List of Famous people who died in 1970

Bruce Leslie McLaren was a New Zealand race-car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor.

Tobias Geffen was an American Orthodox rabbi. He served as the leader of Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1910 to 1970. Geffen is widely known for his 1935 decision that certified Coca-Cola as kosher.

Karl Jochen Rindt was a German-born racing driver who represented Austria during his career, the first Austrian to take part in a Formula One Grand Prix. In 1970, he was killed during practice for the Italian Grand Prix and became the only driver to be posthumously awarded the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.

Maud Kathleen Lewis was a Canadian folk artist from Nova Scotia. Lewis lived most of her life in poverty in a small house in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, achieving national recognition in 1964 and 1965. Several books, plays and films have since been produced about her. Lewis remains one of Canada's best-known folk artists; her works and the restored Maud Lewis House are displayed in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

Samuel Holmes Sheppard was an American neurosurgeon. He was exonerated in 1966, having been convicted of the 1954 murder of his wife, Marilyn Reese Sheppard. The case was controversial from the beginning, with extensive and prolonged nationwide media coverage.

Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev, was a Soviet fighter pilot with extensive experience in piloting different types of aircraft. He was the first commander of the cosmonaut corps and the cosmonaut who commanded the historic Voskhod 2 mission which saw the first man walk in space in 1965.

Louis Brian Piccolo was an American professional football player, a running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) for four years. He died at age 26 from embryonal cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of germ cell testicular cancer, first diagnosed after it had spread to his chest cavity.

The Isdal Woman is a placeholder name given to an unidentified woman who was found dead at Isdalen in Bergen, Norway, on 29 November 1970. Although police at the time ruled a verdict of likely suicide, the nature of the case encouraged speculation and ongoing investigation in the years since. Half a century later, it remains one of the most profound Cold War mysteries in Norwegian history.

Theophanis Lamboukas, professionally known as Théo Sarapo, was a French singer and actor, and the second husband of the French singer Édith Piaf. Formerly a hairdresser, he was 26 years old when he married the 46-year-old Piaf. He was introduced to her by Claude Figus, Piaf's secretary.

Gypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer and vedette famous for her striptease act. Also an actress, author, and playwright, her 1957 memoir was adapted into the 1959 stage musical Gypsy.