List of Famous people who died in 1981

Charles (Chick) Bullock was an American jazz and dance band vocalist, most active in the 1930s. He recorded some 500 tunes over the course of his career. Bullock was mostly associated with the ARC group of labels. Many of his records were issued under the name "Chick Bullock and his Levee Loungers".

David Wechsler was a Romanian-American psychologist. He developed well-known intelligence scales, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Wechsler as the 51st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

José Ardévol was a Cuban composer and conductor of Spanish derivation.

George Lloyd Spencer was an American Democratic United States Senator from the State of Arkansas.

William Ballintrae Gillespie was an Irish football player who played as a striker for Sheffield United over a twenty-year period from 1913 to 1932, scoring over 137 League and Cup goals in 492 games for the South Yorkshire side. Gillespie was born in Kerrykeel, County Donegal, Ireland and began his career with Irish side Institute in 1907. After a short spell with Linfield he moved to England to play for Leeds City in 1910 before moving to Sheffield United in 1912, where he would stay until he retired from playing. Gillespie also made 25 appearances for the Ireland national team. In 1932 he took over as manager of Derry City where he remained until 1940. After leaving Derry, Gillespie moved to the south of England where he lived until his death in 1981.

Yasuji Kiyose was a Japanese composer. He studied composition privately with Kōsaku Yamada and Kōsuke Komatsu and in 1930, took an active part in organizing the Shinkō Sakkyokuka Renmei,.