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.

1968 January 2 Sanoesi Pane, Indonesian writer, dies. [1] January 4 Joseph Pholien, Belgian Prime Minister (1950-52) communist fighter, dies at age 83. [1] January 5 Jean Murat, actor (On the Riviera), dies at age 79. [1] January 6 Kurt Baschwitz, German/Dutch sociologist/journalist (Heksen), dies at age 81. [1] January 9 Kokichi Tsuburaya, Japanese marathoner (Olympics-bronze-1964), commits suicide. [1] Louis-François-Marie Aubert, French composer (Habanera), dies at age 90. [1] January 10 Basil Sydney, actor (Hamlet, Simba), dies of pleurisy at age 73. [1] Howard Smith, actor (Harvey Griffin - Hazel), dies at age 74. [1] Josue Teofilo Wilkes, composer, dies at age 85. [1] Louis-François-Marie Aubert, French composer (La Momie), dies at age 90. [1] Theophilus E Dönges, South African Internal minister, dies at age 69. [1] January 15 Bill Masterson, first NHL player fatally injured during game (January 13), dies. [1] John Davidson, actor (Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc), dies at age 80. [1] Leopold Infeld, Polish nuclear physicist (Motion and Relativity), dies at age 69. [1] January 16 Robert R "Bob" Jones, founder (Bob Jones University), dies at age 84. [1] January 17 Julis Deutsch, Austrian politician/General Spanish republican army, dies at age 83. [1] January 18 Bert Wheeler, actor (Rainmakers, High Flyers, Dixiana), dies at age 72. [1] John Ridgely, actor (Air Force, Possessed, Big Sleep), dies at age 58. [1] Lee Tracy, actor (Martin Kane - Martin Kane Private Eye), dies at age 69. [1] January 22 Duke Kahanamoku of Hawaii, 100m swimmer (Olympics-gold-1912, 1920, 1924), dies at age 77. [1] January 25 Virginia Maskell, actress (Only Two Can Play), dies at age 31. [1] January 29 Laxmidas Purshottamdas Jai; cricketer (Test for India), dies. [1] January 30 Tsugouharu T Foujita, Japanese/French painter, dies at age 81. [1] February 1 Lawson Little, amateur golfer (US/British Opens 1934, 1935), dies at age 57. [1] February 4 Ed Baker, actor (Keystone Kops), dies of emphysema at age 70. [1] Gerard den Brabander [Jan G Jofriet], poet (Nothing New), dies at age 67. [1] February 5 Luckey Roberts, composer, dies at age 80. [1] February 6 C Montague Shaw, actor (Buck Rogers, Planet Outlaws), dies at age 85. [1] February 7 Nick [Aloysius Adamschock] Adams, actor (Interns, Pillow Talk, FBI Story, Johnny Yuma-The Rebel), dies of drug overdose at age 36. [1] Stuart Foster, singer (Galen Drake Show), dies at age 49. [1] February 8 J Borremans, Belgian politician (Communist), dies at age 56. [1] February 9 Barbara Everest, actress (Inquest, Madeleine), dies at age 77. [1] Frederik M baron van Asbeck, lawyer (League of Nations), dies at age 78. [1] February 10 Pitirim A Sorokin, Russian/US sociologist, dies at age 79. [1] February 11 Howard Lindsay, US playwright (State of the Union), dies at age 78. [1] February 13 Ildebrando Pizzetti, Italian composer, dies at age 87. [1] Mae Marsh, actress (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance), dies at age 72. [1] February 15 Little Walter, rocker, dies at age 37. [1] February 16 Healey Willan, composer, dies at age 87. [1] February 17 Donald Wolfit, actor (Lawrence of Arabia), dies of heart ailment at age 65. [1] February 18 Sigurd Erixon, geographer (Atlas över Svensk Folkkultur), dies at age 79. [1] February 19 Birth of Frank Watkins; US heavy metal bassist (Obituary, Cause of Death). [1] Ralph Dunn, actor (Mr Rudge-Norby), dies at age 65. [1] February 21 Anthony Asquith, British director (Court Martial), dies at age 65. [1] February 22 Omer C F L Tulippe, Belgian geographer, dies at age 71. [1] February 23 Edna Ferber, US author (Giant, Showboat), dies at age 80. [1] Fannie Hurst, US author (Anatomy of Me), dies at age 78. [1] February 25 Camille Huysmans, Belgian premier (1946-47), dies at age 96. [1] February 26 Eric Feldary, actor (16 Fathoms Deep), dies of burns at age 55. [1] February 27 Johannes Tralow, writer, dies at age 85. [1] Ludvik Podest, composer, dies at age 46. [1] February 28 Doretta Morrow, actress (Because You're Mine), dies at age 41. [1] Frankie Lymon, singer, dies at age 25. [1] Juanita Hall, actress (Captain Billy), dies at age 66. [1] March 1 Georg von der Vring, German painter (Camp Lafayette), dies at age 78. [1] March 4 Alexandre Cellier, composer, dies at age 84. [1] March 6 Isa Krejci, composer, dies at age 63. [1] Joseph Martin Jr, Speaker of the House, dies at age 83. [1] March 7 Yuri Aleksayevich Gagarin, USSR cosmonaut (Vostok I), dies at age 31. [1] March 10 Helen Walker, actress (Brewster's Million), dies of cancer at age 47. [1] March 14 Erwin Panofsky, German/US art historian/iconologist, dies. [1] March 16 Bengt Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet (Nun Serviam), dies at age 60. [1] June Collyer, actress (June-Stu Erwin Show), dies at age 60. [1] Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, composer, dies at age 72. [1] March 18 Manuel Gomez Carillo, composer, dies at age 85. [1] March 20 Carl T Dreyer, Danish director (Passion of Jeanne d'Arc), dies. [1] March 23 Edwin O'Connor, American writer, dies at age 49. [1] March 24 Howard Petrie, actor (Border River, Bounty Hunter), dies at age 61. [1] Lauwrens Voorthuyzen, Dutch sect leader, dies at age 70. [1] March 25 Douglas Evans, actor (South Pacific Trail), dies in Hollywood. [1] March 27 Yuri Gagarin, first man to orbit Earth, and Seryogin, dies in plane crash at age 34. [1] April 1 Lev D Landau, Russian physicist (Nobel Prize 1962), dies at age 59. [1] April 4 Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, civil rights leader, assassinated by a sniper's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, at age 39. [1] [5] [129] April 5 Lois Andrews dies of lung cancer at age 44. [1] April 6 Bobby Hutton, US Black Panther leader, shot to death. [1] April 7 Jim Clark of Scotland, former world driving champion, dies in race car at age 32. [1] April 15 Boris Nikolayevich Lyatoshynsky, composer, dies at age 73. [1] April 16 Edna Ferber, author (American Beauty), dies at age 78. [1] Fay Bainter, actress (Jezebel, Our Town, State Fair), dies at age 76. [1] April 17 Margaret Seddon dies at age 95. [1] April 19 Tommy Bridges, American baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers), dies at age 61. [1] April 20 Marion Weeks, singer/actress, dies of stroke at age 81. [1] April 21 Norman Demuth, composer, dies at age 69. [1] April 24 Norman McKaye, actor (Untamed Fury, Frogman), dies at age 62. [1] Tommy Noonan, actor (Gentlemen Perfer Blondes), dies at age 45. [1] April 28 Eleven-year-old Mary Bell strangles four year-old Martin Brown. [1] April 29 Frankie Lymon, rocker (and Teenagers), dies of a drug overdose at age 25. [1] April 30 Frankie Lymon, rocker, dies of a heroin overdose. [1] May 1 Harold G Nicolson, English author (English sense of humor), dies at age 71. [1] May 2 Donald L Hall, airplane designer (Spirit of Saint Louis), dies at age 69. [1] May 3 Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev, composer, dies at age 86. [1] May 5 Albert Dekker dies of accidental suffocation at age 62. [1] May 7 Lurleen Burns, wife of George Wallace/Governor of Alabama, dies at age 41. [1] May 9 Harold Gray, US comic strip artist (Little Orphan Annie), dies at age 74. [1] Marion Lorne, actress (Aunt Clara - Bewitched), dies at age 81. [1] Phil Arnold, actor (Skidoo, Errand Boy, Damn Yankees), dies at age 58. [1] May 10 Maurie Sievers, cricket medium-pacer (Australia vs England 1936-37), dies. [1] May 14 Husband Edward Kimmel, commandant US Ocean fleet WWII, dies at age 86. [1] May 20 Albert Hartkopf, cricketer (one Test for Australia), dies. [1] Kees van Dongen, Dutch/French painter, dies at age 91. [1] May 21 Doris Lloyd, actress (Oliver Twist), dies of heart strain at age 71. [1] May 23 James Burke, actor (Ellery Queen, Army Surgeon), dies at age 81. [1] Merle Kendrick, orchestra leader (Window on the World), dies at age 72. [1] May 24 Bernard Rogers, composer (Warrior, Passion), dies at age 75. [1] May 25 Charles K Feldman [Gould], producer (Casino Royale), dies at age 63. [1] George KFW von Küchler, German marshal (Netherlands 1940), dies at age 86. [1] May 26 William E "Little Willie" John, American R&B-singer (Fever), dies at age 30. [1] May 27 Little Willie John, rocker, dies at age 30. [1] June 1 Helen Keller, blind and deaf, dies at age 87. [1] June 6 Robert F Kennedy (Senator-Democrat-New York), dies of gunshot wounds in Los Angeles, California, USA. [1] [5] [129] June 7 Dan Duryea, actor (Pride of the Yankees), dies at age 60. [1] June 15 West Montgomery, jazz guitarist, dies of a heart attack at age 48. [1] July 9 Allyn Edwards, host (One Minute Please, Mr Citizen), dies at age 53. [1] John Indrisano, actor (OK Crackerby), dies at age 62. [1] July 14 Westbrook Van Voorhis, announcer (March of Time), dies at age 64. [1] August 18 Cy Walter, pianist (3's Company), dies at age 52. [1] August 25 John George, actor (Kolb - Adventures of Fu Manchu), dies at age 70. [1] August 28 Nick Castle, choreographer (Dinah Shore, Judy Garland), dies at age 58. [1] August 30 William Talman, actor (Hamilton - Perry Mason), dies at age 53. [1] August 31 Dennis O'Keefe, actor (Suspicion), dies at age 60. [1] September 19 Red Foley, country singer (Mr Smith Goes to Washington), dies at age 58. [1] October 15 Bea Benaderet of New York City, actress (Kate - Petticoat Junction), dies at age 62. [1] October 20 Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, TV preacher, dies at age 84. [1] October 30 Pert Kelton, actress (Cavalcade of Stars), dies at age 61. [1] November 8 Wendell Corey, actor (11th Hour, Peck's Bad Girl), dies at age 54. [1] November 10 Gerald Mohr, actor (Christopher-Foreign Intrigue), dies at age 54. [1] November 20 Cathy Lewis, actress (Deidre - Hazel), dies at age 50. [1] November 25 Phil Lord, actor (Stud's Place), dies at age 89. [1] December 1 Hugo Haas, actor/director (Bait, Pick Up), dies of asthma at age 66. [1] December 5 Fred Clark, actor (Zotz, Auntie Mame), dies of liver ailment at age 54. [1] December 10 Karl Barth, Swiss theologist/minister (Kirchliche Dogma), dies at age 82. [1] Patsy Moran, actress (Children of the Wild), dies at age 65. [1] Thomas Merton, French/American priest/writer (7 Story Mountain), dies at age 53. [1] December 11 Nadine Riga dies of cerebral hemorrhage at age 59. [1] December 12 Tallulah Bankhead, actress (All Star Revue), dies of pneumonia at age 65. [1] Walter Robins, cricketer (19 Tests for England 64 wickets), dies. [1] December 13 Siegfried Reda, composer, dies at age 52. [1] December 15 Jess Willard, heavyweight boxing champion (1915-19), dies at age 86. [1] December 19 Norman Thomas, founder (ACLU)/Socialist Party (1926-55), dies at age 84. [1] December 20 Bax Brod, composer, dies at age 84. [1] John Steinbeck, author (Grapes of Wrath, Nobel Prize 1962), dies in New York at age 66. [1] Max Brod, writer, dies at age 84. [1] December 22 Louise Granville, entertainer, dies of influenza at age 73. [1] December 31 Carl Oscar Ahues, German International Chess Master (1950), dies at age 85. [1] George Louis Francis Lewis, composer, dies at age 16. [1] Sabin V Dragoi, composer, dies at age 74. [1]