List of Famous people who died in 1961

John D. Eldredge was an American actor from San Francisco. He was the younger brother of character actor George Eldredge (1898–1977).

Maurice "Tourneur" Félix Thomas was a French film director and screenwriter.

Howard Percy "Bob" Robertson was an American mathematician and physicist known for contributions related to physical cosmology and the uncertainty principle. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics at the California Institute of Technology and Princeton University.

Harry O. Hoyt was an American screenwriter and film director whose film career began in 1912, during the silent era. He graduated with a degree in literature from Yale University in 1910. His 1925 film The Lost World, based on the book by Arthur Conan Doyle, is notable as a pioneering effort in the use of stop-motion animation. His brother, actor Arthur Hoyt, also appeared in The Lost World.

Edwin York Bowen was an English composer and pianist. Bowen's musical career spanned more than fifty years during which time he wrote over 160 works. As well as being a pianist and composer, Bowen was a talented conductor, organist, violist and horn player. Despite achieving considerable success during his lifetime, many of the composer's works remained unpublished and unperformed until after his death in 1961. Bowen's compositional style is widely considered as ‘Romantic’ and his works are often characterized by their rich harmonic language. He was one of the most notable English composers of piano music of his time.

Ioannis Theotokis was a Greek politician. He was born in Athens 1880, he was the son of Georgios Theotokis.

Leo (F.) Reisman was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, he was of Jewish ancestry; from German immigrants who immigrated to the United States in the 19th century. Inspired by the Russian-American violinist Jascha Heifetz, Reisman studied violin as a young man. After being rejected by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he formed his own band in 1919. He became famous for having over 80 hits on the popular charts during his career. Jerome Kern called Reisman's orchestra "The String Quartet of Dance Bands".

Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn was an American politician who served as the 43rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House Speaker, former House Majority Leader, two-time House Minority Leader, and a 24-term congressman, representing Texas's 4th congressional district as a Democrat from 1913 to 1961. He holds the record for the longest tenure as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving for over 17 years.