2025 hasn’t slowed down on the heartbreak. With headlines dominated by politics, scandals, and streaming wars, some genuinely shocking losses slipped by. While July left us reeling with the deaths of Malcolm-Jamal Warner at 54 and music legend Ozzy Osbourne at 76, August delivered more gut punches—quietly. Ten actors, musicians, and entertainers who shaped your playlists and watchlists passed away, yet barely made the news cycle. Their careers stretched from cult films to chart-topping hits, and each one left behind fans who deserved the chance to celebrate their legacy properly. Sometimes the industry moves too fast to mourn. Here are 20 celebrities who you might not know died in August 2025.
Jeannie Seely (August 1, 2025)
Jeannie Seely, better known as “Miss Country Soul,” died on August 1, 2025, at 85 after complications from an intestinal infection. The Grammy winner behind the 1966 classic “Don’t Touch Me” never slowed down—her 5,397th Grand Ole Opry performance happened just months before. Born in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1940, Seely grew up surrounded by music and later carved her path through Los Angeles before conquering Nashville. She battled surgeries, pneumonia, and ICU stays earlier this year, joking, “I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. And it was neon, so I knew it was mine!” Dolly Parton called her “one of my dearest friends.”
David Roach (August 1, 2025)
David Roach, the gravel-throated voice of Junkyard, died on August 1 at 59 after battling aggressive squamous cell carcinoma. Just two weeks before, he married his partner Jennifer in a ceremony surrounded by bandmates, a moment fans celebrated with him. “After a courageous battle with cancer, David passed away peacefully last night at home, in the loving arms of his wife,” Junkyard wrote. Roach co-founded the group in 1987, carving a place on the Sunset Strip alongside hard rock heavyweights. Their 1989 Geffen debut produced cult staples like “Blooze” and “Hollywood,” but his raw energy always mattered more than chart numbers.
Jonathan Kaplan (August 1, 2025)
Jonathan Kaplan, the Emmy-nominated director behind The Accused and multiple ER episodes, died on August 1 at 77 from liver cancer. Born in Paris on November 25, 1947, to actress Frances Heflin and composer Sol Kaplan, he started as a child actor on Broadway in Elia Kazan’s The Dark at the Top of the Stairs. He studied film under Martin Scorsese at NYU, who recommended him to Roger Corman for his first feature, Night Call Nurses (1972). Kaplan later directed Jodie Foster to her first Oscar and Michelle Pfeiffer to a nomination in Love Field. His final film was 1999’s Brokedown Palace.
Kelley Mack (August 2, 2025)
Kelley Mack, the actress and producer who brought Addy to life on The Walking Dead, died on August 2 at 33 from a central nervous system glioma. Born Kelley Lynne Klebenow in Cincinnati on July 10, 1992, she grew up bouncing between Ohio, Missouri, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Illinois, discovering storytelling early with a mini video camera. Mack appeared in 35 roles, from Chicago Med and 9-1-1 to films like Broadcast Signal Intrusion (2021) and Delicate Arch (2024). She also voiced Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse commercials. On her final project, Universal (2025), she served as executive producer, shaping the story behind the camera as well as on-screen.
Loni Anderson (August 3, 2025)
Loni Anderson, the Emmy-nominated actress who made Jennifer Marlowe unforgettable on WKRP in Cincinnati, died on August 3 at 79. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1945, she worked her way up from small TV parts on S.W.A.T. and Barnaby Jones before landing her breakout role in 1978. Anderson later returned for The New WKRP in Cincinnati, joined Nurses, and appeared in films like A Night at the Roxbury and shows including Melrose Place and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She is survived by her husband, Bob Flick, her children Quinton and Deidra, and a large extended family of stepchildren and grandchildren.
Jane Morgan Weintraub (August 4, 2025)
Jane Morgan Weintraub, the singer, Broadway star, and TV fixture, died Aug. 4 at 101 in Naples, Florida. Her family said, “Our beloved Jane passed away peacefully in her sleep.” Born Florence Catherine Currier in 1924, she trained at Juilliard and sang in nightclubs, which led French bandleader Bernard Hilda to take her to Paris, earning her the nickname “The Toast of Paris.” She returned to the U.S., scored six gold records, and hit the Top 10 with 1957’s “Fascination,” later featured in Love in the Afternoon. On TV, she appeared over 50 times on The Ed Sullivan Show and starred on Broadway in Ziegfeld Follies and Mame.
Terry Reid (August 4, 2025)
Terry Reid, the British singer and guitarist famously nicknamed “Superlungs,” has died at 75. Born in Cambridgeshire, Reid’s voice caught the attention of the world’s biggest acts early—by 16 he was supporting the Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina Turner, and the Yardbirds. Aretha Franklin once said, “There are only three things happening in England: the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Terry Reid.” He turned down offers to front Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, telling the Guardian in 2024, “I was intent on doing my own thing. I contributed half the band – that’s enough on my part!” Reid released six studio albums and four live records, leaving a career defined by soaring vocals and uncompromising independence.
Eddie Palmieri (August 6, 2025)
Eddie Palmieri, the Afro-Caribbean pianist and bandleader whose music “helped usher in the golden age of salsa into New York City,” died Aug. 6 at 88, his daughter Gabriela Palmieri confirmed. Born in Spanish Harlem and raised in the Bronx, Palmieri started piano lessons at eight and was performing professionally on timbales by 13 in his uncle’s band. Nicknamed “El Maestro,” he reshaped Latin jazz, blending Cuban rhythms, Afro-Caribbean grooves, and jazz innovations inspired by Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner. Collaborations with Tito Puente, La India, and Cal Tjader marked a career defined by risk and experimentation. The National Endowment for the Arts named him a Jazz Master in 2013.
Jon Miyahara (August 6, 2025)
Jon Miyahara, best known as Brett on NBC’s Superstore, died Aug. 6 at 83. Born Aug. 8, 1941, in Los Angeles, Miyahara appeared in all six seasons of the comedy, spanning 105 episodes. Fans still remember the season 2 finale when Brett was thought dead after a tornado flattened Cloud 9—only to return the next season, driving home like nothing happened. Miyahara died of cardiopulmonary arrest, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and coronary artery disease, with kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol also contributing. Colton Dunn called him “a really awesome guy” who “could speak volumes with just a look.”
Rob Riley (August 8, 2025)
Rob Riley, the Chicago improv veteran and former SNL writer, died Aug. 8 at 80 from complications of a 2018 stroke. Riley joined Second City in the 1980s, sharing the stage with Jim Belushi, Tim Kazurinsky, and George Wendt, and later brought his sharp comedy mind to Saturday Night Live’s 1984–85 season. He wrote musical sketches like “A Couple of White Guys,” turning suburban life into rap, and the cold open “Gerry and the Mon-Dells.” Riley also appeared on-screen and voiced the radio DJ in Groundhog Day. His wife Nonie Newton-Riley said, “He could write. He was a musician. He skied. He rode a motorcycle. He swam with the endurance of a polar bear. We loved the fur off him like the Velveteen Rabbit.”
Ray Brooks (August 9, 2025)
Ray Brooks, the English actor whose face and voice shaped British TV for decades, died Aug. 9 at 86 after a short illness. His sons, Will and Tom, said he was best known for narrating Mr Benn, whose catchphrase “as if by magic!” still sparks nostalgia decades later. Brooks’ career kicked off in 1963 as Terry Mills in Taxi and included roles in Coronation Street and EastEnders, making him one of the few actors to appear on both. He starred in the Palme d’Or-winning The Knack … and How to Get It, Carry On Abroad, and numerous classic TV dramas like The Avengers and Danger Man. Theater fans knew him from Absent Friends and On the Razzle.
Bobby Whitlock (August 10, 2025)
Bobby Whitlock, the Memphis-born keyboardist and singer who co-founded Derek and the Dominos with Eric Clapton, died Aug. 10 at 77. Whitlock grew up in the city’s soul and blues scene, signed to Stax Records, and toured with Delaney & Bonnie, where he met Clapton, Carl Radle, and Jim Gordon. That quartet became Derek and the Dominos, releasing Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs in 1970, often cited as Clapton’s finest work. Whitlock also played on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and John Lennon’s 1969 “Peace for Christmas” concert.
David Ketchum (August 10, 2025)
David Ketchum, the 97-year-old comedic force behind Agent 13 on Get Smart, has passed away. Ketchum mastered the art of hiding in tight spaces — mailboxes, fire hydrants, you name it — and made it hilarious. He appeared in 13 episodes alongside Don Adams and Barbara Feldon, and returned for the 1989 TV movie and 1995 revival. Beyond acting, he wrote for classics like MASH*, MacGyver, Full House, and The Love Boat. His family said he “leaves behind a legacy of laughter, warmth and timeless television moments,” urging fans to revisit his work and remember his “quick wit, gentle heart and cinematic spirit.”
Danielle Spencer (August 11, 2025)
Danielle Spencer, the actress who made a name for herself as Dee Thomas on ABC’s 1970s sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died at 60 after a yearslong battle with cancer. Born in the Bronx, Spencer started acting at seven in a repertory company co-founded by her stepfather, actor Tim Pelt. Dee’s “Ooooh, I’m gonna tell Mama!” became a catchphrase as she roasted big brother Raj and his friends with deadpan precision. After the show ended, Spencer pursued veterinary medicine, attending UC Davis and Tuskegee University before becoming a veterinarian in 1996. She is survived by her mother, Cheryl, and brother Jeremy, a jazz musician.
Ronnie Rondell Jr. (August 12, 2025)
Ronnie Rondell Jr., the stuntman whose blazing figure made Pink Floyd’s 1975 Wish You Were Here cover unforgettable, has died at 88. His mustache didn’t survive that photo shoot, but his legacy did. Rondell’s career spanned decades, from standing in for Robert Blake on Baretta to coordinating stunts on Charlie’s Angels, S.W.A.T., and Batman and Robin. Films like Blazing Saddles, The Matrix Reloaded, and Kings of the Sun saw him defy gravity and fire alike. One of three founders of Stunts Unlimited, Rondell came from a family of stunt pros—his father worked on classics, and his son R.A. Rondell carries the torch.
Tristan Rogers (August 15, 2025)
Tristan Rogers, the actor fans know as General Hospital’s Robert Scorpio, has died at 79 from lung cancer. Born in Melbourne, he carved a career in soaps and beyond, appearing on The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and The Bay, plus roles in Babylon 5 and Aaahh! Real Monsters. Rogers earned a Daytime Emmy for Doc on Amazon’s Studio City in 2020. Y&R co-star Jess Walton reflected, “I adored working with him. We will miss you, Tristan, and your remarkable performance as Colin Atkinson.” Michelle Stafford added, “The sexiest man in daytime… I’m glad he‘s out of pain… and free.”
Terence Stamp (August 17, 2025)
Terence Stamp, the English actor who brought equal parts menace and magnetism to screens for over six decades, died Aug. 17 at 87. Born in London’s East End, Stamp earned a scholarship to the Webber Douglas Academy, making his film debut in 1962’s Billy Budd, earning an Oscar nod at 24. From early work with Laurence Olivier to commanding presence as General Zod in Superman and Superman II, he owned every frame. Later, he stole scenes in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Last Night in Soho (2021). Stamp made every role—heroic, villainous, or camp—entirely his own.
RELATED: Remembering Terence Stamp and Other Superman (1978) Actors Who Have Died
Judge Frank Caprio (August 20, 2025)
Frank Caprio, the Rhode Island judge whose fairness and kindness on Caught in Providence earned him the nickname “the Nicest Judge in the World,” died Aug. 20 at 88 after battling pancreatic cancer. Appointed to Providence Municipal Court in 1985, Caprio served as chief judge until retiring in January 2023. His courtroom clips went viral for showing mercy to everyday citizens, from traffic violators to first-time offenders, sparking U.S. syndication in 2018. “We’d like to thank you for your tremendous outpouring of love,” his son said, announcing Caprio’s funeral on Aug. 29 at the Providence Cathedral, livestreamed for fans worldwide.
Jerry Adler (August 23, 2025)
Jerry Adler spent decades behind the scenes on Broadway before stepping in front of the camera in his 60s, and the results were unforgettable. Born in Brooklyn, Adler stage managed classics like My Fair Lady with Julie Andrews and Coco with Katharine Hepburn, supervising hits like Annie and Camelot. He made the pivot to acting just as he was preparing to retire, landing his first role in The Public Eye (1992). Adler found wider fame as Herman “Hesh” Rabkin on The Sopranos, advising Tony Soprano, and later appeared on The Good Wife, Rescue Me, and Northern Exposure. He returned to Broadway in Fish in the Dark, completing a career full circle. Adler passed peacefully in his sleep at 96, leaving a legacy both on stage and screen.
Verónica Echegui (August 24, 2025)
Verónica Echegui, the Spanish actress known for her raspy-voiced, fearless performances, died Aug. 24 at 42 after a battle with cancer at Madrid’s 12 de Octubre hospital. Discovered by director Bigas Luna in 2006’s Yo soy la Juani, Echegui carved out two decades of work across film and TV, appearing in El patio de mi cárcel, Katmandú, un espejo en el cielo, My Heart Goes Boom!, and alongside Sigourney Weaver and Bruce Willis in The Cold Light of Day. She won a Goya Award in 2022 for her short film Tótem Loba, which she wrote and directed, and her final project, Ciudad de sombras, was set to debut on Netflix this year.
