List of Famous people who died at 72

Ernest Lytton Forwood, known professionally as Anthony Forwood, was an English actor.

Horst Helmut Hermann Niendorf was a German actor and voice actor. He appeared in more than ninety films from 1951 to 1996.

Rob Rensenbrink was a Dutch footballer and member of the Dutch national football team that reached two World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978. A creative and prolific left winger or forward of considerable talent, he became a legend in Belgium whilst playing in the great Anderlecht side of the 1970s. He is the UEFA Cup Winners Cup's all-time top scorer, with 25 goals. A talented dribbler as well as a cool finisher and adequate passer, he only ever missed two penalties in his entire career. He was also the first winner of the Onze d'Or.

Yoshio Kodama was a Japanese right-wing ultranationalist and a prominent figure in the rise of organized crime in Japan. The most famous kuromaku, or behind-the-scenes power broker, of the 20th century, he was active in Japan's political arena and criminal underworld from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Maxine Daniels was an English jazz singer who worked with Humphrey Lyttelton.

Olivia Mary Manning was a British novelist, poet, writer, and reviewer. Her fiction and non-fiction, frequently detailing journeys and personal odysseys, were principally set in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East. She often wrote from her personal experience, though her books also demonstrate strengths in imaginative writing. Her books are widely admired for her artistic eye and vivid descriptions of place.

David Paul Montgomery was an American businessman and baseball executive. He served as chairman, minority-owner, and president of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.

Elisabeth Ida Marie Flickenschildt was a German actress, producer and author. She appeared in dozens of German language films and television productions between 1935–1976.

Yoshie Shiratori was a Japanese national born in Aomori Prefecture. Shiratori, who became an anti-hero in Japanese culture, is famous for having escaped from prison four times. A memorial to Shiratori is in the Abashiri Prison Museum.

William McClellan Chapin was an American child actor, known for a considerable number of screen and TV performances from 1943 to 1959 and best remembered for both his roles as the "diaper manager" Christie Cooper in the 1953 family feature The Kid from Left Field and little John Harper in Charles Laughton's 1955 film noir movie The Night of the Hunter.