List of Famous people who died at 81

Arthur Veary Treacher was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English stereotypes, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet character Jeeves and the kind butler Andrews opposite Shirley Temple in Heidi (1937). In the 1960s, he became well-known on American television as an announcer/sidekick to talk show host Merv Griffin. He lent his name to the Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips chain of restaurants.

Gladys Medalie Heldman was an American tennis player and magazine publisher. She was the founder of World Tennis magazine; she supported Billie Jean King and eight other female tennis players: Rosie Casals, Judy Dalton, Julie Heldman, Kerry Melville, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey, and Valerie Ziegenfuss. They were called the Houston Nine and formed the Virginia Slims Tour in the early 1970s. She is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was a Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and voted the second most influential car of the 20th century in 1999.

Karl W. Butzer was a German-born American geographer, ecologist, and archaeologist. He received two degrees at McGill University, Montreal: the B.Sc. (hons) in Mathematics in 1954 and later his master's degree in Meteorology and Geography. Afterwards in the 1950s he returned to Germany to the University of Bonn to obtain a doctorate in physical geography. He obtained a master's degree in Meteorology and Geography from McGill University and a doctorate in physical geography from the University of Bonn in Germany.

Hyakken Uchida was a Japanese author and academic.

Fernand Labrie, was a Canadian medical researcher who specializes in endocrinological research and prostate cancer research.

Arthur E. Popham, (1889–1970) was a British art historian, mainly focused on Italian art. Most of his life he worked at the British Museum and became especially renowned for his catalogue work. He was Keeper of Prints and Drawings from 1945 to his retirement from the museum in 1954.

Christopher Craft was a British racing driver who competed in many different forms of motor sport.

Yamamoto Kenkichi was the pen-name of Ishibashi Teikichi, a Japanese writer and literary critic. As a critic he wrote notable studies of Shishōsetsu as well as of the poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. He has been referred to as supportive of Shishōsetsu in an orthodox way.