List of Famous people who died in 1986

Heinz Nixdorf was a German computing pioneer, businessman and founder of Nixdorf Computer AG.

Larry Wu-tai Chin was a Chinese Communist spy who worked for the United States Government for 37 years (1944–1981), including positions at the U.S. Army and the CIA, while secretly being a mole for the Communist Party's intelligence apparatus from the very beginning. He kept passing classified documents and secret information to the People's Republic of China even after his retirement, until he was finally exposed in 1985.

Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austrian-born theatre and film director.

Lílian Lemmertz Dias was a Brazilian actress.

Claude Bertrand was a French film, television and voiceover actor.

Valentin Petrovich Kataev was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright who managed to create penetrating works discussing post-revolutionary social conditions without running afoul of the demands of official Soviet style. Kataev is credited with suggesting the idea for The Twelve Chairs to his brother Yevgeni Petrov and Ilya Ilf. In return, Kataev insisted that the novel be dedicated to him, in all editions and translations. Kataev's relentless imagination, sensitivity, and originality made him one of the most distinguished Soviet writers.

Boy Gobert was a German film and television actor.

Alicia Moreau de Justo was an Argentine physician, politician, pacifist and human rights activist. She was a leading figure in feminism and socialism in Argentina. Since the beginning of the 20th century, she got involved in public claims for opening rights for women. In 1902, joined by a fellow activists, she founded the Feminist Socialist Center of Argentina and the Feminine Work Union of Argentina.

Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.

Benjamin David Goodman was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".