List of Famous people who died at 72

Janaki Ramachandran, commonly known as V. N. Janaki, was an Indian politician, activist and the first woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. She was the third wife of the actor and politician M. G. Ramachandran.

Theodore John Conrad was a bank teller who stole $215,000 in cash from the vault of a Cleveland bank in July 1969. He admitted to the crime but was never apprehended or convicted. He assumed the name of Thomas Randele and lived in Massachusetts for most of his life after the theft. Conrad avoided capture for more than five decades. Shortly after his death, his identity was discovered by the son of one of the original investigators using details from the obituary of Thomas Randele.

Jean Gabin was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films including Pépé le Moko (1937), La grande illusion (1937), Le Quai des brumes (1938), La bête humaine (1938), Le jour se lève (1939), and Le plaisir (1952). Gabin was made a member of the Légion d'honneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema.

Đorđe Martinović was a Serbian farmer from Kosovo who was at the centre of a notorious incident in May 1985, when he was treated for injuries caused by the forceful insertion of a glass bottle into his anus. The Martinović affair, as it became known, turned into a cause célèbre in Serbian politics. Although the facts of the incident remained in dispute for years afterwards, it played a significant role in worsening ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Serb and Albanian populations.

Amrish Lal Puri was an Indian actor, who was an important figure in Indian theatre and cinema.

Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing was a Malaysian politician who served as the Deputy Chief Minister, State Minister of Infrastructure and Ports Development of Sarawak under Chief Ministers Adenan Satem and Abang Abdul Rahman Johari Abang Openg as well as Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Baleh from May 2016, January 2017 and December 1983 to his death in October 2021 respectively. He was a member of the Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) and later Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), a component party of the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition. He also served as President of PRS from its founding in March 2004 to his death in October 2021.

David Carradine was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series Kung Fu, playing Kwai Chang Caine, a peace-loving Shaolin monk travelling through the American Old West. He also portrayed the title character of both of the Kill Bill films. He appeared in two Martin Scorsese movies: Boxcar Bertha and Mean Streets.

Erich Maria Remarque was a German novelist. His landmark novel All Quiet on the Western Front (1928), about the German military experience of World War I, was an international best-seller which created a new literary genre, and was subsequently made into the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).

Russell Frank Ebert was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He is considered one of the greatest players in the history of Australian rules football in South Australia. Russell Ebert is the only player to have won four Magarey Medals which are awarded to the best and fairest player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

Oleg Nikolayevich Yefremov was a Soviet and Russian actor and Moscow Art Theatre producer. He was a People's Artist of the USSR (1976) and a Hero of Socialist Labour (1987).