- Jan 1 Charles Turner, Australian cricket fast bowler (17 Tests; 101 wickets @ 16.53; fastest to 50 Test wickets; NSWCA), dies at 81
- Jan 7 George Mullin, American baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers; no-hitter 1912), dies at 63
- Jan 12 Juliette Atkinson, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1895, 97-98), dies at 70
- Feb 21 Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian auto racer (winner 1st Grand Prix motor racing event in Le Mans, France 1906), dies at 70
- Apr 17 Jack Hearne, English cricket spin bowler (12 Tests, 49 wickets; England's first hat-trick vs Australia 1899), dies at 76
- Apr 25 Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player, dies at 85
- Apr 26 Violette Morris, French athlete & spy for Nazi Germany, dies at 51
- May 26 Cyril Francois, South African cricket all-rounder (5 Tests, 252 runs, 6 wickets), dies in a motor accident at 46
- Jun 2 Vera Menchik, Russian born British chess master, 1st official Women's World Chess Champion (1927-39), dies in a London air raid at 38
- Jun 13 Christopher Heseltine, cricketer (2 Tests for England 1895-96), dies
- Jun 19 Bill Bradley, cricketer (bowled for England in two Tests 1899), dies
- Jun 26 Billy Newham, cricketer (England Test 1887), dies
- Jul 20 Heinz Burns, German (Olympic gold 1936), dies in bombing
- Aug 5 Maurice Turnbull, Welsh cricketer (England) rugby player (Wales), dies fighting in WWII at 38
- Aug 17 John Trumble, Australian cricket all-rounder (7 Tests, 10 wickets; brother of Hugh), dies at 80
- Aug 30 (William) Crickett Smith, American ragtime, and jazz cornetist and trumpeter (James Reese Europe's Clef Club; Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolics; Louis Mitchell's Jazz Kings), and bandleader, dies at 53
- Sep 18 Anthony Stefanich, British boxer and Army captain, killed in battle at Arnhem, Netherlands at 27
- Nov 9 Frank Marshall, American chess player (US Champion 1909-36), dies at 67
- Nov 16 Charles Kelleway, Australian cricket all-rounder (26 Tests, 3 x 100s, 52 wickets, 24 catches), dies at 58
- Nov 17 Archie MacLaren, English cricket batsman and captain (35 Tests; 424 Lancashire v Somerset 1895), dies at 72
Kenesaw Mountain Landis (1866-1944)
Nov 25 American federal judge (1905-22), Baseball HOF executive and 1st MLB Commissioner (1920-44), dies at 78
- Dec 2 Eiji Sawamura, Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (first no-hitter in Japanese pro baseball 1936), dies in battle when his ship torpedoed, at 27
- Dec 4 Roger Bresnahan, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, outfielder and manager (World Series 1905 NY Giants; St. Louis Cardinals; first shin guards and batting helmet), dies at 65
- Dec 16 Don Meyer Basketball coach Northern State, Lipscomb, and Hamline