- Aug 1 Henrietta Lacks [Loretta Pleasant], African-American tobacco farmer whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, extensively used in medical research since the 1950s (1st immortalised cell line), born in Roanoke, Virginia (d. 1951)
- Aug 1 Jeffrey Segal, British actor and playwright (Dad's Army, Traitors), born in London, England (d. 2015)
- Aug 1 Sammy Lee, American diver (Olympic Gold 10m platform 1948, 52), born in Fresno, California (d. 2016)
- Aug 2 Bill Scott, American voice actor, producer and writer (Mr Peabody, Bullwinkle), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1985)
- Aug 2 Louis Pauwels, French writer and editor, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1997)
- Aug 2 Theo Marcuse, American character actor (Mara of Wilderness), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1967)
- Aug 3 Charlie Shavers, American jazz trumpet player, born in New York City (d. 1971)
- Aug 3 Elmar Tampõld, Estonian-Canadian architect, born in Kärdla, Estonia (d. 2013)
- Aug 3 Maria Karnilova, American dancer and actress (Fiddler on the Roof, Ivan the Terrible), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 2001)
- Aug 3 P. D. James [Phyllis Dorothy], Baroness James of Holland Park, English crime writer (Cover Her Face), born in Oxford, England (d. 2014)
- Aug 4 Helen Thomas, American reporter and UPI journalist (starts press conferences), born in Winchester, Kentucky (d. 2013)
- Aug 5 Selma Diamond, Canadian-American comedy writer (Your Show Of Shows), and actress (Night Court, 1984-85 - "Selma"), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1985)
- Aug 5 Sonny Montgomery, American politician (Rep-D-Mississippi, 1967-97), born in Meridian, Mississippi (d. 2006)
- Aug 6 Ella Raines, American actress (Uncle Harry, Runaround, Impact, Brute Force), born in Snoqualmie Falls, Washington (d. 1988)
- Aug 8 Don Cook, American foreign Correspondent (The New York Herald Tribune), born in Bridgeport, Connecticut (d. 1995)
- Aug 8 Jimmy Witherspoon, American jump blues singer ("Ain't Nobody's Business"), born in Gurdon, Arkansas (d. 1997)
- Aug 8 Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist (Fred Buscaglione), and screenwriter, born in Chieri, Italy (d. 2006)
- Aug 9 Allen Hoskins, American child actor (Our Gang), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1980)
- Aug 9 Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and writer, born in Lizzano in Belvedere, Italy (d. 2007)
- Aug 10 William "Red" Holzman, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach (New York Knicks 14 seasons), born in Brooklyn, NY (d. 1998)
- Aug 11 Chuck Rayner, Canadian Hockey HOF goaltender (Hart Memorial Trophy 1950; NHL All-Star 1949, 50, 51; New York Americans, New York Rangers), born in Sutherland, Saskatchewan (d. 2002)
- Aug 11 Derry Jeffares, Irish Anglo-Irish scholar (Stirling University), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 2005)
Mike Douglas (1920-2006)
Aug 11 American big band singer (Kay Kyser), and TV talk show host (The Mike Douglas Show, 1961-81), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Aug 11 William Masselos, American pianist, born in Niagara Falls, New York (d. 1992)
- Aug 12 Percy Mayfield, American singer (Please Send Me Someone to Love), born in Minden, Louisiana (d. 1984)
- Aug 12 Peter West, British sports broadcaster (BBC; editor Playfair Cricket Annual), born in Cranbrook, England (d. 2003)
- Aug 13 Charlie Galbraith, English jazz trombonist, born in London (d. 1997)
- Aug 13 Neville Brand, American soldier and actor (DOA, Love Me Tender), born in Griswold, Iowa (d. 1992)
- Aug 15 (Henry) "Huntz" Hall, American radio, stage, and screen actor (Dead End Kids: The Bowery Boys; Gas Pump Girls), born in New York City (d. 1999)
- Aug 16 Charles Bukowski, German-born American columnist (Notes of a Dirty Old Man) and writer (Hollywood: A Novel) who was described as a "laureate of American lowlife", born in Andernach, Weimar Republic Germany (d. 1994)
- Aug 17 Georgia Gibbs [Frieda Lipschitz], American jazz and pop singer ("Kiss of Fire"; "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake"), born in Worcester, Massachusetts (d. 2006) [1]
Maureen O'Hara (1920-2015)
Aug 17 Irish-American actress (Miracle on 34th Street; The Quiet Man; Only The Lonely), and singer, born in Ranelagh, County Dublin, Ireland
- Aug 17 Vern Bickford, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1949; no-hitter 1950; Boston / Milwaukee Braves), born in Hellier, Kentucky (d. 1960)
- Aug 18 Bob Kennedy, American MLB baseball player (Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians), manager (Chicago Cubs, Oakland A's), and executive, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2005)
- Aug 18 Godfrey Evans, English cricket wicket-keeper (91 Tests; 219 dismissals; Kent), born in Finchley, England (d. 1999)
Shelley Winters (1920-2006)
Aug 18 American Oscar and Emmy Award-winning actress (Lolita; A Place in the Sun; A Patch of Blue; The Poseidon Adventure), born in St. Louis, Missouri
- Aug 19 Lucila Engels-Boskaljon, Curacao-Dutch painter, born in Willemstad, Curaçao (d. 1993)
- Aug 19 Paul Kont, Austrian composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2000)
- Aug 21 Christopher R. Milne, son of Alan A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh), born in Chelsea, London (d. 1996)
- Aug 21 Gerry Staley, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1952-53, 60; St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox), born in Brush Prairie, Washington (d. 2008)
- Aug 22 Anthony Tuke, chairman of Barclays Bank (1973–81) (d. 2001)
- Aug 22 Denton Cooley, American heart surgeon (1st artificial heart transplant), born in Houston, Texas (d. 2016)
- Aug 22 Pierre A. Lauffer, Antillian poet (Patria), born in Curacao, Venezuela (d. 1981)
- Aug 22 Ray Bradbury, American sci-fi author (Fahrenheit 451), born in Waukegan, Illinois (d. 2012)
- Aug 22 Wolfdietrich Schnurre, German writer, born in Frankfurt (d. 1989)
- Aug 23 Aart Verstegen, Dutch ballet dancer and choreographer (Jolly Joker's Last Joke), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1998)
- Aug 24 Alex Colville, Canadian conceptual painter, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2013)
- Aug 25 Jef Diederen, Dutch painter, born in Heerlen, Netherlands (d. 2009)
- Aug 25 Leonard Gaskin, American jazz bassist (Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis), born in New York City (d. 2009)
- Aug 26 Brant Parker, American cartoonist (co-creator of "The Wizard of Id"), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2007)
- Aug 27 James Molyneaux [Baron Molyneaux of Killead], MP (Ulster unionist), born in Killead, Ireland (d. 2015)
- Aug 28 Frits Bernard, American clinical psychologist and pedophile activist, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2006)
- Aug 29 Charles White, American actor (Airport 95, Serpico), born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey (d. 2005)
Charlie "Bird" Parker (1920-1955)
Aug 29 American jazz saxophonist (Ornithology) and composer, born in Kansas City, Kansas
- Aug 29 Joseph Lesniewski, American Easy Company, soldier in 101st Airborne, born in Erie, Pennsylvania (d. 2012)
- Aug 30 Ben Cami, Flemish writer and poet (Rose from Mud), born in Durham, England (d. 2004)
- Aug 31 James Lanphier, American actor (Flight of Lost Balloon), born in Hempstead, New York (d. 1969)
About August 1920
How Old? 103 or 104 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: Yes
Greatest Generation
Silent Generation
Baby Boomer
Generation X
Millennial
Generation Z