List of Famous people who died in 1972

Erich Julius Eberhard von dem Bach-Zelewski was a high-ranking SS commander of Nazi Germany. During World War II, he was in charge of the Nazi security warfare against those designated by the regime as ideological enemies and any other persons deemed to present danger to the Nazi rule or Wehrmacht's rear security in the occupied territories of Eastern Europe. It mostly involved atrocities against the civilian population. In 1944 he led the brutal suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. At the end of 1941 the forces under von dem Bach numbered 14,953 Germans, mostly officers and unteroffiziere, and 238,105 local “volunteers”

Mani Matter was a popular Swiss singer-songwriter.

Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi (1931—1972) was ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates from 1965 to 1972.

Max Fleischer was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios, which he co-founded with his younger brother Dave. He brought such animated characters as Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen, and was responsible for a number of technological innovations, including the Rotoscope, the "Bouncing Ball" song films, and the "Stereoptical Process". Film director Richard Fleischer was his son.

Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960.

Paul Hausser was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former members of the Waffen-SS to achieve historical and legal rehabilitation.

Bruce Cabot was an American film actor, best remembered as Jack Driscoll in King Kong (1933) and for his roles in films such as The Last of the Mohicans (1936), Fritz Lang's Fury (1936), and the Western Dodge City (1939). He was also known as one of "Wayne's Regulars", appearing in a number of John Wayne films beginning with Angel and the Badman (1947), and concluding with Big Jake (1971).

Nordahl Eriksen Wallem was a Norwegian sailor who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Maiola Kalili was an American competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Kailili received a silver medal as a member of the second-place U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, together with teammates Frank Booth, George Fissler and Manuella Kalili, who was also his younger brother.

Arkady Alexandrovich Plastov was a Russian socialist realist painter.