List of Famous people who died at 81

Brian Locking was an English musician and songwriter known for his brief tenure as bassist with The Wildcats in 1956 and The Shadows, between 1962 and 1963. During his time with the Shadows he appeared with Cliff Richard in the musical film Summer Holiday. Locking also toured as a session player with numerous artists including rock stars Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and Joe Brown, as well as Conway Twitty and Brenda Lee.

Valentina Aleksandrovna Prudskova was a Soviet fencer. She won gold in the women's team foil event at the 1960 Summer Olympics and a silver in the same event at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Jean Link was a Luxembourgian Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual and team foil events at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Felipe Mesones Temperán was an Argentine football right winger and coach.

John Matthew MacLeod was an American basketball coach in the NCAA and the National Basketball Association.

William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw,, often known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as home secretary. He served Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher throughout her leadership of the Conservative Party as deputy party leader.

Raymond Gérôme was a Belgian-born, French stage and screen actor.

Silvano Bertini was an Italian boxer. As an amateur he won a silver medal at the 1963 European Championships and a bronze at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In 1965 he turned professional and was undefeated in his first 28 fights before losing to Jean Josselin in 1969. He retired in 1973 after failing to come out for the bell in the 12th round against Koichi Wajima for the WBA and WBC super-welterweight titles.

Sir Bob Alexander Hepple, QC FBA was a South African-born academic and leader in the fields of labour law, equality and human rights.