The following is a list of notable deaths in September 1981.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:
The house belonged to a retired Naval Commander, Donald Sinclair, who died five weeks ago
Even sitting with his closest friends at the regular weekly luncheon of the so-called 'Irish Mafia'—with actors Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy, Ralph Bellamy, Frank McHugh, Frank Morgan and others, probably the greatest group of storytellers in Hollywood history—he was not wholly there.