page_title: 1959
section_title: August
hierarchical_section_title: 1959 / Births / August
caption_attribution_description: NBA Hall of Famer, Earvin &quot;Magic&quot; Johnson taken on 2007. Photo by Rafael Amado. ©
context_page_description: 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1959th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations, the 959th year of the 2nd millennium, the 59th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1950s decade.
context_section_description: August 1 – Joe Elliott, English singer; lead singer of Def Leppard
  August 2
  Johnny Kemp, Bahamian singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
  Victoria Jackson, American actress, comedian, and singer
  August 3
  John C. McGinley, American actor
  Koichi Tanaka, Japanese scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  August 4 – Robbin Crosby, American rock guitarist (Ratt) (d. 2002)
  August 5 – Pete Burns, English singer (Dead or Alive) (d. 2016)
  August 6 – Rajendra Singh, Indian water conservationist, Magsaysay Award (2001)
  August 7 – Koenraad Elst, Belgian Indologist
  August 8 – Deborah Conway, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  August 10 – Rosanna Arquette, American actress
  August 11
  Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian singer (d. 2014)
  Yoshiaki Murakami, Japanese investor
  August 12 – Kerry Boustead, Australian rugby league player
  August 13 – Danny Bonaduce, American actor and disc jockey
  August 14
  Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
  Magic Johnson, African-American basketball player
  August 15 – Scott Altman, American astronaut
  August 17
  Chika Sakamoto, Japanese voice actress and singer
  Jonathan Franzen, American author
  David Koresh, American spiritualist, leader of the Branch Davidian religious cult (d. 1993)
  Brad Wellman, American baseball player
  August 18 – Dorothy Bush Koch, American author and philanthropist
  August 19 – Anthony Sowell, convicted serial killer and rapist
  August 21 – Jim McMahon, American football player
  August 22 – Sandra Magsamen, American children's book author
  August 25 – Sönke Wortmann, German film director
  August 26 – Stan Van Gundy, American basketball coach
  August 27
  Juan Fernando Cobo, Colombian artist
  Jürgen Becker, German cabaret artist and actor
  Daniela Romo, Mexican singer, actress and TV hostess
  August 28 – Arthur Holden, Canadian actor and writer
  August 29
  Jeff Adachi, American attorney (d. 2019)
  Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
  Chris Hadfield, Canadian retired astronaut
  Stephen Wolfram, British scientist
  August 30 – Mark Jackson, Australian rules footballer and actor
  August 31 – Tony DeFranco, Canadian singer
caption: Magic Johnson
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