- Aug 1 Leon Kruczkowski, Polish author (Niemcy), dies at 62
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
Aug 4 American actress (Some Like It Hot; The Seven Year Itch), found dead of an apparent self-inflicted drug overdose at 36
Hermann Hesse (1877-1962)
Aug 9 German-Swiss novelist and poet (Steppenwolf, Nobel Prize for Literature 1946), dies at 85
- Aug 9 Lowell Stockman, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon, dies at 61
- Aug 10 Ted Husing, American sportscaster (Monday Night Fights CBS), dies at 60
- Aug 14 June Richmond, American jazz singer (Jimmy Dorsey; Cab Calloway; Andy Kirk - "Hey Lawdy Mama"), dies of a heart attack at 47 [1]
- Aug 15 Lei Feng, Chinese soldier (became a propaganda icon after his death), dies in an accident at 21
- Aug 17 Peter Fechter, East German bricklayer who was shot trying to cross the Berlin Wall at 18
- Aug 18 Cleo Ridgely, silent screen actress (I Remember Mama), dies at 68
- Aug 19 Kerstin Hesselgren, Swedish politician, 1st woman in Swedish parliament, dies at 90
- Aug 23 Edmund "Hoot" Gibson, American rodeo champion, western actor, director, and producer (Horse Soldier, Last Outlaw), dies from cancer at 70
- Aug 23 Irving Fine, American composer (Toccata), dies of heart disease at 47
- Aug 23 Walter Anderson, German folklorist, dies at 76
- Aug 24 Henry George Ley, British organist, and choral composer, dies at 74
- Aug 27 Carlos Lavín, Chilean composer (Lamentaciones Huiliches), and ethnomusicologist, dies at 79
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide