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.

1980 January 1 Frank Clifford Wykoff, sprinter (Olympics-gold-1928, 1932, 1936), dies at age 70. [1] Pietro Nenni, Italian politician (Socialists), dies at age 88. [1] January 2 Larry Williams, rocker, dies at age 44. [1] January 3 Ivan Triesault, actor (Von Ryan's Express, Desert Fox), dies at age 81. [1] Joy Adamson, Austrian-born conservationist and author (Born Free), killed by her servant at age 69 (born 1910). [1] [120] Amos Milburn, rocker, dies at age 52. [1] Axel Springer Jr, German photographer, commits suicide at age 38. [1] January 6 The president of Sicily, Piersanti Mattarella, is assassinated by the Mafia. [120] January 7 Carl White, rocker, dies. [1] Sarah Selby, actress (Tower of London), dies at age 74. [1] January 8 Oscar Ewing, US government official (Everybody's Business), dies at age 90. [1] Death of John Mauchly, American physicist and inventor (born 1907). [120] January 10 George Meany, American labor leader, dies at age 85 (born 1894). [1] [120] January 12 Hans Ebeling, cricketer (Victory stalwart, bowled for Australia 1934), dies. [1] January 13 André Kostelanetz, Russian conductor, dies at age 78. [1] January 16 Anna van Wageningen-Salomons, Dutch author (Unspoilt Dream), dies at age 94. [1] January 17 Barbara Britton, actress (Pamela - Mr and Mrs North), dies at age 59. [1] January 18 Cecil Beaton, British photographer, dies at age 76. [1] Death of Sir Cecil Beaton, English photographer (born 1904). [120] January 19 William O Douglas, member of US Supreme court (1939-75), dies at age 81. [1] Richard Franko Goldman, composer, dies at age 69. [1] January 21 Death of Georges Painvin, French cryptographer (born 1886). [120] January 22 Iris Meredith, actress (Lawless Land, Gambling Terror), dies at age 64. [1] January 25 David Newell, actor (Dangerous Curves, White Heat), dies at age 75. [1] Death of Roland Barthes, French literary critic, and philosopher (born 1915). [120] January 28 Death of Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (born 1926). [120] January 29 Jimmy Durante, American actor/singer/comedian (Ink-a-dink-a-doo, Palooka, The Jimmy Durante Show), dies at age 86 in New York City, New York (born 1893). [1] [5] [120] Antonio Molina, composer, dies at age 85. [1] January 30 Lil Dagover, actress (Destiny, Spiders), dies at age 82. [1] Professor Longhair, king of New Orleans music, dies at age 61 (born 1918). [1] [120] January 31 J P Duminy, cricketer (30 runs at 5 and 1 wicket at age 39 in three Test South Africa), dies. [1] February 1 Jack Bailey, TV host (Queen for a Day), dies at age 72. [1] Romolo Valli, actor (Boom, La Viaccia), dies at age 54. [1] February 2 William H Stein, American biochemist (Nobel Prize 1972), dies at age 68 (born 1911). [1] [120] February 6 Death of Albert Kotin, American abstract expressionist painter (born 1907). [120] February 7 Ernst Kunz, composer, dies at age 88. [1] Katherine Emery, actress (Maze, Isle of the Dead), dies at age 73. [1] February 9 Antoine Pompe, Belgian architect, dies at age 106. [1] February 12 Floyd Taliaferro Alderson, actor (Crossing Trails), dies. [1] Death of Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (born 1913). [120] February 13 David Janssen [Meyer], American actor (Fugitive, Harry O), dies at age 49 (born 1931). [1] [120] February 14 Death of Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor. [120] February 17 Graham Sutherland, painter, dies. [1] Jerry Fielding, orchestra leader (Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes, Lively Ones), dies at age 57. [1] February 18 Gale Robbins, actress (Fuller Brush Girl, Mr Hex), dies at age 58. [1] February 20 Death of Alice Longworth, Theodore Roosevelt's eldest daughter, wife of Nicholas Longworth, at age 96 in Washington, DC (born 1884). [1] [120] Death of Ronald Belford (Bon) Scott, Scottish-born Australian singer (AC/DC), at age 33 (born 1946). [120] (February 19 [1]) Death of J.B. Rhine, parapsychologist (born 1895). [120] February 21 Chester H Lauck, actor (Two Weeks to Live, Goin' to Town), dies at age 78. [1] February 22 Alfred Andersch, German writer (Red Head), dies at age 66. [1] Oskar Kokoschka, Austria/British painter/graphic artist, dies at age 93. [1] Richard Kallman, actor (Verboten, Hell Canyon Outlaws), dies at age 46. [1] Death of the Expressionist painter and writer, Oskar Kokoschka, in Villeneuve, Switzerland (born in Pöchlarn, Austria). [37] February 23 Robert Vandekerckhove, Belgian politician, dies at age 62. [1] February 24 Death of Clement Martyn Doke, South African linguist. [120] February 27 George Tobias, American actor (Abner Kravitz - Bewitched), dies at age 78 (born 1901). [1] [120] February 28 Ian Alexander Ross Peebles, cricketer (45 wickets for England), dies. [1] February 29 Yigol Alton, Israeli Foreign Minister, dies at age 61. [1] March 1 John Jacob Niles, composer, dies at age 87. [1] Death of Dixie Dean, English football player (born 1907). [120] Death of Wilhelmina, high-fashion model and owner of model agency (born 1940). [120] Death of Daniil Khrabrovitsky, Soviet film director (born 1923). [120] March 5 Jay Silverheels, American actor (Tonto - Lone Ranger), dies at age 60 (born 1912). [1] [120] Winifred Wagner-William, German World Festival organizer, dies at age 82. [1] [120] March 9 Olga Chekova, actress (Moulin Rouge, Pawns of Possession), dies at age 82. [1] March 10 Herman Tarnower, doctor (Scarsdale Diet), killed by Jean Harris. [1] March 13 Tauno Kullerve Pylkkanen, composer, dies at age 61. [1] March 14 Death of Anna Jantar, Polish Singer - LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 Crash. [120] March 16 Death of Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (born 1898). [120] March 17 Rudolf G Escher, Dutch composer (Vrai Visage de la Paix), dies at age 68. [1] March 18 Death of Erich Fromm at age 79 in Muralto, Switzerland (born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany); writer, professor of psychoanalysis (born 1900). [1] [37] Herman Griffith, cricketer (13 Tests for West Indies, 44 wickets), dies. [1] March 21 Mafioso Angelo Bruno is assassinated in Atlantic City. [120] Death of Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and Christian apologist (born 1888). [120] Gideon Fagan, composer, dies at age 75. [1] March 24 Archbishop Óscar Romero assassinated while conducting mass in San Salvador. [1] [120] Death of Pierre Etchebaster, French real tennis player (born 1893). [120] March 25 Death of James Wright, American poet (born 1927). [120] Death of Roland Barthes, French literary critic and writer (born 1915). [120] Death of Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (born 1913). [120] March 26 Jon-Jon Poulos, rocker (Buckinghams), dies from drugs at age 32. [1] March 28 Dick Haymes, actor (Real Life, Betrayal), dies. [1] March 29 [Annunzio Paolo] Mantovani, Italian-born orchestra leader, dies at age 74 (born 1905). [1] [120] March 31 Jesse Owens, American athlete (Olympics-gold-36), dies in Tucson, Arizona at age 66 (born 1913). [1] [120] Death of Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (born 1905). [120] April 2 Dick Howorth, cricketer (England slow lefty all-rounder late 1940s), dies. [1] April 3 Luella Gear, actress (Joe and Mabel), dies at age 82. [1] April 4 Death of Red Sovine, American country and folk singer and songwriter (born 1917). [120] April 9 Kathleen Burke dies. [1] April 10 Kay Medford, actress (Dean Martin Show, To Rome With Love), dies at age 65. [1] April 11 Charlotte Henry dies. [1] Florence Lake dies. [1] April 12 Stanley De Silva, cricketer (motor bike Sri Lanka '79 World Cup), dies. [1] Samuel Kanyon Doe takes over Liberia in a coup d'etat, ending over 130 years of democratic presidential succession in that country. Liberian President William R Tolbert Jr and 27 others killed in coup. [1] [120] Death of Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker and billiards player (born 1895). [120] April 14 Tom Fadden, actor (Duffeild - Broken Arrow, Cimarron City), dies at age 84. [1] April 15 Paul Langton, actor (Leslie - Peyton Place), dies at age 76. [1] Raymond Bailey, actor (Mr Drysdale - The Beverly Hillbillies), dies at age 75. [1] Jean-Paul Sartre, French existentialist philosopher/writer (Nobel Prize 1964), dies in Paris, France at age 74 (born 1905). [1] [5] [120] Marshall Reed, actor (Fred Asher - Lineup), dies at age 62. [1] April 16 Alf Sjöberg, director (Fadern, Oen, Domaren), dies in a car crash at age 76. [1] April 19 Ethel Wilson, actress (Aunt Harriet - Aldrich Family), dies at age 88. [1] Tony Beckley, actor (Assault, When a Stranger Calls), dies at age 51. [1] April 20 Death of Katherine K. Davis, American composer (born 1892). [120] Death of Helmut Käutner in Castellina, Italy (born in Düsseldorf, Germany); German/American film director. [37] April 21 Death of Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (born 1928). [120] April 22 Jane Froman, singer (Jane Froman's USA Canteen), dies at age 72. [1] Death of the chemist, Fritz Strassmann in Mainz, Germany; co-discovered nuclear fission in 1938. [37] April 24 Alentejo Carpentier, Cuban/French writer (Guerra del Tiempo), dies at age 75. [1] Death of Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (born 1904). [120] April 26 Cicely Courtneidge, actress (Double Exposure), dies at age 87. [1] April 28 Tommy Caldwell, rocker (Marshall Tucker Band), dies. [1] Dee Carroll [Betty Jean Marsh], actress (Mad Bomber, Split), dies. [1] April 29 Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, British director (Psycho, Birds), dies at age 80 from renal failure (born 1899). [1] [5] [120] April 30 Mary McCarty, actress (French Line), dies. [1] Death of Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician (born 1898). [120] May 2 Clarrie Grimmett, cricket (36 Tests for Australia, 216 wickets), dies. [1] May 4 Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (1945-80), dies at age 87 (born 1892). [1] [120] Kay Hammond, actress (Blithe Spirit, Five Golden Hours), dies in Brighton, United Kingdom at age 71. [1] May 5 Edmond Vandercammen, Belgian writer/poet (Grand Combat), dies at age 79. [1] May 12 Lillian Roth, actress (Animal Crackers, Alice Sweet Alice), dies. [1] May 14 Wilhelm Weismann, composer, dies at age 79. [1] Hugh Griffith, actor (Passover Plot, Ben Hur, Tom Jones), dies at age 67. [1] May 16 Death of Marin Preda, Romanian writer (born 1922). [120] May 17 Joseph M "Joop" Lücker, Dutch editor-in-chief (Volkskrant), dies at age 65. [1] May 18 Death of David A. Johnston, American volcanoligist, victim of Mount Saint Helens' eruption (born 1949). [120] Ian Curtis, English rock vocalist (Joy Division), commits suicide at age 23 (born 1956). [1] [120] May 20 Jack Walsh, cricketer (at Wallsend)/commentator (NBN), dies. [1] May 21 Ida Kaminska, actress (Shop on Main Street), dies. [1] May 28 Death of Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician (born 1895). [120] May 30 Timmy Caldwell, rocker (Marshall Tucker Band), dies. [1] Carl Radle, bassist (Derek and Dominoes), dies of a kidney ailment. [1] June 7 Death of Elizabeth Craig, British writer (born 1883). [120] Death of Henry Miller, American writer (born 1891). [120] June 12 Milburn Stone, American actor (Doc - Gunsmoke), dies at age 75 (born 1904). [1] [120] June 13 Death of Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure (born 1942). [120] June 20 Death of Amy Key Clarke, English mystical poet (born 1892). [120] June 21 Death of Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter (born 1923). [120] June 23 Death of Clyfford Still, American painter (born 1904). [120] Death of John Laurie, British actor (born 1897). [120] June 27 Steve Peregrin Took, percussionist (T-Rex), dies at age 31. [1] Death of Walter Dornberger in Germany; engineer who worked with Werner von Braun on the V-2 rocket engine. [37] June 28 Herbie Faye, comedian (Doc, Phil Silvers Show), dies at age 81. [1] July 6 Gail Patrick, actress (My Man Godfrey), dies of leukemia at age 69. [1] July 7 Death of Dore Schary, American film writer, director, and producer (born 1905). [120] Reginald Gardiner, actor (Great Dictator), dies at age 77. [1] July 9 Death of Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian writer, poet and diplomat (born 1913). [120] July 11 Peggy Knudson, actress (April-So This is Hollywood), dies at age 57. [1] July 12 John W Davis, President (West Virginia State college), dies at age 92. [1] July 15 Death of Ben Selvin, famed American 1920s and 1930s orchestra leader and recording artist (born 1898). [120] Eddie Jackson, comedian (Jimmy Durante Show), dies at age 84. [1] July 17 Death of Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician (born 1890). [120] Donald Barry, actor (Mr Gallo-Mr Novak), dies at age 68. [1] July 19 Death of Hans J. Morgenthau in New York City (born in Coburg, Germany). [37] July 23 Death of Robert Brackman, American painter (born 1898). [120] July 24 Death of Uttam Kumar (Arun Kumar Chatterjee), the legendary Bengali actor (born 1926). [120] Peter Sellers, English actor, dies at age 54 (born 1925). [1] [120] July 25 Death of Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, poet, actor (born 1938). [120] July 26 Death of Kenneth Tynan, English theatre critic (born 1927). [120] July 27 Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, dies in Cairo, Egypt at age 60 (born 1919). [1] [120] July 30 Charles McGraw, actor (Michael - Falcon, Smith Family), dies at age 66. [1] July 31 Death of the physicist, Ernst Pascual Jordan in Hannover, Germany; professor of physics, early contributor to quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics (born 1902). [37] [120] Death of Mohammed Rafi, Indian singer (born 1924). [120] August 7 Death of Jackie Cochran, American pilot (born 1906). [120] August 10 Death of Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (born 1917). [120] August 14 Death of Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model (murdered) (born 1960). [120] August 19 Death of Otto Frank, father of Jewish diarist Anne Frank (born 1889). [120] August 20 Death of Joe Dassin, French singer (born 1938). [120] August 24 Death of Yootha Joyce, British actress (born 1927). [120] August 25 Gower Champion, dancer (Marge and Gower Champion Show), dies at age 60. [1] August 26 Death of Tex Avery, American cartoonist and creator of Looney Toons (born 1908). [120] August 27 Sam Levenson, humorist (Sam Levenson Show), dies at age 68. [1] September 3 Death of Dirch Passer, Danish actor (born 1926). [120] September 5 Barbara Loden, actress (Ernie Kovacs Show), dies at age 48. [1] September 8 Death of Willard Libby, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908). [120] September 12 Lillian Randolph, actress (Roots, Amos n Andy), dies at age 65. [1] September 15 Death of Bill Evans, American jazz pianist (born 1929). [120] September 16 Death of Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (born 1896). [120] September 17 Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is assassinated in Asunción, Paraguay (born 1925). [1] [120] September 25 Death of John Bonham, British drummer (Led Zeppelin) (born 1948). [120] October 6 Death of Hattie Jacques, star of Carry On films (Heart Attack) (born 1922). [120] October 15 James Hoskins forces his way into WCPO's television studio in Cincinnati, holding nine employees hostage for several hours before releasing them and taking his own life. [120] October 20 Death of Lady Isobel Barnett, British television personality (suicide following her conviction for shoplifting) (born 1918). [120] October 25 Death of Victor Galindez, Argentine boxer (race car accident) (born 1948). [120] Death of Sahir Ludhianvi, Urdu/Hindustani poet and Hindi film lyricist (born 1921). [120] Death of Virgil Fox, American organist (born 1912). [120] October 27 Death of John Hasbrouck van Vleck, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899). [120] Death of Steve Peregrin Took, British musician (T. Rex) (born 1949). [120] October 28 Leon Janney, actor (Hawk), dies at age 63. [1] November 4 Death of Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (born 1904). [120] November 6 Mary Michael, actress (Birdie - Wonderful John Acton), dies at age 77. [1] November 7 Steve McQueen of Slater, Missouri, American actor, dies at age 50 (born 1930). [1] [120] November 9 Death of Gloria Guinness, Fashion icon (born 1912). [120] Carmel Myers, actress (Carmel Myers Show), dies at age 79. [1] Victor Sen Yung, actor (Bonanza, Bachelor Family), dies at age 65. [1] November 16 Death of Boris Aronson, renowned Russian set designer (born 1898). [120] November 17 Death of Shah Maghsoud Sadegh Angha, 41st master of the Oveyssi Sufi order (born 1916). [120] November 18 Death of Conn Smythe, NHL coach 1927-1931 (born 1895). [120] November 20 Death of John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (born 1900). [120] November 22 Death of Mae West, American actress (born 1893). [120] Death of Norah McGuinness, Northern Irish painter and illustrator (born 1901). [120] Leonard Barr, comedian (Dean Martin Show, Szysznyk), dies at age 77. [1] Mae West dies at her Hollywood residence at age 87. [1] November 24 George Raft, actor, dies at age 85 in New York. [1] November 25 Death of Konrad Wachsmann in Los Angeles (born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany); architect. [37] November 26 Rachael Roberts, actress, dies at age 53. [1] November 27 Death of F. Burrall Hoffman, American architect (born 1882). [120] November 29 Death of Dorothy Day, social progressive and founder of the Catholic Worker (born 1897). [120] Dorothy Day, author (Stump the Authors), dies at age 83. [1] December 1 Sam Levene, actor (Purple Heart, Designing Women), dies at age 75. [1] December 2 Death of Romain Gary, Lithuanian-born writer (born 1914). [120] Four American Maryknoll nuns killed by death squads in El Salvador. [1] December 4 Francisco Sá Carneiro, Portuguese Prime Minister dies in a plane crash in Camarate in the outskirts of Lisbon (born 1934). [120] Death of Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Polish-born runner (born 1911). [120] Stella Walsh-S-Walasiewicz, sprinter (Olympics-gold-1932), shot dead at age 69. [1] December 5 Don Taylor, cricketer (3 Tests for New Zealand 1947-56, 159 runs), dies. [1] December 7 Death of Darby Crash, American songwriter, singer for The Germs, by heroin overdose at age 22 (born 1958). [1] [120] December 8 Former Beatle John Lennon dies in hospital after being shot outside his New York City apartment by Mark David Chapman, a deranged fan who had received his signature earlier in the day. [1] [120] December 13 Harm van Riel, Dutch Liberal Party politician, dies at age 73. [1] December 14 Elston Howard, Most Valuable Player catcher (New York Yankees), dies at age 59. [1] December 16 Harland "Colonel" Sanders, founder Kentucky Fried Chicken, dies at age 90 (born 1890). [1] [120] Death of Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (born 1900). [120] December 18 Alexei N Kosygin, Soviet Prime Minister (1964-80), suffers a fatal heart attack at age 76. [1] December 21 Marc Connelly, playwright (One Minute Please), dies at age 90. [1] December 22 Dick Kallman, actor (Hank Dearborn-Hank), murdered at age 47. [1] December 24 Death of German Admiral Karl Donitz in Aumuhle, Germany; submarine officer in WWI, rebuilt a submarine fleet after the war, commander of the German navy (1943), leader of the nation for a few days (1945). [1] [120] (December 22 [37]) Death of Siggie Nordstrom, model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer of The Nordstrom Sisters (born 1893). [120] Alec Lafayette Chew Wilder, composer, dies at age 73. [1] December 25 Fred Emney, actor (Adventures of a Private Eye), dies at age 80. [1] Louis Neefs, Belgian singer, dies at age 43. [1] Oscar Romero, archbishop of El Salvador, is murdered. [1] December 26 Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento," kills himself by overdose on San Quentin prison death row (born 1950). [120] December 28 Amir Elahi, cricketer, first Pakistani Test cricketer to die. [1] Jersey calf that lived 222 days with an artificial heart, dies. [1] December 29 Roy Engle, actor (Police Chief - My Favorite Martian), dies at age 67. [1] Tim Hardin, American singer ("Bird on a Wire"), dies of a drug overdose at age 39 (born 1941). [1] [120] December 31 Arthur Wellard, cricketer (two Tests for England, legendary 6-hitter), dies. [1] Marshall McLuhan, Canadian cultural philosopher, dies at age 69 (born 1911). [1] [120] Raoul Walsh, US director (High Sierra), dies at about age 88. [1]