List of Famous people who died in 1961

Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra was a Romanian actress and acting teacher. She is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Romanian theater.

Donald Cook was an American stage and film actor who had a prolific career in pre-Code Hollywood films and on Broadway. Cook is perhaps best known for his film roles in The Public Enemy (1931), Safe in Hell (1931), Baby Face (1933), and Viva Villa! (1934), as well as for his stage role as David Naughton in Claudia, which ran for a total of 722 performances on Broadway between 1941 and 1943. He was the first actor to play Ellery Queen.

Enrichetta Thea Prandi, known as Thea Prandi, was an Italian actress and singer who was active in the 1940s and 1950s. She is known for her roles in Una famiglia impossibile (1940) and L'allegro fantasma (1941), and as the narrator in Neapolitans in Milan (1953).

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bryantsev was a Soviet and Russian actor, theater director and pedagogue.

Morris William Travers, FRS was an English chemist who worked with Sir William Ramsay in the discovery of xenon, neon and krypton. His work on several of the rare gases earned him the name Rare gas Travers in scientific circles. He was the founding director of the Indian Institute of Science.

Elia Dalla Costa was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and cardinal who served as the Archbishop of Florence from 1931 until his death. Dalla Costa served as the Bishop of Padua from 1923 until 1931 when he was transferred to Florence; he was elevated to the cardinalate on 13 March 1933. Dalla Costa was a staunch anti-fascist and anti-communist and was known best for providing refuge for Jewish people during World War II and providing others with fake documentation to flee from persecution.