List of Famous people who died at 72

Marino Marini was an Italian musician who achieved international success in the 1950s and 1960s.

Roger Matthews, was a British criminologist. He was a Professor of Criminology at the University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom. Prior to joining the University of Kent, he was a professor of criminology at London South Bank University and Middlesex University.

Graham Powley Jarvis was a Canadian character actor in American films and television from the 1960s to the early 2000s.

Zenon Ivanovich Borevich Зенон Иванович Боревич was a Russian mathematician who worked on homological algebra, algebraic number theory, integral representations, and linear groups.

Arthur Herbert Copeland was an American mathematician. He graduated from Harvard University in 1926 and taught at Rice University and the University of Michigan. His main interest was in the foundations of probability.

Reinier Wilhelmus "Rein" Welschen was a Dutch politician and member of the Labour Party (PvdA).

Irna Phillips was an American scriptwriter, screenwriter, casting agent and actress. Known by several publications as the "Queen of the Soaps", she created, produced, and wrote several of the first American daytime radio and television soap operas. As a result of creating some of the best known series in the genre, including Guiding Light, As the World Turns, and Another World, Phillips is credited with creating and innovating a daytime serial format with programming geared specifically toward women. She was also a mentor to several other pioneers of the daytime soap opera, including Agnes Nixon and William J. Bell.

Steven Neil Gilborn was an American actor and educator.

Norman John Frank Rodway was an Irish actor.