List of Famous people who died in 1973

Mark James Robert Essex was known as a black American serial sniper who killed a total of nine people, including five policemen, and wounded 13 others in New Orleans on December 31, 1972, and January 7, 1973. He was killed in the second armed confrontation. He was spurred on by racism he allegedly encountered while enlisted in the Navy. He was also a one-time Black Panther.

Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar was the second Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He has been widely noted to be the most prominent ideologue of Hindutva. He was notorious for his controversial comments on Indian politics and religious aspects. Golwalkar is treated as one of the most influential and prominent figure among Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He was the first person to put forward the concept of a religion based nation naming "Hindu Rashtra" which is believed to be evolved in the course of time into the concept of the "two nation theory" considering separate nations for Hindus and Muslims. Golwalkar was one among the early Hindu Nationalist thinkers in India and was widely criticized for his statements having racist and violent sides. Golwalkar authored the books Bunch of Thoughts and We, or Our Nationhood Defined. When central government under BJP rule named second campus of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology after him, it was criticised by both Communist Party and INC as he was an extreme nativist who had even considered Islam and Christianity in India as foreign religions, contra-distinguished by Hinduism, which is the Native Religion of India.

Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was an American fighter ace in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient. With 26 aerial victories, he was the United States' most successful fighter ace in the war and is considered to have received the most awards for valor by an American during the war. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the long-time head of Eastern Air Lines.

Ivan Terence Sanderson was a British biologist and writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland, who became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Along with Belgian-French biologist Bernard Heuvelmans, Sanderson was a founding figure of cryptozoology, a pseudoscience and subculture. Sanderson authored material on paranormal subjects and wrote fiction under the pen name Terence Roberts.

Tsuneo Mori was a Japanese radical leftist and terrorist. He was born in Osaka and entered the Osaka City University. After some members of the Red Army were arrested by the Japanese police while he escaped from them, several members of the group went to North Korea with Japan Airlines Flight 351 and some formed the Japanese Red Army. He eventually became the leader of the United Red Army. Along with Hiroko Nagata, he allegedly killed 12 members and he was arrested in February 1972. He committed suicide by hanging in his cell in Tokyo on 1 January 1973.

Ferdinand Schörner was a German general and later field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded several army groups and was the last Commander-in-chief of the German Army.

Merian Caldwell Cooper was an American aviator, United States Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, screenwriter, film director, and producer. Cooper was the founder of the Kościuszko Squadron during the Polish–Soviet War and was a Soviet prisoner of war for a time. He was a notable movie producer, and got his start with film as part of the Explorers Club, traveling the world and documenting adventures. He was a member of the board of directors of Pan American Airways, but his love of film always took priority. During his film career, he worked for companies such as Pioneer Pictures, RKO Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He is also credited as co-inventor of the Cinerama film projection process. Cooper's most famous film was the 1933 movie King Kong. He was awarded an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1952 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

Kanso Yoshida was a Japanese-born British seaman who was related to Japanese Emperor Hirohito by marriage. He was a resident of England for most of his life, specifically in Liverpool from 1938.

Prescott Townsend was an American cultural leader and gay rights activist, from the 1930s through the early 1970s.

Zekai Özger, better known under his pen name Arkadaş Z. Özger, was a young Turkish poet.