List of Famous people who died at 81

Albert Ernest Clifford Young OAM was an Australian potato farmer and athlete from Beech Forest, Victoria. He was best known for his unexpected win of the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon in 1983 at 61 years of age.

Robert C. McNair was an American businessman, philanthropist, and the owner of the National Football League (NFL)'s Houston Texans.

Kazuo Sakamaki was a Japanese naval officer who became the first Japanese prisoner of war of World War II captured by U.S. forces.

Spencer Davis was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and "I'm a Man", all sung by Steve Winwood. Davis subsequently enjoyed success as an A&R executive with Island Records.

Nancy Sue Wilson was an American singer and actress whose career spanned over five decades, from the mid-1950s until her retirement in the early 2010s. She was especially notable for her single "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" and her version of the standard "Guess Who I Saw Today". Wilson recorded more than 70 albums and won three Grammy Awards for her work. During her performing career, Wilson was labeled a singer of blues, jazz, R&B, pop, and soul; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer". The title she preferred, however, was "song stylist". She received many nicknames including "Sweet Nancy", "The Baby", "Fancy Miss Nancy" and "The Girl With the Honey-Coated Voice".

Héctor Suárez Hernández was a Mexican actor, comedian, and director. He appeared in about a hundred films and television shows in a career that spanned 60 years. He was noted for satirizing those in power and for touching on controversial social issues, at a time when it was still taboo in his country to do so. He was the father of Héctor Suárez Gomís, who is also an actor. He had a son

Bruce Richard Reynolds was an English criminal who masterminded the 1963 Great Train Robbery. At the time it was Britain's largest robbery, netting £2,631,684, equivalent to £55 million today. Reynolds spent five years on the run before being sentenced to 25 years in 1969. He was released in 1978. He wrote three books and performed with the band Alabama 3, for whom his son, Nick, plays.

August von Finck Sr. was a German banker.

Yōko Nogiwa was a Japanese actress.

Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel was a German general during World War II who commanded the 5th Panzer Army. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds of Nazi Germany.