- Aug 2 Friedrich "Fritz" Lang, German director (M, Metropolis, Fury, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse), dies from a stroke at 85
- Aug 4 Enrique Angelelli, Argentine bishop
- Aug 4 Roy Herbert Thomson, Canadian publisher (b. 1894)
- Aug 5 Adrian Roland Holst, poet (Past the Roads), dies at 88
- Aug 5 Betty Clooney, American singer (Jack Paar Show), dies at 45
- Aug 6 Gregor Piatigorsky, Ukrainian-American cellist, dies at 73
- Aug 7 Cecil Weston, South African-born actress (Dude Ranch, Huckleberry Finn), dies at 86
- Aug 8 John Roselli, hired by CIA to kill Castro, found murdered
- Aug 9 Jose Lezama Lima, Cuban poet/novelist, dies at 65
- Aug 9 Max Vredenburg, composer, dies at 72
- Aug 10 Bert Oldfield, cricketer (54 Tests, 52 stumpings), dies
- Aug 10 Ray "Crash" Corrigan, American actor (Crash Corrigan's Ranch), dies at 74
- Aug 12 Thomas Edward Driberg, 1st baron Bradwell, journalist, dies
- Aug 15 Jean P J C Haesaert, Flemish lawyer/sociologist, dies at 84
- Aug 17 Murvyn Vye [Marvin], American actor (Road to Bali, Bob Cummings Show), dies of natural causes at 63
- Aug 17 William Redfield, American actor (Jimmy Hughes Rookie Cop, Marriage), dies of leukaemia at 49
- Aug 19 Alastair Sim, Scottish actor (Christmas Carol, Green for Danger), dies at 75
- Aug 19 Jeno Kenessey, composer, dies at 70
- Aug 19 Ken Wadsworth, cricketer (Exciting NZ keeper), dies of cancer at 29
- Aug 20 Phyllis Konstam, actress (Murder, Skin Game), dies at 69
- Aug 21 Ken James, cricketer (kept wicket for NZ in 11 Tests), dies
- Aug 22 Juscelino Kubitschek, President of Brazil (1955-60), dies at 73
- Aug 22 Oskar Brusewitz, East German vicar, sets self on fire
- Aug 22 Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist (b. 1913)
- Aug 24 Michael Dewar Head, composer, dies at 76
- Aug 25 Eyvind Johnson, Swedish author (Nobel-1974), dies at 76
- Aug 25 Perc Hornibrook, cricketer (6 Tests 1928-30, 17 wickets), dies
- Aug 26 Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (Der Rosenkavalier, More than singing), dies at 88
- Aug 26 Warner Anderson, American actor (The Bubble, Destination Moon, Peyton Place), dies at 65
- Aug 27 Mukesh, Indian playback singer (b. 1923)
- Aug 29 Anissa Jones, actress (Buffy, Family Affair), ODs at 18
- Aug 29 Jimmy Reed, American blues singer (Soulin', Big Boss Man), dies of epileptic seizure at 50
- Aug 29 Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, musician, revolutionary and philosopher (b. 1899)
- Aug 31 Kornelis H Miskotte, theologist (If the Gods Keep Silent), dies at 81