List of Famous people who died in 1981

Brenda Doreen Mignon de Banzie was a British actress of stage and screen.

Delfo Cabrera Gómez was an Argentine athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1948 Summer Olympics in one of the most dramatic finishes in athletics history.

Alejandro Galvis Galvis was a Colombian publisher and politician.

Richard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series Have Gun – Will Travel.

Yasuaki Tsukada is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-dan. He is a former Ōza title holder and the inventor of the influential Tsukada Special strategy, which he used to win numerous games in the 1980s, is named after him.

Gertrude Sandmann was a German artist and Holocaust survivor.

George Francis Hugh Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge,, known as Prince George of Teck until 1917 and as Earl of Eltham from 1917 to 1927, was a relative of the British Royal Family, a great-great-grandson of King George III and nephew of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. He was also nephew to the 1st Earl of Athlone. He was the elder son of the 1st Marquess of Cambridge, formerly the Duke of Teck, and his wife, the former Lady Margaret Grosvenor.

Abel Gance was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: J'accuse (1919), La Roue (1923), and Napoléon (1927).

Francis Claud Cockburn was a British journalist. His saying "believe nothing until it has been officially denied" is widely quoted in journalistic studies, but he did not claim credit for originating it. He was the second cousin, once removed, of the novelists Alec Waugh and Evelyn Waugh. He lived at Brook Lodge, Youghal, County Cork, Ireland.

Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov was a Soviet Red Army soldier who became a Hero of the Soviet Union for his role in defending the eponymous "Pavlov's House" during the Battle of Stalingrad.