References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

1959 January 6 Jose Enrique Pedreira composer, dies at age 54. [1] January 9 Paul Malengreau composer, dies at age 71. [1] January 11 Dr Mohammed Zakaria Ghonein discoverer of 6,000-year-old pyramid, dies. [1] January 17 Abdul Aziz cricket, dies at age 17 struck by ball in fc match for Karachi. [1] January 20 Carl Switzer actor (Alfalfa-Our Gang), shot to death at age 31. [1] January 21 Cecil B[lount] de Mille producer (10 Commandments), dies at age 77. [1] Lamar Stringfield composer, dies at age 61. [1] January 22 A J Else Mauhs German/Dutch actress (Hamlet, Nora), dies at age 73. [1] January 28 Joseph Sprinzak Speaker of Israel Knesset (1949-59), dies at age 73. [1] Viktor Joseph Keldorfer composer, dies at age 85. [1] February 1 Madame Sul-To-Wan [Conley], actress (Birth of a Nation), dies at age 85. [1] February 2 Frank DeCaires cricketer (West Indies bat vs England 1930, three Tests 232 runs), dies. [1] February 3 Buddy Holly rocker (That'll be the Day), dies in a plane crashi Iowa at age 22. [1] Richie Valens rock vocalist (Donna, La Bamba), killed in plane crash in Iowa at age 17. [1] The Big Bopper [Jiles Perry Richardson] rocker (Chantilly Lace), dies in a planein Iowa crash at age 28. [1] February 4 Una O'Connor actress (Banjo, Invisible Man), dies at age 78. [1] February 5 Gwili Andre actress (No Other Woman, Roar of the Dragon), dies. [1] February 7 Daniel F Malan premier of South Africa (1948-54), dies at age 84. [1] Napoleon Lajoie baseball player, dies at age 83. [1] Slim [Eddie Jones] Guitar rocker, dies at age 32. [1] February 8 William J "Wild Bill" Donovan Office Strategic Services, dies at age 76. [1] February 12 George Antheil US pianist/composer (Ballet Mécanique), dies at age 58. [1] February 13 William L Axt composer, dies at age 70. [1] February 15 Owen W Richardson English physicist (Nobel Prize 1928), dies at age 69. [1] February 17 Kathryn Adams actress (Meet the Chump, 5th Avenue Girl), dies. [1] Tim Mara co-founder of NFL's New York Giants, dies. [1] February 18 Alfred Alessandrescu composer, dies at age 65. [1] Eric Zeisl composer, dies at age 53. [1] Jaroslav Kvapil composer, dies at age 66. [1] February 20 Ray McDonald dancer, dies of barbiturate overdose at age 38. [1] February 22 Helen Parrish actress (Hour Glass), dies of cancer at age 36. [1] February 26 Lou Costello actor (Abbott and Costello), dies at age 52. [1] February 28 Maxwell Anderson US dramatist (Key Largo, Bad Seed), dies at age 70. [1] March 2 Eric Blore actor (Abie's Irish Rose, Love Happy), dies at age 70. [1] Yrlö Henrik Kilpinen Finnish composer, dies at age 67. [1] March 3 Lou Costello comedian (Abbott and Costello), dies at age 52. [1] March 6 Fred Stone actor (Hideaway, Westerner), dies at age 85. [1] March 7 Arthur C Pigou English economist (Economics of Welfare), dies. [1] Hinsdale Smith developer of roll-down auto windows, dies at age 88. [1] March 8 Abdel Wahab Shawwaf Iraqi Colonel/putschist, murdered. [1] March 11 Haydn Wood composer, dies at age 76. [1] March 16 John Sailling last documented Civil War vet, dies at age 111. [1] March 17 Raffaele d' Alessandro composer, dies on 48th birthday. [1] March 25 Billy Mayerl composer, dies at age 56. [1] March 26 Raymond T Chandler US detective writer (Long Goodbye), dies at age 71. [1] March 27 Grant Withers actor (Oklahoma Annie), suicide with sleeping pills at age 54. [1] March 28 James Neblett cricketer (one Test West Indies vs England 1935), dies. [1] March 29 Barthelemy Boganda Central African Republic's first President, dies. [1] Sara Wennerberg-Reuter composer, dies at age 84. [1] March 31 Peter Suhrkamp German publisher (Suhrkamp Verlag), dies at age 68. [1] April 2 Benjamin Christensen Danish actor (Barnet, Mockery), dies at age 79. [1] April 4 Stanley Snooke cricketer (brother of S J, duck in South African Test), dies. [1] April 8 Gustave Charlier Belgian literature historian, dies. [1] April 9 Frank Lloyd Wright US architect (Guggenheim Museum, New York), dies at age 89. [1] April 12 Ernest Willem Mulder composer, dies at age 60. [1] James Gleason dies at age 76. [1] April 13 Eduard A van Beinum Dutch musician/conductor, dies at age 57. [1] Rigardus "Rijn" Rijnhout Giant of Rotterdam (2.375 metres tall), dies at age 38. [1] April 16 Charles Halton dies at age 83. [1] April 18 Irving Cummings Sr actor/director (In Old Arizona), dies at age 70. [1] April 24 Jef van Hoof composer, dies at age 72. [1] April 27 Gordon Armstrong inventor of baby incubator, dies. [1] April 30 Armand Louis Joseph Marsick composer, dies at age 81. [1] May 1 Oscar Torp Norwegian premier, dies. [1] May 2 Yrlö Henrik Kilpinen Finnish composer, dies at age 67. [1] May 8 Renato Caccioppoli Italian mathematician/pianist, suicide at age 55. [1] May 14 Sidney Bechet US jazz clarinetist/saxophonist/bandleader, dies at age 62. [1] May 15 Berend van den Amstel [Bernard CED Hattink], Dutch actor, dies at age 56. [1] May 16 Joe Cook Stage comedian, dies at age 69. [1] May 20 Alfred Schutz Austrian/US architect/philosopher, dies at age 60. [1] May 24 John Foster Dulles US Secretary of State (1953-59), dies at age 71. [1] May 26 Ed Walsh baseball pitcher (1.82 ERA), dies at age 78. [1] Joe Kelly TV host (Quiz Kids), dies at age 57. [1] May 28 Bert Collins cricketer (19 Tests for Australia 1920-26), dies. [1] May 30 Thomas Carl Whitmer composer, dies at age 85. [1] June 18 Ethel Barrymore actress, dies at age 79. [1] June 25 Charles Starkwether executed. [1] June 29 A Cecil Snyder Chief Justice of Puerto Rico, dies at age 51. [1] July 8 Dale Buisand and Chester Ovnand first Americans killed in Vietnam War. [1] July 17 Billie Holiday, blues singer, dies of liver failure at age 44 in New York City. [1] [5] July 25 Dr Isaac Halevi Herzog chief rabbi of Israel (1936-59), dies at age 71. [1] August 5 Edgar Guest newspaperman, dies at age 77. [1] August 18 Harvey Glatmin executed. [1] September 6 Kay Kendall British actress, dies at age 32. [1] September 11 Paul Douglas actor (Adventure Theater), dies at age 52. [1] September 20 Olin Howlin actor (Swifty-Circus Boy), dies at age 63. [1] September 25 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Ceylon's Prime Minister, assassinated by a Buddhist monk. [1] September 29 Harold Huber actor (I Cover Times Square), dies at age 49. [1] September 30 John H Kliegl developer of the Klieg light, dies at age 89. [1] October 3 William Bishop actor (Steve-It's a Great Life), dies at age 42. [1] October 7 Mario Lanza singer, dies at age 38 of a heart attack. [1] October 10 Prince Friedrich of Liechtenstein, dies. [1] October 11 Bert Bell NFL hall of famer, dies at age 64. [1] October 14 Errol Flynn actor, dies. [1] October 25 Bob Murphy TV host (RFD America), dies at age 42. [1] November 1 Gershon Agron mayor of Jerusalem, dies at age 66. [1] November 21 Max Baer US, heavyweight boxing champion (1934), dies at age 49. [1] November 24 Dr Lyman Bryson educator (UN Casebook), dies at age 71. [1] December 4 Rosetta Duncan (Duncan Sisters), dies in an auto accident at age 58. [1] December 5 K S Duleepsinhji cricketer (12 Tests for England, 995 runs), dies. [1] December 6 Len Doyle actor (Harrington-Mr District Attorney), dies at age 66. [1] December 9 Kurt Kläber writer, dies. [1] Walter Compton news anchor (DuMont Evening News), dies at age 47. [1] December 10 Charles Jones cricket batsman (West Indies in four Tests 1930-35, 63 runs), dies. [1] Henri Vidal French actor (Fabiola), dies of a heart attack at age 40. [1] December 12 Russell Simpson actor (Abraham Lincoln), dies at age 79. [1] December 14 Maria EG "Lizzy" Ansingh Dutch painter (Cast Off), dies at age 84. [1] December 19 Walter Williams claimed to be last survivor of Civil War, dies at age 117. [1] December 22 Gilda Gray actress (Piccadilly), dies of heart attack at age 60. [1] December 23 Edward Halifax English viscount/viceroy of India, dies at age 78. [1] Lester Lonergan Jr actor (Growing Paynes), dies at age 65. [1] Lord Irwin ambassador to US (1940-46), dies at age 78. [1] December 27 Alfonso Reyes Mexican poet/historian/diplomat, dies at age 70. [1] December 29 Robin Humphrey Milford composer, dies at age 56. [1] December 30 Maria Baers Flemish social female worker/senator, dies at age 76. [1]