Famous people and celebrities who died in May 1972

This page is dedicated to commemorating the celebrities and famous people who passed away in May 1972. This month marked the loss of influential and beloved figures whose contributions spanned various fields and touched many lives. Explore our detailed list to remember and celebrate their enduring legacies and the remarkable impact they had on the world

• May 1 Fernand Ansseau

  Belgian operator orfeo dies at the age of 82.

• May 2 J. Edgar Hoover

  American 1st director of the federal bureau of investigation (b. 1895)

• May 2 Hugo Hartung

  Writer dies at 69

• May 3 Kenneth Bailey

  Australian lawyer and diplomat, australian high commissioner to canada (b. 1898)

• May 3 Emil Breitkreutz

  American runner and coach (d. 1972).

• May 4 Edward Calvin Kendall

  Nobel Prize laureate for their discoveries relating to the hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects

• May 5 Rev Gary David

  Vocalist dies at 76

• May 6 Deniz Gezmis

  Yusuf aslan, huseyininan are executed in ankara because they tried to overthrow constitutional order.

• May 8 Pandurang Vaman Kane

  Indian indologist and sanskrit scholar, bharat ratna awardee (b. 1880)

• May 13 Dan Blocker

  Famous American actor best known for playing Eric 'Hoss' Cartwright in the iconic Western television series Bonanza, which ran from 1959 to 1973.

• May 15 Nigel Green

  Actor (skull tobruk, ipcress file), died at 47

• May 16 Maxime Dumoulin

  Composer dies at 79

• May 18 Eero Aukusti Sipila

  Composer dies at 53

• May 20 Cornelis J van der Klauw

  Dutch biologist/zoologist dies at the age of 78.

• May 22 Margaret Rutherford

  English actress (born in 1892)

• May 22 Cecil Day-Lewis

  Cecil Day-Lewis was a prominent British poet and later Poet Laureate, known for his modernist poetry and significant contributions to 20th-century English literature.

• May 24 Asta Nielsen

  Danish silent film actress known for her pioneering work in early cinema.

• May 24 Ismail Yasin

  Egyptian comedian and actor (born in 1915).

• May 24 Gavin Muir

  Actor (hollister–betty hutton show), died at 64

• May 28 Edward VIII

  At the age of 77, king of great britain/northern ireland/emperor(india 1936), dies.

• May 29 Moe Berg

  Moe Berg was an extraordinary American baseball player who became a spy during World War II, working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and using his intelligence skills to gather critical information.

• May 29 Stephen Timoshenko

  Ukrainian-american academic and engineer (d. 1972).

• May 30 Margaret Ruthven Lang

  Composer dies at the age of 104

• May 31 Walter Freeman

  American psychiatrist and physician (d. 1972).