List of Famous people who died in 1981

Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher was an English actor who was noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains.

Furio Meniconi was an Italian film and television actor.

Filippo Walter Ratti (1914–1981) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. After working as an assistant director for several years, he made his directoral debut in 1946. The following year he directed the biopic Eleonora Duse. In 1962 he directed Ten Italians for One German, a portrayal of the 1944 Ardeatine massacre in Rome.

Michael Vincent DiSalle was an American attorney and politician from Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as mayor of Toledo from 1948 to 1950, and as the 60th governor of Ohio from 1959 to 1963.

Yashwant Singh Parmar was an Indian politician. He was a leader of the Indian National Congress and the first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh state. He was born at Chanhalag village near Basahan in a rajput family in the erstwhile princely state of Sirmour. He studied in the Christian College in Lahore and later received his PhD from Lucknow University in 1944. Upon the formation of the constituent assembly of India in 1946, he represented Himachal Pradesh in the constituent assembly.

Armando Peverelli was an Italian racing cyclist. He rode in the 1949 Tour de France.

Édouard Gustave Depreux was a French socialist journalist, essayist, and politician of the French Fourth Republic; he was born in Viesly and died in Paris.