Deaths in 1985
January
- January 2 – Gabriel Elorde, Filipino professional boxer (b. 1935)
- January 4 – Sir Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895) [1]
- January 5 – Robert Surtees, American cinematographer (b. 1906)
- January 11 – Sir William McKell, 12th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891) [2]
- January 14
- Jetta Goudal, Dutch actress (b. 1891)
- Anagarika Govinda, German buddhist lama (b. 1898)
- January 18 – Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, Sudanese religious thinker (b. 1909)
- January 19 – Eric Voegelin, German-American philosopher (b. 1901) [3]
- January 22
- Sir Arthur Bryant, British historian (b. 1899) [4]
- Mikhail Gromov, Soviet aviator (b. 1899)
- January 23 – Rubén Rabanal, Argentine politician (b. 1935) [5]
- January 26 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (b. 1914)
February
- February 3 – Frank Oppenheimer, American particle physicist (b. 1912)
- February 4 – Jesse Hibbs, American film director (b. 1906)
- February 6 – Neil McCarthy, English actor (b. 1932)
- February 8
- William Lyons, British automobile engineer and designer (b. 1901)
- Marvin Miller, American actor (b. 1913)
- February 11 – Henry Hathaway, American film director (b. 1898)
- February 12 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (b. 1924)
- February 20 – Clarence Nash, American actor (b. 1904)
- February 21
- Ina Claire, American actress (b. 1893)
- Louis Hayward, British actor (b. 1909)
- John G. Trump, American electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist (b. 1907)
- February 22
- Efrem Zimbalist, Russian-American violinist (b. 1889)
- Alexander Scourby, American film, television, and voice actor (b. 1913)
- February 26 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- February 27
- Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician (b. 1902)
- J. Pat O'Malley, English actor (b. 1904) [6]
March
- March 3 – Iosif Shklovsky, Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1916)
- March 7 – George Schick, Czechoslovakian conductor and music educator (b. 1908)
- March 8 – Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
- March 10
- Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (b. 1911)
- Bob Nieman, American baseball player (b. 1927)
- March 11
- Tom Adams, Barbadian politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Barbados (b. 1931)
- Nazem Akkari, Lebanese politician, 19th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1902)
- March 12
- Earle Clements, American politician, governor of Kentucky (b. 1896) [7]
- Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American conductor (b. 1899) [8]
- March 13 – Mabel Alvarez, American painter (b. 1891)
- March 15 – Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian (b. 1921)
- March 16 – Roger Sessions, American composer (b. 1896)
- March 21 – Sir Michael Redgrave, British actor (b. 1908) [9]
- March 23
- Doctor Richard Beeching, Chairman of British Rail (b. 1913)
- Zoot Sims, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
- March 28 – Marc Chagall, Russian-French painter (b. 1887) [10]
- March 29
- The Singing Nun (Jeannine Deckers), Belgian nun and singer (b. 1933) [11]
- Gerhard Stock, German Olympic athlete (b. 1911)
- March 30 – Shizuko Kasagi, Japanese singer (b. 1914)
- March 31
- Michel Georges-Michel, French painter, journalist, novelist (b. 1883)
- Richard McKeon, American philosopher (b. 1900)
April
- April 6 – Terence Sanders, British Olympic rower – coxless fours (b. 1901) [12]
- April 7 – Carl Schmitt, German jurist, political theorist and professor of law (b. 1888)
- April 8 – John Frederick Coots, American songwriter (b. 1897) [13]
- April 10 – Alfredo Duhalde, Chilean statesman (b. 1898)
- April 11 – Enver Hoxha, Albanian Communist politician, leader of the Party of Labour 22nd Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1908) [14]
- April 14
- Noele Gordon, British actress (b. 1919)
- Kate Roberts, Welsh-language author (b. 1891) [15]
- April 15 – Jack Medica, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1914) [16]
- April 16 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
- April 17 – Evadne Price, Australian-British writer, actress and astrologer (b. 1888)
- April 18 – Gertrude Caton–Thompson, English archaeologist (b. 1888)
- April 19 – Sergei Aleksandrovich Tokarev, Russian ethnologist (b. 1899)
- April 21
- John Welsh, Irish actor (b. 1914)
- Tancredo Neves, Brazilian elected president and former Prime Minister (b. 1910) [17]
- April 22 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemical engineer (b. 1900)
- April 26 – Albert Maltz, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1908)
May
- May 1 – Denise Robins, British romance novelist (b. 1897) [18]
- May 4 – Clarence Wiseman, 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
- May 5 – Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
- May 6
- Pete Desjardins, American Olympic diver (b. 1907) [19]
- Julie Vega, Filipino child actress and singer (b. 1968)
- May 7 – Dawn Addams, British actress (b. 1930)
- May 8
- Karl Marx, German composer and music teacher (b. 1897)
- Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (b. 1918)
- Dolph Sweet, American actor (b. 1920)
- May 9 – Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b. 1915) [20]
- May 10
- Tahar Ben Ammar, Tunisian politician, 8th Prime Minister of Tunisia (b. 1889) [21]
- Florizel von Reuter, American violinist and composer (b. 1890)
- May 11 - Chester Gould, American cartoonist, creator of Dick Tracy (b. 1900) [22]
- May 12 – Jean Dubuffet, French artist (b. 1901) [23]
- May 13 – Leatrice Joy, American actress (b. 1893)
- May 14 – Barbara Yung, Hong Kong actress (b. 1959)
- May 16 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
- May 18
- Penn Nouth, Cambodian politician, 7-time Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1906)
- Hilding Rosenberg, Swedish composer (b. 1892) [24]
- May 19 – Maqbular Rahman Sarkar, Bangladeshi academic (b. 1928) [25]
- May 22
- Charles Murphy, American architect. (b. 1890)
- Wolfgang Reitherman, German animator, director and producer (b. 1909)
June
- June 5 – George Brown, Baron George-Brown, British politician (b. 1914)
- June 6
- Norman W. Walker, British businessman (b. 1886)
- Vladimir Jankélévitch, French philosopher and musicologist (b. 1903) [26]
- June 7
- Georgia Hale, American actress (b. 1905)
- Stanley Skinner, professional ice hockey player (b. 1893) [27]
- June 9 – Clifford Evans, British actor (b. 1912)
- Matsutarō Kawaguchi, Japanese novelist (b. 1899)
- June 10 – George Chandler, American actor (b. 1898)
- June 11 – Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (b. 1954) [28]
- June 12 – Helmuth Plessner, German philosopher and sociologist (b. 1892)
- June 15
- Percy Fender, English cricketer (b. 1892) [29]
- Andy Stanfield, American Olympic athlete (b. 1927)
- June 17
- Georgia Hale, American silent film actress (b. 1900) [30]
- George Jackson, English footballer (b. 1893)
- John Boulting, English filmmaker (b. 1913)
- Kirill Moskalenko, Soviet military commander (b. 1902)
- June 19 – Bonnie Nettles, American religious leader (b. 1927)
- June 20 – Ralph A. Wolfe, American comic book artist and animator (b. 1894)
- June 21 – Tage Erlander, Swedish politician, 25th Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1901)
- June 27 – Elias Sarkis, Lebanese lawyer, 27th President of Lebanon (b. 1924)
- June 28 – James Craig, American actor (b. 1912)
- June 30 – Haruo Remeliik, Palauan politician, 1st President of Palau (b. 1933)
July
- July 1 – Pauli Murray, American civil rights activist, lawyer, author and priest (b. 1910)
- July 3 – Erik Ågren, Swedish boxer (b. 1916)
- July 4 – Jan de Quay, Dutch politician and psychologist, 31st Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1901)
- July 8
- Phil Foster, American actor (b. 1913)
- Simon Kuznets, American economist (b. 1901)
- July 9
- Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
- Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896) [31]
- July 14 – Lluís Solé, Spanish geographer and academic (b. 1908)
- July 15 – Rama Devi, Indian nationalist leader (b. 1889)
- July 16 – Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- July 17 – Margo, Mexican-American actress (b. 1917)
- July 19
- Janusz Zajdel, Polish writer (b. 1938)
- Louisa Ghijs, Belgian stage actress and wife of Johannes Heesters (b. 1902)
- July 21 – Alvah Cecil Bessie, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1904)
- July 22 – Matti Järvinen, Finnish Olympic athlete (b. 1909)
- July 23
- Kay Kyser, American bandleader (b. 1905)
- Mickey Shaughnessy, American actor (b. 1920)
- July 25 – Grant Williams, American actor (b. 1931)
- July 26 – Grace Albee, American printmaker and wood engraver. (b. 1890)
- July 27 – John Scarne, American magician and card expert (b. 1903)
August
- August 1 – D. H. Turner, British art historian and museum curator (b. 1931)
- August 2 – Frank Faylen, American actor (b. 1905)
- August 5 – Arnold Horween, Harvard Crimson and NFL football player (b. 1898)
- August 6
- Forbes Burnham, Guyanese political leader, 1st Prime Minister of Guyana and 2nd President of Guyana (b. 1923)
- Karl Diebitsch, German Nazi uniform designer (b. 1899)
- John Harmon, American actor (b. 1905)
- August 8 – Louise Brooks, American actress (b. 1906)
- August 9 – Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1927)
- August 10 – Kenny Baker, American actor and singer (b. 1912)
- August 11 – Hector Grey, Scottish street trader and company director (b. 1904)
- August 12
- Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer (b. 1941)
- Manfred Winkelhock, German racing driver (b. 1951) [32]
- August 13 – J. Willard Marriott, American entrepreneur, founder of Marriott International (b. 1900) [33]
- August 14
- Marie Bell, French actress and stage director (b. 1900)
- Gale Sondergaard, American actress (b. 1899)
- August 15 – Lester Cole, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1904)
- August 20 – Donald O. Hebb, Canadian neuropsychologist (b. 1904)
- August 22 – Paul Peter Ewald, German crystallographer and physicist (b. 1888)
- August 24 – Morrie Ryskind, American dramatist (b. 1895)
- August 25
- Paul Harris, American actor (b. 1917)
- Samantha Smith, American schoolgirl activist (b. 1972)
- August 28
- Ruth Gordon, American actress, screenwriter, and playwright (b. 1896)
- Miguel Otero Silva, Venezuelan writer (b. 1908)
- August 29
- Evelyn Ankers, British actress (b. 1918)
- Patrick Barr, British actor (b. 1908)
- Paul Kligman, Canadian actor (b. 1923)
- August 30 – Taylor Caldwell, Anglo-American writer (b. 1900) [34]
- August 31 – Sir Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
September
- September 1
- Stefan Bellof, German racing driver and 1984 World SportsCars (Group C) Champion (b. 1957). [35]
- Saunders Lewis, Welsh writer and founder of the Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru) (born 1893) [36]
- September 4
- Isabel Jeans, British actress (b. 1891)
- George O'Brien, American actor (b. 1899)
- September 6 – Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1917) [37]
- September 7
- Bruiser Kinard, American football player (Brooklyn Dodgers) and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (b. 1914)
- José Zabala-Santos, Filipino cartoonist (b. 1911)
- George Pólya, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1887)
- September 8 – John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1897)
- September 9 – Paul Flory, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910) [38]
- September 10
- Ernst Öpik, Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1893)
- Jock Stein, Scottish football player and manager (b. 1922)
- Chong Yun Jing, Singaporean administrative officer and victim of a medical malpractice case (b. 1963)
- September 11
- William Alwyn, English composer (b. 1905)
- Henrietta Barnett, British Women's Royal Air Force officer (b. 1905)
- Masako Natsume, Japanese actress (b. 1957)
- September 13
- Winifred Cecil, American operatic soprano (b. 1907) [39]
- Augusto Rademaker, Brazilian admiral and former military junta member (b. 1905)
- September 14
- Julian Beck, American actor (b. 1925)
- John Holt, American writer and educator (b. 1923)
- September 17 – Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925) [40]
- September 19 – Italo Calvino, Italian writer (b. 1923) [41]
- September 22 – Axel Springer, German journalist and the founder and owner of the Axel Springer AG (b. 1912)
- September 27 – Lloyd Nolan, American actor (b. 1902)
- September 30
- Floyd Crosby, American cinematographer (b. 1899)
- Charles Richter, American seismologist and physicist, creator of the Richter magnitude scale (b. 1900)
- Simone Signoret, French actress (b. 1921)
October
- October 1 – E. B. White, American writer (b. 1899) [42]
- October 2
- Rock Hudson, American actor (b. 1925)
- George Savalas, American actor (b. 1924)
- October 5 – Abdus Sattar, Bangladeshi statesman, 8th President of Bangladesh (b. 1906)
- October 6 – Nelson Riddle, American bandleader (b. 1921)
- October 9 – Emílio Garrastazu Médici, Brazilian general and statesman, 28th President of Brazil (b. 1905)
- October 10
- Yul Brynner, Russian actor (b. 1920)
- Orson Welles, American actor and director (b. 1915)
- October 12
- Johnny Olson, American game show announcer ( The Price Is Right ) (b. 1910), cerebral hemorrhage.
- Ricky Wilson, American guitarist (b. 1953)
- October 13 – Francesca Bertini, Italian actress (b. 1892)
- October 14 – Emil Gilels, Soviet pianist (b. 1916)
- October 17 – Abdelmunim Al-Rifai, Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1917)
- October 18 – Stefan Askenase, Polish-Belgian classical pianist and pedagogue (b. 1896)
- October 21 – Dan White, American politician and murderer (Moscone–Milk assassinations) (b. 1946)
- October 24 – László Bíró, Hungarian inventor of the ballpoint pen (b. 1899)
- October 27 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American inventor (b. 1905)
- October 29 – John Davis Lodge, American actor and politician (b. 1903)
- October 31 – Hardit Malik, Indian fighter pilot and diplomat (b. 1894) [43]
November
- November 1
- Phil Silvers, American entertainer (b. 1911) [44]
- Wetzel Whitaker, American animator, film director, and film producer (b. 1908)
- November 2 – Don Bragg, American basketball player (b. 1933) [45]
- November 5
- Spencer W. Kimball, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1895)
- Arnold Chikobava, Georgian linguist (b. 1898)
- November 6 – Sanjeev Kumar, Indian actor (b. 1937)
- November 8 – Nicolas Frantz, Luxembourgish cyclist (b. 1899)
- November 9 – Marie-Georges Pascal, French actress (b. 1946)
- November 11
- James Hanley, British novelist, playwright and writer (b. 1897)
- Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender (b. 1959)
- Arthur Rothstein, American photographer (b. 1915)
- November 13
- William Pereira, American architect (b. 1909)
- George Robert Vincent, American sound recording pioneer (b. 1898)
- November 14 – Wellington Koo, Chinese statesman (b. 1888)
- November 16 – John Sparkman, American politician (b. 1899)
- November 17
- Lon Nol, Cambodian general and statesman, 32nd Prime Minister of Cambodia and 7th President of Khmer Republic (b. 1913)
- Jimmy Ritz, American actor (b. 1904)
- November 19 – Stepin Fetchit, American actor (b. 1902)
- November 22 – María Sabina, Mexican curandera (b. 1894)
- November 24 – Big Joe Turner, American blues singer (b. 1911)
- November 25 – Geoffrey Grigson, British poet, writer, critic (b. 1905)
- November 27 – Fernand Braudel, French historian (b. 1902)
December
- December 2 – Philip Larkin, English poet and novelist (b. 1922)
- December 6 – Carroll Cole, American serial killer (b. 1938) [46]
- December 7
- Robert Graves, English writer (b. 1895)
- Potter Stewart, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1915)
- December 12
- Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
- Ian Stewart, Scottish rock musician (b. 1938)
- December 14 – Roger Maris, American baseball player (New York Yankees) (b. 1934)
- December 15
- Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, 1st Prime Minister of Mauritius (b. 1900)
- Carlos P. Romulo, Filipino diplomat (b. 1899)
- December 16 – Paul Castellano, American Mafia boss (b. 1915)
- December 20 – Coral Buttsworth, Australian tennis champion (b. 1900)
- December 22
- D. Boon, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
- Richard P. Condie, American conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (b. 1898)
- December 23
- Ferhat Abbas, Algerian nationalist, 1st president of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (b. 1899)
- Prince Bira, Prince of Siam and Formula One driver (b. 1914)
- December 24 – Erich Schaedler, Scottish footballer (b. 1949)
- December 26 – Dian Fossey, American biologist (b. 1932)
- December 27
- Harry Hopman, Australian tennis player and coach (b. 1906)
- Harold Whitlock, British Olympic athlete (b. 1903)
- December 28 – Renato Castellani, Italian director (b. 1913)
- December 31
- Ricky Nelson, American actor and musician (b. 1940)
- Sam Spiegel, Polish-American film producer (b. 1903)