Deaths in October 1981

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The following is a list of notable deaths in October 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.

October 1981

2

• Harry Golden, 79, American journalist, political writer, newspaper publisher, and satirist, ^[1] political activist in favor of Georgism ^[2] and desegregation. ^[3] Early in life, Golden was a stockbroker imprisoned for mail fraud. A few decades later, Golden received a full presidential pardon by the then-president Richard Nixon. ^[4]
• Hazel Scott, 61, an American jazz and classical pianist and singer, she was an outspoken critic of racial discrimination and segregation ^[5] , In 1950, she became the first Black American to host her own nationally-syndicated television show, The Hazel Scott Show , ^[6] with the advent of the Red Scare in the television industry, Scott's name appeared in Red Channels: A Report on Communist Influence in Radio and Television (June 1950) and in an effort to clear her name, Scott voluntarily appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on September 22, 1950, and insisted on reading a prepared statement, ^[7] cancer ^[8]

4

• Dorothy Dare, 70, American actress and singer ^[9]
• Freddie Lindstrom, 75, American professional baseball player, coach of Northwestern University's baseball team for 13 seasons, and postmaster of Evanston, Illinois until his retirement from office in 1972, ^{[10] [11]} along with a 24-game hitting streak in 1930 and a 25-game streak in 1933, Lindstrom also ranks among the all-time top 10 in lifetime strikeouts to batting average ratio, 276 strikeouts to .311 batting average in 6,104 plate appearances. ^[12]

5

• Gloria Grahame, 57, American actress, primarily associated with the genre of film noir, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Crossfire (1947), ^[13] stomach cancer and peritonitis at age 57. ^[14]
• Jud Strunk, 45, American singer-songwriter, comedian, private pilot, and failed political candidate, ^[15] his most popular song was the sentimental ballad Daisy a Day (1972), ^{[15] [16]} he was a regular cast member of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1972 until 1973, ^[15] killed in an aviation accident. While piloting his final flight, Strunk suffered a heart attack and lost control of his aircraft. The fall to the ground killed both him and his passenger. ^[17]

6

• Blanche Noyes, 81, American pioneering female aviator ^[18] , she was among the first ten women to receive a transport pilot's license, ^{[19] [20]} in 1929, she became Ohio's first licensed female pilot, ^[20] she was the first woman awarded a gold medal by the Commerce Department, for 35 years of government service in improving air safety. ^[21]
• Anwar Sadat, 62, Egyptian politician and military officer, he served as the president from Egypt from 1970 until his death in 1981, ^{[22] [23]} and he had previously served two terms as the Vice President of Egypt (1964, 1969-1970), he was assassinated by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad during the annual victory parade held in Cairo, ^[24] his death has been attributed to a conspiracy of Islamic nationalists, anti-imperialists, and pro-Palestinian groups opposed to Sadat's peace initiative with Israel and the United States, relating to the Camp David Accords. ^[25]

9

• Marilyn Hare, 57, American actress, singer, and television personality, ^[26] during early 1942, she staged a morale stunt in which she vowed to kiss 10,000 soldiers at a California Army encampment near an aircraft plant, the stunt being part of Hollywood's patriotic exuberance during World War II, ^[26] she hosted or co-hosted the television shows You’re Never Too Old (1953) ^{[27] [28]} and True to Life Theater (1954) ^[29]

12

• Lawrence Lariar, 72, American crime novelist, cartoonist, and cartoon editor ^[30] , he briefly worked for the Walt Disney Studios, as one of the staff working on the animated feature film Fantasia (1940), ^[31]
• Robert McKenzie, 64, Canadian psephologist and academic, he provided televised reports on the British general election results for the BBC from 1955 until 1979, ^[32] cancer ^[33]
• Art Passarella, 71, American actor and umpire in Major League Baseball, he umpired in three World Series (1945, 1949 and 1952) and two All-Star Games (1947 and 1951), ^[34] heart attack ^[35]

13

• Antonio Berni, 76, Argentine figurative artist, he won initial praise for his impressionist landscape painting ^[36] and he later became a key representative of an Argentine variant of social realism, ^[37] he died while working on a Martín Fierro monument ^[38]

14

• Jim Raymond, 64, American comic strip artist, he served as the lead artist in the comic strip Blondie from 1950 until his death in 1981, and he had previously served as an assistant artist and occasional writer in the same strip since 1935 ^{[39] [40]}

15

• Zoltán Huszárik, 50, Hungarian film director, screenwriter, visual artist and occasional actor, suicide ^[41]
• Kendall McComas, 64, American child actor and electrical engineer, he portrayed the recurring characters Stinky Davis in the Mickey McGuire series ^[42] and Breezy Brisbane in the Our Gang series, ^[43] he committed suicide in a fit of depression, due to facing mandatory retirement from his job. ^[44]

16

• Stanley Clements, 55, American actor and comedian, he portrayed the character "Stash" in the East Side Kids film series, and the group leader Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in The Bowery Boys film series, emphysema ^{[45] [46]}
• Moshe Dayan, 66, Israeli military leader and politician, he served as the Minister of Defense from 1967 until 1974, ^[47] with his term in office covering both the Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973), he was blamed for the Israeli leadership having missed the signs for the upcoming war and he chose to resign, ^[48] , he died due to a heart attack, while already hospitalized due to suffering from chest pains and shortness of breath ^[49]

17

• Kannadasan, 54, Indian poet, lyricist, film producer, and screenwriter, ^{[50] [51]} he won the 1980 Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Cheraman Kathali, and he was the first to receive the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for the film Kuzhanthaikkaga (1968) ^{[52] [53]}

19

• Nils Asther, 84, Swedish actor ^{[54] [55]} and memoirist, ^[56] he had a lavender marriage with his co-star Vivian Duncan ^[57]

20

• Mary Chase, 75, American journalist, playwright, children's novelist, and screenwriter, three of her plays were made into Hollywood films: Sorority House (1939) ^[58] , Harvey (1950) ^[59] , and Bernardine (1957) ^[60] , heart attack ^{[61] [62]}

22

• Little Ann Little, 79, American vaudevillian, voice actress, singer, and ordained minister of the Unity Church, ^{[63] [64]} primarily known for voicing the character Betty Boop from 1931 until 1933 ^[65]
• Lily Pincus, 83, German-British social worker, marital psychotherapist, and author, ^[66] she co-founded the Family Discussion Bureau in 1946 (later renamed as the Tavistock Marital Studies Institute and now known as Tavistock Relationships within the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust), ^[67] and she served as the organization's director until 1965, ^[68] she was a leading writer on bereavement ^{[69] [70]} and the importance of mourning ^[71]

24

• Edith Head, 83, American film costume designer, she received a record 35 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and won a record eight times, she was both the most honored and most nominated woman in the Academy's history, ^[72] she also holds the Guinness World Record for the most-credited costume designer in film history, with a total of 432 credits, ^[73] complications from myelofibrosis ^{[74] [75]}
• John Cecil Holm, 76, American dramatist, theatre director, and actor, ^[76] he is primarily known for co-writing the play Three Men on a Horse (1935) ^{[77] [78]}

25

• Barbara Bedford, 78, American actress of the silent era ^[79] , she variously worked as an accountant and as a teacher of swimming, dancing, and gymnastics before the start of her film career ^[80]
• Eric Woodburn, 87, Scottish actor ^{[81] [82]} and baritone singer, ^[83] he portrayed Dr. Alexander Snoddie in Doctor Finlay's Casebook . ^[84]

26

• Glenn Anders, 92, American actor ^[85]
• Reinhold Bernt, 78, German actor, assistant director, and screenwriter, he appeared in Nazi propaganda films and post-World War II radio plays ^[86]

27

• John Warburton, 78, Irish-born British actor, he emigrated to the United States as a stowaway on a freighter, ^[87] his work on television included appearances on 35 episodes of Fireside Theater . ^[88] and a role in the Star Trek episode Balance of Terror , ^[89] cancer ^[87]

28

• Hiroshi Akutagawa, 61, Japanese actor and director, he received the Mainichi Film Award for his performance in Where Chimneys Are Seen (1953), ^[90] tuberculosis ^[91]

29

• Bardu Ali, 75, Bengali American jazz and R&B singer, guitarist, and promoter, ^{[92] [93]} business partner of Johnny Otis, co-founder (with Otis) of The Barrelhouse club in 1947, Ali played an important role in the early career of Charles Brown and he served as Redd Foxx's business manager. ^[94]
• Tina Harmon, 12, American victim of kidnapping, rape, and murder, ^[95] decades following her death, DNA evidence indicated that Harmon was one of the victims of the child murderer and serial rapist Robert Anthony Buell ^{[96] [97]}

References

1. "Harry Golden, an editor and humorist, 79, dead". The New York Times . October 3, 1981.
2. Jan Onofrio (2000). North Carolina Biographical Dictionary. New York: Somerset Publishers. p. 242.
3. "Harry Golden gets a spotlight". The Charlotte Observer. May 2, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2015. Golden was a fascinating man who had some rascally ways. He came to the South from New York City after a misadventure landed him in federal prison for five years convicted of mail fraud and stock manipulation.
4. Richard Person. "Harry Golden Dies". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 31, 2017.
5. Mack, Dwayne (2006). "Hazel Scott: A Career Curtailed". The Journal of African American History. 91 (2): 153–170. doi:10.1086/JAAHv91n2p153. ISSN   1548-1867. JSTOR   20064068. S2CID   141017145.
6. Chilton, Karen (October 15, 2009). "Hazel Scott's Lifetime of High Notes". smithsonian.com. Smithsonian. Retrieved November 30, 2016. ...the first black performer to host her own nationally syndicated television show.
7. United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities. (1951). Testimony of Hazel Scott Powell: hearing before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-first Congress, second session, September 22, 1950. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1951. OCLC   34988798.
8. Ledbetter, Les (October 3, 1981). "Hazel Scott, 61, Jazz Pianist, Acted In Films, On Broadway". The New York Times. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
9. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 177. ISBN   9781476625997 . Retrieved August 7, 2019.
10. Connor, Baseball for the Love of It, pp. 266–67. Freddie Lindstrom, SABR Encyclopedia, June 25, 2010. Freddie Lindstrom, Baseball Reference.com.
11. "Hall of Famer Freddie Lindstrom, 75, Dies". Los Angeles Times . October 6, 1981. p. 36. Retrieved November 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
12. Graham Womack, Baseball Past & Present, May 25, 2011.
13. "The 20th Academy Awards (1948): Actress In A Supporting Role". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . October 5, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
14. ( Lentz 2011 , p. 317)
15. "Jud Strunk | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved August 10, 2021.
16. Jud Strunk, "Daisy a Day" US chart positions Retrieved February 20, 2016.
17. "Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents 1980s". Planecrashinfo.com. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
18. "Died". Time magazine . November 2, 1981. Archived from the original on October 26, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2011. Blanche Noyes, 81, Aviation Hall of Fame member who was a Broadway actress before dropping her stage career to fly planes in the early days of U.S. aviation; in Washington, D.C. A friend of Amelia Earhart's, Noyes took John D. Rockefeller for his only plane ride, in 1930. A stunt flyer, she also competed in numerous air races and was a co-winner with Louise Thaden of the grueling 1936 Bendix Trophy race.
19. "Mrs. Noyes Gets Air Post. Irvington Woman Is Appointed Federal Marking Pilot". The New York Times . August 14, 1936. Retrieved November 15, 2011. Mrs. Blanche Noyes of Irvington, N.J., was appointed today an air-marking pilot for the Bureau of Air Commerce by Eugene L. Vidal, the director. Mrs. Noyes has been flying since 1929 and was one of the first ten women pilots to receive an air transport license.
20. "Deaths Elsewhere: Blanche Noyes". Toledo Blade . October 8, 1981.
21. "Blanche Noyes". Breaking Through The Clouds: The First Women's National Air Derby. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
22. "Big 'yes' for Anwar Sadat". Ottawa Citizen. Cairo. Associated Press. October 16, 1970. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
23. "Egypt Corrective Revolution 1971". Onwar. December 16, 2000. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
24. "1981 Year in Review". United Press International . 1981.
25. "Sadat as a president of Egypt". News Egypt. October 8, 2009. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
26. LIFE.com – "Meet the Actress Who Set Out to Kiss 10,000 Soldiers to Boost Morale."
27. "TV Tele-Vues". Long Beach Independent. Long Beach, California. May 9, 1953. p. 20.
28. "M.C. Team Sparks Oldsters' Talent Show". Daily News-Post and Monrovia News-Post. Monrovia, California. May 30, 1953. p. 3.
29. "Marilyn Hare's 'True Life' Includes Cooking for Family". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. November 17, 1954. p. 22.
30. Obituaries: Lawrence Lariar, The New York Times, October 15, 1981.
31. Lariar's papers include a drawing labeled as "done while working on Walt Disney's Fantasia". "Lawrence Lariar Papers". Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center. Syracuse University. February 14, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
32. "Sultan of swingometers". BBC News. June 7, 2001.
33. McKenzie's Lore. BBC video first broadcast 12 May 1987.
34. Retrosheet
35. "Art Passarella, Ex-Umpire, Later Acted in Films and TV". The New York Times . October 16, 1981. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
36. "Biografia de Antonio Berni". Olimpiadas Nacionales de Contenidos Educativos en Internet. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
37. Salinas, Esmeralda. "The Power of Juanito: Antonio Berni and the Continuing Legacy of Juanito Laguna". Academia.edu. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
38. "Antonio Berni". Buenos Aired Ciudad. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
39. "Artist of 'Blondie' comic strip dies". UPI. October 14, 1981.
40. "Jim Raymond". lambiek.net.
41. "Huszárik Zoltán, Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon" . Retrieved February 1, 2010.
42. Neibaur, James L. (April 16, 2016). The Essential Mickey Rooney. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 16–17. ISBN   9781442260962.
43. Maltin, Leonard & Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press; ISBN   0-517-58325-9
44. Maltin, Leonard & Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press; ISBN   0-517-58325-9
45. Getz, Leonard (2015). "The Bowery Boys". From Broadway to the Bowery: A History and Filmography of the Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and Bowery Boys Films, with Cast Biographies. McFarland & Co. pp. 173–175. ISBN   9780786487424 . Retrieved May 15, 2020.
46. Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
47. Video: Cease-Fire. Uneasy Truce In Mid-East, 1967/06/13 (1967). Universal Newsreel. 1960. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
48. Blum, H: The Eve of Destruction, Harper Collins Publishers, 2003
49. MOSHE DAYAN, 66, DIES IN ISRAEL; HERO OF WAR, ARCHITECT OF PEACE
50. "Remembering Kannadasan on his 35th death anniversary: A look at 10 evergreen songs the legend gave us". India Today. October 17, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
51. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
52. Dhananjayan, G. (November 3, 2014). PRIDE OF TAMIL CINEMA: 1931 TO 2013: Tamil Films that have earned National and International Recognition. Blue Ocean Publishers.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
53. Times of India, Entertainment. "National Awards Winners 1968: Complete list of winners of National Awards 1968". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
54. New York Times 16 October 1981
55. "Hollywood Walk of Fame – Nils Asther". walkoffame.com. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
56. Nils Asther: Narrens väg – Ingen gudasaga, (Carlsson Bokförlag, 1988)
57. Bradley, Edwin M. The First Hollywood Musicals
58. Nugent, Frank S. (May 18, 1939). "The Screen". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 25, 2023.
59. Oscars website, 1951
60. History Matters website, Mary Chase
61. Pockross, Mimi (2020). Pulling Harvey Out of Her Hat: The Amazing Story of Mary Coyle Chase. Bloomsbury. p. 129. ISBN   9798765192115.
62. Dramatists website, Mary Chase
63. "Betty Boop Dead at 71" Gadsden Times (October 25, 1981)
64. "Ann Rothschild, entertainer, dies" Rome News-Tribune (October 25, 1981)
65. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 45–46. ISBN   0-8108-1557-5 . Retrieved March 14, 2020.
66. Pincus, Lily (June 1, 1984). "Personal Postscript Lily Pincus's Last Writings E" . Bereavement Care. 3 (2): 15–18. doi:10.1080/02682628408657111.
67. Kahr, Brett (March 31, 2017). ""How to Cure Family Disturbance": Enid Balint and the Creation of Couple Psychoanalysis – Twenty-first Enid Balint Memorial Lecture 2016". Couple and Family Psychoanalysis. 7 (1): 1–25. doi:10.33212/cfp.v7n1.2017.1. ISSN   2044-4141. S2CID   267697778.
68. Kraemer, Sebastian; Waddell, Margot (2020). The Tavistock Century: 2020 Vision. Phoenix Publishing House. ISBN   978-1-912691-72-2.
69. Shneidman, Edwin S. (1984). Death: Current Perspectives. Mayfield Publishing Company. p. 402. ISBN   978-0-87484-713-0.
70. Prins, Herschel A. (2010). Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know: Reflections of a Forensic Practitioner. Waterside Press. p. 40. ISBN   978-1-904380-58-0.
71. Wilson, Laura W. (November 1, 1984). "Helping Adolescents Understand Death and Dying through Literature" . English Journal. 73 (7): 78–82. doi:10.58680/ej198411879. ISSN   0013-8274.
72. Duka, John (October 27, 1981). "Edith Head, Fashion Designer for the Movies, Dies". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 7, 2025.
73. "Most credited costume designer". Guinness World Records . Archived from the original on December 30, 2025.
74. Jorgensen 2010, p. 359.
75. Morrison, Pat (October 27, 1981). "From the Archives: Edith Head, Designer Who Dressed Film Greats, Dies". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on December 30, 2025.
76. "John C. Holm, 76, actor, director and playwright". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. October 27, 1981. p. 41. Retrieved June 22, 2019– via Newspapers.com.
77. George Abbott and John Cecil Holm (1935). Three Men on a Horse. S. French.
78. "John Cecil Holm Actor Who Wrote Successful Play". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. March 1, 1936. p. 61. Retrieved June 21, 2019– via Newspapers.com.
79. Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). Silent Film Necrology (2nd ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 37. ISBN   0-7864-1059-0. OCLC   225942678.
80. "Just Fell into Pictures". The Wichita Beacon. Kansas, Wichita. January 16, 1921. p. 19. Retrieved January 22, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
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84. "Dr. Finlay's Casebook". December 22, 1966. p. 15. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014 – via BBC Genome.
85. "Glenn Anders, Actor Of the 20's and 30's And 3 Pulitzer Plays". The New York Times. October 27, 1981. p. D 26. ProQuest   121762522 . Retrieved February 15, 2021.
86. Klee, Ernst (2007). Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich : wer war was vor und nach 1945. S. Fischer. ISBN   978-3-10-039326-5. OCLC   475967920.
87. "John Warburton, 78, Actor on Broadway and in Movies". The New York Times. United Press International. November 2, 1981. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
88. Nusser, Nancy (November 2, 1981). "Young Stowaway Found Success as 'Hollywood's Beau Brummel'". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. p. 25. Retrieved September 29, 2019– via Newspapers.com.
89. "Balance of Terror at startrek.com". Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
90. "毎日映画コンクール 第8回（1953年）". Mainichi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
91. "芥川比呂志". NHK (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
92. Bald, Vivek (2013). Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America. Harvard University Press.
93. Chadbourne, Eugene. "Bardu Ali". AllMusic. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
94. Lipsitz, George (2010). Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story . University of Minnesota Press. ISBN   978-0-8166-6678-2 . Retrieved October 19, 2018.
95. Rink, Matthew. "Family of Tina Harmon, abducted and killed in 1981, wants police to reopen the case". IndeOnline.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
96. "ExecutedToday.com » 2002: Robert Anthony Buell". September 24, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
97. Renner, James (March 26, 2010). "Case Closed!". IndeOnline.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2012.

Sources

• Jorgensen, Jay (2010). Edith Head: The Fifty-Year Career of Hollywood's Greatest Costume Designer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press. ISBN   978-0-762-43805-1.
• Lentz, Robert J. (2011). Gloria Grahame, Bad Girl of Film Noir: The Complete Career. McFarland & Co. ISBN   978-0-786-43483-1.

External links

• List of October 1981 deaths at IMDb