microbiologist.
2 John P. Bethell, 73, American politician, member of the Arkansas House of Representatives (1949–1972). Victor Carin, 47, Scottish actor and translator, pancreatic cancer.A Special Kind of Courage Arthur W. Carpenter, 89, American rubber chemist. Bud Green, 83, Austrian-born American lyricist ("That's My Weakness Now", "Alabamy Bound"). William S. McEllroy, 87, American tennis player and physician.W.S. McEllroy, ex-dean of medical school at Pitt William Schiøpffe, 54, Danish jazz drummer. Richard Watts Jr., 82, American theatre critic and journalist, cardiac arrest.RICHARD WATTS, DRAMA CRITIC AT TRIBUNE AND POST
3 Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, 97, British royal, last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria.PRINCESS ALICE, AT LONDON HOME: A GRANDCHILD OF QUEEN VICTORIA Peter Bennie, 81, Scottish footballer.BENNIE Marie Eline, 78, American silent actress Karl Evang, 78, Norwegian physician and civil servant. Lou Fette, 73, American baseball player, heart attack.Lou Fette Edith Marguerite Harrington, 87, English secretary, grandmother of Queen Camilla. Felton Jarvis, 46, American record producer, stroke.Charles F. Jarvis, 46, Producer Of Elvis Presley Records, Dead Josef Lainck, 73, German businessman and concentration camp survivor. Marvin Opler, 66, American anthropologist. Alfred Proksch, 89, Austrian politician. Margaret Bartlett Thornton, 79, American aviator and poet. Khadijeh Afzal Vaziri, 91, Iranian women's rights activist.
4 Walter Bötcher, 82, German politician and jurist. Kenneth Carey, 87, American Olympic sailor (1932). Morrie Church, 58, New Zealand rugby coach. Aage Thor Falkanger Sr., 78, Norwegian judge. Bruno Fortichiari, 88, Italian politician Sterling B. Hendricks, 78, American agriculturalist. Ruth Lowe, 66, Canadian pianist and songwriter ("I'll Never Smile Again"), cancer.RUTH LOWE SANDLER Doy Reed, 85, Australian footballer. Doris Schroeder, 87, American screenwriter. Gordon Charles Steele, 89, English naval captain. Mildred F. Taylor, 75, American politician, member of the New York State Assembly (1947–1960).Mildred Frick Taylor, 75, Served In Assembly From 1946 to 1960
5 Elyse Aehle, 86, American violinist and conductor. Lomer Brisson, 64, Canadian politician, MP (1949–1958).Deces Jana Černá, 52, Czech poet and writer, traffic collision. Sir Neill Cooper-Key, 73, British politician, MP (1945–1970). Lanza del Vasto, 79, Italian poet and activist.Murio Lanza del Vasto Joe Dolhon, 53, American basketball player, traffic collision.JOE DOLHON Walter Feistritzer, 60, Austrian ice hockey player. Johnnella Frazer Jackson, 84, American academic and musician.Mrs. Johnnella F. Jackson, composed VSU alma mater Sir James Martin, 87, British engineer (Martin-Baker).Sir James Martin Knut Nordholm, 78, Swedish Olympic fencer (1936). Frederick Osborn, 91, American general and eugenicist.FREDERICK OSBORN, A GENERAL, 91, DIES Guy Paquinet, 77, French jazz trombonist. Norm Standlee, 61, American football player.NORM STANDLEE,62, STAR OF A STANFORD BACKFIELD Ahmad Toukan, 77, Jordanian politician, prime minister (1970).Ahmed Toukan, 78, Ex-Premier; Led Jordan During '70 Crackdown Harold Urey, 87, American chemist, Nobel Prize recipient (1934), heart attack.HAROLD UREY, SCIENTEST, DIES AT 87; WAR FOE'S WORK LED TO H-BOMB Fritz Walter, 80, German football executive. Leopold Wohlrab, 68, Austrian Olympic handball player (1936).
6 Bert Avery, 73, Australian footballer. Ernestine Bowes-Lyon, 89, Scottish noble. A. J. Cronin, 84, Scottish novelis (The Citadel, The Stars Look Down, The Keys of the Kingdom).A.J. CRONIN, AUTHOR OF 'CITADEL' AND 'KEYS OF THE KINGDOM,' DIES Edward Arunah Dunlop Jr., 61, Canadian politician, esophageal cancer.Edward Arunah Dunlop -- war hero, publisher Tom Litterick, 51, British politician, MP (1974–1979).Death of MP Tom Litterick Leo J. Martin, 59, American Olympic bobsledder (1948). Larry Neal, 43, American poet and academic, heart attack.LAWRENCE NEAL, POET, DEAD AT 42; INFLUENCED BLACK ARTS IN THE 60'S Viljo Pousi, 62, Finnish politician, MP (1966–1970). Wesley Powell, 65, American politician, governor of New Hampshire (1959–1963).WESLEY POWELL, AN EX-GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, IS DEAD AT 65 Cassy Ryan, 75, American football player. Fred Stiely, 79, American baseball player. Ladislav Štoll, 78, Czech politician. Antonio Suárez, 48, Spanish racing cyclist.
7 José Ardévol, 69, Cuban composer. Brigitte Bodenheimer, 68, German-American jurist.Brigitte M. Bodenheimer Obituary Antonio Castro Leal, 84, Mexican diplomat and politician.Postrer homenaje al literato Castro Leal Dorothy Detzer, 87, American peace activist.Dorothy Detzer Denny, Noted Pacifist, Dies at 87 Joan Elan, 52, English actress. Clarence I. Evenson, 90, American politician, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (1959–1963). William Feather, 91, American publisher and writer.William Feather Charles W. Fisher, 84, American politician, member of the California State Assembly (1931–1937). Bagio Gavinelli, 82, Italian racing cyclist. Leo Gerner, 68, Liechtensteiner politician. Alvar Lidell, 72, English radio announcer and newsreader, cancer.ALVAR LIDELL, WARTIME ANNOUNCER Chink Martin, 94, American jazz musician. Sir Wilfred Morton, 74–75, Scottish civil servant.MORTON John Pascal, 48, American playwright (George M!) and screenwriter, lung cancer.JOHN R. PASCAL, 48; NEWSMAN AND WRITER OF BROADWAY MUSICAL Jan Przecherka, 58, Polish footballer. Eric Robinson, 51, Australian politician, MP (since 1972), heart attack.Former minister dies after heart attack Andrew Denny Rodgers, III, 80, American botanist. Irv Stein, 69, American baseball player. Hugh M. Tiner, 72, American academic administrator. Florence Walton, 90–91, American vaudeville performer.
8 Stymie Beard, 56, American actor (Our Gang), pneumonia.Mathew (Stymie) Beard, Actor; Was One of 'The Little Rascals' Woodrow Chambliss, 66, American actor (Gunsmoke), colon cancer. Réal Chevrefils, 48, Canadian ice hockey player.Real Chevrefils dead at 48, he saw both top and bottom John H. Collins, 78, American classical scholar. Balfour Currie, 78, Canadian meteorologist.Former U of S physicist dies Shigeru Egami, 68, Japanese karate master. Sharif El-Far, 52, Egyptian footballer. Reg Evenden, 61, Australian footballer. Moritz Jagendorf, 92, Austrian-American folklorist.Moritz Jagendorf, Folklorist, 92, Who Wrote Stories for Children Mortimer von Kessel, 87, German general. Alexander Kotov, 67, Soviet chess grandmaster.Alexander Kotov Donald Lehman, 47, American murder victim, shot. Margarete Markl, 78, Austrian sculptor. Walter M. Nielsen, 80, American physicist. Jessie Rindom, 77, Danish actress. Philip H. Ross, 75, American naval admiral. Karel Schummelketel, 83, Dutch Olympic equestrian (1932). Sergio Varetto, 43, Italian Olympic sports shooter (1960), hepatitis.
9 Donald H. Bochkay, 64, American flying ace. Ronald Brittain, 81, British soldier, voiceover artist and actor.Maj. Brittain; Voice Of British Army Tommy Byrnes, 57, American basketball player.BYRNES Norm Campbell, 61, Australian footballer. Sammy Davis, 94, British racing driver and journalist, house fire.Veteran racing driver S.C.H. 'Sammy' Davis, who won the... John K. Gerhart, 73, American general, coronary thrombosis.GEN. GERHART DIES; SERVED IN AIR FORCE Jeanne Judson, 92, American journalist and novelist.JEANNE JUDSON Désiré Koranyi, 66, Hungarian-French footballer. Vera McWeeney, 71, Irish field hockey and tennis player. Obdulio Morales, 70, Cuban musician. Charles Coudert Nast, 77, American general and lawyer.Charles C. Nast, 77, Dies; Ex-Chief of 42d Infantry Jack Nielsen, 84, Norwegian tennis player. Hugo Pena, 29, Argentine footballer, electrocuted.Hugo Pena, del San Lorenzo del Almagro murio electrocutado Bjarne Rognlien, 89, Norwegian judge. Kazimierz Serocki, 58, Polish composer.
10 Katharine Alexander, 83, American actress. Raffaello Bellucci, 76, Italian politician. Richard Boone, 63, American actor (Have Gun – Will Travel), throat cancer.RICHARD BOONE, ACTOR, DIES AT 63; STAR OF 'HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL' Fawn M. Brodie, 65, American historian and biographer, cancer.FAWN BRODIE, JEFFERSON BIOGRAPHER Chink Crossin, 57, American basketball player.Chink Crossin dies, played for Warriors Paul Deichmann, 82, German general. Kaare Engstad, 74, Canadian Olympic skier (1932). Carl Feaster, 50, American musician (The Chords) and singer ("Sh-Boom"). Lena Beatrice Morton, 79, American literary scholar. Charlotte Mühe, 70, German Olympic swimmer (1928). H. Warner Munn, 77, American fiction writer. Athol Murray, 79, English cricketer. Jacob Slagle, 77, American football player. Tom Wright, 78, Scottish-born Australian trade unionist.Mr Tom Wright - a fighter
11 Artur Berger, 88, Austrian-Soviet set designer. Beulah Bondi, 92, American actress (The Gorgeous Hussy, Of Human Hearts, It's a Wonderful Life), complications from a fall.BEULAH BONDI, 92; CHARACTER ACTRESS Thomas "Bang Bang" Dudley, 74, Irish prankster. Wilhelm Haas, 84, German diplomat. Desiderius Hampel, 85, German general. Hubert Hunt, 82, British flying ace. Dmitry Leonov, 81, Soviet general. Malcolm MacDonald, 79, British politician, diplomat and colonial administrator.MALCOLM MACDONALD, BRITISH ENVOY AND SON OF EX-PRIME MINISTER George A. Palmer, 85, American clergyman and radio broadcaster. Fred Perry, 77, British Olympic boxer (1928). Sinclair Traill, 75–76, British publisher and jazz critic. Veikko Vartiainen, 67, Finnish Olympic equestrian (1948, 1952). Kenneth W. Wolfe, 72, American politician.
12 Clem Crabtree, 62, American football player. Ada Dietz, 92, American weaver and mathematician. John Francis Dooling Jr., 72, American jurist, heart attack.JUDGE JOHN DOOLING JR., 72, DIES; MADE RULING ON ABORTION FUNDS Isobel Elsom, 87, English actress, heart failure.Isobel Elsom, 87, Dead; Stage and Film Actress Marcel Gobillot, 81, French racing cyclist. Fred Goding, 75, Australian footballer. Florence Ann Humphries, 65, New Zealand trade unionist. Nathan Katz, 88, French poet. Sir John Nicoll, 81, British colonial administrator, governor of Singapore (1952–1955). Sergio Salinas, 53, Chilean politician. Wladimir Seidel, 73, Russian-born German-American mathematician. Joseph Sparks, 79, British politician and trade unionist, MP (1945–1959). Diki Tsering, c. 79–80, Tibetan writer, mother of the 14th Dalai Lama. Don Whitehead, 72, American journalist, lung cancer.DON WHITEHEAD, PULITZER PRIZE WINNER FOR DISPATCHES ON KOREAN WAR
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