List of Famous people who died in 1961

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, nicknamed El Jefe, was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, ruling for the rest of the time as an unelected military strongman under figurehead presidents. His 31 years in power, to Dominicans known as the Trujillo Era, are considered one of the bloodiest eras ever in the Americas, as well as a time of a personality cult, when monuments to Trujillo were in abundance. Trujillo and his regime were responsible for many deaths, including between 5,000 and 67,000 Haitians in the infamous Parsley massacre.

Ruth Chatterton was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviatrix and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, one of the few female pilots in the United States at the time. In the late 1930s, Chatterton retired from film acting but continued her career on the stage. She had several TV roles beginning in the late 1940s and became a successful novelist in the 1950s. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1961.

William Jackson, also known as Action Jackson was an enforcer and loan collector for the Chicago Outfit. He earned his nickname of "Action" because it was slang for "Juice Man", which meant debt-collector. He was tortured to death by his fellow gangsters, allegedly on suspicion that he had become an informant for the FBI.

Jeff Chandler was an American actor, film producer, and singer best remembered for playing Cochise in Broken Arrow (1950), for which he was nominated for an Oscar. He was one of Universal Pictures's more popular male stars of the 1950s. His other credits include Sword in the Desert (1948), Deported (1950), Female on the Beach (1955), and Away All Boats (1956). In addition to his acting in film, he was known for his role on the radio program Our Miss Brooks and for his musical recordings.

Major Michael John O'Leary VC was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. O'Leary achieved his award for single-handedly charging and destroying two German barricades defended by machine gun positions near the French village of Cuinchy, in a localised operation on the Western Front during the First World War.

Sheridan Downey was a lawyer and a Democratic U.S. Senator from California from 1939 to 1950.

Edna Browning Kahly Gladney was an early campaigner for children's rights and better living conditions for disadvantaged children.

Arpad Weixlgärtner was an Austrian art historian.

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. As of 2021, Hammarskjöld remains the youngest person to have held the Secretary-General post, having been only 47 years old when he was appointed in 1953. His second term was cut short when he died in the crash of his DC-6 airplane in Northern Rhodesia while en route to cease-fire negotiations during the Congo Crisis. He is the only person in history to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize posthumously.

Charles Douville Coburn was an American actor. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award three times – in The Devil and Miss Jones (1941), The More the Merrier (1943), and The Green Years (1946) – winning for his performance in The More the Merrier. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for his contribution to the film industry.