List of Famous people who died in 2001

Gerald David "Lorenzo" Music was an American actor, voice actor, writer, producer and musician. He was best known as the original voice of Jim Davis' comic strip character Garfield.

During an anti-globalization demonstration outside the July 2001 G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, protester Carlo Giuliani was shot dead by riot police as he and other demonstrators attacked their van, making his the first death during an anti-globalization demonstration since the movement's rise from the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. Photographs showed Giuliani, a 23-year-old Roman living in Genoa, throwing a fire extinguisher towards the van, a pistol firing a shot in return from the van, and Giuliani's body having been run over by the van. Charges against the officer were initially dropped without trial as a judge ruled that the ricocheted bullet was fired in self-defense, but the incident became a point of public scrutiny. The European Court of Human Rights, eight years after the incident, ruled that the Italian forces had acted within their limits, though damages were awarded for the state's procedural handling of the case. Appeals upheld the ruling, and Giuliani's family later filed a civil suit. Giuliani was memorialized in music tributes and public monuments, and is remembered as a symbol of the 2001 G8 protests. The 2002 documentary Carlo Giuliani, Boy, recounts the incident.

Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and Paris. Her first solo art exhibition was in 1943. At the same time, she was writing short stories and articles for publication, as well as creating the graphics for book covers and other purposes. She continued to work as an artist and a writer for the rest of her life.

Matthias Fuchs (1939–2001) was a German stage, film and television actor.

Abdulaziz al-Omari was a Saudi airport security guard and imam who was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks.

William Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, voice actor, cartoon artist, and musician whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century.

Ali Gaffar Okkan was a Turkish police chief who was assassinated in an ambush in Diyarbakır, southeastern Turkey.

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami, commonly known as R. K. Narayan, was an Indian writer known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.

Leslie Jesse Sealey was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for, among others, Coventry City, Luton Town, Manchester United, Aston Villa and West Ham United. He was a nephew of Alan Sealey, another West Ham United player.

Marcelo Fromer was the guitarist of Brazilian rock band Titãs. One of the founding members and also the band's manager, he died in 2001, after being hit by a motorcycle while jogging.