Joe McCarthy (1887-1978)
Jan 13 American Baseball Hall of Fame manager (Chicago Cubs; New York Yankees - World Series 1932, 36–39, 41, 43; Boston Red Sox), dies of pneumonia at 90
- Jan 14 Harold Abrahams, British athlete (Olympic gold 100m, silver 4x100m 1924; depicted in film "Chariots of Fire"), dies at 78
- Jan 20 Dit Clapper, Canadian ice hockey player (NHL Hall of Fame, Boston Bruins), dies at 70
- Jan 22 Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer (54 Tests for England 4555 runs), dies at 83
- Feb 9 Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist (b. 1893)
- Feb 14 Paul Governali, American professional football player (b. 1921)
- Mar 12 Theresa Weld Blanchard, American figure skater (US Singles C'ship 1914, 20-24; Pairs C'ship 1920-27; Olympic bronze 1920), dies at 84
- Mar 13 Ghulam Guard, Indian cricket medium pace bowler (2 Tests, 3 wickets; Bombay, Gujarat), dies at 52
- Mar 17 George Dickinson, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 8 wickets; Otago, Wellington) and rugby union five-eighth (NZ 5 x tour matches; Otago RFU), dies at 75
- Mar 27 Dutch Zwilling, American baseball outfielder (Federal League HR all-time leader), dies at 89
- Mar 29 Jayasinghrao Ghorpade, Indian cricket batsman (8 Tests @ 15.26; Baroda), dies at 47
- Mar 30 George Paine, English cricket spin bowler (4 Tests, 17 wickets; Warwickshire CCC), dies at 69
- Mar 30 Harold Gimblett, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, 1 x 50; 265 career FC sixes; Somerset CCC), dies from an overdose at 63
- Apr 8 Ford C Frick, American Baseball HOF executive (NL President 1934-51; MLB Commissioner 1951-65), dies at 83
- Apr 9 Vivian McGrath, Australian tennis player (Australian C'ship 1937), dies at 62
- Apr 13 Albert Termote, Flemish-Dutch sculptor of equestrian bronzes (Charles the Great), dies at 91
- Apr 14 Joe Gordon, American Baseball HOF 2nd baseman (World Series 1938, 39, 41, 43 NY Yankees; 1948 Cleveland Indians; AL MVP 1942; 9 x MLB All Star), dies of a heart attack at 63
- Apr 27 John Doeg, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1930), dies at 69
- May 5 Alfred (Harold] Gilligan, English cricketer (4 Tests for England), dies at 81
Ethelda Bleibtrey (1902-1978)
May 6 American swimmer (Olympic gold 100m, 300m, 4x100m freestyle relay 1920; first US female champion), dies at 76
- May 13 Alby Roberts, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (5 Tests, 7 wickets; Canterbury, Otago), dies at 68
- May 19 George Gladstone, cricketer (one Test WI v England 1930), dies
- May 29 Carl Reynolds, American baseball outfielder who was 2nd player in MLB history to hit HRs in 3 consecutive innings 1930; Chicago White Sox, dies at 75
- May 31 József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (Budapest Honvéd), dies at 52 due to heart failure
- Jun 22 Tom Gorman, Australian rugby league centre and captain (10 Tests; Queensland 34 games), dies at 77
- Jul 10 Joe Davis, English snooker player (World Champion 1927-40, 1946), dies at 77
- Aug 5 Dutch Clark, American Pro/College Football HOF back (Colorado College; 6 × First-team All-Pro; 3 × NFL rushing TD leader & NFL scoring leader; Portsmouth Spartans/Detroit Lions), dies at 71
- Aug 5 Jesse Haines, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1926, 31, 34; pitched no-hitter 1924; St. Louis Cardinals), dies at 85
- Aug 21 Vinoo Mankad, Indian cricket all-rounder (44 Tests, 5 x 100, HS 231, 162 wickets, BB 8/52; Nawanagar, Hindus, Gujarat, Bombay, Rajasthan), dies at 61
- Aug 26 José Manuel Moreno, Argentine footballer, dies at 62
- Sep 6 Adolf Dassler, German entrepreneur (founder sportswear company Adidas), dies at 78
- Sep 10 Ronnie Peterson, Swedish auto racer (World F1 C'ship runner-up 1971, 78), dies in crash during Italian F1 GP at 34
- Sep 11 Mike Gazella, American baseball player (NY Yankees), dies at 82
- Sep 16 Bill Foster, American Baseball HOF pitcher (NgL All-Star 1933, 34; NgL World Series 1926, 27; Chicago American Giants), dies at 74
- Oct 3 Alfred Strange, English soccer right half (20 caps, 3 as captain; Sheffield Wednesday, 253 games), dies at 78
- Oct 8 Jim Gilliam, American MLB player and coach (LA Dodgers), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 49
- Oct 10 Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete, politician (Rep-D-Ill; joint world record 100m, Olympic gold 4x100m relay 1936), dies of a heart attack at 68
- Oct 18 Frank Woolley, English cricket all-rounder (64 Tests, 5 x 100, 23 x 50, HS 154, 83 wickets, BB 7/76; Kent CCC), dies at 91
- Oct 26 George "Jackie" Grant, West Indian cricketer (West Indian captain 1930-35), dies at 71
- Nov 6 Heiri Suter, Swiss road cyclist (Grand Prix Wolber [unofficial World C'ship] 1922, 25), dies at 79
- Nov 7 Gene Tunney, American boxer (world heavyweight champion 1926-28), dies at 80
- Nov 11 Bennie Borgmann, American Basketball Hall of Fame forward and coach (Kingston Colonials, Original Celtics; coach Syracuse Nationals), dies at 77
- Nov 13 George Hearne, South African cricket batsman (3 Tests; Western Province), dies at 90
- Nov 15 Dick Chapman, American golfer (1940 US amateur, 1951 British amateur), dies of a stroke at 67
- Dec 9 Ed Healey, NFL tackle (Rock Island Independents, Chicago Bears), dies at 83
- Dec 11 Paul O'Dea, American baseball player (b. 1920)
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