List of Famous people who died at 72

Eileen Percy was an Irish-born American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 68 films between 1917 and 1933.

Henry Way Kendall was an American particle physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990 jointly with Jerome Isaac Friedman and Richard E. Taylor "for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics."

Meinrad Belle (1943-2015) was a German politician (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag.

Richard Gerard Lennon was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as a Bishop of Cleveland, Ohio, from May 15, 2006, until December 28, 2016, when he resigned because of poor health.

James Luther Bevel was a minister and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. As the Director of Direct Action and of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), he initiated, strategized, directed, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era: the 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade, the 1965 Selma voting rights movement, and the 1966 Chicago open housing movement. He suggested that SCLC call for and join a March on Washington in 1963. Bevel strategized the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, which contributed to Congressional passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Morris "Moe" Koffman, OC was a Canadian jazz saxophonist and flautist, as well as composer and arranger. During a career spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s, Koffman was one of Canada's most prolific musicians, working variously in clubs and sessions and releasing 30 albums. With his 1957 record Cool and Hot Sax on the New York-based Jubilee label, Koffman became one of the first Canadian jazz musicians to record a full-length album. Koffman was also a long-time member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass.

Oliver Emert was an American set decorator. He won an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film To Kill a Mockingbird.