List of Famous people who died at 61

Kamaruzaman Sjam, also known as Kamarusaman bin Achmad Mubaidah and Sjam, was a key member of the Communist Party of Indonesia who was executed for his part in the 1965 coup attempt known as the 30 September Movement.

Zainul Abedin was a Bangladeshi painter born in Kishoregonj,East Bengal, British India .He became well known in 1944 through his series of paintings depicting some of the great famines in Bengal during its British colonial period. After the Partition of Indian subcontinent he moved to East Pakistan. In 1948, he helped to establish the Institute of Arts and Crafts at University of Dhaka. The Indian Express has described him as a legendary Bangladeshi painter. Like many of his contemporaries, his paintings on the Bengal famine of 1943 are viewed as his most characteristic works. His homeland honored him with given the title “Shilpacharya” “Great teacher of the arts" for his artistic and visionary attributes. He was the pioneer of the modern art movement that took place in Bangladesh and was rightly considered by Syed Manzoorul Islam as the founding father of Bangladeshi modern arts, soon after Bangladesh earned the status of an independent republic.

Duan Yihe was a Chinese politician and a senior lawmaker in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. He was a member of the 10th National People's Congress and served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Jinan Municipal People's Congress from 2001 to 2007. Duan, together with his nephew-in-law, was executed in September 2007 for murdering his mistress, who was killed by a car bomb. It is considered one of the most shocking crimes involving a Chinese official. Duan was the sixth provincial-ministerial level official to be executed in China since 1978.

Mauril Adrien Jules Bélanger was a Canadian politician.

Donald David Newman was an American professional athlete in basketball and Canadian football. Following his playing career, he was the head basketball coach at Arizona State for the 1997–98 season, and Sacramento State from 1992 to 1997. He also was an assistant coach in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, and Washington Wizards.

James Bromley Spicer was an American hip hop recording artist who released a number of old school rap singles during the late 1970s and early 1980s including the classic "Dollar Bill Y'all," for which he was perhaps best known. Spicer was managed by Russell Simmons' Rush Management. His single "The Bubble Bunch" featured Jellybean Benitez's first remix.

Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis was a New Zealand child care worker who was convicted of child sexual abuse. He was at the centre of one of the country's most enduring judicial controversies, after being found guilty in June 1993 in the High Court of New Zealand on 16 counts of sexual offences involving children in his care at the Christchurch Civic Creche and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. He maintained his innocence until his death 26 years later and was supported by many New Zealanders in his attempts to overturn his convictions. Concerns about the reliability of the convictions centred on lurid stories told by many of the children and the interview techniques used to obtain their testimony.

Gennady Nikolayevich Troshev was a Russian Colonel General in the Russian military and formerly the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, including Chechnya, during the Second Chechen War. He was awarded a Hero of Russia award.

Maartin Allcock was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer.

Ralph Carney was an American singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. While his primary instruments were various saxophones and clarinets, Carney also collected and played many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones.