Deaths in Film & TV on August 19

  • 1968 George Gamow, Ukrainian-born American nuclear physicist and cosmologist (Big Bang Theory, DNA), dies at 64
  • 1968 Sara Jane Roberts, child actress (Our Gang), dies after surgery at 44
  • 1975 Jim Londos, Greek-American wrestler, dies at 81
  • 1976 Alastair Sim, Scottish actor (Christmas Carol, Green for Danger), dies at 75

Groucho MarxGroucho Marx (1890-1977)

American comedian (Marx Bros, You Bet Your Life), dies at 86

  • 1981 Jessie Matthews, English actress (Gangway, First a Girl), dies at 74
  • 1982 August Neo, Estonian wrestler (b. 1908)
  • 1986 Hermione Baddeley, British actress (Camp Runamuck; Maude), dies at 79
  • 1986 Lorenzo Tucker 'the Black Valentino', American actor (Black King), dies at 79
  • 1987 Hayden Rorke, American actor (I Dream of Jeannie, When Worlds Collide), dies from multiple myeloma at 76
  • 1992 Feliks Arons, Dutch director and actor (A Bridge Too Far), dies at 48
  • 1993 Jean King, American actress (Night Has a Thousand Eyes), dies at 76
  • 1993 Utpal Dutt, Indian actor and director (Manusher Adhikar), dies at 64
  • 1995 Danny Arnold, British TV producer, dies at 70
  • 2000 Antonio Pugliese, Italian professional wrestler (b. 1941)
  • 2008 Marguerite Empey [Diane Webber], American model and Playboy playmate (May 1955, Feb 1956), dies at 76
  • 2009 Don Hewitt, television news producer & director; creator of 60 Minutes (b. 1922)
  • 2011 Raúl Ruiz, Chilean filmmaker (Three Sad Tigers), dies at 70
  • 2012 Tony Scott, British film director and producer (Top Gun; Revenge; Days of Thunder), commits suicide at 68
  • 2016 Jack Riley, American actor (The Bob Newhart Show), dies at 80
  • 2017 Dick Gregory, American comedian, civil rights activist and dietician (Bahamian Diet), dies of heart failure at 84
  • 2021 Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba [Sadaho Maeda], Japanese martial artist and actor (The Street Fighter; Kill Bill: Volume 1), dies of Covid-19 complications at 82