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, cricketer, 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 (Ten 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 versus England 1930, three Tests 232 runs), dies. [1]

February 3

• Buddy Holly, rocker ("That'll be the Day"), dies in a plane crash in 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 plane crash in Iowa 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]
• Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones, 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 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 veteran, 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), dies of suicide with sleeping pills at age 54. [1]

March 28

• James Neblett, cricketer (one Test West Indies versus 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]

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 18

• Irving Cummings Senior, 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 16

• George Reeves, actor (Superman, Gone With the Wind), shoots himself. [1]

June 18

• Ethel Barrymore, actress, dies at age 79. [1]

June 29

• A Cecil Snyder, Chief Justice of Puerto Rico, dies at age 51. [1]

July 8

• Dale Buisand and Chester Ovnand are 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]

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]

October 28

• Death of Walther Bauersfeld, 1919 inventor (first modern projection planetarium). [1]

November 1

• Gershon Agron, mayor of Jerusalem, dies at age 66. [1]

November 21

• Max Baer, American 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]