- Jan 5 George Duckworth, English cricket wicket-keeper (24 Tests, 60 dismissals), dies at 64
- Jan 10 Fen Cresswell, New Zealand cricket slow bower (3 Tests, 13 wickets; Wellington, Central Districts), dies from suicide at 50
- Jan 11 Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish long-distance runner (Olympic gold 1912), dies at 76
- Jan 14 Bill Carr, American athlete (Olympic gold 400m, 4 x 400m 1932), dies at 56
- Jan 19 Frank Foyston, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center (Stanley Cup 1914 Toronto Blueshirts, 1917 Seattle Metropolitans, 1925 Victoria Cougars), dies at 74
- Feb 25 James D. Norris, American sports businessman (Chicago Black Hawks), dies at 59
- Mar 9 Pablo Birger, Argentine racing driver (b. 1924)
- Mar 15 Abe Saperstein, British-American sports entrepreneur (founder of Harlem Globetrotters), dies of a heart attack at 63
- Apr 5 Slats Gill, Basketball Hall of Fame coach (36 seasons Oregon State 1928-64), dies of stroke at 64
- May 16 Randy Turpin, British boxer (NYSAC, NBA and The Ring middleweight titles 1951-53), shot dead in his home at 37
- May 22 Tom Goddard, English cricket off-spin bowler (8 Tests; 22 wickets @ 26.72; Gloucestershire), dies at 65
Jim Barnes (1886-1966)
May 24 English golfer (PGA C'ship 1916, 19; US Open 1921, British Open 1925; World Golf HOF), dies at 80
- Jun 22 Roger Blunt MBE, New Zealand cricket all-rounder and broadcaster (9 Tests; BBC), dies at 65
- Jun 30 Giuseppe Farina, Italian auto racer (World F1 champion 1950), dies in a domestic car accident at 59
- Jul 6 "Sad" Sam Jones, American baseball pitcher (no-hitter 1923; World Series 1918, 23; Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees), dies at 73
- Jul 9 Mule Suttles, American Baseball HOF infielder (5 x NgL All Star; NL batting champion 1926, 28; NgL Triple Crown 1926; St. Louis Stars), dies of cancer at 65
- Jul 22 Edward Gourdin, American athlete (long jump WR 7.69 m 1921; Olympic silver 1924) and jurist, dies at 68
- Jul 24 Tony Lema, American golfer (British Open 1964), dies in a plane crash at 32
- Jul 26 Howard Kinsey, American tennis player (French Open doubles 1924, US Open doubles 1926; Wimbledon singles 1926 runner-up), dies at 66
- Aug 5 Austin Diamond, Australian cricketer (Australian captain to America 1913), dies at 92
- Aug 8 Pierre Charles, Belgian heavyweight boxer, dies at 63
- Aug 14 Tip Snooke, South African cricket all-rounder and captain (26 Tests 1905-23, 35 wickets), dies at 85
- Aug 17 Archibald Palm, South African cricketer (Test South Africa v England 1927-28), dies at 65
- Aug 17 Ken Miles, British-American auto racer and engineer (USAC Road Racing C'ship 1961; 24 Hours of Daytona 1966), dies in practice accident at 47
- Sep 5 Dezső Lauber, Hungarian athlete (b. 1879)
- Sep 10 James Langridge, English cricketer (242 runs & 19 wkts for England), dies at 60
- Oct 4 Mike Tresh, American baseball catcher (MLB All Star 1945; Chicago White Sox), dies from cancer at 52
Charlotte Cooper (1870-1966)
Oct 10 British tennis player (1st female Olympic champion 1900; Wimbledon 1895-96, 98, 1901, 08), dies at 96
- Oct 13 'Father' Charles Marriott, English cricketer (one Test for England, 11 wickets), dies at 71
- Oct 27 Nigel Haig, English cricket all-rounder (5 Tests; 1,000 runs and 100 wickets 1921, 27, 29 Middlesex CCC), dies at 78
- Nov 10 Evelyn Sears, American tennis player (US National 1907), dies at 91
- Nov 15 Dimitrios Tofalos, Greek weightlifter (b. 1877)
- Dec 5 Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (Tour de France 1936, 39), dies of cancer at 57
- Dec 20 Lloyd Spooner, American sports shooter (4 x Olympic gold, 1 x silver, 2 x bronze 1920), dies at 82
- Dec 27 Frankie Genaro, American boxer (World flyweight champion 1928-31; Olympic gold flyweight 1920), dies at 65
- Dec 27 Guillermo Stábile, Argentine footballer (b. 1906)
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