List of Famous people who died in 1981

James Edward Walsh was an American Roman Catholic priest and a bishop in China. He was a member of the Maryknoll order, and a missionary in China.

Francis Curray McHugh, was an American stage, radio, film and television actor.

Bernard Osgood Koopman was a French-born American mathematician, known for his work in ergodic theory, the foundations of probability, statistical theory and operations research.

Maurice d'Hartoy, whose real name was Mauritius-Lucien Hanot, also known as Lieutenant d’Hartoy, was a soldier, politician and French writer.

Edwin H. Knopf was an American film producer, film director, and screenwriter.

Raden Panji Soeroso was a politician, Sarekat Islam activist, and a National Hero of Indonesia. He served as Governor of Central Java and Minister of Public Works and Manpower under the Great Indonesia Party. He was also a vice chairman of the BPUPK and a member of PPKI. He was the founder of the Civil Servants Cooperative Republic of Indonesia. Soeroso was born in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java, Dutch East Indies. Soeroso was posthumously honored as an Indonesian National Hero through a Presidential Decree issued on October 23, 1986. He died in Indonesia.

Howard Washington Thurman was an American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century. Thurman's theology of radical nonviolence influenced and shaped a generation of civil rights activists, and he was a key mentor to leaders within the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr.

Philo McCullough was an American actor. He appeared in 255 films between 1914 and 1969. He was born in San Bernardino, California, and died in Burbank, California.