List of Famous people who died in 1981

Rosamond Soong Ching-ling was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, one of the leaders of the 1911 revolution that established the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. She was a member of the Soong family and, together with her siblings, played a prominent role in China's politics prior to and after 1949.

Hideki Yukawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate for his prediction of the pi meson, or pion.

Colette de Jouvenel, also known as Bel-Gazou,, was the daughter of French writer Colette and her second husband, Henri de Jouvenel. She was the half-sister of fr:Renaud de Jouvenel and Bertrand de Jouvenel.

Alfredo Rampi, nicknamed Alfredino, was an Italian child who died after falling into a well in Vermicino, a village near Frascati, on 10 June 1981.

M.O. Mathai (1909–28 August 1981) was the Private Secretary to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He is primarily famed for his controversial memoirs in Reminiscences of the Nehru Age (1978) and My Days with Nehru (1979).

Alf Brustellin was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He directed six films between 1972 and 1979. He co-directed the 1978 film Germany in Autumn, which won the Special Recognition Award at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival. Alf Brustellin worked together with Bernhard Sinkel as a director and screenwriter team.

Albert Cohen was a Greek-born Romaniote Jewish Swiss novelist who wrote in French. He worked as a civil servant for various international organizations, such as the International Labour Organization. He became a Swiss citizen in 1919.

Melvyn Douglas was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy Ninotchka (1939) with Greta Garbo. Douglas later played mature and fatherly characters, as in his Academy Award–winning performances in Hud (1963) and Being There (1979) and his Academy Award–nominated performance in I Never Sang for My Father (1970). Douglas was one of 24 performers to win the Triple Crown of Acting. In the last few years of his life Douglas appeared in films with supernatural stories involving ghosts. Douglas appeared as "Senator Joseph Carmichael" in The Changeling in 1980 and Ghost Story in 1981 in his final completed film role.

William Shankly was a Scottish football player and manager, who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. Shankly brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winning three League Championships and the UEFA Cup. He laid foundations on which his successors Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan were able to build by winning seven league titles and four European Cups in the ten seasons after Shankly retired in 1974. A charismatic, iconic figure at the club, his oratory stirred the emotions of the fanbase. In 2019, 60 years after Shankly arrived at Liverpool, Tony Evans of The Independent wrote, “Shankly created the idea of Liverpool, transforming the football club by emphasising the importance of the Kop and making supporters feel like participants.”

Omar Nelson Bradley was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, holding the rank of General of the Army. Bradley was the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and oversaw the U.S. military's policy-making in the Korean War.