Deaths in January 1981

The following is a list of notable deaths in January 1981.

Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.

January 1981

1

• Neville Coleman, 50, English footballer.
• Frank Elsass, 67, American cornetist and conductor.
• Oumarou Ganda, 45, Nigerien actor and film director.
• Ceferino Garcia, 74, Filipino-American boxer.
• Albert Henry, 74, Cook Islands politician, prime minister (1965–1978), heart attack.
• Manuel de Irujo, 89, Spanish politician.
• Marjory Jarman, 79, English scouting leader, complications from surgery.
• Kathleen Le Messurier, 82, Australian tennis player.
• David Littmann, 74, American cardiologist.
• Hephzibah Menuhin, 60, American-Australian pianist and human rights activist.
• Kazimierz Michałowski, 79, Polish archaeologist.
• Mauri Rose, 74, American racing driver.
• Sir John Stacey, 56, British RAF commander.
• Matt Vaniel, 61, American basketball player.
• Carl Vitz, 97, American librarian and author.
• Wang Shanyuan, 73, Chinese microbiologist.

2

• John P. Bethell, 73, American politician, member of the Arkansas House of Representatives (1949–1972).
• Victor Carin, 47, Scottish actor and translator, pancreatic cancer.
• Arthur W. Carpenter, 89, American rubber chemist.
• Bud Green, 83, Austrian-born American lyricist ("That's My Weakness Now", "Alabamy Bound").
• William S. McEllroy, 87, American tennis player and physician.
• William Schiøpffe, 54, Danish jazz drummer.
• Richard Watts Jr., 82, American theatre critic and journalist, cardiac arrest.

3

• Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, 97, British royal, last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria.
• Peter Bennie, 81, Scottish footballer.
• Marie Eline, 78, American silent actress
• Karl Evang, 78, Norwegian physician and civil servant.
• Lou Fette, 73, American baseball player, heart attack.
• Edith Marguerite Harrington, 87, English secretary, grandmother of Queen Camilla.
• Felton Jarvis, 46, American record producer, stroke.
• Josef Lainck, 73, German businessman and concentration camp survivor.
• Marvin Opler, 66, American anthropologist.
• Alfred Proksch, 89, Austrian politician.
• Margaret Bartlett Thornton, 79, American aviator and poet.
• Khadijeh Afzal Vaziri, 91, Iranian women's rights activist.

4

• Walter Bötcher, 82, German politician and jurist.
• Kenneth Carey, 87, American Olympic sailor (1932).
• Morrie Church, 58, New Zealand rugby coach.
• Aage Thor Falkanger Sr., 78, Norwegian judge.
• Bruno Fortichiari, 88, Italian politician
• Sterling B. Hendricks, 78, American agriculturalist.
• Ruth Lowe, 66, Canadian pianist and songwriter ("I'll Never Smile Again"), cancer.
• Doy Reed, 85, Australian footballer.
• Doris Schroeder, 87, American screenwriter.
• Gordon Charles Steele, 89, English naval captain.
• Mildred F. Taylor, 75, American politician, member of the New York State Assembly (1947–1960).

5

• Elyse Aehle, 86, American violinist and conductor.
• Lomer Brisson, 64, Canadian politician, MP (1949–1958).
• Jana Černá, 52, Czech poet and writer, traffic collision.
• Sir Neill Cooper-Key, 73, British politician, MP (1945–1970).
• Lanza del Vasto, 79, Italian poet and activist.
• Joe Dolhon, 53, American basketball player, traffic collision.
• Walter Feistritzer, 60, Austrian ice hockey player.
• Johnnella Frazer Jackson, 84, American academic and musician.
• Sir James Martin, 87, British engineer (Martin-Baker).
• Knut Nordholm, 78, Swedish Olympic fencer (1936).
• Frederick Osborn, 91, American general and eugenicist.
• Guy Paquinet, 77, French jazz trombonist.
• Norm Standlee, 61, American football player.
• Ahmad Toukan, 77, Jordanian politician, prime minister (1970).
• Harold Urey, 87, American chemist, Nobel Prize recipient (1934), heart attack.
• Fritz Walter, 80, German football executive.
• Leopold Wohlrab, 68, Austrian Olympic handball player (1936).

6

• Bert Avery, 73, Australian footballer.
• Ernestine Bowes-Lyon, 89, Scottish noble.
• A. J. Cronin, 84, Scottish novelis (The Citadel, The Stars Look Down, The Keys of the Kingdom).
• Edward Arunah Dunlop Jr., 61, Canadian politician, esophageal cancer.
• Tom Litterick, 51, British politician, MP (1974–1979).
• Leo J. Martin, 59, American Olympic bobsledder (1948).
• Larry Neal, 43, American poet and academic, heart attack.
• Viljo Pousi, 62, Finnish politician, MP (1966–1970).
• Wesley Powell, 65, American politician, governor of New Hampshire (1959–1963).
• Cassy Ryan, 75, American football player.
• Fred Stiely, 79, American baseball player.
• Ladislav Štoll, 78, Czech politician.
• Antonio Suárez, 48, Spanish racing cyclist.

7

• José Ardévol, 69, Cuban composer.
• Brigitte Bodenheimer, 68, German-American jurist.
• Antonio Castro Leal, 84, Mexican diplomat and politician.
• Dorothy Detzer, 87, American peace activist.
• Joan Elan, 52, English actress.
• Clarence I. Evenson, 90, American politician, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (1959–1963).
• William Feather, 91, American publisher and writer.
• Charles W. Fisher, 84, American politician, member of the California State Assembly (1931–1937).
• Bagio Gavinelli, 82, Italian racing cyclist.
• Leo Gerner, 68, Liechtensteiner politician.
• Alvar Lidell, 72, English radio announcer and newsreader, cancer.
• Chink Martin, 94, American jazz musician.
• Sir Wilfred Morton, 74–75, Scottish civil servant.
• John Pascal, 48, American playwright (George M!) and screenwriter, lung cancer.
• Jan Przecherka, 58, Polish footballer.
• Eric Robinson, 51, Australian politician, MP (since 1972), heart attack.
• Andrew Denny Rodgers, III, 80, American botanist.
• Irv Stein, 69, American baseball player.
• Hugh M. Tiner, 72, American academic administrator.
• Florence Walton, 90–91, American vaudeville performer.

8

• Stymie Beard, 56, American actor (Our Gang), pneumonia.
• Woodrow Chambliss, 66, American actor (Gunsmoke), colon cancer.
• Réal Chevrefils, 48, Canadian ice hockey player.
• John H. Collins, 78, American classical scholar.
• Balfour Currie, 78, Canadian meteorologist.
• Shigeru Egami, 68, Japanese karate master.
• Sharif El-Far, 52, Egyptian footballer.
• Reg Evenden, 61, Australian footballer.
• Moritz Jagendorf, 92, Austrian-American folklorist.
• Mortimer von Kessel, 87, German general.
• Alexander Kotov, 67, Soviet chess grandmaster.
• Donald Lehman, 47, American murder victim, shot.
• Margarete Markl, 78, Austrian sculptor.
• Walter M. Nielsen, 80, American physicist.
• Jessie Rindom, 77, Danish actress.
• Philip H. Ross, 75, American naval admiral.
• Karel Schummelketel, 83, Dutch Olympic equestrian (1932).
• Sergio Varetto, 43, Italian Olympic sports shooter (1960), hepatitis.

9

• Donald H. Bochkay, 64, American flying ace.
• Ronald Brittain, 81, British soldier, voiceover artist and actor.
• Tommy Byrnes, 57, American basketball player.
• Norm Campbell, 61, Australian footballer.
• Sammy Davis, 94, British racing driver and journalist, house fire.
• John K. Gerhart, 73, American general, coronary thrombosis.
• Jeanne Judson, 92, American journalist and novelist.
• Désiré Koranyi, 66, Hungarian-French footballer.
• Vera McWeeney, 71, Irish field hockey and tennis player.
• Obdulio Morales, 70, Cuban musician.
• Charles Coudert Nast, 77, American general and lawyer.
• Jack Nielsen, 84, Norwegian tennis player.
• Hugo Pena, 29, Argentine footballer, electrocuted.
• Bjarne Rognlien, 89, Norwegian judge.
• Kazimierz Serocki, 58, Polish composer.

10

• Katharine Alexander, 83, American actress.
• Raffaello Bellucci, 76, Italian politician.
• Richard Boone, 63, American actor (Have Gun – Will Travel), throat cancer.
• Fawn M. Brodie, 65, American historian and biographer, cancer.
• Chink Crossin, 57, American basketball player.
• Paul Deichmann, 82, German general.
• Kaare Engstad, 74, Canadian Olympic skier (1932).
• Carl Feaster, 50, American musician (The Chords) and singer ("Sh-Boom").
• Lena Beatrice Morton, 79, American literary scholar.
• Charlotte Mühe, 70, German Olympic swimmer (1928).
• H. Warner Munn, 77, American fiction writer.
• Athol Murray, 79, English cricketer.
• Jacob Slagle, 77, American football player.
• Tom Wright, 78, Scottish-born Australian trade unionist.

11

• Artur Berger, 88, Austrian-Soviet set designer.
• Beulah Bondi, 92, American actress (The Gorgeous Hussy, Of Human Hearts, It's a Wonderful Life), complications from a fall.
• Thomas "Bang Bang" Dudley, 74, Irish prankster.
• Wilhelm Haas, 84, German diplomat.
• Desiderius Hampel, 85, German general.
• Hubert Hunt, 82, British flying ace.
• Dmitry Leonov, 81, Soviet general.
• Malcolm MacDonald, 79, British politician, diplomat and colonial administrator.
• George A. Palmer, 85, American clergyman and radio broadcaster.
• Fred Perry, 77, British Olympic boxer (1928).
• Sinclair Traill, 75–76, British publisher and jazz critic.
• Veikko Vartiainen, 67, Finnish Olympic equestrian (1948, 1952).
• Kenneth W. Wolfe, 72, American politician.

12

• Clem Crabtree, 62, American football player.
• Ada Dietz, 92, American weaver and mathematician.
• John Francis Dooling Jr., 72, American jurist, heart attack.
• Isobel Elsom, 87, English actress, heart failure.
• Marcel Gobillot, 81, French racing cyclist.
• Fred Goding, 75, Australian footballer.
• Florence Ann Humphries, 65, New Zealand trade unionist.
• Nathan Katz, 88, French poet.
• Sir John Nicoll, 81, British colonial administrator, governor of Singapore (1952–1955).
• Sergio Salinas, 53, Chilean politician.
• Wladimir Seidel, 73, Russian-born German-American mathematician.
• Joseph Sparks, 79, British politician and trade unionist, MP (1945–1959).
• Diki Tsering, c. 79–80, Tibetan writer, mother of the 14th Dalai Lama.
• Don Whitehead, 72, American journalist, lung cancer.

13

• Herbert Henry Farmer, 88, British academic and minister.
• Finn Olav Gundelach, 55, Danish diplomat, vice-president of the European Commission (since 1977), heart attack.
• David Hanna, 39, American artist, heart attack.
• Robert Kellard, 65, American actor, pneumonia.
• Walter Stewart Owen, 76, Canadian politician.
• Park Chong-hwa, 79, South Korean poet and novelist.
• Owen Harding Wangensteen, 82, American surgeon, inventor of the Wangensteen tube, heart attack.
• Leslie Ward, 72, English cricketer.

14

• William Barber, 74, English cricketer.
• José Caeiro, 55, Spanish football player and manager, heart attack.
• Romuald Adam Cebertowicz, 83, Polish hydrotechnician.
• Ben McPeek, 46, Canadian composer.
• Nashad, 57, Indian-Pakistani film composer.
• John O'Grady, 73, Australian author (They're a Weird Mob).
• Ēriks Rauska, 81, Latvian Olympic weightlifter (1924).
• George Skibine, 60, Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer, pulmonary embolism.
• Lloyd Spencer, 87, American politician, member of the U.S. Senate (1941–1943).

15

• Emanuel Celler, 92, American politician, member (1923–1973) and dean (1965–1973) of the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Carl Hoppe, 83, American painter.
• Jean Hamilton Hubener, 76, Australian Germanist.
• David E. Lilienthal, 81, American public administrator and attorney, heart attack.
• Doug Livingstone, 82, Scottish football player and manager.
• Devaneya Pavanar, 78, Indian etymologist.
• Zeno Saltini, 80, Italian Roman Catholic priest, founder of the Nomadelfia movement, heart attack.
• Stephen Tall, 72, American science fiction writer.
• Graham Whitehead, 58, British racing driver.

16

• Jack Frendo Azzopardi, 65, Maltese Olympic water polo player (1936).
• Nikolaos Bourantas, 80–81, Greek politician and Nazi collaborator.
• John Oates Bower, 79, Canadian politician, MP (1965–1968).
• Ali Dara, 65, Pakistani field hockey player and manager.
• Gordon Delamont, 62, Canadian music educator.
• Ken Fowler, 73, American racing driver.
• Edwin Broun Fred, 93, American bacteriologist and academic administrator.
• René-Émile Godfroy, 96, French naval admiral.
• Birger Haug, 72, Norwegian Olympic high jumper (1932).
• Maurice Kyle, 43, English footballer.
• Bernard Lee, 73, English actor (Dr. No, The Third Man, Goldfinger), stomach cancer.
• Archibald Motley, 89, American artist.
• Hedda Nova, 81, Russian-born American actress.
• Lady Delia Peel, 91, English courtier.
• Ernest Gerard Wright, 79, Australian politician.
• Leo C. Young, 90, American radio engineer.

17

• Lyman E. Abbott, 68, American football and basketball coach.
• Hugo Aufderbeck, 71, German theologian, cancer.
• Euston Baker, 85, British soldier.
• Gunnar Bech, 60, Danish linguist.
• Mack Gray, 75, American actor.
• Sir Thomas Hutton, 90, British general.
• Ilmari Kuokka, 79, Finnish Olympic runner (1928).
• Walter G. McGahan, 78, American lawyer and politician.
• Timo Murama, 67, Finnish Olympic skier (1936).
• Marguerite Oswald, 73, American receptionist and conspiracy theorist, cancer.
• Loukas Panourgias, 81, Greek footballer.
• David Rank, 74, American spectroscopist and academic administrator.
• Charles de Tolnay, 81, Hungarian art historian.

18

• Sir David Stirling Anderson, 85, Scottish engineer and educator.
• Françoise Bujold, 47, Canadian poet and artist, cancer.
• Antoinette Cellier, 67, English actress.
• Mary Hawton, 56, Australian tennis player.
• Sir Arthur Hutchinson, 84, British civil servant.
• Manuel Perez, 66, American animator (Looney Tunes, Fritz the Cat, The Lord of the Rings).
• William P. Robinson Sr., 69, American politician, member of the Virginia House of Delegates (since 1970), bone cancer.
• Rudolf Schrader, 105, German-born American Olympic gymnast (1904).
• Philip Edward Tovrea Jr., 60, American flying ace.
• Richard L. Wilson, 75, American journalist, mycosis fungoides.

19

• Sir Harold Black, 66, Northern Irish civil servant.
• Eric Boon, 61, British boxer, heart attack.
• Price Daniel Jr., 39, American politician, member of the Texas House of Representatives (1969–1975), shot.
• Joseph R. Fisher, 59, American soldier, heart attack.
• Desmond Fitzmaurice, 63, Australian cricketer.
• Alberto Héber Usher, 62, Uruguayan politician.
• Charles Hampton Johnston, 61, Scottish politician.
• Thomas Moon, 81, English footballer.
• Gordon Russell, 51, American screenwriter, cancer.
• Francesca Woodman, 22, American photographer, suicide by jumping.

20

• Benny Berthet, 70, American-born French tennis player and coach.
• George Brownrigg, 84, Irish cricketer.
• Margaret Dobson, 92, American artist.
• Richard Frydenlund, 89, Norwegian Olympic wrestler (1912, 1920).
• Robert M. Graham, 83, American politician.
• Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory, 81, British politician, MP (1945–1960) and member of the House of Lords (since 1960).
• Hella Katz, 81, Austrian-English photographer.
• Charles E. Kelly, 78, Irish cartoonist.
• Ernest Kruskopf, 61, New Zealand cricketer.
• Johnny Paul, 81, Scottish footballer.
• H. H. Pearson, 67, Australian surgeon.
• Vittorio Tamagnini, 70, Italian Olympic boxer (1928).
• Wilopo, 71, Indonesian politician, prime minister (1952–1953).

21

• William Findlay, 77, Scottish-born American soccer player.
• Cuth Harrison, 74, British racing driver.
• B. T. Hopkins, 83, Welsh poet.
• Augusta Jawara, 56, Gambian women's rights activist and playwright.
• Allyn Joslyn, 79, American actor, heart failure.
• Richard Juckes, 79, English cricketer.
• Bishnuram Medhi, 92, Indian politician.
• Cyril Northam, 86, English footballer.
• Egon Pollak, 82, Austrian-American football player and manager.
• Russell Procope, 72, American jazz musician, heart attack.
• Bill Robinson, 73, Australian politician.
• James Stronge, 48, Northern Irish politician, shot.
• Sir Norman Stronge, 86, Northern Irish politician, shot.
• Charlie Usher, 89, Scottish rugby player.
• Ernst Wahle, 91, German archaeologist.

22

• Bob Abate, 87, Canadian sports coach.
• Franco Abbiati, 82, Italian musicologist.
• Jim Calvert, 63, Australian footballer.
• Blind James Campbell, 74, American blues musician.
• Augusta Kalloch Christie, 93, American politician, member of the Maine House of Representatives (1953–1961) and Senate (1961–1964).
• Rudolf Geiger, 86, German meteorologist.
• Harold Harrington, 77, American botanist.
• Bror Lagercrantz, 86, Swedish Olympic fencer (1924).
• Annie Major, 76, English politician.
• María Moliner, 80, Spanish lexicographer.
• Rudolph Nissen, 84, German surgeon.
• Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, 77, Pakistani historian and playwright.
• D. Neil Reid, 80, American politician, member of the Michigan House of Representatives (1947–1949).
• Augustyn Skórski, 44, Polish ice hockey player, traffic collision.
• Torgeir Svendsen, 70, Norwegian politician.
• Hugo van den Wall Bake, 67, Dutch admiral.
• Gladys Vasey, 91, British painter.
• Sir Arnold Waters, 94, British soldier and engineer.
• Russ Wilkins, 57, American basketball player.
• Hein Zielstra, 72, Dutch general.

23

• Jalal Baba, 79, Pakistani politician.
• Samuel Barber, 70, American composer (Adagio for Strings), cancer.
• Garnet Campbell, 77, Australian footballer.
• Nick DeMaggio, 90, American film editor.
• Martha Thomas Fitzgerald, 86, American politician and educator.
• Harold K. Hochschild, 88, American conservationist and philanthropist.
• Leonard Howell, 82, Jamaican Rastafari leader.
• Anthea Joseph, 56, British publisher, cancer.
• Vera Maslovskaya, 84, Belarusian-Polish educator.
• Roman Rudenko, 73, Soviet lawyer and politician, procurator general (since 1953).
• Maurice Schexnayder, 85, American Roman Catholic prelate.
• Bobby Sherwood, 66, American bandleader and radio host, cancer.
• Sir Andrew Shonfield, 63, British economist.
• Christopher Simcox, 71, English murderer.
• David Weyhe Smith, 54, American pediatrician, cancer.
• Olin E. Teague, 70, American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1946–1978), diabetes.
• Bill White, 65, Canadian politician and composer.
• Reginald Wightman, 81, Canadian politician.

24

• Orville Brown, 72, American professional wrestler.
• Elizabeth Frances Corbett, 93, American novelist.
• Suzanne de Dietrich, 89, French theologian.
• Peter Paul Fernandes, 64, Indian Olympic field hockey player (1936).
• Veikko Hänninen, 51, Finnish chess player.
• Karel František Koch, 90, Czech-Canadian doctor and humanitarian.
• Musette Majendie, 77, English philanthropist.
• Martha Betz Shapley, 90, American astronomer.

25

• Elbern Alkire, 73, American Hawaiian guitarist.
• Adele Astaire, 84, American actress, dancer and singer, stroke.
• Joseph Francel, 85, American executioner.
• Ladislav Grosman, 59, Slovak-Israeli novelist and screenwriter (The Shop on Main Street), heart attack.
• Joe Kuharich, 63, American football player and coach, heart attack.
• Nathan M. Newmark, 70, American structural engineer.
• Russell Perry, 65, Canadian politician.
• Lobsang Rampa, 70, English author (The Third Eye).
• Richard Talmadge, 88, German-born American actor, director and stuntman, cancer.
• Mario Zanello, 77, Italian football player and manager.

26

• Sir Jack Acland, 77, New Zealand politician.
• Constance Applebee, 107, English field hockey player.
• Jean De Schryver, 64, Belgian Olympic boxer (1936).
• Bob Johnson, 78, Australian footballer.
• Lucinda Sewer Millin, 88, Virgin Islander politician.
• Ray Oyler, 43, American baseball player, heart attack.
• Jenő Rácz, 73, Hungarian politician.
• Tracy Sonneborn, 75, American microbiologist.
• Reba Z. Whittle, 61, American nurse, cancer.

27

• Helmut Bertram, 70, German politician.
• Roger Burford, 76, English novelist and screenwriter.
• Julius Cheeks, 51, American gospel singer.
• Léo Collard, 78, Belgian politician.
• Brenda Colvin, 83, British landscape architect.
• Cecil Davidge, 79, British lawyer and academic.
• Spencer Davis, 72, American baseball player.
• Francis William Farrell, 80, American general.
• Huck Geary, 64, American baseball player.
• Tom Green, 67, Australian artist.
• Eupraxie Gurjanova, 79, Soviet biologist.
• Stretton Reeve, 73, British Anglican prelate.

28

• Özdemir Asaf, 57, Turkish poet.
• William Corson, 71, American actor.
• J. Wynn Fredericks, 81, American football player and coach.
• Alphonse Gemuseus, 82, Swiss Olympic equestrian (1924, 1928).
• John Gerber, 74, Russian-born American bridge player, heart attack.
• Harry Wagstaff Gribble, 84, British-American playwright and screenwriter.
• Gladys Nicholls, 74, Australian Aboriginal activist.
• Nikolay Pushkov, 77, Soviet geophysicist.
• Erwin Saxl, 76, Austrian-born American physicist.

29

• Jack A. W. Bennett, 69, New Zealand-born British literary scholar.
• Karl Ludvig Bugge, 78, Norwegian civil servant.
• Cozy Cole, 71, American jazz drummer, cancer.
• Adrien Courtois, 75, French Olympic racewalker (1936).
• Anne Elstner, 82, American actress (Stella Dallas), stroke.
• Brian Geary, 68, Australian footballer.
• John Glassco, 71, Canadian poet and novelist.
• Ole W. Grubb, 89, American politician, member of the Oregon House of Representatives (1957–1958).
• Kipp Hamilton, 46, American actress, breast cancer.
• John Cecil Kelly-Rogers, 75, British aviator.
• Lajos Korányi, 73, Hungarian footballer.
• Vernon Stewart Laurie, 84, British stockbroker and soldier.
• Reginald Martin, 93, British Olympic lacrosse player (1908).
• Lillian Ward McDaniel, 78, American educator.
• Jean-Baptiste Mockey, 65, Ivorian politician.
• Rafael Lucas Rodríguez, 65, Costa Rican biologist.

30

• Gerald J. Boileau, 81, American politician and jurist, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1931–1939).
• Viggo Dibbern, 80, Danish Olympic gymnast (1920).
• Reg Gisborn, 68, Canadian politician.
• John Gordon, 68, Irish Roman Catholic prelate.
• Theodor Haltenorth, 70, German zoologist.
• John E. Miller, 92, American politician and jurist, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1931–1937) and Senate (1937–1941).
• James F. Moriarty, 84, American general.
• Bruce Murray, 47, Australian footballer.
• Park Hyun-sook, 84, South Korean politician.
• Marino Pieretti, 60, Italian-born American baseball player, cancer.
• Elias Wessén, 91, Swedish linguist.

31

• Jacques Bordeneuve, 72, French politician.
• François Boux de Casson, 72, French politician.
• Josef Dobiáš, 94, Czech chess player.
• Dick Edwards, 50, American basketball coach.
• Werner Ehrig, 83, German general.
• Emil Flecken, 91, German painter.
• William Gopallawa, 84, Sri Lankan politician, president (1972–1978) and governor-general of Ceylon (1962–1972), heart attack.
• Mel Holden, 26, Scottish footballer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
• Pat Mehaffy, 76, American jurist.
• Gaby Tanguy, 51, French Olympic swimmer (1952).
• Thomas Webster, 70, American Olympic sailor (1932).
• Joseph W. Willard, 63, Canadian civil servant.
• Scotty Wiseman, 71, American country singer, heart attack.
• Max Woiski Sr., 69, Surinamese musician.

External links

• List of January 1981 deaths at IMDb