List of Famous people who died in 1986

Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years.

Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, including "Over the Rainbow", Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow" was voted the 20th century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Denis Leslie Russell was an English first-class cricketer active 1928–32 who played for Middlesex and Oxford University. He was born in Paddington, Middlesex; died in Merrow, Surrey.

Dorothea Bertha Olivia Wieck was a German theatre and film actress.

Martin Gabel was an American actor, film director and film producer.

Tamás Major was a Hungarian stage and film actor. He also acted as the director of the Hungarian National Theatre from 1945 to 1962.

Maria Villavecchia Bellonci was an Italian writer, historian and journalist, known especially for her biography of Lucrezia Borgia. She and Guido Alberti set up the Strega Prize in 1947.

Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox, known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer and dancer.