List of Famous people who died in 1981

William James Durant was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He became best known for his work The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant, and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for The Story of Philosophy (1926), described as "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy".

Heinrich Johann Welker was a German theoretical and applied physicist who invented the "transistron", a transistor made at Westinghouse independently of the first successful transistor made at Bell Laboratories. He did fundamental work in III-V compound semiconductors, and paved the way for microwave semiconductor elements and laser diodes.

Jean Renaudie was a French architect and town-planner.

Barbara Bedford was an American actress who appeared in dozens of silent movies. Her career declined after the introduction of sound, but she continued to appear in small roles until 1945.

Walter Stewart Owen, was the 22nd Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1973–1978.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Leontovich was a Soviet dissident, Soviet physicist, member of USSR Academy of Sciences, specializing in plasma and radiophysics.

Willi Bleicher was one of the best known and, according to at least one source, one of the most important and effective German trades union leaders of the postwar decades.

Ugo Sasso, born Domenico Pasquale Giuseppe Sasso, was an Italian film and television actor.