List of Famous people who died in 1971

Minanogawa Tōzō , also known as Asashio Kyojiro , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tsukuba, Ibaraki. He was the sport's 34th yokozuna.

James Glenn Beall was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1943–1953) and a U.S. Senator (1953–1965) from Maryland.

John Wood Campbell Jr. was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of Astounding Science Fiction from late 1937 until his death and was part of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Campbell wrote super-science space opera under his own name and stories under his primary pseudonym, Don A. Stuart. Campbell also used the pen names Karl Van Kampen and Arthur McCann. His novella Who Goes There? was adapted as the films The Thing from Another World (1951), Horror Express (1972), The Thing (1982), and The Thing (2011).

Vincent Eugene Craddock, known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He is sometimes referred to by his somewhat unusual nickname/moniker The Screaming End.