List of Famous people who died at 81

Jerome Siegel, who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter and Jerry Ess, was an American comic book writer. His most famous creation was Superman, which he created in collaboration with his friend Joe Shuster.

John Bordley Rawls was an American moral and political philosopher in the liberal tradition. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy and the National Humanities Medal in 1999, the latter presented by President Bill Clinton, in recognition of how Rawls' work "helped a whole generation of learned Americans revive their faith in democracy itself."

Lai-Zhen Yu (1923-2004) is a former Chinese actress and Cantonese opera singer from Hong Kong. Yu is credited with over 140 films.

Johan Friedrich Egbert "Jo" Einaar was a Surinamese teacher and diplomat. He was an anthropology professor at Howard University in Washington DC, Dutch Consul General in New York City, and served as Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname from 18 November 1965 until 1 July 1968.

Óscar Bonfiglio Martínez was a Mexican football goalkeeper, and Olympian, who played for the Mexico national team in the 1930 World Cup.

Lillian Dickson was an independent missionary, author, and public speaker. She used her maternal identity to develop her vocation in the middle of the twentieth century. Originally, she and her husband, James Dickson (1900-1967), were sent by the Presbyterian Church of Canada, to Taiwan in 1927. Lillian lived and worked in Taiwan until she died, except for the period between 1940 and 1947 when she and her husband were transferred to British Guiana because of growing tensions and war between Japan and the United States. After her return to Taiwan, Lillian eventually developed a long lasting career as an independent missionary. In particular, she founded Mustard Seed International. and The Mustard Seed Mission.

Sōju Nosaka II was a prominent Japanese koto player, specializing in contemporary music. Her real name was Keiko Nosaka .