List of Famous people who died at 81

Noel Howlett was an English actor, principally remembered as the incompetent headmaster, Morris Cromwell, in the ITV 1970s cult television programme Please Sir!. He was the subject of infatuation by Deputy Head Doris Ewell, played by Joan Sanderson.

Nicolas Vogel was born in Paris, France, on May 27, 1925 and died in Paris on September 17, 2006. Vogel was an actor and comedian who was featured in numerous films and television shows in the 1960s and 1970s, including The Man from Chicago (1963), Le Gitan (1975), Mado (1976), and Cop or Hood (1979). Vogel also held a small role in the 1995 film Les Miserables, directed by Claude Lelouch.

Natsuyuki Nakanishi was a Japanese visual and conceptual artist associated with the 1960s avant-garde art movement in Japan. His artworks ranged from Neo-Dadaist object-based works, happenings and performance art, to abstract painting. Nakanishi co-founded the groundbreaking artistic collective Hi-Red Center along with Jirо̄ Takamatsu and Genpei Akasegawa. Later in his career, Nakanishi would become known for painting practice featuring subdued palettes and idiosyncratic marks. He is also recognized for his pedagogical work, including his involvement with the experimental Bigakko school as well as professorship as Tokyo University of the Arts.

William Rukard Hurd Hatfield was an American actor. He is best known for having played characters of handsome, narcissistic young men, most notably Dorian Gray in the film The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945).

Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi was a Japanese Cardinal Priest of the Catholic Church and archbishop of Tokyo.

Mario Altéry was a French operatic tenor who performed with the Opéra de Paris and Opéra-Comique as well as singing in numerous operettas. Born in Nice, his real name was Philippe Altare.