Events in Film & TV
Music Single
Aug 1 "Endless Love" single released by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (Billboard Song of the Year 1981, Billboard Greatest Song Duet of All-Time)
- Aug 1 Music video cable channel MTV debuts in US at 12:01 AM with The Buggles song "Video Killed The Radio Star"
- Aug 13 Last broadcast of "The Waltons" on CBS-TV
Telethon
Aug 18 Jerry Lewis appears on "Donahue" to defend Telethons
Birthdays in Film & TV
Meghan Markle (41 years old)
Aug 4 American former actress (Suits), Duchess of Sussex and wife of Prince Harry, born in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 5 Jesse Williams, American actor (Grey's Anatomy), director and activist, born in Chicago, Illinois
- Aug 5 Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer and actress (47 Ronin), born in Toshima, Japan
- Aug 6 Leslie Odom Jr., American actor and singer (Hamilton), born in New York City
- Aug 8 Kaori Iida, Japanese pop singer and actress (Morning Musume; Dream Morning Musume), born in Hokkaidō, Japan
- Aug 8 Meagan Good, American actress
- Aug 11 Fiona Sit, Hong Kong singer and actress
- Aug 14 Ray William Johnson, American comedian, writer, and youtuber (Equals Three; Your Favorite Martian), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Aug 15 Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress (Running Man), born in Pohang, South Korea
- Aug 17 Kristin Holt, American television personality (American Idol), born in Plano, Texas
- Aug 20 Ben Barnes, English actor (Prince Caspian-The Chronicles of Narnia), born in London
- Aug 24 Chad Michael Murray, American actor (One Tree Hill), born in Buffalo, New York
- Aug 24 Jiro Wang Dong Cheng, Taiwanese singer and actor, born in Taipei, Taiwan
- Aug 24 Mercedes Scelba-Shorte, American model, born in New Jersey
- Aug 25 Bobby Berk, American interior designer and TV personality (Queer Eye), born in Houston, Texas
- Aug 25 Rachel Bilson, American actress
- Aug 26 Petey Williams, Canadian professional wrestler (Lucha Libre USA), born in Windsor, Ontario
- Aug 27 Demetria McKinney, American actress (House of Payne), born in Fort Walton Beach, Florida
- Aug 27 Patrick J. Adams, Canadian actor (Suits), born in Toronto, Ontario
- Aug 29 Jay Ryan (Jay Bunyan), New Zealand actor, born in Auckland, New Zealand
- Aug 31 Joe Swanberg, American filmmaker (mumblecore film movement), born in Detroit, Michigan
Deaths in Film & TV
- Aug 1 (Sidney) "Paddy" Chayefsky, American Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Marty; The Hospital; Network), novelist, and playwright, dies of cancer at 58
- Aug 4 Melvyn Douglas [Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg], American actor (Hud, Being There, Ghost Story), dies at 80
- Aug 18 Anita Loos, American screenwriter, novelist (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and playwright, dies at 88
- Aug 19 Jessie Matthews, English actress (Gangway, First a Girl), dies at 74
- Aug 21 Eddie Byrne, British actor (Star Wars, Island of Terror), dies from a stroke at 70
- Aug 29 Lowell Thomas, American newscaster (High Adventure), dies in Pawling, NY at 89
Vera-Ellen (1921-1981)
Aug 30 American actress and dancer (White Christmas; Big Leaguer; On the Town), dies of cancer at 60
