Deaths in August 1984

The following is a list of notable deaths in August 1984.

Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.

August 1984

1

• Howard Nostrand, 55, American cartoonist and illustrator,^[1][2] worked on Harvey Comics' horror comics such as Black Cat Mystery, Chamber of Chills, Tomb of Terror and Witches Tales^[3]

2

• Quirino Cristiani, 88, Italian-born Argentine animation director and cartoonist, created the world's first two animated feature films, and the first animated feature film with sound, pioneer of cutout animation, (El Apóstol, Sin dejar rastros, Firpo-Dempsey, Peludópolis, El mono relojero)^[4][5][6]

3

• Ellis Wackett, 83, senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force^[7]

4

• Walter Burke, 75, American character actor, emphysema^[8]
• Howard Culver, 66, American actor, meningitis.^[9]
• Mary Miles Minter, 82, American actress, one of the leading ladies who established the early Hollywood star system,^[10] stroke^[11][12]
• Edmon Ryan, 79, American actor^[13][14]

5

Richard Burton

• Richard Burton, 58, Welsh actor, intracerebral haemorrhage^[15]
• Roland Kibbee, 70, American screenwriter and producer^[16]

6

• George Abdullah, 64, Aboriginal community leader, heart disease^[17]

7

• Esther Phillips, 48, American singer, liver and kidney failure due to long-term drug abuse.^[18]

8

• Richard Deacon, 62, American actor, cardiovascular disease^[19]
• Denis Johnston, 83, Irish playwright^[20]
• Ellen Raskin, 56, American children's writer and illustrator, connective-tissue disease^[21]

9

• Christine Hargreaves, 45, English soap opera actress, complications from a brain operation ^{[a][22][23][24]} Her death was announced to the public three days later, on 12 August 1984.^[25]
• Walter Tevis, 56, American novelist and screenwriter, lung cancer^[26][27][28]

10

• Anatoly Akimov, Soviet football goalkeeper^[29]
• Virgil Partch, 67, American illustrator and gag cartoonist, screenwriter for the animated film series Donald Duck, car accident death ^{[30][31][32][33]}

11

• David Affleck, 72, Scottish professional footballer^[34]
• Hashem Al-e-Agha, 38, Iranian fighter pilot^[35]
• Yosef Greenwald, 80, Hungarian rabbi, second Rebbe of the Pupa Hasidic dynasty,^[36] stroke^[37]
• Alfred A. Knopf Sr., 91, American publisher, eponymous co-founder of the publishing house Alfred A. Knopf,^[38] congestive heart failure^[39]
• Percy Mayfield, 63, American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, known for the songs Please Send Me Someone to Love and Hit the Road Jack,^[40] heart attack^[40][41]
• Paul Felix Schmidt, 67, Estonian–German chess player

12

• Michel N'Gom, 25, French professional footballer, traffic accident^[42]

13

• Clyde Cook, 92, Australian actor and vaudevillian^[43]
• Tigran Petrosian, 55, Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster^[44] the ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969,^[45][46] credited with popularizing chess in Armenia,^[47][48] stomach cancer^[49]

14

• J. B. Priestley, 89, English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator, radio propagandist for the BBC during the Battle of Britain,^[50][51] pneumonia^[52]

15

• Bobbi Campbell, 32, American public health nurse and early AIDS activist, in 1981 he became the 16th person in San Francisco to be diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma, when that was a proxy for an AIDS diagnosis,^[53] cryptosporidiosis and cryptococcal meningitis^[54][55][56]
• Norman Petty, 57, American musician, record producer, publisher, and radio station owner, co-founder of early rock and roll,^[57] leukemia^[58][57]

16

• Tommie Aaron, 45, American professional baseball player and coach^[59]

17

• Bruno Premiani, 77, Italian illustrator and comic book artist, co-creator of the superhero teams Doom Patrol and Teen Titans^[60][61][62]

18

• İbrahim Kafesoğlu, 70, Turkish historian and academic^[63]

19

• Don Newton, 49, American comics artist, best known for his work on The Phantom, Aquaman, Batman, Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family,^[64] heart attack while suffering from a debilitating throat disease^[65][66]

20

• Avinash Vyas, 72, Indian composer, lyricist and singer known for his work in Gujarati films^[67]

21

• Phil Seuling, 50, American comic book fan convention organizer and comics distributor, organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, developed the concept of the direct market distribution system for getting comics directly into comic book specialty shops,^{[68][69][70][71][72]} sclerosing cholangitis^[73][74]

22

• Charley Foy, 86, American actor and vaudevillian, sepsis^[75]
• Freddie Steele, 71, middleweight boxer and actor, world middleweight boxing champion from 1936 until 1938^[76][77][78]

23

• Razik Fareed, 90, Sri Lankan landed proprietor, politician and philanthropist^[79]

24

• Billy Sands, 73, American character actor, lung cancer^{[80][81][82][83]}

25

Truman Capote

• Truman Capote, 59, American screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and journalist, co-founder of New Journalism,^[84] liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication^[85][86]
• Viktor Chukarin, 62, Russian Olympic gymnast
• Henry Lynn, 89, Polish-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer

26

• Ella van Heemstra, 84, Dutch aristocrat^[87]

27

• Bernard Youens, 69, English character actor and television announcer^[88]

28

Mohammed Naguib

• Zeyd Ahsen-Böre, 63, Finnish ice hockey player^[89]
• Harry Lucey, 70, American comics artist for MLJ Comics and Archie Comics, primary artist on the flagship title Archie from the late 1950s through the mid-1970s, prostate cancer and complications from ALS^[90]
• Mohamed Naguib, 83, Egyptian military officer and revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Egyptian revolution of 1952, head of the Egyptian Revolutionary Command Council, Prime Minister of Egypt, and later its first president,^[91] cirrhosis^[92]

29

• Pierre Gemayel, 78, Lebanese political leader and parliamentary power broker, founder of the right-wing Christian Kataeb Party (Phalangist Party) and former president of the Lebanese Football Association, heart attack^[93][94]
• Pina Menichelli, 94, Italian actress^[95]

30

• John O. Aalberg, 87, American sound technician, cancer^[96]
• Wesley Lau, 63, American actor and screenwriter, heart failure^[97][98]

31

• Edward J. York, 72, Colonel of the United States Air Force, one of the airmen who took part in the Doolittle Raid (1942) on Tokyo,^[99] he was reportedly the only West Pointer in the group and served as the raid's operations officer^[99]

References

1. "Howard Nostrand Death Records,"^{[permanent dead link]} Mooseroots.com. Accessed Jan. 18, 2016.
2. Howard Nostrand at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
3. Howard Nostrand at the Grand Comics Database
4. "The Untold Story of Argentina's Pioneer Animator". www.awn.com. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
5. Brook, Marisa. "Drawing the Shorter Straw". Damn Interesting. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
6. Giannalberto Bendazzi (Anna Taraboletti-Segre, translator); Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation; Indiana University Press; ISBN 0-253-20937-4 (paperback reprint, 2001)
7. Stephens, Alan (2012). "Wackett, Ellis Charles ('Wack') (1901–1984)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
8. "Walter Burke, a character actor who appeared in a..." UPI Archives. United Press International. August 16, 1984. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
9. "Actor Howard Culver dies". The Herald. Jasper, Indiana. August 23, 1984. p. 32. Retrieved February 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
10. O'Dell, 1970 p. 150 "The final major leading lady who helped to create the star system."
11. California Death Index, Name: Mary O. Hildebrandt, Birth Date: 04-01 [sic – 1902, Mother's Maiden Name: Miles, Father's Last: Reilly, Sex: Female, Birth Place: Louisiana, Death Place: Los Angeles (19), Death Date: 08-05-1984, Age: 82 yrs.
12. SSDI: Name: Mary O. Hildebrandt, Birth: April 25, 1902, Issued: California, Death: August 1984
13. "Edmon Ryan Mossbarger, ex-character actor, dies". The Courier-Journal. Kentucky, Louisville. August 6, 1984. p. 7. Retrieved May 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Will Hay". Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
15. Maureen, Dowd (August 6, 1984). "Richard Burton, 58, is Dead; Rakish Stage and Screen Star". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
16. "Roland Kibbee Is Dead at 70; Won two Emmys for Writing". The New York Times. August 10, 1984. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
17. Abdullah, Yasmin Jill (2007). "Abdullah, George Cyril (1919–1984)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 17. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
18. "Blues Singer Esther Phillips Dead at 48", Baltimore Afro-American, August 4, 1984.
19. "The manager and friends of Richard Deacon, the character..." United Press International. August 10, 1984. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
20. Denis Johnston (1901-84)
21. "Ellen Raskin". The New York Times. August 10, 1984.
22. "page 14". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. August 14, 1984. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
23. "page 11". Newspapers.com. Manchester Evening News. August 15, 1984. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
24. "page 5". Newspapers.com. Telegraph and Argus. August 15, 1984. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
25. "page 17". Newspapers.com. The Sunday People. August 19, 1984. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
26. "Overview of Walter Tevis Collection" (PDF). Ohio University: Robert E. and Jean R. Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
27. Walter Tevis Archived November 15, 2020, at the Wayback Machine carnegiecenterlex.org, accessed December 5, 2020
28. Mitgang, Herbert (August 11, 1984). "WALTER TEVIS, 56, A SCREENWRITER". The New York Times.
29. "Фото могилы". Archived from the original on August 5, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
30. Virgil Franklin Partch at the California Death Index via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved on August 27, 2015.
31. "Disney's "Duck Pimples" |". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
32. McLellan, Dennis (June 22, 1986). "Cartoonist Leaves a Legacy of 'Big George'". Los Angeles Times.
33. "VIP". lambiek.net. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
34. Kaufman, Neilson N; Ravenhill, Alan E (2002). The Men Who Made Leyton Orient Football Club. Tempus Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 0752424122.
35. "خلبان شهیدی که در خلیج فارس مدفون شد + تصاویر" [The martyred pilot who was buried in the Persian Gulf + pictures]. Donya-e-Eqtesad (in Persian). Retrieved February 1, 2023.
36. "Why three Malachim? a Story". World of Belz. October 26, 2018. Archived from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
37. Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "Rabbi Joseph Grunwald Dead at 81", August 14, 1984
38. Claridge, Laura (2016). The lady with the Borzoi : Blanche Knopf, literary tastemaker extraordinaire (First ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374114251. OCLC 908176194.
39. Mitgang, Herbert (August 12, 1984). "ALFRED A. KNOPF, 91, IS DEAD; FOUNDER OF PUBLISHING HOUSE". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
40. Talevski, Nick (April 7, 2010). Rock Obituaries: Knocking on Heaven's Door. Omnibus Press. p. 403. ISBN 978-0-85712-117-2.
41. Williams, Richard (December 19, 2003). "CD: Percy Mayfield, His Tangerine and Atlantic Sides". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
42. "Michel N'Gom, mort à 25 ans. C'était le 12 août 1984" [Michel N'Gom, dead at 25 years old. It was 12 August 1984.]. Ball of Fame (in French). Retrieved June 7, 2021.
43. Clay Djubal (February 20, 2011). "Clyde Cook". Australian Variety Theatre Archive. Accessed 27 August 2023
44. Saidy, Anthony (February 1973). "Interviewing the Soviet Stars" (PDF). Chess Life & Review. 28 (1–6): 69. CL&R: The newspaper here called you a Russian. You live in Moscow but you received your degree as Master of Philosophy at Yerevan University in Armenia ... Petrosian: Abroad, they call us all Russians. I am a Soviet Armenian.
45. Vasiliev 1974, p. 27.
46. Kasparov 2004, pp. 7, 16, 62, 80.
47. Parkinson, Joe (December 3, 2012). "Winning Move: Chess Reigns as Kingly Pursuit in Armenia". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
48. "In Armenia chess is king and grandmasters are stars". The Independent. May 13, 2010. Archived from the original on September 15, 2014.
49. Schulz, Andre (May 11, 2016). The Big Book of World Chess Championships: 46 Title Fights – from Steinitz to Carlsen. New In Chess. p. 218. ISBN 9789056916367.
50. Cited in Addison, Paul (2011). The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4464-2421-6.
51. Page, Robert M. (2007). Revisiting the Welfare State. Introducing Social Policy. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). p. 10. ISBN 978-0-335-23498-1.
52. Wainwright, Martin (August 16, 2019). "JB Priestley, grand old grumbler, dies at 89 – archive, 1984". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
53. Lawrence K. Altman (July 3, 1981). "Rare cancer seen in 41 homosexuals". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
54. "Robert Boyle Campbell". California Death Index, 1940–1997. November 26, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2016 – via FamilySearch.
55. Brian Jones (August 16, 1984). "Bobbi Campbell's Long Fight Ends". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved November 14, 2016. Via the Online Searchable Obituary Database of the GLBT Historical Society
56. Randy Shilts (November 3, 2011). And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic. Souvenir Press. p. 575. ISBN 978-0-285-64076-4.
57. Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. p. 325. ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
58. "Norman Petty Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
59. "Tommie Aaron Obituary". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
60. Bruno Premiani at the Lambiek Comiclopedia, which notes, "Most American sources list his birth year as 1924, but Italian police records mention 4 January 1907." WebCitation archive.
61. McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, eds. (2010). "1960s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. They were never given a team name when scribe Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani spun them against Mister Twister. This first team-up of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad came to be classically regarded as the inaugural story of the Teen Titans.
62. Guay, "The Doom Patrol Index", Amazing Heroes #6, November 1981, pp. 50-54
63. Kürşat Yıldırım. "İbrahim Kafesoğlu (1914-1984)". Atatürk Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish).
64. "Don Newton". Lambiek Comiclopedia. December 26, 2006. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
65. Clark, John (October 2017). "Don Newton: Fan to Pro". Back Issue! (100). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 26.
66. "DC Says Goodbye to Don". donnewton.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
67. "Songs of Yore". Songs of Yore. 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
68. Social Security Death Index, Social Security #130-26-6243.
69. Carmody, Deirdre (July 6, 1968). "Comic Books Get Star Billing at Convention Here". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2013. (Abstract; full article requires fee or subscription)
70. "Old Comic Book Art is on Display Here". The New York Times. July 5, 1969. p. 16. Retrieved July 12, 2013. (Abstract; full article requires fee or subscription)
71. Rozanski, Chuck (December 2003). "Evolution of the Direct Market Part III". Tales from the Database. MileHighComics. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. One large California dealer, who was good friends with Phil, solved this problem by taking a vacation each year in New York. He stayed at Phil's house in the Seagat [sic]...
72. Evanier, Mark (December 31, 2004). "Phil Seuling and Red Sonja". News from Me. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
73. "Newspeak: Don Newton and Phil Seuling Die," Speakeasy #44 (Sept. 1984), p. 4.
74. "Phil Seuling, father of the direct-sales Market, dies at age of 50," The Comics Journal #93 (September 1984), pp. 13-14.
75. Sanello, Frank. "Charlie Foy, the second oldest of vaudeville's 'Seven Little..." UPI. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
76. "Freddie Steele". BoxRec. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
77. "Hostak Stops Steele in First", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, pg. 25, 27 July 1938
78. "Freddie Steele Boxrec Bio". BoxRec. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
79. Saleem, Farhath Fayiz (August 23, 2019). "Sir Razik Fareed's 35th death anniversary falls today: He worked for the unity of the nation". Daily News. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
80. "The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Page 40". The Philadelphia Inquirer. August 31, 1984. p. 40. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
81. "BILLY SANDS". The New York Times. August 31, 1984. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
82. "Billy Sands, 73, Popular TV Comedy Series Actor". The Los Angeles Times. August 30, 1984. p. B22. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
83. Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. May 1, 2001. p. 110. ISBN 978-0786450190.
84. Fakazis, Liz. "New Journalism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
85. "Truman Capote is Dead at 59; Novelist of Style and Clarity". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2008. Truman Capote, one of the postwar era's leading American writers, whose prose shimmered with clarity and quality, died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 59.
86. Gay & lesbian biography Archived June 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine By Michael J. Tyrkus St. James Press, 1997 ISBN 1-55862-237-3, ISBN 978-1-55862-237-1 p. 109
87. Paris, Barry (September 2001). Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris. Penguin. ISBN 9781101127780. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
88. "Deaths Elsewhere: Bernard Youens". The Baltimore Sun. August 28, 1984. p. 34.
89. Leitzinger, Antero (June 2011). "Ahsen Böre, Zinnetullah (1886 - 1945)". Kansallisbiografia.
90. "Comic Creator: Harry Lucey". Lambiek.net. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
91. Chin, John J.; Wright, Joseph; Carter, David B. (2022). Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups D'état. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 790. ISBN 978-1-5381-2068-2.
92. Fowler, Glenn (August 29, 1984). "Mohammed Naguib, First President of Egypt, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
93. "Pierre Gemayel, Lebanon war figure and father of nation's president, dies". The Pittsburgh Press. Beirut. August 29, 1984. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
94. "Pierre Gemayel, Lebanese Christian leader". The Day. Beirut. Associated Press. August 30, 1984. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
95. Martinelli 2002, p. 19.
96. "John Aalberg, Former Head of RKO's Sound Unit, Dies at 87". Los Angeles Times. September 9, 1984. p. 18, Part II.
97. "Wesley Lau profile". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
98. Obituary, sheboyganpress.com. May 13, 2016. Accessed October 19, 2022.
99. United States Military Academy. Association of Graduates (1991). Assembly Volume 49, Issues 4-6. Association of Graduates, United States Military Academy. Retrieved August 27, 2024.

Notes

1. Most sources incorrectly reported her date of death as 12 August 1984.

Sources

• Kasparov, Garry (2004). My Great Predecessors, Part III. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-371-4.
• Martinelli, Vittorio (2002). Pina Menichelli. Le sfumature del fascino. Rome: Bulzoni.
• O'Dell, Paul (1970). Griffith and the Rise of Hollywood (1970 ed.). New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. p. 163. ISBN 0-498-07718-7.
• Vasiliev, Viktor (1974). Tigran Petrosian: His Life and Games. B. T. Batsford. ISBN 4-87187-813-9.

External links

• List of August 1984 deaths at IMDb