List of Famous people who died in 1961

Tom Reed (1901–1961) was an American screenwriter. He began his career working at Universal Pictures and later spent time at Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox and MGM. His 1954 screenplay for Night People was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story. His final years were spent working in television.

Adela Constantia Mary Pankhurst Walsh was a British-Australian suffragette, political organiser, and co-founder of both the Communist Party of Australia and the Australia First Movement.

Lee de Forest was an American inventor, self-described "Father of Radio", and a pioneer in the development of sound-on-film recording used for motion pictures. He had over 180 patents, but also a tumultuous career—he boasted that he made, then lost, four fortunes. He was also involved in several major patent lawsuits, spent a substantial part of his income on legal bills, and was even tried for mail fraud. His most famous invention, in 1906, was the three-element "Audion" (triode) vacuum tube, the first practical amplification device. Although De Forest had only a limited understanding of how it worked, it was the foundation of the field of electronics, making possible radio broadcasting, long distance telephone lines, and talking motion pictures, among countless other applications.

Victor Vina (1885–1961) was a French film actor.

Violet Kemble-Cooper was an English-American stage and film actress who appeared on stage and in Hollywood film.

John Daniel Hertz, Sr. was an American businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, and philanthropist.

Adeline De Walt Reynolds was an American character actress who made her film debut at the age of 78 playing the grandmother of James Stewart in Come Live with Me (1941). She continued to play in about 25 films and numerous television series until her death.

Anna Capodaglio was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than twenty films from 1936 to 1945. Her sisters Emma Gramatica and Irma Gramatica were both actresses. The actress Wanda Capodaglio was her sister-in-law.