List of Famous people who died in 1981

Maurice "Mauri" Rose was an American racecar driver.

Lawrence Edward Watkin was an American writer and film producer. He has become known especially as a scriptwriter for a series of 1950s Walt Disney films.

Paul Herget was an American astronomer and director of the Cincinnati Observatory, who established the Minor Planet Center after World War II.

Sir Thomas Playford was an Australian politician from the state of South Australia. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia and leader of the Liberal and Country League (LCL) from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965. Though controversial, it was the longest term of any elected government leader in Australian history. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and economic growth unmatched by any other Australian state. He was known for his parochial style in pushing South Australia's interests, and was known for his ability to secure a disproportionate share of federal funding for the state as well as his shameless haranguing of federal leaders. His string of election wins was enabled by a system of malapportionment and gerrymander that bore his name, the 'Playmander'.

Edith Käthe Elisabeth Schultze-Westrum was a German film actress. She appeared in 64 films between 1932 and 1979. These included the role of Mrs. Hudson in the 1962 film Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace.

Isobel Elsom was an English film, theatre, and television actress.

Bram van Velde was a Dutch painter known for an intensely colored and geometric semi-representational painting style related to Tachisme, and Lyrical Abstraction. He is often seen as member of the School of Paris but his work resides somewhere between expressionism and surrealism, and evolved in the 1960s into an expressive abstract art. His paintings from the 1950s are similar to the contemporary work of Matisse, Picasso and the abstract expressionist Adolph Gottlieb. He was championed by a number of French-speaking writers, including Samuel Beckett and the poet André du Bouchet.

Ella Tambussi Grasso was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 83rd Governor of Connecticut from January 8, 1975, to December 31, 1980, after rejecting past offers of candidacies for Senate and Governor. She was the first woman elected to this office and the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state without having been the spouse or widow of a former governor. She resigned as governor due to her battle with ovarian cancer.