List of Famous people who died at 71

Vittorino Colombo was an Italian Christian Democrat politician.

William A. Lyon was an American film editor, from 1935 to 1971. He was born in Texas, and died in Los Angeles, California. Employed by Columbia Pictures for most of his career, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing six times, and won twice, for From Here to Eternity (1953) and Picnic (1955).

Michel Lamarche was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ringnames Alexis Smirnoff and Michel "Justice" Dubois, who competed in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, including the Mid-South, Central States, Georgia and San Francisco territories, as well as brief stints in International Wrestling Enterprise, the American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Federation during the 1970s and 1980s.

Herbert Walther was a leader in the fields of quantum optics and laser physics. He was a founding director of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) in Garching, Germany. He also was Chair of Physics at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He is primarily known for his experimental work on cavity quantum electrodynamics as well his groundbreaking work on the ion trap.

José Gorostiza Alcalá was a Mexican poet, educator, and diplomat. For his achievements in the poetic arts, he was made a member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua.

Thomas Lee Judge was an American politician, and was the 18th Governor of Montana from 1973 to 1981.