Actors Who Died on August 17
- 1963 Richard Barthelmess, American actor (Broken Blossoms, Noose, Heroes for Sales), dies of cancer at 68
- 1966 Michael Garrison, American TV producer (Crowded Sky), dies after a fall at 43
- 1970 Rattana Pestonji, Thai filmmaker and cinematographer (Tang), dies at 62
- 1971 Horace McMahon, American actor (Detective Story, Martin Kane Private Eye), dies from a heart ailment at 65
- 1974 Edgar Dearing, American actor (Pollyanna, Abraham Lincoln, Free & Easy), dies at 81
- 1975 Sig Arno [Siegfried Aron], German-Jewish actor (Holiday in Havana, My Friend Irma), dies at 80
- 1976 Murvyn Vye [Marvin], American actor (Road to Bali, Bob Cummings Show), dies of natural causes at 63
- 1976 William Redfield, American actor (Jimmy Hughes Rookie Cop, Marriage), dies of leukemia at 49
- 1979 Vivian Vance [Jones], American stage and screen actress (I Love Lucy - "Ethel Mertz"; The Lucy Show - "Viv"), dies of cancer at 70
- 1982 Barney Phillips [Bernard Philip Ofner], American actor (Dragnet, Felony Squad), dies from cancer at 68
- 1987 Shaike Ophir, Israeli actor, comedian and Israel's 1st mime (The Policeman; The Delta Force), dies of lung cancer at 57
- 1988 Victoria Shaw, Australian-American actress (Alvarez Kelly, Westworld), dies at 53
- 1989 Harry Corbett, English puppeteer (Sooty), TV presenter and magician, dies at 71
- 1990 Pearl Bailey, American Tony and Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actress, singer and dancer (Hello, Dolly!), dies of a heart attack at 72
- 1990 Roderick Cook, English actor (Rockabye), dies of apparent heart attack at 58
- 1991 Donald "Don" Dubbins, American actor (From Here to Eternity, The Caine Mutiny), dies of cancer at 63
- 1995 David Warrilow, English actor (Simon, Radio Days, Barton Fink), dies at 60
- 1995 Howard Koch, American playwright and screenwriter, dies at 92
- 1998 Wladyslaw Komar, Polish athlete (Olympic gold shot put 1972) and actor, dies in a car crash at 58
- 2008 František Zvarík, Slovakian stage actor (Slovak National Theatre), dies at 87
- 2015 Yvonne Craig, American actress (Batgirl), dies at 78
- 2022 Josephine Tewson, British actress (Keeping Up Appearances; Last Of The Summer Wine, 2003-10), dies at 91
- 2023 Rick Jeanneret, Canadian Hockey HOF broadcaster (Buffalo Sabres Hockey Network 1972–2022), dies from multiple organ failure at 81
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning