Dead Celebrities

actors 3

2008-11-25T06:49:00.001-06:00

Alexander, Ben b. May 26, 1911 d. July 5, 1969
Actor. Born Nicholas Benton Alexander, appeared in 81 films from the 1910's to the 1960's. Alexander had his screen debut at age 5 in "Every Pearl a Tear." Another of his best movie assignments was "All Quiet on the Western Front" in the role of 'Kemmerick' the tragic amputation victim. When Alexander's acting career slowed down in the mid 1930s, he found a new career as a successful radio announcer. According to his death certificate his ashes were sent to Maui Cemetery. Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii. (Bio by: MC)
Maui Cemetery, Wailuku, Maui County, Hawaii, USA

Alexander, Frank b. May 25, 1879 d. September 8, 1937
Actor. A very large man whose nickname was ‘Tiny,' he weighed well over 300 pounds at the time of his death. Alexander was a stage driver prior to putting on weight and heading for Hollywood. Being a member of Larry Semon's stock company, Alexander appeared in a number of two-reel farces, ending his relationship with Semon after playing Dorothy's father in 1925's "Wizard of Oz." At one time Alexander was publicized as one of the three fattest men on the screen, appearing in a number of films...[Read More] (Bio by: Tony Scott)
Hollywood Forever, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Section 2, #10 [unmarked]

Alexander, James b. May 20, 1914 d. February 1, 1961
Actor. Born in Indiana, he appeared in a handful of motion pictures during his brief acting career. He made his film debut in the 1952 motion picture "Jack and the Beanstalk." His other film credits include: "Port of Hell" (1954), "Treasure of Ruby Hills" (1955), "Las Vegas Shakedown" (1955) and "Night Freight" (1955). His television appearances include "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" and "The Abbott and Costello Show." He died from undisclosed causes in Los Angeles, California at the age...[Read More] (Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.)
Hollywood Forever, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Section 2, #10

Alexander, James b. March 9, 1932 d. August 17, 1998
Actor. Prominent stage and screen actor, producer and acting coach, who appeared in more than sixty plays and two films. His film work consisted mainly of small roles as mad scientists or gangsters in movies like "Horror High," "Curse of the Swamp Creature," and "A Bullet for Pretty Boy." He also produced more than 15 plays with Aaron Spelling.
Hollywood Cemetery, Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA
Plot: Everglade Meadows Lot 55 Space 3
GPS coordinates: 29.47422, -95.22 (hddd.dddd)

Alexander, John b. November 29, 1897 d. July 13, 1982
Actor. Born in Newport, Kentucky, he began his career young, making his Broadway debut in 1902 in ‘The Children of Kings' which ran for less than a year. He worked his way up through the chorus and walk on roles and appeared in his first name role, Jump Steady, in the Broadway production of ‘The Chocolate Dandies.' He found a niche as a support player, making his most notable mark as Teddy Brewster in the Broadway production of ‘Arsenic and Old Lace' which ran from January 1941 to June 1944. He...[Read More] (Bio by: Iola)
Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York, USA
Plot: Actors' Fund Lot 418

Alexander, Richard b. November 19, 1902 d. August 9, 1989
Actor. He appeared in films such as "All Quiet in the Western Front" (1930), "The Front Page" (1931), "The Sign of the Cross" (1932), "Cleopatra" (1934), "Modern Times" (1936), "Where the West Begins" (1938), "Raiders of Death Valley" (1941), "Three Little Sisters" (1944) and "Two Guys From Texas" (1948). He also played 'Prince Barin' in the TV series
"Flash Gordon." (Bio by: Claude)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA

Alexander, Ross b. July 27, 1907 d. January 2, 1937
Actor. American stage and motion picture figure of the 1920s and 1930s. Married for a time to actress Anne Nagel. He committed suicide, shooting himself with a .22 caliber pistol. (Bio by: A.J. Marik)
Cause of death: Suicide
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Sunrise Slope, Lot 292
GPS coordinates: 34.12239, -118.24742 (hddd.dddd)

Alippi, Elías Isaac b. January 20, 1883 d. May 3, 1942
Famed actor and director, one of the best actors of the Argentine stage. Also a outstanding tango dancer. (Bio by: 380W)
Cementerio de la Chacarita, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Plot: Panteón de Actores, 1s 10 #341

Allegret, Marc b. December 23, 1900 d. November 3, 1973
Motion Picture Director. Icon of the French Cinema. Directed over 60 films, and was also renowned for discovering and directing some of France's true cinema greats, including such well-known stars as Michèle Morgan, Jean-Louis Barraut,Raimu, Fernandel, Simone Simon, Gérard Philipe, Odette Joyeux, Louis Jourdan, Danièle Delorme, Roger Vadim, and Brigitte Bardot. Among his films were such well-known works as Fanny (with Raimu), Lac aux dames (with Simone Simon and Jean-Pierre Aumont), Zouzou (...[Read More]
Cimetière des Gonards, Versailles, France

Allen, Dennis Roy b. June 10, 1940 d. December 1, 1995
Actor. Best known for his appearances on the popular 1960s comedy-variety series, "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In." He also appeared on "Love American Style." (Bio by: Hamtaro)
Cause of death: Lung cancer
Maple Hill Cemetery, Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas, USA

Allen, Lester b. November 17, 1891 d. November 6, 1949
Entertainer. Born in Utica, New York, he made his stage debut in 1905 and joined forces with Nellie Breen to create the popular vaudeville comedy duo, Allen & Breen. He enjoyed even greater success as a solo act and was a frequent emcee at New York's Palace Theatre. On Broadway, the dapper, mustachioed Allen was featured in the first six editions of George White's "Scandals" revues (1919 to 1925), and he also wrote the book for Earl Carroll's "Vanities" (1925) and lyrics for the hit musical "...[Read More] (Bio by: Robert Edwards)
Cause of death: Hit by car
Hollywood Forever, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Plains of Abraham (formerly Section 14), Row M, grave 6

Allen, Patrick b. March 17, 1927 d. July 28, 2006
Actor. He was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi). He went to Hollywood, where he had several bit parts before landing his first big film, Alfred Hitchcock's version of Frederick Knott's "Dial M for Murder" (1954), in which he played a police detective. Later, he came back to Britain in the late 1950s and joined the Shakespeare Memorial Company at Stratford-upon-Avon. He married the actress Sarah Lawson and they worked together on stage several times at Stratford and later appeared as a married...[Read More] (Bio by: Claude)
Unknown*
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!

Allen, Ronald b. December 16, 1930 d. June 18, 1991
Actor, He was born and died in Reading, Berkshire, England. His film and television credits include "Bergerac," "Generations," "The Liver Birds," "Doctor Who," "Crossroads," "The Avengers," "Cleopatra," "Danger Man," "A Night to Remember," "The Adventures of Robin Hood," and "Romeo and Juliet." (Bio by: Genet)
Reading Crematorium, Reading, England

Allen, Steve b. December 26, 1921 d. October 30, 2000
Actor, Comedian, Composer, Author. First host of the NBC "Tonight Show." Frequent guest panelist on the 1950s television show, "What's My Line." Born in New York City, his parents were the vaudeville comedy team of Montrose and Allen. His father, Carroll Allen, died when he was a small child and his mother, Isabelle Montrose Allen, moved the family to Chicago to live with her parents. He claimed that he had an unhappy childhood, going to 18 different schools. For a while he attended...[Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Courts of Remembrance, Columbarium of Providence [unmarked]

Alleyn, Edward b. September 1, 1566 d. November 25, 1626
Actor. One of the greatest performers of the Elizabethan stage, he was rivaled only by Richard Burbage and praised by such authors as Ben Jonson and Thomas Nashe. He was particularly noted for his interpretations of Christopher Marlowe's "Tamburlaine", "Doctor Faustus", and "The Jew of Malta", and Robert Greene's "Orlando Furioso". Alleyn was born in London. He probably began acting as a boy and by 1587 he was a fixture of the Admiral's Men theatrical troupe. In 1592 he married the...[Read More] (Bio by: Robert Edwards)
Dulwich College, London, England
Plot: Beneath the altar of the Old College Chapel

Allister, Claud b. October 3, 1888 d. July 26, 1970
Actor in 72 films including: "Slightly Scarlet," "Platinum Blonde," "The Private Life of Henry VIII," "The Dark Angel," "Dracula's Daughter," "Lillian Russell," and "Kiss Me Kate." (Bio by: Tony Scott)
Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA

Allport, Christopher b. 1947 d. January 25, 2008
Actor. Prolific character actor who appeared in many popular films and television shows, including The X Files, To Live and Die In L.A., NYPD Blue, ER, CSI: Miami, and 7th Heaven. He died in an avalanche on Mountain High ski resort, near Wrightwood, California. (Bio by: A.J. Marik)
Unknown*
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!

Alonso, Cachirulo (Enrique) b. September 7, 1923 d. August 27, 2004
Actor, Playwright. He was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Born Enrique Fernández Tallaeche, he made his debut on stage in 1948 with the play "La Temporada del Recuerdo." But he is fondly remembered for his character "Cachirulo" that he played for the childrens' program for television "Teatro Fantástico" of which he also was producer and that runned for 1955 to 1961. Also he adapted several popular Mexican tales such as "Dos Tandas para un Boleto," "Chin, Chan Chun y las Musas del País," "El...[Read More] (Bio by: Claude)
Panteón Jardines del Recuerdo, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Alonso, Ernesto b. February 28, 1917 d. August 7, 2007
Actor, Filmmaker. Ernesto Ramírez Alonso (his full name) was considered one of the most important actors, producers and directors in the Golden Age of Mexican screen and television. After studying drama with the Blanch sisters and he debuted as a performer in the film "La Sandunga" (1937). His first success was in "Historia de un Gran Amor" (1942), along with Jorge Negrete and Gloria Marín. As his popularity grew director Luis Buñuel gave him major roles in three films, "Los Olvidados," "...[Read More] (Bio by: Claude)
Iglesia de San Antonio de Padua, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Alonso, Rafael b. July 5, 1920 d. October 24, 1998
Spanish actor best known for his films "Cómicos", "El Baile," and "El Abuelo," his last film. (Bio by: Claude)
Cremated, Location of ashes is unknown

actors 2

2008-11-25T06:47:00.000-06:00

Ainley, Henry b. August 21, 1879 d. October 31, 1945
Actor. Father of actor Richard Ainley. Henry Ainley acted in hundreds of productions. Ainley played major parts in many Shakespeare plays, beginning with "Henry V" in 1900 and ending with "As You Like it" in 1936. (Bio by: MC)
Kensal Green Cemetery, London, England

Ainsley, Norman b. May 4, 1881 d. January 23, 1948
Actor. Scottish-born screen and stage figure. (Bio by: A.J. Marik)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Whispering Pines, Lot #1393

Ainsworth, Charles Sydney b. December 21, 1873 d. May 21, 1922
Actor. The son of W. Herbert Ainsworth and Janette Wallace (Clugston) Ainsworth, he came to the United States from England in 1877. His full name was Charles Sydney Ainsworth; however, he used his middle name and was better known as "Sydney" Ainsworth. During the Spanish-American War, he was a Private in the 1st Wisconsin Regiment, Company G. He went on stage in 1899 after his tour of duty in Cuba. His break into show business came when a director needed someone with military experience to...[Read More] (Bio by: Number1)
Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, USA
Plot: Section 17, Lot 005, Grave 2

Aitken, Spottiswoode b. April 16, 1868 d. February 26, 1933
Actor. Dignified character player of silent films. Born Frank Spottiswoode Aitken in Edinburgh, he made his stage debut at age 13 and spent nearly 20 years touring the United States in stock companies. During a 1907 road production of "Pocahontas" he met actor and future director D.W. Griffith, who later invited him to join the Biograph studio. Onscreen Aitken most often played strong patriarchs, memorably as...[Read More] (Bio by: Robert Edwards)
Hollywood Forever, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Secret Gardens (formerly Section 19), #120 [unmarked]

Akins, Claude b. May 25, 1926 d. January 27, 1994
Actor. A graduate of Northwestern University, he served with the United States Army Signal Corps in World War II in Burma and the Phillipines. He was a popular motion picture and television figure who appeared in many classic television series. He played the title role in the series "Sheriff Lobo." (Bio by: A.J. Marik)
Cause of death: Cancer
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend

Albach Retty, Wolf b. May 28, 1906 d. February 21, 1967
Actor. Austrian leading man, he made his film debut in the silent "Das grobe Hemd." To his well-known movies belong: "The Black Hussar," "Tales from Vienna Woods" and "Hotel Sacher." He was Romy Schneider's father. (Bio by: MC)
Zentralfriedhof, Vienna, Wien, Austria
Plot: Buried with his mother, Actress Rosa Albach Retty.

Alberni, Luis b. October 4, 1886 d. December 23, 1962
Actor in 156 films including: "Svengali," "When Ladies Meet," "Roberta," "Goin' To Town," "Anthony Adverse," "Madame X," "Babes on Broadway," "A Bell for Adano," and "The Ten Commandments." (Bio by: Tony Scott)
Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA

Albers, Hans b. September 22, 1891 d. July 24, 1960
Actor. In 1930 he appeared with Marlene Dietrich in "Der Blaue Engel." He had a relationship with the Jewish actress Hansi Burg, who fled to England from the Nazis. Albers was questioned by the Gestapo, but he was so famous that he was soon released. After his death, the Wilhelmsplatz in Hamburg was named after him. (Bio by: MC)
Ohlsdorfer Friedhof, Hamburg, Germany

Albert, Eddie b. April 22, 1906 d. May 26, 2005
Actor. Fondly remembered for his role of lawyer-turned-farmer Oliver Wendell Douglas on the classic television series "Green Acres" which ran from 1965-1971. Eddie Albert's career started on radio, and appeared on the earliest test for television in 1936. He made his film debut in the military-academy comedy "Brother Rat" in 1938. He went on to co-star in "Brother Rat and a Baby," and "Four Wives" in 1939. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was an active participant...[Read More] (Bio by: David)
Cause of death: Pneumonia
Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA

Albert, Edward Laurence b. February 20, 1951 d. September 22, 2006
Actor. Son of Actor Eddie Albert and singer Margo. He is best remembered for his role in the 1972 film opposite Goldie Hawn, "Butterflies are Free," for which he won a Golden Globe. He appeared in numerous films, and was a regular guest-star on television. He died of lung cancer at age 55 just a year after his father's death...[Read More] (Bio by: David)
Unknown*
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!

Albertson, Coit b. October 14, 1880 d. December 13, 1953
Actor. He starred on Broadway in "Stubborn Cinderella" prior to making his screen debut in 1915. He appeared in "The $1,000,000 Reward"(1920), "Face to Face"(1922), "Scandal Street"(1925) as 'Frank Arnold' in "The Jazz Girl" (1926) and "The Return of Boston Blackie"(1927). (Bio by: MC)
Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Cremated

Albertson, Frank b. February 2, 1909 d. February 29, 1964
Actor. Appeared on stage, in motion pictures, and on television. Two of his more memorable roles were "Psycho" and "Bye Bye Birdie".
Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Section P, Lot 284, Grave 4

Albertson, Jack b. June 16, 1910 d. November 25, 1981
Actor, Comedian, Dancer, Singer, and Musician. Born in Malden, Massachusetts to Jewish parents - Flora Craft, a Russian immigrant, and Leo Albertson, a Polish immigrant. He had an older sister, Mabel Albertson, and a brother, Frank, who were also actors. Albertson dropped out of high school and traveled to New York City in an attempt make it big in show business. He was too poor to get a room in a flophouse, so in the winter he would sleep on the IRT subway for a nickel, and hide out when the...[Read More]
Cause of death: Cancer
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea, Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean

Albin, Andy b. December 25, 1907 d. December 27, 1994
Actor. He began his career in vaudeville after winning a contest in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then entered films and television. His films include, "Bates Motel" (1987), "Gable And Lombard" (1976), "Brock's Last Case" (1973), "1776" (1972), "More Dead Than Alive" (1969), "Tammy And The Millionaire" (1967), "Don't Worry, We'll Think Of A Title" (1967), "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965), "McHale's Navy Joins The Air Force" (1965), "Gun Fight" (1961), and "North By Northwest" (1959). He also appeared...[Read More] (Bio by: Kris)
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend

Albright, Wally b. September 3, 1925 d. August 7, 1999
Actor. A child performer of the 1930s, he is best remembered for his brief stint as Wally in the "Our Gang" films. He was the leader of the Little Rascals in "Hi'-Neighbor!" (1934), "For Pete's Sake!" (1934), and "The First Round-Up" (1934), while in "Honky Donkey" (1934) and "Washee Ironee" (1934) he played a rich kid who happily joins the Gang. His character appealingly combined waifish looks with a well-meaning, take-charge personality. Albright's nearly 60 other movie credits include "The...[Read More] (Bio by: Robert Edwards)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Garden of Ascension, Lot 7380, Lawn Crypt 3.

Alda, Robert b. February 26, 1914 d. May 3, 1986
Actor. Appeared on stage, in motion pictures, and on television from the 1940s to the 1980s. He was the father of actor Alan Alda. (Bio by: A.J. Marik)
Cause of death: Stroke
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Garden of Ascension

Alderman, John b. June 6, 1934 d. January 12, 1987
Actor. Appeared on stage, in motion pictures, and on television from the 1950s to the 1980s. (Bio by: A.J. Marik)
Mount Sinai Memorial Park, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Maimonides 13, L-7277, space 2

Alderson, Erville b. September 11, 1882 d. August 4, 1957
Actor. One of those ubiquitous Hollywood character players whose face is familiar but whose name draws a blank, he appeared in nearly 200 films over 40 years. With his lean, stern features and mane of graying (later white) hair, Alderson was typically cast as authority figures. Most of these were uncredited bits but he did have some memorable movie moments: as the corrupt handwriting expert in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), as Jefferson Davis in "The Santa Fe Trail" (1940), Andrew...[Read More] (Bio by: Robert Edwards)
Hollywood Forever, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Section 12, Lot 299 (Family Stone

Alderson, John b. April 10, 1916 d. August 4, 2006
Actor. Born in Hordern, England, he worked in the United States for nearly 40 years. He appeared in over 100 films and TV shows during his long career, and is particularly remembered for his westerns. Alderson's films include "Against All Flags" (1952), "Moonfleet" (1955), "My Fair Lady" (1964), "Hellfighters" (1968), "Blazing Saddles" (1974), "The Cat from Outer Space" (1978), "The Wild Geese" (1978), "Ragtime" (as James Cagney's assistant, 1981), and "Young Guns II" (1990). Also he worked...[Read More] (Bio by: Claude)
Unknown*
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!

Aldridge, Ira Frederick b. July 24, 1807 d. August 7, 1867
19th century African-American Shakespearian actor and the first American actor to perform in Russia. Described as "a star of the first magnitude" and "the most beautiful male artist that one can imagin." Ira Frederick Aldridge, known as the African Roscius was born in New York City on July 24, 1807. He was the son of Rev. Daniel and Luranah Aldridge, poor citizens of class known as "Free Negroes." Aldridge was educated at New York's African Free School where he won many oratory contests...[Read More] (Bio by: Curtis Jackson)
Lodz Evangelical Cemetery, Lodz, Poland

actors 1

2008-11-25T06:45:00.000-06:00

Adams, Don b. April 13, 1923 d. September 25, 2005
Actor. He is best remembered for his role of 'Agent Maxwell Smart' in the hit 1960s television comedy, "Get Smart" (1965 to 1970), for which he won three Emmy Awards. He was also the voice of television cartoon characters "Tennessee Tuxedo" and "Inspector Gadget." Born Donald James Yarmy, in New York City, of Hungarian and Irish descent, during World War II, he served in the United States Marine Corps, and was the only member of his platoon to survive the Battle for Guadalcanal. While on...[Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)
Cause of death: Lung infection
Hollywood Forever, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Section 8, Lot 57, Grave 20
GPS coordinates: 34.0898254457742, -118.31668138504 (hddd.dddd)

Adams, Jonathan b. February 14, 1931 d. June 13, 2005
Actor. A prolific television and stage actor with numerous appearances to his credit, he is best known for the role of 'Dr Everett Scott' in the motion picture version of cult film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in 1974. He had originally played the part of 'The Narrator' in the London, England stage production. (Bio by: Jeff J)
Cause of death: Stroke
Golders Green Jewish Cemetery, London, England

Adams, Nick b. July 10, 1931 d. February 6, 1968
Actor. He is best remembered for his role of 'Johnny Yuma' in the television western series "The Rebel" (1959 to 1962). The studios molded his acting persona in the same "troubled young man" persona as his close friend, actor James Dean. Born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, he was raised in Garfield, New Jersey. After starting his acting career as an uncredited extra in the film "Somebody Loves Me" (1952), he joined the United...[Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)
Cause of death: Suspected suicide
Saints Cyril & Methodius Ukrainian Church Cemetery, Berwick, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, USA

Adams, Stanley b. April 7, 1915 d. April 27, 1977
Actor. His best known role was playing 'Cyrano Jones' in the 1960s science fiction television series "Star Trek" episode of "The Trouble with Tribbles" which aired in 1967. He had a long and successful television acting career, appearing in episodes of series such as "The Twilight Zone", "Gunsmoke", Gillgan's Island", "the Rat Patrol", "McHale's Navy", "Bonanza" and many others. He occasionally had motion picture roles, most of which were bit parts. He died as a result of a self-inflicted...[Read More]
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea

Adams, Ted b. March 17, 1890 d. September 24, 1973
Actor. He appeared in 180 motion pictures from 1930 to 1952 including "Hop-Along Cassidy," "The Lone Ranger," "Billy the Kid," "Valley of Fear," "Across the Rio Grande" and "Heart of the Rockies."
Chapel Of The Pines Crematory, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA

Adler, Jacob b. February 12, 1855 d. April 1, 1926
Actor.
Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York, USA

Adler, Jay b. September 26, 1896 d. September 23, 1978
Actor. Brother of Luther and Stella Adler, Jay acted in 21 television series/shows and 45 movies including: "Scandal Sheet," "The Bad and The Beautiful," "Love Me or Leave Me," "The Brothers Karamazov," "The Story on Page One," and "The Family Jewels." (Bio by: Tony Scott)
Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section F

Adler, Luther b. May 4, 1903 d. December 8, 1984
Actor. Brother of Jay and Stella Adler, Luther acted in 28 television series/shows and 33 films including: "The Loves of Carmen," "D.O.A.," "The Last Angry Man," "Cast a Giant Shadow," "Voyage of the Damned" and "Absence of Malice." (Bio by: Tony Scott)
Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section F

Adlon, Louis b. October 7, 1905 d. March 31, 1947
Actor. Real name Louis Adlon, Jr. The grandson of famed hotelier Lorenz Adlon, he was raised in the luxurious surroundings of Berlin's Hotel Adlon, which he was expected to inherit. The rise of Hitler drove him into exile in Hollywood, where he married Rose Davies (sister of movie star Marion Davies) and launched a career as...[Read More] (Bio by: Robert Edwards)
Hollywood Forever, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Garden of Legends (formerly Section 8).

Adolfi, John b. January 19, 1881 d. May 11, 1933
Actor. Had a varied career as a motion picture director, actor, writer, and producer, mainly in the silent era from the 1910s to the 1920s. (Bio by: A.J. Marik)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Great Mausoleum, Columbarium of Love, N-6352

Adolphson, Edvin b. February 25, 1893 d. October 31, 1979
Swedish Actor, Director. He was active through 50 years, and made some 500 roles. His debut was made in 1912, but the breakthrough came 1923 in ”Friare från Landsvägen”. He played with Ingrid Bergman in ”Only one night” (1939), and is for instance noted for ”Änglar, finns dom?” (1961), August Strindberg´s ”Hemsöborna”, and probably his greatest success ever, as Markurells in ”Markurells i Wadköping” (1968). He also directed the first Swedish sound film, ”Säg det i toner” 1929. He is the father...[Read More] (Bio by: Peter Robsahm)
Solna kyrkogård, Solna, Stockholms län, Sweden

Agar, John b. January 31, 1921 d. April 7, 2002
Actor. He is best remembered for marrying actress Shirley Temple. As an actor, he is best remembered for his roles in "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949) and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949). Born John George Agar, Jr. in Chicago, Illinois, he was the oldest of four children of a local meat packer. During World War II, he enlisted into the US Army Air Force, attaining the rank of Sergeant. A handsome man who looked good in uniform, he was stationed in Hollywood to provide Air Force assistance in...[Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)
Cause of death: Emphysema
Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA

Agnew, Bob b. June 4, 1899 d. November 8, 1983
Actor. Juvenile lead of the silent era whose acting career faded with the advent of sound. Agnew acted in supporting roles in many films of the 1920s, including "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" (1923) with Gloria Swanson and "Wine of Youth" (1924) with Eleanor Boardman. One of his last roles was a small part in the all-star musical "Golddiggers of 1933." (Bio by: MC)
Cause of death: Kidney failure
Unknown*
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!

Aherne, Brian b. May 2, 1902 d. February 10, 1986
Actor. Made his debut in British cinema in "The Eleventh Commandment" in 1924 and appeared on stage in London. He moved to Hollywood in the 1930s and appeared in Rouben Mamoulian's "Song of Songs" (1933). Other films included "Sylvia Scarlett" (1936), "Juarez" (1939), for which he an Oscar nomination for best actor, Alfred Hitchcock's "I Confess" (1953)...[Read More]
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend

Ahlm, Philip Eugene b. July 15, 1905 d. July 5, 1954
Actor, Stuntman. A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Ahlm's films roles include, "Seas Beneath" (1931), "Thin Ice" (1937), "Forever And A Day" (1943), "Five Graves To Cairo" (1943), "The Land Is Mine" (1943), "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946), "O.S.S." (1946), "The Beginning Or The End" (1947), "Undercover Maisie" (1947), "Joan Of Arc" (1948), "Where Danger Lies" (1950), "Let's Dance" (1950), "The Desert Fox: The Story of Erwin Rommel" (1951), "The Las Vegas Story" (1952), and "Bad For Each...[Read More] (Bio by: Kris)
Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California, USA
Plot: W, 0, 1498

Ahn, Philip b. March 29, 1905 d. February 28, 1978
Actor. Korean-American character actor who played hundreds of Chinese and Japanese characters during a long career. In his later years, he achieved his greatest fame as the wise "Master Kan" on the television series "Kung Fu" (1972).
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Courts of Remembrance, Crypt 1107

Ahrle, Elof b. January 21, 1900 d. June 3, 1965
Actor. Starred in movies from the 1930s to 1960. He was also an accomplished writer and director. (Bio by: Lisa S)
Norra begravningsplatsen (Northern Cemetery), Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden
Plot: 19B/205.

Aidman, Charles b. January 21, 1925 d. November 7, 1993
Actor. Appeared in motion pictures and on television. Guest starred on "The Twilight Zone," and narrated the 1980s revival. (Bio by: Kenneth McNeil)
Cause of death: Cancer
Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Plot: Room of Prayer

Aiken, George L. b. 1830 d. 1876
Playwrite, Actor. He dramatized Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and acted in its first performance at Troy, New York on Sept. 27, 1852, where it ran for 100 nights.
Cain Cemetery, Bay Minette, Baldwin County, Alabama, USA

Ainley, Anthony b. August 20, 1932 d. May 3, 2004
Actor. He was best known for playing the Master, arch-nemesis to "Dr. Who" in the long-running television series. He played the role from 1981 until the show ended in 1989. He also appeared in numerous British TV shows and in movies like "Naked Evil," "You Only Live Twice," "Inspector Clouseau," and "Satan's Skin." (Bio by: Butterfly)
Unknown*
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!

actors

2008-11-25T06:41:00.000-06:00

(Iwamatsu), Mako (Makoto) b. December 10, 1933 d. July 21, 2006Actor. Born Makoto Iwamatsu in Kobe, Japan, he came to the United States after World War II and studied theater at the Pasadena Playhouse. He had been working primarily in television and on stage when he was cast as Po-Han in the film "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), which earned him an Oscar nomination. In 1976 Mako appeared in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Pacific Overtures," playing multiple roles as reciter, shogun, emperor and an American businessman. This performance won him a Tony Award...[Read More] (Bio by: Claude)Unknown**Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
, Raimu b. December 18, 1883 d. September 20, 1946French Actor. Orson Welles once called "the greatest actor who ever lived." His real name was Jules Muraire. He began his career on Stage, and soon moved to cinema. He appeared in "Marius"(1931), "Fanny" (1932), "Les Perles de la Couronne" (1937), "Un Carnet de Bal" (1937), "L'Arlésienne" (1942), "Monsieur La Souris" (1942), "Untel Père et Fils" (1943) and "L'Home à Chapeau Rond". He died from a heart attack. (Bio by: Claude)Cimetière de Toulon, Var, France
, Scaramouche b. November 9, 1608 d. December 7, 1694Stage Actor. He was born in Naples (Italy) and died in Paris (France). He was a comic actor of Commedia dell'Arte, that triumphed in Paris with the Troupe Italienne. He was known as Scaramouche (Scaramuccia in italian language), one of his characters. He was contemporary of Molière. Also, he wrote the book Quando Amor Comanda. His real name was Tiberio Fiorilli and was the character title of the book of Rafael Sabitini, defined as "He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world...[Read More] (Bio by: Claude)Saint Eustache Church, Paris, France
De Lacy, Philippe b. July 25, 1917 d. July 29, 1995Actor. Born in Nancy during World War I, he lost his mother and five siblings when a German shell devastated the family home. American nurse, Miss Edith De Lacy, found him beside his dead mother, (he was only two days old) adopted him and brought him to America where his stunning looks soon made him a sought after model for advertisements, and eventually brought him to the screen. De Lacy is fondly remembered as 'Michael Nicholas Darling' in "Peter Pan," (1924) as [Read More] (Bio by: MC)Cremated, Ashes scatteredPlot: Ashes scattered over Point Lobos.
MacDonald, Robert David b. August 27, 1929 d. May 19, 2004Actor, Playwright and Translator. He co-directed the Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre for more than three decades,a theatre that launched the careers of actors such as Rupert Everett, Pierce Brosnan, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth. He wrote 14 plays, including "De Sade Show" and "Don Juan," was a lead actor in many other productions, and who translated more than 60 plays in ten languages. (Bio by: Butterfly)Unknown**Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Turgeon, Serge b. March 12, 1946 d. May 18, 2004Actor. He was known for his efforts as a promoter of the Quebec's arts, culture and independence. He played a wide variety of roles in Canadian theatre and television, and was a dedicated journalist and host on Canadian radio on television. Served as President of Quebec's French Actors Union (Union des artistes) for twelve years (1985-1997), and was declared Quebec's Patriot Of The Year in 1990. (Bio by: Butterfly)Unknown**Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Abbott, Bud b. October 2, 1895 d. April 24, 1974Actor, Comedian. He is best remembered for his partnership with Lou Costello that formed the highly successful "Abbott and Costello" comedy team. Born William Alexander Abbott in Asbury Park, New Jersey, he worked in carnivals while still a child, and dropped out of school in 1909. He worked for awhile as a treasurer for the Casino Theater in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and then for other theaters around the country...[Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)Cause of death: CancerCremated, Ashes scattered at sea, Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean
Abbott, Frank b. July 16, 1878 d. February 2, 1957Actor. He gained his motion picture renown during the "Silent Screen Era" that pre-dated talking films. His roles included appearances in the films "Fade Away Faster" (1926), and "The Wild Bull's Lair" (1925). (Bio by: Kris)Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USAPlot: Section B, Lot 319, Grave 5
Abbott, James F. b. April 24, 1872 d. January 19, 1954Actor. He appeared in the theatre and in motion pictures during the "Silent Screen Era".Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USAPlot: Brotherly Love, Lot #1858 G-2
Abbott, John b. June 5, 1905 d. May 24, 1996Actor. He appeared in the theatre, in motion pictures, and on television from the 1930s to the 1980s. His appearances includes several classic television series such as "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," "Perry Mason," and "Lost In Space."Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend
Abbott (Alexander), Philip b. March 20, 1924 d. February 23, 1998Actor. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he served in the United States Air Force during World War II and was awarded an Air Medal and three oak leaf clusters. After studying at Fordham University and the Pasadena Playhouse, he co-starred in the national touring company of Sidney Kingsley's "Detective Story" (1950) and came to Hollywood in 1952. Although he made a handful of films, notably "The Bachelor Party" (1957) and "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962), Abbott spent practically his whole career in...[Read More] (Bio by: Robert Edwards)San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Abbott, Richard b. May 22, 1899 d. June, 1986Actor. He was in the original casts of the plays "The Power of Darkness", "Polly", and "The Last Mile". He had many uncredited film roles from the 1930s to 1970s, such as "Love Laughs at Andy Hardy"(1947) and "Green Dolphin Street"(1947) His last role was as 'Billings' in "The Last Escape" (1970). (Bio by: Ginny M)Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York, USAPlot: Actors' Fund Section, Lot 453
Abdulov, Aleksandr b. May 29, 1953 d. January 3, 2008Actor. Born in Tobolsk, Russia, he made his 1974 motion picture debut in "About Vitya, about Masha and the Sea Force." In 1975 he was hired by Lenkom Theater director Mark Zakharov, and became a celebrity after appearing in "The Ordinary Miracle." During the early 1980s he was considered a sex symbol and one of the most popular Russian stars, playing in "Look for a Woman," "Magicians" and "The Woman in White." During the 1990s he mostly worked in the Lenkom Theatre, where he directed the play "...[Read More] (Bio by: Claude)Vagan'kovskoe Cemetery, Moscow, Russian Federation
Abrahamyan, Khoren b. April 1, 1930 d. December 9, 2004Actor, Motion Picture Director.Komitas Pantheon, Yerevan, Yerevan, Armenia
Ace, Goodman b. January 15, 1899 d. March 25, 1982Radio Actor, Comedian. From 1931 to 1945 he teamed with his wife Jane Ace to play in the comedy radio program "Easy Aces" (his character was the straightman to his wife's character was "Mistress Misspeack"). He had a successful career as a comedy writer, providing material for early television entertainment figures such as comedian Milton Berle...[Read More]Mount Carmel Cemetery, Raytown, Jackson County, Missouri, USA
Ackerman, Walter b. June 28, 1881 d. December 12, 1938Actor. He appeared in motion pictures during the silent era, having roles in films such as "Bride Of The Desert" (1929), "A Flame In The Sky" (1927), "Back To God's Country" (1927), "Man Of The Forest" (1926), "Rugged Waters" (1926), and "A Midsummer's Night Dream" (1909). (Bio by: Kris)Hollywood Forever, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USAPlot: Garden of Beginnings (formerly Section 2W), Grave 200
Acord, Art b. April 17, 1890 d. January 4, 1931Actor. He starred in many silent motion pictures between the years 1910 and 1929. Married for a time to actress Louise Lorraine, his cause of death was cyanide poisoning in Chihuahua, Mexico. Although Mexican police officially listed his death as a suicide, many of his friends over the years insisted that he had been murdered by a Mexican politician who had caught Art Acord having an affair with his wife. (Bio by: A.J. Marik)Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USAPlot: Vale of Memory, L-2608
Acosta, Rodolfo b. July 29, 1920 d. November 7, 1974Actor. Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, he was a motion picture and television figure who starred from the 1940s to the 1970s, and became known for his role in the television western series "The High Chaparral".Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USAPlot: Gentleness, L-3107
Acuff, Eddie b. June 3, 1903 d. December 17, 1956Actor. He appeared in 234 motion pictures in a career that spanned from 1934 to 1951. Best known for his character of 'Mr. Beasley the Mailman" in the "Blondie' movie series, he also appeared in films such as "The Petrified Forest" (1936), and "The People vs. Dr. Kildare" (1941).Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USAPlot: [unmarked]
Adam, Francisco b. August 13, 1983 d. April 16, 2006Actor. A native of Lisbon, Portugal, he grew up in Runa, a village near Torres Vedras, Portugal. A popular Portuguese young actor, he was known for his role as 'Dino' in the telenovela (television series) "Morangos com Acucar", and was also a successful model for Elite Models and On Fashion. On Easter Sunday 2006 he was killed in a car accident near Alcochete, Portugal, after an autograph signing session at a nightclub, at the age of 22. (Bio by: Kris)Cemiterio de Runa, Runa, Lisboa, Portugal

1963

2008-11-25T06:35:00.001-06:00

January
February
March
Patsy Cline (singer) -- Dead. Plane crash. Died March 5, 1963. Born September 8, 1932. Country singer, Jessica Lange played her in a biopic, good friend of Loretta Lynn, may be most-famous work may be the posthumous release, "Sweet Dreams". IMDb FindAGrave
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
Aldous Huxley (writer) -- Dead. Cancer. Died November 22, 1963. Born July 26, 1894. Brave New World and many essays. IBDB IMDb FindAGrave
C. S. Lewis (writer/professor) -- Dead. . Died November 22, 1963. Born November 29, 1898. A Cambridge professor who founded the Inklings with J.R.R.Tolkien, he is best-known for the Narnia series and a number of books on spirituality. IMDb FindAGrave
John F. Kennedy (president) -- Dead. Assasination/gunshot wound to head. Died November 22, 1963. Born May 29, 1917. Presided over "Camelot," the Bay of Pigs, foundation of the Peace Corps, first American into space and the promise to land a man on the moon by 1969. IMDb FindAGrave
December

1962

2008-11-25T06:34:00.001-06:00

January
Ernie Kovacs (comic) -- Dead. Car accident. Died January 13, 1962. Born January 23, 1919. Brilliant comic who created one of the first weird shows on television, married to Edie Adams, ironically, one of his daughters died in a car accident about 20 years after he did. IMDb FindAGrave
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
Marilyn Monroe (actress) -- Dead. Suicide or accidental overdose. Died August 5, 1962. Born June 1, 1926. Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot, famously sang "Happy Birthday" to President Kennedy, married to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
September
October
November
Eleanor Roosevelt (First Lady/humanitarian) -- Dead. Died November 7, 1962. Born October 11, 1884. Was famously "her husband's legs," traveling for FDR during his long presidency, helped to draft the constitution for the UN, helped arrange for Marian Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution barred her concert, famously said "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent". IMDb FindAGrave
December

1961

2008-11-25T06:32:00.000-06:00

January
February
March
April
May
June
Carl Jung (psychoanalyst) -- Dead. Died June 6, 1961. Born July 26, 1875. Developed theories of the collective unconscious and archetypes, influenced by Freud wrote Man and His Symbols. IMDb FindAGrave
July
Ernest Hemingway (writer) -- Dead. Suicide after a cancer diagnosis. Died July 2, 1961. Born July 21, 1899. The Sun Also Rises, Old Man and the Sea, served in World War I, won a Nobel Prize in 1954. IMDb FindAGrave
August
September
Dag Hammarskjold (UN Secretary General) -- Dead. Plane crash. Died September 18, 1961. Born July 29, 1905. Secretary-General of the UN from 1953 to 1961, killed while on a peace mission to the Congo. IMDb FindAGrave
October
Chico Marx (comic) -- Dead. Heart disease. Died October 21, 1961. Born March 22, 1887. The piano-playing Marx brother who performed with an Italian accent, avid card-player. IBDB IMDb FindAGrave
November
December

1960

2008-11-25T06:16:00.001-06:00

January
Nevil Shute (writer) -- Dead. Died January 12, 1960. Born January 17, 1899. On the Beach, A Town Like Alice. IMDb FindAGrave
Zora Neale Hurston (writer) -- Dead. Stroke. Died January 28, 1960. Born January 7, 1891. Author best-known for Their Eyes Were Watching God, her work vanished until she was rediscovered by writers like Alice Walker in the '70s. IBDB IMDb FindAGrave
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
Oscar Hammerstein, II (lyricist) -- Dead. Stomach cancer. Died August 23, 1960. Born July 12, 1895. Wrote the words for songs in Show Boat, South Pacific, and The Sound of Music ("Edelweiss" was the last song her wrote before his death). IBDB IMDb FindAGrave
September
October
November
Clark Gable (actor) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died November 16, 1960. Born February 1, 1901. Gone with the Wind, Mutiny on the Bounty, was a bomber pilot in Europe during WWII. IBDB IMDb FindAGrave
December

Dick York (actor)

2008-07-09T21:43:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Emphysema complicated by a degenerative spinal condition

Birth: Sep. 4, 1928
Fort Wayne
Allen County
Indiana

Death: Feb. 20, 1992
Grand Rapids
Kent County
Michigan

most remembered for his role as Darrin Stephens, the often-frustrated husband of Elizabeth Montgomery, in the Television sitcom series, Bewitched. Born Richard Allen York in Fort Wayne, Indiana on 4 September 1928, he quickly found work in the entertainment industry. In 1943, at age 15, he became the star of the network radio program, "That Brewster Boy." Beginning in movies in 1947, with the role of Philip Norton in the film "Shy Guy" (1947), his roles were few and far between. To further develop his skills and to earn money, he played a number of small roles on early television shows, beginning with "Visit to a Small Planet" on the Goodyear Television Playhouse in May 1955. Over the next several years, he continued playing small, supporting actor roles on such TV series as Kraft Television Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, Studio One, the United States Steel Hour, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, all the while doing numerous other supporting actor roles in less than memorable films, waiting for the big breakthrough role which never came. In 1959, while acting in the role of Private Renziehausen in the cavalry film "They Came to Cordura" (1959), he injured his back, which later aggravated into degenerative spine injury. In 1964 he won the supporting role of Darrin Stephens in the comic TV series "Bewitched," where he played the all-too-human husband of a witch with supernatural powers, played by Elizabeth Montgomery. His back continued to hurt him, and he quit the role in 1969, being replaced by actor Dick Sargent. From 1983 to 1985, he regained his health enough to play a couple of small supporting roles in such TV series as Simon and Simon and Fantasy Island. He later founded Acting for Life, a private fund raising effort for the homeless, which he managed from his home while bedridden from his degenerative spine injury. He was married in 1951 to Joan York, until his death on 20 February 1992 of emphysema, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Burial:
Plainfield Cemetery
Rockford
Kent County
Michigan, USA

Chuck Connors (actor)

2008-07-08T21:31:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Apr. 10, 1921
Brooklyn
New York, USA

Death: Nov. 10, 1992
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Real name Kevin Joseph Charles Aloysius Connors. He appeared in over 40 films but won his greatest fame as TV's "The Rifleman". Born in Brooklyn, the strapping, 6'5" Connors attended Seton Hall College and served in the Army during World War II. After his discharge in 1946 he briefly played professional basketball with the newly-formed Boston Celtics, and baseball with his hometown Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, but after spending most of his sports career in the minor leagues he decided to try his luck with acting. He made his screen debut with a bit in the Tracy-Hepburn sports comedy "Pat and Mike" (1952), and larger parts in B movies followed. Connors' fine performance as Burl Ives' worthless son in "The Big Country" (1958) led to his starring role in "The Rifleman", which was the top-rated television show in its first season. He played Lucas McCain, a New Mexico homesteader raising a son on his own and keeping the peace with the aid of his trusty Winchester. The series ran from 1958 to 1963 and had an international following. Connors' later work was routine, with the exception of the science-fiction thriller "Soylent Green" (1973), and his Emmy-nominated turn as a lusty slave-owner in the miniseries "Roots" (1976). Connors was a longtime friend of Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, and vigorously campaigned for their Presidential bids. At a 1973 party at President Nixon's San Clemente retreat, the actor was greeted with a bear hug by Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, who was a big fan of "The Rifleman". But Connors resisted the urge to go into politics himself. "Being around so many politicians, I became a little cynical about politics in general", he admitted. A heavy smoker, Connors died of lung cancer. He didn't seem to mind being chiefly remembered as Lucas McCain. "It's no problem at all for me", he said. "My whole ability to make a living is derived from the fact that I was 'The Rifleman'".

Burial:
San Fernando Mission Cemetery
Mission Hills
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Plot: Section J, T-20, grave 123
GPS (lat/lon): 34.27731, -118.46599

Benny Hill (Actor, Comedian)

2008-07-07T21:08:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: Jan. 21, 1924
Death: Apr. 18, 1992

Best remembered for his comic antics on "The Benny Hill Show," which ran on television from 1955 to 1989. Born Alfred Hawthorn Hill in Southampton, England, where his grandfather introduced him to Burlesque Shows and the comic world of theater. Both his father and uncle were circus clowns, performing until they left for military service during World War I. During World War II, he served in the British Army, and after his discharge in 1945, he came to London where he began appearing in variety shows. He adopted the stage name “Benny Hill”, in honor of his favorite comedian, Jack Benny. He did radio shows and briefly formed a duo with Reg Varney, but it was his talent for comic timing and for impressions that got him his first break on television with the show, "Hi There" in 1949. He got his own show in 1955, and it was a pioneer in its day, with cheeky humor, songs and impressions, that kept it popular for the next 34 years. Benny also made cameo appearances in films such as "The Italian Job" (1969), "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968), and "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (1965). In 1979, The “Benny Hill Show” was shown on television in the United States, where it became an immediate hit. After the show was dropped in 1989, Benny completed a television special in 1992, shortly before his death to a heart attack. He was reported to have died while sitting in his favorite chair, watching television, at his home in Teddington, England. At the time of his death, and despite his wealth and success, he never owned a car, did his own shopping, and lived in a modest, two-room apartment. After his death, his many honors and awards were found in a large cardboard box, as if they were unimportant to him. His estate was worth over 10 million pounds (about 15 million United States Dollars), which he had left to his parents (he was never married), but as they had passed away earlier, the estate was divided equally among his seven nieces and nephews.

Burial:
Hollybrook Cemetery
Shirley, Southhampton, England

Bert Convy (actor/game show host)

2008-06-27T23:52:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Jun. 23, 1933
Death: Jul. 15, 1991

Famous as the host of a multitude of popular TV game shows, he was also an accomplished actor in the light-leading man catagory. He appeared on stage, in movies and television shows dating from the 1950s through the 1990s. Some of them include "It's Garry Shandling's Show," "The Love Boat," "Murder She Wrote," "Charlie's Angels," " Hawaii Five-0," "MacMillan and Wife," "Love American Style," "Mary Tyler Moore," "Night Gallery," and many others. On stage he appeared in the original productions of the hits "Fiddler on the Roof," "Cabaret," and "The Impossible Years," as well as playing 'Hildy Johnson' in the 1969-1970 revival of "The Front Page" and was Raul Julia's replacement in the 1982 production of the Tony-award winning musical "Nine." Game shows that he hosted include "3rd Degree!" (1989), "Win, Lose or Draw" (1987), "Super Password" (1984), "Tattletales" (1982) and others.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Court of Liberty, Left of Washington statue
GPS (lat/lon): 34.14438, -118.31697

Natalie Schafer (actress)

2008-06-26T23:37:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Nov. 5, 1900
Red Bank (Monmouth County)
Monmouth County
New Jersey, USA

Death: Apr. 10, 1991
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Natalie Schafer got her start doing Broadway plays then making the move to the big screen. Even before Gilligan's Island, she was typecast in roles as society women, or elegant, fashionable ladies. It was her role as "Eunice 'Lovey' Wentworth Howell" wife of multi-millionaire Thurston Howell III, that she was best known for. After the show ended it's run in 1967, Schafer did a few guest appearances on shows, most notably "The Brady Bunch."

Spouse:
Louis Calhern (20 April 1933 - 1942) (divorced)

Trivia:
Schafer had said she initially did the pilot to "Gilligan's Island" (1964), for the free trip to Hawaii. Afterwards, Schafer was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on holiday when she got a telegram from the States. She read it and burst into tears. Everyone had thought Shafer's mother (who was ill at the time) had died, and offered their condolences, but Shafer had said no she didn't die, the reason she was crying was because the pilot for "Gilligan's Island" sold, and she had to stay in Los Angeles, and couldn't move back to New York.

Was engaged to comedic character actor Charles Butterworth in 1946 at the time of his tragic death in a single automobile crash.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Specifically:
Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean

Nancy Kulp (actress/politician)

2008-06-25T23:24:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Aug. 28, 1921
Death: Feb. 3, 1991

Nancy Kulp wore many hats: Publicity person, actress, linguist, would-be politician and teacher. Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Kulp attended college in Florida, then headed for Hollywood to work in publicity for the movies, not star in them. Soon after arriving in Hollywood, Kulp was convinced by director George Cukor and casting director Billy Gordon that she should be in front of the camera, not behind the scenes. What that began was a solid career as a character actress in films and television, including two memorable roles: on "The Bob Cummings Show" (1955) as bird-loving "Pamela Livingstone" and on "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962) as the long-suffering, lovesick and bird-loving "Miss Jane Hathaway". After the Hillbillies ended its nine year run, Kulp found work in theater, Broadway and television, and dabbled in politics, making an unsuccessful 1984 run for congress in Pennsylvania. Later, she taught acting and retired to a farm in Connecticut and, later, Palm Springs, where she died in 1991 of cancer.

Spouse:
Charles Dacus (1951 - 1961) (divorced)

Trivia:

Was an avid football fan.

Loved taking cross country trips in car.

Was fluent in French.

Graduated from Florida State University (BA).

Was offered a movie role (The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951)) after being in Hollywood less than three weeks.

In 1984, she ran as a Democrat for Pennsylvania's Ninth Congressional District, but lost to Republican incumbent "Bud Shuster". She blamed her "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962) co-star Buddy Ebsen for her defeat, because Ebsen taped a radio ad in support of Shuster, and deemed her "too liberal". She did not speak to Ebsen for several years afterward, but eventually made peace with him.

Long divorced, she came out of the closet at the age of 67 and admitted she was a lesbian.

Had a Masters Degree in English & French from the University of Miami (Fla.)

Was Arsenio Hall's very first guest on his talk show. She sat in with the house band.

Writers played a twist on naming Nancy's best-known character, Miss Jane Hathaway. They reversed Nancy's first and middle names, so Nancy Jane Kulp became Jane Nancy Hathaway. We learned Miss Jane's middle name in The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (1981) (TV).

In contrast to her often befuddled and confused character of "Miss Jane" Hathaway, in real life she was a highly intelligent and cultured woman. Schooled in both languages and literature, she often impressed fans with her erudition.

Early in her acting career, one Hollywood gossip sheet named her "the homeliest girl on television", referring to her role as "Pamela Livingstone" on Robert Cummings's series. In actual fact, she was quite popular on the show-biz dating scene and never lacked for amorous companionship. Although admitting later in life to "swinging both ways", this did not seem to dampen the ardor of her admirers.

Personal Quotes
I was a brain symbol, not a sex symbol.

Burial:
Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery
Mifflintown
Juniata County
Pennsylvania, USA

Fred MacMurray (actor)

2008-06-24T23:12:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Pneumonia

Birth: Aug. 30, 1908
Death: Nov. 5, 1991

One of the most underrated actors of the 20th century, Fred MacMurray played bemused husband, unrepentant heel and perfect father with panache and style. His career took off after he and Claudette Colbert starred in the forgotten "Grand Old Girl;" they would make seven movies together. He was searing in "Double Indemnity," brilliant in "The Caine Mutiny," and unforgettable in "The Apartment." He was so good as a heel, in fact, that his many fans who enjoyed him in so many Disney movies and the legendary television series "My Three Sons" simply would not accept that Fred MacMurray could ever play a "bad guy." Yet he did, and in so doing, enriched movie history. His body of work is simply stunning, and underappreciated - except for those who recognize a great talent when they see it.

Burial:
Holy Cross Cemetery
Culver City
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Mausoleum, Room 7, Crypt D1

Redd Foxx (actor)

2008-06-23T22:58:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: Dec. 9, 1922
Saint Louis
Missouri

Death: Oct. 11, 1991
Hollywood
California

Memorable comedian and television actor, best known for his role as junkman 'Fred G. Sanford' in the popular 1970's comedy "Sanford and Son," notorious for his frank, tell-it-like-it-is style and joking about everything from sex to color barriers, he brought taboo issues in the open. During his career Redd Foxx broke new ground for minorities and comedians alike. He was born John Elroy Sanford into poverty in St. Louis, Missouri in Dec. of 1922. At age thirteen Foxx dropped out of school and ran away to join a street band in Chicago, where he played the washboard. He eventually made his way to New York, to get into show business-and supported himself by washing dishes, while carving himself a place in show business. Foxx soon received his nickname "Redd" because of his hair color and light skin and derived Foxx from admirable Major League Baseball player Jimmie Foxx. He began performing as a comedian/ actor in black theaters and night clubs, often referred to as the "Chitlin Circuit." Foxx soon began to really make a name for himself as a comedian and his audiences grew steadily when he began using the foulest language in his routines on stage. Over the years to come he would record several albums. After his film debut in actor Ossie Davis's film "Cotton Comes To Harlem" in 1972, he really hit the big-time when he was signed by Norman Lear in the American version of the successful British sitcom, "Steptoe and Son", renamed "Sanford and Son in America which ran on NBC from 1972-1977. At one point NBC even ran the popular show twice a week, which he co-starred with Demond Wilson, Lawanda Paige, Whitman Mayo and Slappy White. After a turbulent relationship with NBC, Foxx called it quits in 1977 and the show left the air. It was reportedly because NBC wouldn't give him a dressing room with a window. It more than likely was because of the generous salary offered by ABC. At the same time he moved to Las Vegas, blowing most of his earnings on a expensive lifestyle, which would later catch up with him. In 1977, Foxx launched "The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour," which was canceled a year later. He also successfully performed in Las Vegas and worked on another short lived sitcom "The Redd Foxx Show." In the late 1980's the IRS seized most of what he owned because of back taxes. Desperately looking for work he was cast by actor Eddie Murphy with his long-time friend Della Reese in "Harlem Nights" in 1989. In 1991 Foxx and Reese were offered a series on CBS, which Murphy produced entitled "The Royal Family", which premiered on Sept. 18, 1991. In July of that same year Foxx married his last wife Ka Ha Cho, who was in her 30's. On Fri. Oct 11, 1991, Foxx arrived at the Paramount Studies in Los Angeles for a rehearsal for the show. During the rehearsal, he apparently suffered a massive heart attack on the set, which at first was thought to be a joke, with the cast and crew laughing at him. After discovering the reality of the situation and being rushed to the Emergency Room of Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, Redd Foxx was pronounced dead at 7:45 PM that evening. That day the world lost a comic genius. Since his death, Redd Foxx was inducted by his hometown of St. Louis into the St. Louis Walk of Fame (located at 6331 Delmar Blvd.)on May 17, 1992.

Burial:
Palm Valley View Memorial Park
Las Vegas
Clark County
Nevada, USA

Plot:
Devotion Section, Lawn Space 4091, 311 G. Just inside the main entrance and on the left...towards the middle of the section
GPS (lat/lon): 36.0536, -115.1183

Ken Curtis (actor)

2008-06-22T22:48:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: natural causes

Birth: Jul. 2, 1916
Death: Apr. 28, 1991

Best known for his long-running role as Festus, the cantankerous deputy in the long-running TV series "Gunsmoke". Born Curtis Wane Gates in Lamar, Colorado to Dan Gates and Millie Sneed Gates. His father was Sheriff of Las Animas, Colorado. He worked at the town jail and played the saxophone in high school. He served in the Army during World War II. He attended Colorado College for a time wanting to study medicine but was so successful as a singer-songwriter that he left college and got a job in Los Angeles in 1938 as a singer on NBC Radio. He was a vocalist in the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. He entered films in the late 1940s in a series of low-budget westerns for Columbia Pictures. He then joined the singing group "Sons of the Pioneers." They did the soundtrack of John Ford's 1950 movie, "Wagonmaster." Curtis became a stock player with Ward Bond, Ben Johnson and Harry Carey in the Ford Production Company. At the time, he was married to Ford's daughter, Barbara. His film debut was in "Sheriff of Tombstone" (1941). His other film credits include: "Out of the Depths" (1946), "Cowboy Blues" (1946), "Rio Grande" (1950), "The Quiet Man" (1952), "Mister Roberts" (1955), "The Searchers" (1956), "The Wings of Eagles" (1957), "The Last Hurrah" (1958), "The Horse Soldiers" (1959), "The Alamo" (1960), "Cheyenne Autumn" (1964), Disney's animated "Robin Hood" (1973) as the voice of Nutsy, "Pony Express Rider" (1976), and "Lost" (1983) his last theatrical film. We know him best for his TV work which included regular roles on "Ripcord" (1961-63), "Gunsmoke" (1964-75), "How the West Was Won" (1978), and "Yellow Rose" (1983-84). He also appeared in mini-series and made for TV movies and guest starred on many TV series. He died in his sleep of natural causes in Fresno, California, at age 74.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered.

Specifically:
Colorado flatlands

Danny Thomas (actor/producer)

2008-06-21T22:35:00.003-05:00

Cause of Death: heart attack

Birth: Jan. 6, 1914
Death: Feb. 6, 1991

Actor, Singer, Producer. His career began as a nightclub comedian with a brief fling in the movies. His greatest success was achieved in television starring in long run sitcom's then a producer responsible for such shows as...Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gomer Pyle and the Mod Squad. However, his show business career pales in comparison to his role as Humanitarian. As a young man, he embraced as his patron saint, St Jude Thaddeus, one attributed to lost or impossible causes and founded as a memorial, St Jude's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, using much of his own money while spearheading the fundraising for its construction. For good measure, Danny Thomas, founded ALSAC (American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities) an organization comprised of wealthy Arabs that raises funds for the maintenance and operating costs of the hospital allowing free treatment to needy children while finding cures for catastrophic children's diseases. He was born Muzyard Yaakoob (Amos Jacob) in Deerfield Michigan the fifth of 10 children born to Arab immigrants. The family moved to nearby Toledo, where he grew up considering the city his hometown. Schooled by Ursuline nuns at St. Francis de Sales parochial school then attended Woodward High School becoming a drop out in his junior year to pursue a show business career. Exposed to movies after taking a job selling snacks in the isles of the Empire Theater, St. Clair & Orange street, downtown Toledo, Amos became enamored as he watched during the course of his duties dreaming of a movie career. He began his career as a singer at a Detroit radio station while also performing as an MC-comedian in nightclubs. He first performed under his Anglicized birth name, Amos Jacobs, before settling on Danny Thomas, a derivative from first names of his two brothers. Danny debuted in 1946 with a brief film career with lead and supporting roles as a comic. He achieved success on television starring in the long running sitcom "Make Room for Daddy" then starring in a number of specials while making many guest appearances. Stepping behind the camera in late 1950's, he formed a partnership which produced many successful television shows. Danny worked for his St Jude Hospital project until the end of his life. While taking part in the hospital's 29th anniversary, he filmed a television commercial for the facility while signing fundraising copies of his autobiography in the Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion. He pointed to the building's chapel uttering a wish to be buried there upon his demise. Returning to Los Angeles, he suffered, a massive heart attack, two days later, which claimed his life at age 79. His funeral was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church located in Hollywood, attended by former Presidents Gerald Ford & Ronald Reagan and a huge crowd of Hollywood celebrities. A special message from President George Bush lauding the entertainer was read. His remains were transported to Memphis where he lay in state in the Pavilion, while families stood in line for hours, to pay tribute to this extraordinary compassionate man until he was interred on the grounds in a plot now known as the Danny and Rose Marie Memorial Garden. Legacy...He cornered the market in humanitarian awards receiving hundreds. Some of the most noteworthy...On April 16, 1984, President Ronald Reagan presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal for his work with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Pope Paul VI presented Danny the highest honor that could bestowed up a layman...Knight Commander with Star in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. The American Medical Association bestowed The Layman Award, it's highest honor to a nonmedical personal. He was the father of actress Marlo Thomas and TV producer Tony Thomas. Received an Emmy Best Actor starring in a Regular Series "Make Room for Daddy" in 1954 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He authored an autobiography, "Make Room for Danny" in 1990. The Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion is the repository for thousands of artifacts from his life. Its presence allows the hospital to further raise funds for the facility by operating an extensive gift shop with an on-line "The Hope Catalog." Adjacent to the Pavilion is the, Danny and Rose Marie Thomas Memorial Garden which is not only the site of the burial crypt of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas and his wife Rose Marie but a functional park which furnishes a contemplative setting for hospital staff workers and visitors alike to enjoy a peaceful place for relaxation.

Burial:
Saint Jude Hospital Grounds
Memphis
Shelby County
Tennessee, USA

Plot:
Danny and Rose Marie Thomas Memorial Garden

Michael Landon (actor)

2008-06-20T22:22:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer of the pancreas

Birth: Oct. 31, 1936
Death: Jul. 1, 1991

Actor, Writer, Producer, Director. Born in Forest Hills, New York, to Eli Maurice Orowitz and Peggy O'Neal Orowitz. The family moved to Collingswood, New Jersey, when he was four. Eli and Peggy did not have the best of marriages and often times they had violent arguments. He experienced a stressful and unhappy childhood. His suffering from nocturnal enuresis (bed wetting) further complicated his life. His mother believed that she could cure this problem with shame. Therefore, every day she would hang his bedding out the window of his upstairs bedroom for all to see. Fearing that his friends would witness his private shame he would run home each day from school and remove the bedding, a practice that would help him in sports later on. He portrayed this part of his life in the 1976 movie "The Loneliest Runner," in which he acted, wrote, and produced. Although he had a genius level IQ he failed to maintain passing grades in high school. He was, however, a popular student and was considered by most to be very funny. Discovering the javelin turned his life around. He became so proficient in the sport that he was offered several athletic scholarships and accepted the offer from the University of California. While there he injured his arm and was forced to relinquish the scholarship. He dropped out of college and became employed at a warehouse in California. An audition was planned at Warner Brothers Studio for Michael and a co-worker. Warner Brothers was impressed with his audition. They signed him and sent him to acting school for four months. During this time he decided to take a stage name and chose the name Michael Landon, picking it from a telephone book. His first notable appearance on film was in "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" in 1957. Around this time producer David Dortort had a television show in the works that he had created called Bonanza. Dortorts successful persuasion to the network that he could make a hit television show with relatively unknown actors was another turning point in Michael's life and would form the basis of his career. Dortort chose him for the roll of Little Joe Cartwright. The show premiered on September 12, 1959 and was a hit for 10 of the 14 years it was on the air. While involved in Bonanza he was able to nurture his talent of writing and directing. He wrote and directed several of the episodes. His next project was Little House on the Prairie. The series, which premiered in 1974 and ended in 1983, was very successful. Relationships with his fellow actors on these projects were an essential part of his life and many remained close friends until his death. In 1984 he started his last television series, Highway to Heaven, which was to run until 1989. He was working on the production of a series when he became ill and was not able to see it to fruition. In April of 1991 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was married three times. His first wife was Dodie Frasier. They were married from 1956 until 1962. In 1963 he married model Marjorie Lynn Noe and they divorced in 1982. He married makeup artist Cindy Clerico on February 14, 1983. He was the father of five sons and four daughters. The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum posthumously inducted him into the Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1998. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 1500 N. Vine Street.

Burial:
Hillside Memorial Park
Culver City
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Mausoleum, outside/rear, private room

David White (actor)

2008-06-19T22:05:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: heart attack

Birth: Apr. 4, 1916
Death: Nov. 27, 1990

American stage actor who appeared frequently on television and occasionally but impressively in films. A Marine Corps veteran of the Second World War, he worked on Broadway and on tour in stage productions after the war. In the late 1950s, he became an increasingly familiar face on American television, following a strong performance in the film Sweet Smell of Success (1957), in which he played the smarmy fellow who gets a dalliance with the unwilling Barbara Nichols in exchange for a favor to Tony Curtis's Sidney Falco. Cads and pompous politicians became White's strong suit, but he achieved his greatest fame as the unctuous Larry Tate on the hit TV series "Bewitched" (1964). He continued to work in the theatre, particularly as a member of acclaimed Theatre West company in Los Angeles and at the Mark Taper Forum there. In December, 1988, White's 33-year-old son, Jonathan, was killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, UK. White, who had been widowed soon after Jonathan's birth, was embittered and enraged by this new tragedy. He became reclusive for a time, but was returning to some social activity and theatre work when he died of a massive heart attack in 1990, just a few days prior to the second anniversary of his son's death. He was survived by his daughter.

Spouse:

Mary Welch (? - 31 May 1958) (her death) 1 child
Lisa Figus (? - 27 November 1990) (his death) 1 child

Had a son, Jonathan White who was killed on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, UK.

Served in the US Marine Corps in WW II.

Best remembered by the public for his role as Larry Tate in Bewitched (1964).

Burial:
Hollywood Forever
Hollywood
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Alan Hale, Jr. (actor)

2008-06-18T21:51:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Mar. 18, 1918
Death: Jan. 2, 1990

He is best remembered for his role of "The Skipper" in the classic television comedy series, "Gilligan's Island" (1964 to 1967). Born Alan Hale Mackahan in Los Angeles, California, he was the son of film actor Rufus Edward Mackahan (1892-1950), who used the stage name of Alan Hale. Young Alan adopted his father's stage name, adding the Junior to distinguish himself from his father; he would later drop the Junior after his father's death in 1950. Alan Jr literally began his acting career as a baby, when as an infant, he showed up in one of his father's silent films. His first important roles were as a member of Gene Autry's group of actors, frequently appearing in Gene Autry movies and on television's "The Gene Autry Show." He also played in such television series as "Biff Baker's USA" (1952-1953), "Casey Jones" (1957) and "The Good Guys" (1968-1970). Hale also tried his hand at movies, working in over 230 movies, including such films as "Wake Island" (1942), "Sarge Goes to College" (1947), "The West Point Story" (1950), and "Up Periscope" (1959), to name a few. His soon-to-be famous "Little Buddy" dialogue, made famous in Gilligan's Island, was first used during his guest appearance on the "Andy Griffith Show" in 1962, when he used it on the character of Deputy Barney Fife. But it was his role of Jonas Grumby, also known as "The Skipper," on the situation comedy "Gilligan's Island," for which he is most remembered. His role typecast him, making it difficult to find work after "Gilligan's Island," and Hale used the role to start up a trendy upscale restaurant in Beverely Hills known as "Alan Hale's Lobster Barrel," in which he would greet guests wearing his Skipper hat. He would later donate worn-out Skipper hats to charity for auction fund-raisers. But following "Gilligan's Island" he obtained guest spots on such television series as Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Lucy Show, Ironside, Marcus Welby MD, Gunsmoke, Fantasy Island, Magnum PI, Simon and Simon, and Alf. Alan Hale died in Hollywood, California, following a liver ailment and viral infection.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Ava Gardner (actress)

2008-06-17T21:40:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Pneumonia

Birth: Dec. 24, 1922

Death: Jan. 25, 1990
London, England

Born in a small town in North Carolina, after traveling to Virginia with her family for part of her childhood, she returned to the area to enjoy her teen years. After seeing a photo taken by her brother-in-law, who was a professional photographer, her looks caught the attention of MGM scouts and she was signed in 1940 to a contract with the studio. Initially her roles were very small and her salary equally paltry, but soon her talent proved her to be one of the most formidable leading ladies of her day. She made over 30 films in her career and garnered a "Best Actress" Oscar nomination for "Mogambo" in 1953. While she lost the award to Audrey Hepburn for her performance in "Roman Holiday," a Gardner was still a favorite with the fans and the tabloids. She married three times: to actor Mickey Rooney on January 10, 1942, also to bandleader Artie Shaw on October 17, 1945 but it was her much publicized marriage to Frank Sinatra on November 17, 1951, that kept her name in the gossip columns and tabloids. Even after their media scrutinized marriage and even more public divorce it was said that Ava Gardner truly was the love of Sinatra's life and he always treated her as such. While her romance with Sinatra kept her personal life in the limelight, her prowess as an actress and dancer kept her popular at the box office. She learned Flamenco dancing while living in Spain and demonstrated her skills in "The Barefoot Contessa." Her passionate performances and voracious style prompted one publicity campaign in the 1950s to bill her as "The World's Most Beautiful Animal." Memorable performances in such films as "Showboat," "The Snows of Killimanjaro" and many others have rendered the actress a classic film star of the era. After moving to London she went into semi-retirement in the 1960s but made film appearances until the late 1980s. Her career was halted due to a stroke after which she shortly succumbed to complications due to pneumonia.

Burial:
Sunset Memorial Park
Smithfield
Johnston County
North Carolina, USA

Barbara Stanwyck (actress)

2008-06-16T21:27:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Congestive Heart Failure

Birth: Jul. 16, 1907
Death: Jan. 20, 1990

Actress, Films, Television and Broadway. She was a forerunner of a long line of actors and singers born in Brooklyn which at the time had many influencing live performance theatres and cultural centers which drew many with show business aspirations. Barbara Stanwyck was a four time Oscar-nominated motion picture actress whose career spanned from the 1920's beyond the 1980's. Among her more then ninety movies are four definite classic films..."Stella Dallas" (Oscar nominated 1937), "Balls of Fire" (Oscar nominated 1941), "Double Indemnity" (Oscar nominated 1944), and "Sorry, Wrong Number" (Oscar nominated 1948). Never a winner and finally in 1982, the Academy presented her an Honorary Oscar for superlative creativity and unique contribution to the art of screen acting. She turned to television in the mid fifties when are movie career waned. Her brilliant new career sparkled..."The Barbara Stanwyck Show" consisted of thirty segments of drama and garnered her an Emmy for outstanding actress. From 1965 to 1969, she played the matriarch of a family of ranchers in "The Big Valley" for which Barbara received two Emmys during the series and the Screen Actors Guild Award while named Photoplay's "Most Popular Female Star." Even though her health was impaired by emphysema, she played the passionate matriarch in the television miniseries "The Thorn Birds." Her excellent performance brought another Emmy. She had further health complications, vision loss and spinal deterioration, but continued to perform and was presented the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986. Barbara's final television appearance was in "The Colbys," a spin-off from the nighttime soap opera Dynasty. The curtain would drop and the end was near. She died at 82 from congestive heart failure complicated by pneumonia and emphysema at St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica. She did not want a funeral and was directly cremated with her ashes scattered over Lone Pine, California the location where many of her movies and television scenes were filmed. Born Ruby Catherine Stevens, her childhood in Brooklyn was dismal. Her mother would be killed in a trolley accident when she was three and her father Byron a bricklayer would simply vanish a few weeks after her mothers death while traveling to Panama to work on the canal construction. The family, Ruby the youngest, totaled five and would be split up. She and her brother Malcom were relegated to different foster families. Malcom would go on to Hollywood and also forge a successful show business career. At a early age, her older sister Mildred supported both children financially from earnings as a chorus girl while taking Ruby on the road three summers in a row thus lighting up the youngsters desire for a show business career. Barely enrolled at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, she would be forced to quit and find work to support herself. A typing job with the Remick Music Company, with the help of the manager, landed Ruby a job at a nightclub where she was taught to chorus dance. Bit parts led to Broadway with a debut in "The Noose." She became a major stage star in a subsequent show, "Burlesque" which headed her toward Hollywood. Legacy...She was the recipient of a Lincoln Center Life Achievement Award in 1983 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Barbara was Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1973. Interesting footnotes...In 1981, newspapers across the country ran accounts of a bedroom intruder who robbed and beat her. One wonders why she would abandon her attractive birth name for a stage name difficult to pronounce yet spell. She would say, "it was studio pressure and then a whim after seeing a theatre poster promoting an actress Jane Stanwyck." "Afterwards, for a long time I could not remember my name and when called on location, Miss Stanwyck, Miss Stanwyck, I would fail to respond."

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered.

Specifically:
Ashes scattered in Lone Pine, California

Sammy Davis, Jr. (singer, actor, and dancer )

2008-06-15T21:09:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Throat cancer

Birth: Dec. 8, 1925
Harlem
New York

Death: May 16, 1990
Beverly Hills
California

American Entertainment Icon. Acclaimed and beloved singer, actor, and dancer. A multi-talented performer, Sammy Davis, Jr. recorded forty albums and made countless film, television and appearances in Las Vegas in his life time. He was born in Dec. of 1925 in Harlem New York to New York vaudeville star Sammy Davis, Sr., and the Puerto Rican dancer, Elvera "Baby" Sanchez. When Davis was two his parents divorced and he was raised by his father. He began performing at the age of four, and starred in his first film (Rufus Jones For President) when he was six. Coached by legendary tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Davis achieved success on the vaudeville circuit, dancing with his father and adopted uncle in the Will Mastin Trio. After a stint in the army, the triple threat singer/dancer/ actor launched his solo career. In 1946, Davis recorded "The Way You Look Tonight" for Capitol Records. In the late 1940s, Davis (still with the Will Mastin Trio) opened for Frank Sinatra at the Capitol Theatre in New York, which ignited a friendship that would last a lifetime. He toured six months with Mickey Rooney and performed in a Bob Hope benefit show. Through Jack Benny, the trio won a booking at Ciro's in Hollywood and an appearance on the Colgate Comedy Hour. After an appearance at the Copacabana in New York, Decca Records signed Davis in 1954 and released his first albums, Starring Sammy Davis, Jr., and Just for Lovers. In 1954, he made headlines when he lost his left eye in a near-fatal car crash while driving back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas. During his recovery in the hospital, he converted to Judaism, which was bruited about by the press. Davis continued treading on socially-controversial ground by carrying on a series of interracial romances, most notably with actress Kim Novak, and with the Swedish actress May Britt, whom he married in 1960. But even in these racially backward times, Davis came into his own on a professional level. He debuted on Broadway in 1956 with the Will Mastin Trio in the musical comedy Mr. Wonderful. Davis began making appearances on t! elevision, including, The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1959, he resumed his film career in a breakthrough role as Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess (1959). In the early 1960s, he appeared with his "Rat Pack" cohorts Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford in a series of films including Ocean's Eleven (1960), Sergeants Three (1962), and Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964). Davis returned to Broadway in 1964 as boxer Joe Wellington in a highly successful musical adaptation of the 1937 Clifford Odets drama "Golden Boy." Davis was also heavily involved in the civil-rights movement of the 1960s, working with the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others being an international symbol of African-American and Jewish rapport. Davis continued appearing on television variety shows and performing in Las Vegas throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1972, he had a number-one hit on the top-forty charts with "Candy Man." Davis acted in two Cannonball Run films in the early 1980s. After undergoing reconstructive hip surgery in 1985, Davis recovered sufficiently to co-star and dance with Gregory Hines in the film "Tap" (1989). And, after announcing that he had successfully overcome an addiction to cocaine and alcohol, Davis embarked on a concert tour in 1988-1989 with fellow Rat-packers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Although he did not show it or speak about it, Davis was said to be sick on the tour. On Sept. 14 1989, Davis publically announced that he had throat cancer and would begin radiation therapy. On Nov. 13, 1989, an unprecedented turnout of stars appeared at taping of Sammy Davis Tribute in Hollywood. Sammy Davis, Jr. succumbed to throat cancer at his Beverly Hills, California, home on May 16, 1990. His funeral attracted thousands of unknown individuals and the Who's Who of entertainment. Davis funeral was a moving, tear-filled ceremony, punctuated by applause and the standing ovations that characterized his life. A 300-car caravan followed his remains to his Forest Lawn, Glendale, gravesite. Davis was married three times, first to Loray White, a dancer; to actress May Britt, with whom he had one daughter and adopted two sons; and his wife at the time of his death, Altovise Gore, a former showgirl. Davis also wrote three autobiographies, Yes I Can (1965), Life In A Suitcase (1980) and Why Me? (1989).

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Garden of Honor (locked private area)

About Your Post: Vivian Vance (comic sidekick)

2008-06-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

Hi! --
I think it's terrific that you have a page about Viv, but you need to do a little more fact checking because there is at least one major error: Viv didn't study under Pulitzer Prize winning playwright William Inge, as she was the same age as Bill and they were best friends as well as classmates. Both of them actually went to school together and studied under Miss Ingleman in Independence, Kansas, where Viv's father ran a local grocery store, located in the front downstairs portion of the house they lived in. Bill actually based on of the major characters in one of his works on Viv. And, also, though I don't know if it is public knowledge, the I945 breakdown was not Viv's first. Like Bill Inge, Viv was in therapy for most of her life, and spent her later years touring the country and lecturing on mental illness and depression, long before it became fashionable to talk about such things on TV shows like OPRAH. I know from whence I speak, as I was a close friend of Viv's. We met in 1971, when I played her son on tour in MY DAUGHTER, YOU SON, costarring Dody Goodman, which they had done on Broadway. And I also had the great honor of knowing Bill Inge, though not nearly as well. I knew his sister, Helene, however, quite well, and remain very close to his niece. I visit Independence for The Annual William Inge Festival, and event which I am proud to say I helped create in 1982, and which annually honors our greatest living American playwrights and theatre composers and lyricists with The William Inge Distinguished Achievement in The American Theatre Award. As even Lucy herself would have told you, Viv was an amazing and wonderful woman, and quite an underrated actress.
Best,
Walter Willison
NYC

Thank you for clearing that up,
All the best
gda

Greta Garbo (actress)

2008-06-14T20:51:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: pneumonia and renal failure

Birth: Sep. 18, 1905
Death: Apr. 15, 1990

Greta Lovisa Gustafsson was born in Stockholm, Sweden on September 18, 1905. She was 14 when her father died, leaving the family destitute. Greta was forced to leave school and go to work in a department store. The store used her for her modeling abilities for newspaper ads. She had no film aspirations until she appeared in an advertising short at that same department store while she was still a teenager. This led to another short film when Erik A. Petschler, a comedy director, saw the film. He gave her a small part in the film, _Luffarpetter (1922)_. Encouraged by her own performance she applied for and won a scholarship in a Swedish drama school. While there she appeared in two films, Lyckoriddare, En (1921) and _Luffarpetter (1922)_ the following year. Both were small parts, but it was a start. Finally famed Swedish director, Mauritz Stiller, pulled her from drama school for the leading role in Gösta Berlings saga (1924). At 18, Greta was on a roll. Following Freudlose Gasse, Die (1925) both Greta and Stiller were offered contracts with MGM. Her first US film was Torrent (1926). It was a silent film where she didn't have to speak a word of English. After a few more films, such as The Temptress (1926), Love (1927/I), and A Woman of Affairs (1928), Greta starred in Anna Christie (1930) (her first "talkie"), which not only gave her a powerful screen presence, but also gave her an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. Unfortunately she didn't win. Later that year she filmed Romance (1930) which was somewhat of a letdown, but bounced back as lead role in Susan Lenox (1931) with Clark Gable. The film was a hit and led to another exciting title role in Mata Hari (1931). Greta continued to give intensified performances in whatever was handed her. The next year Greta was cast in another hit Grand Hotel (1932). But it was MGM's Anna Karenina (1935) where she, perhaps, gave the performance of her life. She was absolutely breathtaking in the title role as a woman torn between two lovers and her son. Greta starred in Ninotchka (1939) which showcased her comedic side. It wasn't until two years later she made what was to be her last film that being Two-Faced Woman (1941), another comedy. After World War II, Greta, by her own admission, felt that the world had changed perhaps forever and she retired, never again to face the camera. She would work for the rest of her life to perpetuate the Garbo mystique. Her films, she felt, had their proper place in history and would gain in value. She abandoned Hollywood and moved to New York City. She would jet-set with some of the world's best known personalities such as Aristotle Onassis and others. She spent time gardening flowers and vegetables. In 1954, Greta was given a special Oscar for past unforgettable performances. She even penned her biography in 1990. On April 15, 1990, Greta died of natural causes in New York and with it the "Garbo Mystique". She was 84.

Interred at Skogskyrkogården Cemetery, Stockholm, Sweden.

Lived the last few years of her life in absolute seclusion.

October 1997: Ranked #38 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

Letters and correspondence between Garbo and poet, socialite and notorious lesbian Mercedes de Acosta were unsealed on April 15, 2000, exactly 10 years after Garbo's death (per De Acosta's instructions). The letters revealed no love affair between the two, as had been rumored.

Garbo, according to movie director Jacques Feyder: "At 9 o'clock a.m. the work may begin. "Tell Mrs. Garbo we're ready" says the director. "I'm here" a low voice answers, and she appears, perfectly dressed and combed as the scene needs. Nobody could say by what door she came but she's there. And at 6 o'clock PM, even if the shot could be finished in five minutes, she points at the watch and goes away giving you a sorry smile. She's very strict with herself and hardly pleased with her work. She never looks rushes nor goes to the premières but some days later, early in the afternoon, enters all alone an outskirts movie house, takes place in a cheap seat and gets out only when the projection finishes, masked with her sunglasses".

Once voted by The Guinness Book of World Records as the most beautiful woman who ever lived.

Her parents were Karl and Anna Gustafson, and she also had an older sister and brother, Alva Garbo and Sven Garbo. Her father died when she was 14 of nephritis, and her sister was also dead of lymphatic cancer by the time Greta was 21 years old.

Her personal favourite movie of her own was Camille (1936).

She disliked Clark Gable, a feeling that was mutual. She thought his acting was wooden while he considered her a snob.

Left John Gilbert standing at the altar in 1927 when she got cold feet about marrying him.

Before making it big, she worked as a soap-latherer in a barber's shop back in Sweden.

During filming, whenever there was something going on that wasn't to her liking she would simply say "I think I'll go back to Sweden!" which frightened the studio heads so much that they gave in to her every whim.

In the mid-1950s she bought a seven-room-apartment in New York City (450 East 52nd Street) and lived there until she died.

1951: Became a US citizen.

Garbo's sets were closed to all visitors and sometimes even the director! When asked why, she said: "During these scenes I allow only the cameraman and lighting man on the set. The director goes out for a coffee or a milkshake. When people are watching, I'm just a woman making faces for the camera. It destroys the illusion. If I am by myself, my face will do things I cannot do with it otherwise."

Garbo was criticized for not aiding the Allies during WWII, but it was later disclosed that she had helped Britain by identifying influential Nazi sympathizers in Stockholm and by providing introductions and carrying messsages for British agents.

Garbo was prone to chronic depression and spent many years attacking it through Eastern philosophy and a solid health food regiment. However, she never gave up smoking and cocktails.

Except at the very beginning of her career, she granted no interviews, signed no autographs, attended no premieres, and answered no fan mail.

Her volatile mentor/director Mauritz Stiller, who brought her to Hollywood, was abruptly fired from directing her second MGM Hollywood film, The Temptress (1926), after repeated arguments with MGM execs and was soon let go. Unable to hold a job in Hollywood, he returned to Sweden in 1928 and died shortly after at the age of 45. Garbo was devastated.

Garbo actually hoped to return to films after the war but, for whatever reason, no projects ever materialized.

She was as secretive about her relatives as she was about herself, and, upon her death, the names of her survivors could not immediately be determined.

Never married, she invested wisely and was known for her extreme frugality.

Related to Anna Sundstrand of the Swedish pop group Play.

Although it was believed that Garbo lived as an invalid in her post-Hollywood career, this is incorrect. She was a real jet setter, traveling with international tycoons and socialites. In the 1970s she traveled less and grew more and more eccentric, although she still took daily walks through Central Park with close friends and walkers. Due to failing health in the late 1980s, her mobility was challenged. In her final year it was her family that cared for her, including taking her to dialysis treatments. She died with them by her side.

She was originally chosen for the lead roles in The Paradine Case (1947), My Cousin Rachel (1952), and The Wicked Dutchess. Garbo turned down these roles, with the exception of The Wicked Dutchess, which was never shot due to financial problems.

Measurements: 35 1/2-26-38 (in July 1930), 35 1/2-28-33 1/2 (according to MGM designer Adrian), 35B-27-38 (noted in "Those Glamorous Years" book), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

Popularized trenchcoats & berets in the 1930s.

According to her friend, producer William Frye, he offered Garbo one million dollars to star as the Mother Superior in his film The Trouble with Angels (1966). When she declined, he cast Rosalind Russell in the part - at a much lower salary.

She was voted the 25th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Sister of Sven Garbo and Alva Garbo.

Her favorite American director was Clarence Brown, who directed her in six films, including the classics Flesh and the Devil (1926), A Woman of Affairs (1928), Anna Christie (1930), and Anna Karenina (1935).

Her first "talkie" film was Anna Christie (1930).

She was voted the 8th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.

Was named #5 Actress on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends

Spanish sculptor Pablo Gargallo created three pieces based on Garbo: "Masque de Greta Garbo à la mèche," "Tête de Greta Garbo avec chapeau," and "Masque de Greta Garbo aux cils."

Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue"

Pictured on a 37¢ USA commemorative postage stamp issued 23 September 2005, five days after her 100th birthday. On the same day, Sweden issued a 10kr stamp with the same design. The likeness on the stamps was based on a photograph taken during the filming of As You Desire Me (1932).

Once lived in the famed Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles (8221 Sunset Boulevard).

Aunt of Gray Reisfield (daughter of Sven Garbo).

Grandaunt of Derek Reisfield and Scott Reisfield, children of Gray Reisfield and Donald Reisfield.

Her first film appearance ever was in a short advertising film that ran in local theaters in Stockholm.

Her performance as Ninotchka in Ninotchka (1939) is ranked #25 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

Her performance as Ninotchka in Ninotchka (1939) is ranked #53 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Garbo's greatest confidant was Salka Viertel, a German friend who had known Garbo back in Sweden. Viertel proved to be very manipulative of Garbo, including relationships (particularly with that of Mercedes de Acosta), film choices, and general living. It was in fact Salka that kept Garbo from returning to films due to her persuasive workings. Salka was ironically friendly with Marlene Dietrich, Garbo's enemy, whom Salka had known back in Germany's Weimer Republic and whom had much dirt on Dietrich's deepest secrets and past. Garbo's film choices are largely based on Salka's persuasion; they co-starred in the German version of Anna Christie (1930), soon after Garbo insisting that Salka be placed on the MGM payroll as a writer for her films.

Is portrayed by Kristina Wayborn in The Silent Lovers (1980) (TV)

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 316-319. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

In Italy, her first films (like Mata Hari (1931) and Grand Hotel (1932)) were dubbed by Francesca Braggiotti. Because Braggiotti had been living in the United States for many years and had a slight American accent, the Italian public didn't really accept her voice so the very Italian Tina Lattanzi was chosen as Garbo's official Italian voice instead (she even re-dubbed Mata Hari (1931)). For her last two films Ninotchka (1939) and Two-Faced Woman (1941), she was dubbed by Andreina Pagnani. When some of Garbo films were re-released in Italy in the 1960's, they were re-dubbed once more. This is how stage actress Anna Proclemer lent her voice to the divine Garbo.

Gary Cooper was reportedly one of her favorite actors. She requested him for several of her films, but nothing ever materialized.

Throughout her entire MGM career, insisted that William Daniels be cinematographer on her pictures. This may not have been purely superstition, as the two notable films she made without him: Conquest (1937) and Two Faced Woman (1941) were her only notable flops.

She was Adolf Hitler's favorite actress.

In late 1934, after Queen Christina (1933) and The Painted Veil (1934), which were both gigantic European successes (making twice their budget in the UK alone), but underwhelming US successes, Garbo signed a contract with MGM saying that she would only make films under David O. Selznick and Irving Thalberg. Her next two films, Anna Karenina (1935) and Camille (1936) were notable hits at the US box office, and produced by Selznick and Thalberg respectively. In 1937 her contract had to be revised as Selznick left the studio in 1935 and Thalberg had died. She made only 3 films after Camille (1936).

When she heard that David O. Selznick, who had produced her hit Anna Karenina (1935), was leaving MGM in 1935 to start his own studio, she begged him to stay saying that she would let him personally supervise all of her pictures exclusively. He said that it would be a great honor, but he had other plans. Ironically, the usually very finicky Irving Thalberg, Garbo's other favorite producer, was the first person to give Selznick money to start his company ($U200,000).

Mentioned in The Killers' "The Ballad of Michael Valentine".

Personal Quotes:

There is no one who would have me...I can't cook.

Being a movie star, and this applies to all of them, means being looked at from every possible direction. You are never left at peace, you're just fair game.

You don't have to be married to have a good friend as your partner for life.

I wish I were supernaturally strong so I could put right everything that is wrong.

Life would be so wonderful if we only knew what to do with it.

Anyone who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening.

I never said, 'I want to be alone.' I only said, 'I want to be left alone.' There is a whole world of difference.

I don't want to be a silly temptress. I cannot see any sense in getting dressed up and doing nothing but tempting men in pictures.

The story of my life is about back entrances, side doors, secrets elevators and other ways of getting in and out of places so that people won't bother me.

If only those who dream about Hollywood knew how difficult it all is.

Your joys and sorrows. You can never tell them. You cheapen the inside of yourself if you do." "There are some who want to get married and others who don't. I have never had an impulse to go to the altar. I am a difficult person to lead.

[When asked in her later years by a fan if she is Greta Garbo]: "I * was* Greta Garbo."

If you're going to die on screen, you've got to be strong and in good health.

There are many things in your heart you can never tell another person. They are you, your private joys and sorrows, and you can never tell them. You cheapen yourself, the inside of yourself, when you tell them.

I live like a monk: with one toothbrush, one cake of soap, and a pot of cream.

Salary:

Two-Faced Woman (1941) $150,000
Ninotchka (1939) $125,000
Conquest (1937) $500,000
Camille (1936) $500,000
Anna Karenina (1935) $275,000
The Painted Veil (1934) $250,000
Queen Christina (1933) $250,000
Grand Hotel (1932) $7,000 per week
Mata Hari (1931) $7,000 per week
Susan Lenox (1931) $250,000
Inspiration (1931) $250,000
Anna Christie (1931) $250,000
Love (1927/I) $5,000/week
Flesh and the Devil (1926) $600/week
Torrent (1926) $400/week

Burial:
Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery)
Stockholms län, Sweden

Jim Davis (actor)

2008-06-13T20:28:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Brain cancer

Birth: Aug. 26, 1909
Death: Apr. 26, 1981

Tall, rangy character actor in many westerns and outdoor dramas. Born and raised in Missouri, Jim Davis' relaxed, easygoing manner and Southern drawl typified the image of the cowboy, and he spent many years at Republic doing just that. He alternated between good-guy and villain roles, one of his better roles being that of the devious, murderous fur trapper working for Kirk Douglas' competition in The Big Sky (1952). He is best known, however, for his role as the Ewing family patriarch Jock in the long-running TV series "Dallas" (1978).

Spouse
Blanche Hammerer (1945 - 26 April 1981) (his death) 1 child

In the early 1970s, he appeared in a widely aired television commercial for Carnation non-dairy coffee creamer. He played a man who found and used it in an apartment that friends lent him.

Only child Tara Diane (15 January 1953-9 February 1970) died in a car crash at age 16.

He was very close to "Dallas" (1978) co-star Victoria Principal, who bore a strong resemblance to his late daughter, and he had Principal's picture along with his daughter's in his pocket when he was buried.

In April 1981 the writers of "Dallas" (1978) decided not to write his death into the storyline right away. They initially thought about replacing him with another actor, but out of respect decided that only Davis should play Jock Ewing. Jock was kept alive on the show (he was down in South America drilling for oil) until early 1982 when it was learned that he died in a plane crash.

Best remembered by the public for his role as Jock Ewing on the 1980s soap opera Dallas (1978).

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Great Mausoleum, Iris Terrace, Niche 24961

Raymond Bailey (actor)

2008-06-12T20:09:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: May 6, 1904, USA
Death: Apr. 15, 1980, USA

Raymond Bailey was a great example of "If at first you don't succeed..." After high school, Bailey headed for Hollywood with the intent on becoming a movie star, but soon found it tougher than he thought. Instead Bailey went into a high finance career working as stockbroker and banker. He made a second stab at Hollywood, and again had no success. He then became a seaman, working on various freighters and travelling all over the world. Bailey also worked on a pineapple plantation in Hawaii, and tried his luck in the local theatre. Deciding to give Hollywood one more try in 1938, he got lucky getting several small parts in the movies which eventually evolved into bigger character roles. When television became a big, Bailey was in demand for parts and it was there he got his most famous part on the hit sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962), as (ironically) banker Milburn Drysdale, whose fists were tighter than Elly May's pants. After the show ended, he did a few movie roles.

Spouse
Gaby George (? - 15 April 1980) (his death)

Trivia
Worked as a deckhand on a freighter in China, Japan, Hawaii, the Philippines and the Mediterranean.

His first job in Hollywood was as a laborer, but he was fired for sneaking into a mob scene during a movie shoot.

Before joining the cast of the "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962), he could be seen without his toupee for many of his roles.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Victor Sen Yung (actor)

2008-06-11T19:49:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Accidentally asphyxiated by an apartment gas leak.

Birth: Oct. 18, 1915
San Francisco
San Francisco County
California, USA

Death: Nov. 9, 1980
North Hollywood
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Achieving both film and TV notice during his lengthy career, this diminutive Asian-American character was born Sen Yew Cheung on October 18, 1915 in San Francisco of humble Chinese émigrés. When his mother died during the flu epidemic of 1919, his father placed Victor and his sister in a children's shelter and returned to his homeland. He arrived back in America in the mid-20s having remarried, and the children were released back to his guardianship where they began learning Chinese. To contribute to the family income, young Sen Yung was employed as a houseboy at age 11 and managed to earn his way through college at the University of California at Berkeley with an interest in animal husbandry and receiving a degree in economics.

Following a move to Hollywood for some post graduate work at UCLA and USC, Victor gained an entrance into films via extra work, where he was in such roles as a peasant boy in _Good Earth, The (1937), and a soldier in Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938), among others. During this early period he also worked as a salesman for a chemical firm. In one of Hollywood's more interesting tales of being "discovered", the story goes that Victor was on the Twentieth Century-Fox studio lot at the time trying to pitch one of his company's flame retardant compounds to industry techies when one of them suggested he check out casting. The original Charlie Chan, Warner Oland, had passed away and the series was undergoing a major casting overhaul. In the end, Sidney Toler, who was replacing the late Mr. Oland and received cast approval, chose the fledgling actor following a screen test to play his #2 son, Jimmy Chan, for the film Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938). Victor went on to play the role for seventeen other "Charlie Chan" features. Needless, to say he quit the sales business for good.

Victor enjoyed playing Jimmy, the earnest rookie detective who, to his chagrin, was always under the watchful eye of his famous father while trying to help solve murder cases. Outside the role, however, Victor (billed as Sen Yung, Victor Yung and Victor Sen Yung at different times) found the atmosphere oppressive. Usually cast in nothing-special Asian stereotypes, sometimes villainous, in war-era films, parts in such movies as The Letter (1940) starring Bette Davis, _Secret Agent of Japan (1942), Little Tokyo, U.S.A. (1942), Moontide (1942), Across the Pacific (1942), Manila Calling (1942), China (1943) and Night Plane from Chungking (1943), did little to advance his stature in Hollywood. His career was interrupted for U.S. Air Force duty as a Captain of Intelligence during WWII. His part in the Chan pictures was taken over by actor Benson Fong.

Victor was able to pick up where he left off in Hollywood following the war and returned to his famous role as #2 son. The character's name, however, was eventually changed from "Jimmy" to "Tommy" after a third installment of Charlie Chan pictures were filmed with Roland Winters now the title sleuth after the passing of Mr. Toler in 1947. While Victor's workload was fairly steady, again the roles themselves were meager and hardly inspiring. Most were in "B" level crime mysteries and war pictures and many were accepted with no screen credit at all. Reduced often to playing middle-age servile roles (houseboys, laundrymen, valets, clerks, dock workers and waiters), some of his slightly more prominent roles include those in Woman on the Run (1950), Forbidden (1953), Target Hong Kong (1953), and Trader Tom of the China Seas (1954). His last film appearance was in The Man with Bogart's Face (1980).

On TV, Victor appeared in two familiar recurring roles. On the John Forsythe series "Bachelor Father" (1957), he showed up as "Peter Fong" on the final season of the sitcom. He played the cousin to houseboy Sammee Tong's regular character. Victor is better remembered, however, for the part of Hop Sing, the earnest, volatile cook to the Cartwright clan, provided sporadic comic relief on the long-running "Bonanza" (1959) western series. He also appeared in the TV pilot and in several episodes of the popular philosophical western series "Kung Fu" (1972), as well as popping up in dramatic episodes of "Hawaiian Eye", "The F.B.I. and "Hawaii 5-0". Sitcoms gave a hint of his gentle, humorous side in "Here's Lucy", "Get Smart" and "Mister Ed", but there was not a single role that truly improved his standing in Hollywood.

Married and divorced with one child, Victor was looking for work outside of acting by the mid-1970s. At one point he was giving cooking demonstrations in department stores. An accomplished chef who specialized in Cantonese-style cooking, he wrote the 1974 Great Wok Cookbook and dedicated the book to his father, Sen Gam Yung. Victor was working on a second cookbook when he was suddenly found dead in November of 1980 under initially "mysterious circumstances" in his modest San Fernando Valley bungalow. Following an investigation it was determined that Victor was accidentally asphyxiated in his sleep after turning on a faulty kitchen stove for heat. He was survived by his son and two grandchildren.

Remembered as "No. 2 Son," Jimmy Chan, in Sidney Toler's Charlie Chan movies of the 1930s and '40s.

Perhaps more familiar to TV audiences as Hop Sing, the ranch cook, in "Bonanza" (1959).

Played the role of "Number Two Son" in 25 Charlie Chan films during the late 1930s and most of the 1940s; his comedic character was alternately named James, Jimmy, or Tommy Chan.

He majored in animal husbandry at the College of Agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley, and has a memorial scholarship named after him, awarded each year by the Chinese Alumni Association.

In 1972, Yung, returning to Los Angeles from San Francisco, was among the passengers on a PSA airliner hijacked by two Bulgarians demanding ransom and passage to Siberia. Yung was wounded along with another passenger, and a third passenger and the two hijackers were killed when FBI agents stormed the plane on the ground at San Francisco.

Was an accomplished Cantonese cook and penned the book "Great Wok Cookbook" in 1974.

Yung served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, first making training films at the First Motion Picture Unit, then as a member of the cast of "Winged Victory," the Air Forces' theatrical play and film (as Sgt. Victor Young). He then requested officer training and apparently reached the rank of captain.

Burial:
Greenlawn Memorial Park
Colma
San Mateo County
California, USA

Jay Silverheels (actor)

2008-06-10T19:36:00.003-05:00

Cuase of death: stroke

Birth: May 26, 1919
Death: Mar. 5, 1980

He is best remembered for his role of 'Tonto', the faithful Indian companion of the 'Lone Ranger'. Born Harold J. Smith, at the Six Nations Indian Reservation in Ontario, Canada, to a Mohawk Chief, he excelled in sports during high school, and became a noted Lacrosse player, before entering films as a stuntman in 1938. After military service in World War II, he returned to films, landing small roles, usually as stereotyped Indians, in such films as "Canyon Passage" (1946), "Northwest Outpost" (1947), "The Last Roundup" (1947), "Captain from Castile" (1947), "The Prairie" (1947), "Yellow Sky" (1949), and many other B-movies. In 1949, he played in the movie "The Cowboy and the Indians" with actor Clayton Moore, and together, they were both hired to play the roles of the Lone Ranger and his Indian friend, Tonto, in the television series, "The Lone Ranger." Silverheels played the role during the entire period from 1949 to 1957, even when Clayton Moore was replaced one season by John Hart (1952 to 1953), winning respectability for Indians at a time when most Hollywood movies and television portrayed them as the bad guys. He reprised the role of Tonto for the two Lone Ranger movies, "The Lone Ranger" (1955) and "The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold" (1958). When the series ended in 1957, Silverheels found his fame as Tonto overshadowed everything else he did, and he continued to reprise the role in commercials, guest spots, and small bit parts. Later films include "True Grit" (1969), "Cat Ballou" (1971), "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing" (1973), and "One Little Indian" (1973). In later years, he became a spokesman for Indian rights and a respected teacher within the Indian acting community, appearing on talk shows and variety shows. In his late years, he became a harness racer, giving it up only as his health began to fail, in the mid-1970s. He died of a stroke in 1980 in Woodland Hills, California. His son, Jay Silverheels, Jr, has become a television actor in his father's footsteps. In 1993, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered.

Specifically:
Ashes Spread On Homestead on Six Nations Indian Reserve

William "Buckwheat" Thomas (little rascal)

2008-06-09T19:22:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: Mar. 12, 1931
Death: Oct. 10, 1980

One of the most popular of "The Little Rascals". Thomas played Buckwheat in 93 "Our Gang" films, beginning in 1934. Conceived as a replacement for Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Buckwheat was originally an androgynous character with a tangle of braids, but with time he assumed his true gender and standard costume of floppy hat, striped shirt, and tattered pants precariously held up by one suspender. His garbled English---punctuated by his signature exclamation, "Otay!"---belied a craftiness that put him one step ahead of the bigger kids, and he was often paired with the inscrutable Porky as a sort of Greek chorus to the Gang's antics. Buckwheat stayed with "Our Gang" until the series' demise in 1944. Described by his co-stars as easygoing and cooperative, Thomas had seemingly little difficulty adjusting to life outside of show business. After serving in the Army during the Korean War (and obviously not World War II, as noted on his grave marker), he worked for many years as a lab technician at Technicolor and made few attempts to cash in on his fame. When he was given a standing ovation at an "Our Gang" reunion in August of 1980, Thomas was moved to tears. Two months later he died of a heart attack. He was 49. His Buckwheat character was affectionately spoofed by Eddie Murphy during the comedian's stint on TV's "Saturday Night Live" in the early 1980s. Thomas was born in Los Angeles.

Burial:
Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Acacia Slope Plot, Lot 773, Grave D. In Northeast corner of plot, next to roadway and directly across from Fairhaven Plot
GPS (lat/lon): 33.964, -118.3371

Milburn Stone (actor)

2008-06-08T19:09:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: Jul. 5, 1904
Death: Jun. 12, 1980

Character Actor. He labored and toiled for twenty years with background parts, literally appearing in hundreds of uncredited character roles as clerks, reporters, sailors, detectives, convicts, robbers and henchmen. In 1955, he became an "instant" star on the television series "Gun Smoke." The appreciative and exasperated actor, after years of futility, found long lasting success as "Doctor Adams," remaining on the show for its entire 20-year run (500 episodes). Although sidelined with health problems, he missed only seven episodes. After the show's cancellation in 1975, he retired to his ranch near San Diego, fishing and making furniture for his residence. Five years later, a heart attack claimed him at age 75. He was born in Burrton, Kansas. His inspiration was his father's brother, Broadway comedian Fred Stone. The family moved from Burrton to nearby Frizell at the age of three, where he attended grade school. Following the death of his father, Milburn and his mother returned to his birth place of Burrton where he attended and graduated high school. Upon graduation, Milburn was offered a congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, but declined the offer to pursue his goal of becoming an actor. Still a teenager, he found work with various touring repertory troupes, then tried vaudeville with a song-and-dance team called "Stone and Strain." Stone made a minor appearance on Broadway in "The Jayhawkers" then headed to Los Angeles in 1935 in an attempt at a movie career. A few of his movies where he was credited..."Federal Bullets" "The Great Alaskan Mystery" "The Master Key" "The Long Gray Line" "The Private War of Major Benson" and "Young Mr. Lincoln." Legacy...For his contribution to the television industry, Milburn has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Stone received an Emmy award for his crusty role on "Gun Smoke." He was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Mary of the Plains College located in where else but Dodge City, Kansas. He was nominated in 1971 as best supporting television actor for a Golden Globe Award in the Gunsmoke series but did not win. In a bit of trivia...From its premier in 1955 to the last run in 1975, "Gunsmoke" was the longest running dramatic series in the history of television. James Arness and Milburn remained all 20 seasons and Amanda Blake departed after 19 years.

Burial:
El Camino Memorial Park
San Diego
San Diego County
California, USA

Plot:
Vista del Lago Section, Lot 401-D

Jimmy Durante (comic, "singer")

2008-06-07T18:57:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: pneumonia

Birth: Feb. 10, 1893
Brooklyn (Kings County)
Kings County
New York, USA

Death: Jan. 29, 1980
Santa Monica
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Legendary actor, comedian and vaudeville star for over 50 years. He is fondly remembered for his trademark large nose (which he referred to as the Great Schnozzola), gravel voice, and slaughter of words. His signature sign off, "Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are" is a tribute to his first wife, Jeanne Olsen, who had died in 1943. Born James Francis Durante in New York City, he dropped out of school in the eighth grade when his schoolmates made fun of his big nose, large ears, and stuttering; he would later reveal that he made up his mind never to make fun of anyone else, but to laugh at his own looks. Durante initially worked the city bars, clubs, and vaudeville shows as a ragtime pianist. Eventually, he hooked up with the Original New Orleans Jazz Band (where it was said that he was the only band member not born in New Orleans) where he polished his routine and timing, using songs to introduce his jokes. By 1920, he had become so popular that the band renamed itself as Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band, and made him bandleader. With the advent of radio in the 1920s, Jimmy became part of a music and comedy trio called Clayton, Jackson and Durante. His whimsical song, Inka Dinka Doo, was introduced on radio in 1934; it would become his signature song for the remainder of his life. He began to appear in motion pictures, often in cameo roles playing himself, including such films as "The Passionate Plumber" (1932), "Palooka" (1934), "You're in the Army Now" (1941), and later, on a number of television shows during the 1950s and 1960s. Jimmy married his first wife, Jeanne Olsen, on June 19, 1921; when she died on Valentine's Day 1943, he was extremely distraught, and added the famous signature signoff line to his act; the name Calabash is a typical Durante mispronunciation of Calabasas, a town in California where they last lived. Durante would remarry, on Christmas Day 1960, to Marjorie Little, a hatcheck girl at the Copacabana Club, whom he would court for 16 years before she agreed to marry him. He was 67 and she was 39, but they never looked back upon their age difference except with humor and love. They would adopt a daughter, Cecelia Alicia Durante, whom they nicknamed "Ce Ce." Durante was well known for his love of children and he often volunteered his services to help raise money for handicapped and abused children. His free work with the Fraternal Order of Eagles was so well known that they named the children's fund after him. In his later years, he would continue to work in television, narrating the children's Christmas special, "Frosty the Snowman" (1969), adding his voice talents to the such cartoons as the bulldog Spike who's puppy son is always getting into trouble (adding yet another Durante quote to posterity "Dat's my boy"), and doing occasional guest appearances. He was often caricatured in film and television by other comedians, since his trademarks were so easy to mimic. Durante died of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California at the age of 86.

Burial:
Holy Cross Cemetery
Culver City
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
F, T96, space 6

Steve McQueen (actor)

2008-06-06T18:44:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack after cancer surgery

Birth: Mar. 24, 1930
Death: Nov. 7, 1980

Movie and television Actor. Most remembered for his roles in "The Great Escape" (1963), Papillon (1973), and a host of other action movies. Born in Beech Grove, Indiana, he dropped out of school in the 9th grade, was sent to reform school, and enlisted in the US Marine Corps. Later, he studied acting, breaking into films in 1956 with bit parts. In 1958, he got the lead in the teen movie "The Blob" (1958), which lead to his role of bounty hunter Josh Randall in the TV series "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958-1960). His career continued to grow with films such as "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), Hell is for Heroes (1962) and "The Great Escape" (1963), in which he performed many of his own stunts on a motorcycle. For his role as Jake Holman in "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), he received an Oscar nomination. His most successful film was "Bullitt" (1968), which he again performed his own stunts, running up and down San Francisco hills in a car. Diagnosed with mesothelioma lung cancer (caused by exposure to asbestos - it is thought that the asbestos lined crash suit from his race car driving days was one potential source) in December 1979, he kept it a secret while filming "The Hunter" (1980), and died within a day after undergoing surgery to remove tumors from his right lung. He was married three times, to Neile Adams (1957 to 1972, divorced), to actress Ali MacGraw (1973 to 1978, divorced), and to Barbara Minty (1980 until his death). He often carried a pistol after it was determined that he topped the list of celebrities to be killed by the Charles Manson "Family;" oddly enough, he would claim to have a dinner appointment at the home of Roman Polanski-Sharon Tate the night she was murdered by the Manson group, but had to cancel the appointment; this claim is disputed by other Hollywood star watchers.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Specifically:
Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean

Hope Summers (actress)

2008-06-05T18:18:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: congestive heart failure

Birth: Jun. 7, 1896
Mattoon
Coles County
Illinois, USA

Death: Jun. 22, 1979
Woodland Hills
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Hope Summers (June 7, 1902 – July 22, 1979) was an American character actress known for her work on The Andy Griffith Show playing Clara Edwards. She was born Sarah Hope Summers in Mattoon, Illinois, the daughter of John W. and Jennie B. (Burks) Summers, and raised in Illinois and in Walla Walla, Washington.

A regional actress who had often performed in one-woman shows, Summers was past 50 when she came to Hollywood to begin her career as a character player. She made her television debut in 1951 on the series Hawkin Falls, Population 6200 but it was not until the late 1950's when she kicked off a career as one of the most in-demand character performers on television.

Summers first attracted attention in 1958 in the semi-regular role as Hattie Denton on the western series The Rifleman. She guest starred on dozens of series including Wagon Train, Divorce Court, Hazel, Gunsmoke, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, Hawaii Five-0, M*A*S*H, Starsky and Hutch, Welcome Back Kotter, and Little House on the Prairie but will be forever known for her work as Clara Edwards, Aunt Bee's slightly gossipy best friend on The Andy Griffith Show. Summers made 36 appearances on the program during the 1960's (in earlier episodes her character was called Bertha) as well as five appearances on the post-Griffith spinoff Mayberry R.F.D..

Her film work usually was in quite small parts, occasionally unbilled, but she had a good-sized role in the most unGriffith-like Rosemary's Baby in 1968. She was still a very active actress until the year before her death from congestive heart failure at age 77 in 1979. She died in Woodland Hills, California.

Burial:
Unknown

Jack Soo (actor)

2008-06-04T09:30:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Oct. 28, 1917
Death: Jan. 11, 1979

Born Goro Suzuki in Oakland, California, he was swept up in the relocation of those of Japanese descent during the Second World War. He was sent to Topaz Relocation Center in Utah where he was a camp favorite serving as entertainer and singer at dances and events. After the end of the war, he changed his name and began a career as a stand up comedian touring the Midwest circuit. In 1958 he made his Broadway debut in Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical, 'Flower Drum Song.' He then appeared in the film of the same name in 1961. He managed to find a niche as a character actor, appearing in such films as 'Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?' in 1963, 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' in 1967, and 'The Green Berets' in 1968. In the early 1970s he made guest appearances on television programs such as 'Hawaii 5-0,' 'M*A*S*H,' 'Police Story,' and 'Ironside.' In 1975 he was cast in what was to be his best remembered role, Detective Nick Yemana on the sitcom, 'Barney Miller.' His wry, dry character quickly became a favorite. During the show's fifth season, Soo was diagnosed with throat cancer and succumbed after a short battle at the height of his popularity. The cast of 'Barney Miller' stepped out of character in a retrospective episode that aired in May of 1979 in tribute to Soo.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Eternal Love, Lot 3980

Ted Cassidy (actor)

2008-06-03T09:16:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Complications from open heart surgery

Birth: Jul. 31, 1932
Death: Jan. 16, 1979

Although born in Pittsburgh, Cassidy was raised in Philippi, West Virginia, 120 miles south of Pittsburgh. He played basketball (center position) and football (tackle) for Philippi High School. At that time, he was an imposing figure in both venues, being the tallest player in the conference. Early in his academic career, Cassidy attended West Virginia Wesleyan College, in nearby Buckhannon, WV, where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. He later attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, as a Speech Major. Active in student government, he also played basketball for the Hatters, averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds in his only season as a player. Early in his show business career, he worked as a mid-day disc jockey on WFAA-AM in Dallas, Texas. He also occasionally appeared on WFAA-TV Channel 8, playing "Creech," an outer space creature on the "Dialing for Dollars" segments on Ed Hogan's afternoon movies. An accomplished musician, Cassidy moonlighted at Luby's Cafeteria in the Lochwood Shopping Center in Dallas, playing the organ to entertain patrons. On November 22, 1963, shortly after the John F. Kennedy assassination, Cassidy interviewed several of the witnesses, including two very close witnesses, William and Gayle Newman, after the Newman's had appeared on WFAA-TV, but before they left to go to the Dallas Sheriff’s office (No tape exists of that interview for the radio station did not start recording their broadcasts until about 1:45 PM)

Cassidy's unusual height (6 feet 9 inches tall, or 206 cm) gave him an advantage in auditioning for unusual character roles. He is probably best known for playing the tall butler, Lurch (in which role he feigned[1] playing the harpsichord), and the "helpful hand in a box" character named Thing, on the 1960s American television series, The Addams Family (A crew member would take over the "Thing" role in those scenes which had both Lurch and Thing).

Cassidy portrayed the voice of the more aggressive version of Balok in the Star Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver", and he played the role of the android Ruk in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?." He also voiced the Gorn in the Star Trek episode "Arena".

Cassidy did more work with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in the early 1970s, playing Isiah (pronounced "Eye-SIGH-ah") in the pilots of the post-apocalyptic dramas "Genesis II" and "Planet Earth."

Ted appeared in several episodes of I Dream of Jeannie in 1968. Once appearing as the master to Jeannie's devious sister in part 3 of the 4-part episode "Genie, Genie, Who's Got the Genie?", and again in the episode "Please Don't Feed the Astronauts."

Concurrently with his appearances on The Addams Family, Cassidy began doing character voices on a recurring basis for the Hanna-Barbera Studios, culminating in the role of Frankenstein Jr. in Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles series. Cassidy also voiced Ben Grimm aka The Thing in the 1978 animated Fantastic Four.

After The Addams Family, Cassidy began to add the desire for more voice-over work to his résumé; in that acting field, most notably, he narrated the opening of the TV series The Incredible Hulk. Cassidy also provided the Hulk's growls and roars. He also provided the growls and roar for Godzilla in the 1979 cartoon series and the gurgling voice of Black Manta on Superfriends. He detested being compared or confused with acromegalic actor Richard Kiel, who played "Jaws," the assassin with stainless steel teeth, in two James Bond films.

Other film work included his appearance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He also co-wrote the screenplay of 1973's The Harrad Experiment, in which he made a brief appearance.

Cassidy died in 1979 at age 46 from complications following open-heart surgery. Fellow actor Sandra Martinez assisted and took care of Ted during his final years. Cassidy's remains were cremated, and buried in the backyard of his Woodland Hills home. An Addams Family movie was dedicated to him.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered.

Specifically:
Ashes Buried in the front lawn of his home

Darla Hood (actress)

2008-06-02T09:00:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Acute hepatitis contracted while in the hospital for a minor operation

Birth: Nov. 8, 1931
Death: Jun. 3, 1979

Darla Jean Hood (November 8, 1931 – June 13, 1979) was an American child actress, best known for her lead roles in Our Gang (Little Rascals) shorts during the late 1930s and early 1940s. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma, the only child of James Claude Hood and Elizabeth Davner. Her father worked in a bank and her mother was a music teacher.

Darla's mother started her in singing and dancing at an early age, taking her to lessons in Oklahoma City. Just after her third birthday, she was taken to New York City, where she was seen by Joe Rivkin, a casting director for Hal Roach Studios, who arranged a screen test. She was then taken to Culver City, California, to appear in the Our Gang movies.

Hood made her debut in The Bohemian Girl with Laurel and Hardy. From 1935 to 1941, she played Darla in Our Gang. Her coquettish character typically was the love interest of Alfalfa, Butch, or (usually) Waldo. One of her most memorable moments was singing a romantic song entitled "I'm in the Mood for Love" in The Pinch Singer.

When she outgrew her role in Our Gang, she appeared in a couple of other movies and attended school in Los Angeles. While at Fairfax High School, she organized a vocal group called the Enchanters with four boys. Shortly after graduation, the quartet was booked by producer and star Ken Murray for his famous "Blackouts", a stage variety show. The group remained with Murray's Blackouts during its long run in New York and Hollywood.

Hood then went out on her own with singing engagements in nightclubs and guest appearances on TV. She was a regular on The Ken Murray Show from 1950 to 1951. In 1955, she was a leading lady in the act of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. She had a hit record in 1957, "I Just Wanna Be Free", and appeared in the movie Calypso Heat Wave singing a duet with Johnny Desmond. She also recorded two songs with the Ray Whitaker Orchestra, "Only Yours" and "Silent Island", for RayNote Records.

In January 1959, she released a new record, Quiet Village. Joe Rivkin, who discovered her as a child, saw the cover and cast her in her final film role, which was also her first adult role in a movie. She played a secretary in the suspense drama The Bat (1959) with Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead.

Flirtatous Darla casts her spell over Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer in 1937's Hearts are Thumps. George "Spanky" McFarland and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas disapprove.Hood was a guest on such TV shows of the early 1960s as Tell It to Groucho starring Groucho Marx and The Jack Benny Show, where she appeared on October 30, 1962 as "Darla" in a spoof of the old Our Gang shows with Jack Benny (who appeared as Alfalfa). She did singing and voice-over on TV commercials, which included Campbell Soup and Chicken of the Sea tuna. She appeared in her own nightclub act at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, the Copacabana in New York, and the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

During the 1960s and 1970s, she went to many Our Gang/Little Rascals festivals and conventions, meeting and greeting the various generations of fans.

Hood was busy organizing a 1980 Little Rascals reunion for the Los Angeles Chapter of The Sons of the Desert when she underwent minor surgery at a North Hollywood hospital. Following the procedure, Darla contracted acute hepatitis under suspicious circumstances and died suddenly on June 13, 1979. She was 47. [1]

The Our Gang community was stunned at Hood's unexpected passing. Fellow Our Gang member Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas said, "I hate to hear it. It's a shock. She was an awfully nice person, a fine woman. We got along real good as kids." [2] A little over a year later, Thomas died as well.

Burial:
Hollywood Forever
Hollywood
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Abbey of the Psalms, Sanctuary of Light, top row, halfway down hall near the door, corridor G-4, crypt 7213
GPS (lat/lon): 34.08929, -118.3212

Jack Haley (actor)

2008-06-01T08:52:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: heart attack

Birth: Aug. 10, 1898
Boston
Massachusetts, USA

Death: Jun. 6, 1979
Los Angeles
California, USA

He is best remembered for his role of the 'Tin Man' in the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz." A versatile actor, he proved a good light comedian, as well as a descent singer and dancer. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Irish Protestant parents, he showed early acting interest when at age 6, he entertained the congregation at church with his antics. His father trained him to be an electrician, and he worked for a while at the Boston Navy Yard. But at age 18, after finishing high school, he moved to Philadelphia in hopes starting a show business career. To pay the bills, he worked as a switchboard operator and as a hotel bellboy. He began his career by auditioning as a singer for a music-publishing firm. Using the money from that job, he learned to tap dance, and shortly afterwards, found a small job on the vaudeville stage in Hoboken, New Jersey, working as a singer and dancer in a touring company musical, "At the Soda Fountain," in which he played a young soda jerk that sang and danced to attract business. After this, he teamed up with Charley Crafts, with Jack Haley cracking jokes, singing and dancing while Charley played the straight man. Within six months, the two played New York's famed Palace Theater, where he was able to meet and make friends of many future stars, including George Burns, Gracie Allen and Jack Benny. It was here that he met dancer Florence McFadden, and on February 25, 1921, he married her. They would have two children. His son, Jack Jr., also became an actor, and later a producer and director. Jack signed for a series of stage musicals, including "Round the Town" (1924), "Gay Paree," and "Free for All." He began in films, with "Broadway Madness" (1927), and won some leading roles. His best film role is considered to be "Wake Up and Live" (1937), in which he plays microphone shy singer Eddie Kane, who is coaxed by actress Alice Faye into singing a great rendition of "The Phantom Troubadour." But it is his role as the 'Tin Man' in the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz," for which he is most remembered. Ironically, actor Buddy Ebsen was originally cast in the role, but had to drop out when he proved to be allergic to the metal makeup. Haley continued to make films through the war years, with his last major film in 1946. During the 1950s, he pursued several guest and cameo roles in television, in such shows as "Desilu Playhouse", "Playhouse 90", "Make Room for Daddy", the "Jackie Gleason Show", and "Marcus Welby, MD". He died in Los Angeles in 1979 following a sudden heart attack.

Burial:
Holy Cross Cemetery
Culver City
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Grotto, L100, 2

Vivian Vance (comic sidekick)

2008-05-31T08:42:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Jul. 26, 1909
Death: Aug. 17, 1979

Veteran Broadway actress fondly remembered for playing Lucille Ball’s landlady, ‘Ethel Mertz’ in the hit 1950s television sitcom “I Love Lucy.” She was born Vivian Roberta Jones on 26 July 1909 in Cherryvale, Kansas, the second of six children. After her family moved to Independence KS, she was able to study drama under Anna Ingleman and William Inge. However, throughout her childhood, Vivian’s desire to be an actress clashed with her mother’s strict religious beliefs, and at the age of sixteen she ran away to Tulsa, Oklahoma to become an actress, taking the stage name ‘Vivian Vance,’ after a high school classmate she admired. Unfortunately for Vance, her first attempt at a show business career was a failure. Later, when the family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Vance joined the Albuquerque Little Theatre, and began the long path that would lead her to stardom. In 1932, she headed for the Broadway stage, where she struggled as a chorus girl. She got her first break in the musical “Music in the Air,’ and after understudying for Ethel Merman in “Anything Goes,” she starred with comic actor Ed Wynn in “Hooray for What!” as Kay Thompson’s last minute replacement. Although she had become a top performer, the demands of the onstage life took their toll on Vance, and in 1945 she suffered a nervous collapse. After her recovery, she returned to the stage in “Voice of the Turtle” at the La Jolla Playhouse, where she was spotted by Desi Arnaz and offered the role that would make her a household name. Paired with William Frawley as ‘Fred and Ethel Mertz,’ Vance and Frawley made a convincing couple despite their twenty-five year age difference. However, their offstage relationship was less than cordial, a situation exacerbated by Frawley’s heavy drinking. Moreover, Vance didn’t exactly relish playing the role of a frumpy “older” neighbor, since in reality she was only 2 years Lucille Ball’s senior. In 1954, she became the first actress to be awarded an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress. After “I Love Lucy” ended in 1957, she divorced her husband, remarried, and moved to Stamford Connecticut. In 1962 she reprised her role as Lucy’s sidekick on “The Lucy Show,” but the grind of bicoastal commuting didn't suit her, so after three years she limited her performances to guest appearances, which also continued into “Here’s Lucy,” the third Lucille Ball sitcom. In 1974 she and her husband moved to Belvedere, California (just north of Francisco Bay) so she could be near her sister. In 1977 she was diagnosed with breast and bone cancer, and died of it on 17 August 1979 in Belvedere at the age of 70.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered.

John Wayne (actor)

2008-05-30T03:36:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: May 26, 1907
Death: Jun. 11, 1979

He is noted mostly for his military and cowboy roles, and an American Icon. Fiercely patriotic and a staunch American, he represented an American ideal of rugged individualism. Politically conservative and hawkish, he was directly the opposite of many Hollywood stars, and often ridiculed for his political opinions. Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, his family moved to southern California, where his father owned a ranch, and he learned to ride a horse. When the ranch failed, his family moved to Glendale, California, where he attended high school, and had an airdale dog named "Duke" (source of his later nickname). When he narrowly missed getting an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, he went to the University of Southern California (USC) on a football scholarship. Actor Cowboy Tom Mix got him a summer job as a prop man, in exchange for USC football tickets. On the set, he became lifelong friends with Director John Ford, for whom he began doing bit parts. His first film, in 1930, was "Men Without Women." After bit parts in some 70 films, his breakthrough came in the 1939 film "Stagecoach," where he emerged a star. He holds the record for the actor playing the most leading parts, in 142 movies. He stayed mostly with his best acting roles, those of strong military men or fierce independent cowboys, since that suited the audiences. He was exempt from military service in World War II due to an ear infection which left him partially deaf. In 1948, he starred in "Red River", giving a dynamic performance which made critics take notice. However, he is best remembered for his performance in the John Ford cavalry trilogy, "Fort Apache", "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", and "Rio Grande". He had good film chemistry with Maureen O'Hara, and in 1952, he made "The Quiet Man" with her, considered by many to be Wayne's most endearing film. When Republic Pictures refused to make "The Alamo", Wayne started his own studio, Batjac, and made the film (1960). In 1968, during the Vietnam War, he made the film "The Green Berets", considered the only pro-Vietnam War film made in that period. He won an Oscar (his only one) for his role as a boozy, one-eyed, over-the-hill lawman in "True Grit" (1969), a role he reprised in "Rooster Cogburn" (1975). His acting abilities were often underrated by the critics, yet he was always a professional actor who knew his lines, his mark, and was on time for shooting.

Inscription: Tomorrow is the most Important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday

Burial:
Pacific View Memorial Park
Corona del Mar
Orange County
California, USA

Plot:
Bayview Terrace, section 575

Norman Fell (actor)

2008-05-29T03:21:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Mar. 24, 1924
Death: Dec. 14, 1998

Norman Noah Fell[1] (born Norman Feld March 24, 1924 – December 14, 1998) was a Golden Globe award-winning American film and television actor most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the popular sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.

Fell was born Norman Feld in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a Jewish family, and studied drama at Temple University after serving as a tail gunner in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.[2]

Though Fell mostly acted on television, he also had small character roles in several motion pictures including the original Ocean's Eleven, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, PT 109, The Graduate (in which he also played a landlord), Bullitt, and Catch-22 as Sergeant Towser. He appeared alongside Ronald Reagan in Reagan's last film, The Killers.

During the filming of Ocean's Eleven, Norman was considered a member of the infamous Rat Pack.

He received his Golden Globe Award in 1979, for Best TV Actor in a Supporting Role, for Three's Company. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award, but not for Three's Company, but rather for his dramatic performance in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, in which he played Nick Nolte's character's boxing trainer.

His final television appearance was in a cameo as Mr. Roper on an episode of the sitcom Ellen in 1997.

Burial:
Mount Sinai Memorial Park
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Garden of Heritage, Columbarium of Tradition, Niche 1601A

Grandpa Jones (country comic/banjo wizard)

2008-05-28T03:01:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Complications from a series of strokes

Birth: Oct. 20, 1914
Death: Feb. 19, 1998

Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones (born October 20, 1913 in Niagara, Kentucky – February 19, 1998) was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer.

Jones spent his teenage years in Akron, Ohio where he began singing country music tunes on a local radio show. By 1935 his pursuit of a musical career took him to WBZ (AM) radio in Boston, Massachusetts where he met musician/songwriter Bradley Kincaid who gave him the nickname "Grandpa" due to his off-stage grumpiness at early-morning radio shows. Jones liked the name and decided to create a stage persona based around it.

Performing as "Grandpa Jones," he played the banjo, yodeled, and sang mostly old-time ballads. The vaudevillian humor was a bridge to television entertainment. Jones played a style of banjo called frailing, which gave it the rough back woods flavor of his performances. Some of his more famous songs include, "T is for Texas" and "Mountain Dew." He also wrote the song "Eight More Miles to Louisville". Moving to Nashville, Tennessee, he became part of the Grand Ole Opry and was a regular cast member on the popular TV show, Hee Haw.

Jones was one of the most popular cast members of the long-running Hee Haw. A favorite skit had off-camera cast members asking "Hey Grandpa, what's for supper?" to which he'd describe either a delicious, country-style meal ("Buttermilk biscuits smothered in chicken gravy, home-fried potatoes, collard greens and Grandmother's fresh-baked blueberry pie à la mode!" and the cast would reply, "Yum, yum!") or, more often than not, something terrible ("Because you were bad, thawed out TV dinners!" at which the cast would scoff, "Yuck!"). A running gag was that the window he was pretending to polish in this skit had no glass, and that Jones would slip his fingers through the empty panes. Jones also joined castmates Buck Owens, Roy Clark and Kenny Price with a gospel segment at the end of each show.

A resident of rural Ridgetop, Tennessee outside of Nashville, he was a neighbor and friend of fellow musician David "Stringbean" Akeman. On the morning of November 11, 1973, Jones discovered the bodies of Akeman and his wife who had been murdered during the night by robbers.

In 1978 Grandpa Jones was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. An autobiography of him, Everybody's Grandpa: Fifty Years Behind The Mike was published in 1984 (with assistance from Charles K. Wolfe).

In January of 1998, he suffered a stroke after his second show performance at the Grand Ole Opry and died a few weeks later. He is interred in the Luton Memorial Methodist Church cemetery in Nashville.

Burial:
Luton Memorial Methodist Church Cemetery
Nashville
Davidson County
Tennessee, USA

Lloyd Bridges (actor)

2008-05-27T02:47:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Natural causes

Birth: Jan. 15, 1913
Death: Mar. 10, 1998

Bridges was born in San Leandro, California, the son of Harriet Evelyn (née Brown) and Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Sr., who was involved in the California hotel business and once owned a cinema. Bridges graduated from Petaluma High School in 1931. He studied political science at UCLA, where he we a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter. He also met his future wife there, Dorothy Dean Simpson; they married in 1938 on St. Pete's Beach at sunrise.

Bridges made his Broadway debut in 1939 in a production of Shakespeare's Othello. He made a few film appearances before enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard. Following World War II, he returned to film acting. He was blacklisted briefly in the 1950s after he admitted to the House Un-American Activities Committee that he had once been a member of the Actors Lab, a group with links to the Communist party. He resumed working after being cleared by the FBI, finding his greatest success in television.

Bridges in The Sound of Fury (1950)Bridges gained wide recognition as Mike Nelson, the main character in the television series Sea Hunt, which ran from 1958-1961. Following that success, he starred in the eponymous anthology The Lloyd Bridges Show, which included appearances by his sons Beau and Jeff. Bridges was offered the role of Captain Kirk on Star Trek before the role went to William Shatner. Additionally, he was a regular cast member in the Rod Serling western series The Loner (which lasted one season from 1965 to 1966), and in the two NBC failures San Francisco International Airport (1970/71) and Joe Forrester (1975/76). Later, he appeared in Paper Dolls (1984) and Capital News (1990), both for ABC, and again with Harts of the West (1993), this time for CBS. He played the role of Commander Cain in the Battlestar Galactica two-part episode "The Living Legend".

Bridges played significant roles in several popular mini-series, including Roots, How the West Was Won, and The Blue and the Grey. For more than forty-five years, Bridges was a frequent guest star on television series. He earned two Emmy Award nominations four decades apart. The first came in 1957 for an episode of The Alcoa Hour. Then he was nominated again in 1998 for his role as Izzy Mandelbaum on Seinfeld.

Bridges appeared in more than 150 films. He started as a contract performer for Columbia Pictures, appearing in classics such as High Noon, Little Big Horn, and Sahara. By the end of his career, he was a staple of parody films such as Airplane!, Hot Shots!, and Jane Austen's Mafia!.

A world federalist, Bridges once said, “The devastation caused by war and the pollution of our environment knows no boundaries. Only an effective world government could provide sufficient law and have the power to control these destructive forces".[1] He was also involved in several organizations, including the American Oceans Campaign and Heal the Bay, a Los Angeles-based group.

Bridges died of natural causes at age 85 on March 10, 1998. He was the father of actors Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges and the grandfather of Jordan Bridges.

An episode of Seinfeld ("The Burning") was dedicated in memory of Lloyd Bridges. He had played the character of Izzy Mandelbaum in the episodes "The English Patient" and "The Blood".

Burial:
Cremated, Location of ashes is unknown.

Phil Hartman (comic)

2008-05-26T02:34:00.002-05:00

Cause of death: Homicide

Birth: Sep. 24, 1948
Death: May 28, 1998

Born Philip Edward Hartmann in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, he was one of eight children. He grew up in Connecticut and Southern California and described himself as a class clown. He joined the comedy group "The Groundlings" in 1975. Hartman's co-wrote the feature film "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" in 1978 for fellow Groundling, Paul Reubens. Hartman also worked as a graphic artist, designing album covers for Poco's 1978 album “Legend”, three albums by the band America, and the logo for Crosby, Stills and Nash. In 1986, Hartman joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” and stayed for eight seasons. From 1991 to 1998, Hartman also provided the voices for Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure in the animated television series “The Simpsons”. Hartman left SNL in 1994 for a role in the ensemble comedy “NewsRadio” in which he played radio newsman Bill McNeal. Hartman also co-starred in several feature films, including "Greedy", "House Guest," "Blind Date," "The Three Amigos," "The Coneheads," "Quick Change," and "So I Married an Axe Murderer." On May 28, 1998 police responded to Hartman’s home after a report of shots being fired. Hartman’s wife Brynn had barricaded herself in their bedroom where she had all ready shot Hartman three times while he’d slept. Their two children were evacuated from the house by police. Mrs. Hartman then shot herself. The couple, both dead of gunshot wounds, were found in the master bedroom by police. Toxicology testing later showed Mrs. Hartman had a blood alcohol level of approximately .12 percent as well as evidence of cocaine and anti-depressants. The motive behind the murder/suicide is unknown. After Hartman’s death, “The Simpsons” show retired his characters rather than find a replacement voice actor and “NewsRadio” produced a special episode in which the cast sincerely mourned him via the death of Hartman's character Bill McNeal. Hartman was posthumously nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of McNeal.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Specifically:
Ashes Scattered over Santa Catalina's Emerald Bay, California

Robert Young (actor)

2008-05-25T02:21:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Respiratory failure

Birth: Feb. 22, 1907
Death: Jul. 21, 1998

In a career that lasted over fifty years, Robert Young performed on stage, screen and radio, appearing in some 100 movies before making a successful transition to television. He was born in Chicago coming west when his family relocated to Los Angeles at age seven. Introduced to acting while attending Lincoln High School, he then pursued an acting career after graduation by enrolling at the Pasadena Playhouse. Sharpening his acting abilities while touring with a stock company in their production, 'The Ship,' a talent scout saw him resulting in a screen test and a debut in 'The Black Camel,' an early Charlie Chan Mystery. Signed by MGM, he received a major career boost in 'The Sin of Madelon Claudet' opposite stage star Helen Hayes. He found work in England appearing in the Alfred Hitchcock's movie, 'Secret Agent' then staring in 'It's Love Again,' two elaborate productions. A few of his many films: ' Remember Last Night, The Canterville Ghost, Secret Agent, The Enchanted Cottage, They Won't Believe Me (his best) and Crossfire.' His older brother was Roger Moore (Joe Young). Roger was active as a mainstay character actor who appeared in hundreds of uncredited roles in films. In 1949, disenchanted with his secondary status in his movie career, Robert Young ventured into radio, starring in a family comedy, Father Knows Best, which ran for five years then became a television series enjoying a five year run. The program won numerous awards while Robert Young was Emmy-nominated four times, winning twice. In 1960, the program had casting difficulties and was cancelled. Robert Young disappeared from Hollywood during most of the 1960s reappearing in 1969 in a pilot film 'Marcus Welby, M.D' which became a hit television series for the next seven years presenting him with his third Emmy for his portrayal of the doctor. With the demise of the program, Young appeared in a couple of TV Welby movies and then won acclaim in a television film dealing with Alzheimer's disease and euthanasia. The aging actor unable to obtain movie or television roles involuntarily retired. Robert Young died in his Westlake, California home at the age of 91 of respiratory failure. A private funeral service was held at Forest Lawn attended by only his family and close invited friends. He was interred beside his wife Betty, whom he met while both were students at Lincoln High and who had died four years previously ending their marriage of sixty years.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Graceland, Lot 5905

Jack Lord (actor)

2008-05-24T02:12:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Congestive heart failure

Birth: Dec. 30, 1920
New York
New York County
New York, USA

Death: Jan. 20, 1998
Honolulu
Honolulu County
Hawaii, USA

Born John Joseph Patrick Ryan, but called himself Jack Lord when he began acting in the early 1950s. He was an accomplished artist. Two of his paintings were acquired by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum of Modern Art by the time he was twenty. He became a member of the Actors Studio. He acted by night and sold cars by day. He appeared on Broadway, replacing Ben Gazzara as Brick in the original production of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," before going to Hollywood. Lord appeared in several classic feature films, among them "Man of the West" (1958) starring Gary Cooper. Early in his career, he met his wife, Marie de Narde. He was a fine arts major at NYU and was there on a football scholarship. Marie soon left her career as a successful fashion designer, to support Jack in becoming an actor. He appeared in the movie "Dr. No," but mainly did television, where he was cast in a succession of villain roles. Through the late 1950s and 1960s, he made guest appearances on scores of TV series. His first starring role in a TV series was in the western, "Stoney Burke," which lasted only a year. When that series was over, he worked for several years singing western songs at rodeos and fairs. A veteran of theater, film and television, Lord will be remembered best for the role that made him famous, that of Steve McGarrett, on the television show "Hawaii Five-O," which ran from 1968 to 1980 in 284 episodes. He directed many of the episodes. The series was seen in 80 countries, with a weekly audience estimated at more than 300 million. It's still seen daily on hundreds of stations in reruns. The show was shot entirely on location at Lord's insistence. He died of congestive heart failure at his home in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the age of 77.

Burial:
Cremated

Specifically:
Ashes scattered in the ocean near his Kahala condominium

Roy Rogers (actor)

2008-05-23T01:38:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Congestive heart failure

Birth: Nov. 5, 1911
Death: Jul. 6, 1998

He was born Leonard Franklin Slye in Cincinnati, Ohio to a musical family. His father played guitar and his Kentucky-born mother was a singer. Leonard grew up in Duck Run, Ohio a little town near Portsmouth. He quit high school after two years forced to work in a shoe factory to help support his family. At nineteen, he moved to California and formed a band which became known as the Sons of The Pioneers. Soon, they were on the radio and with the songwriting of Bob Nolan a band member, they yodeled and sang their way to stardom. Their recording "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" becoming a number one hit on the charts. Leonard began working as an extra at Republic Pictures. Given the name "Roy Rogers" he teamed up with his horse Trigger, and made his first picture "Under Western Stars" while receiving a contract with Republic Pictures which lasted 13 years producing some 37 movies. During World War II, Roy became "The King of The Cowboys," while making numerous USO tours with his horse Trigger raising millions of dollars through the sale of War Bonds. He began making movies with Dale Evans known as "The Queen of the West." which led to marriage and a partnership which lasted the rest of their lives. With the onset of television, The Roy Rogers Show staring Roy, Dale and co-star Pat Brady, Trigger, Dale's horse Buttermilk and their dog Bullet aired on NBC lasting for seven years while the song penned by Dale, "Happy Trails" became a hit and the Rogers theme song. His continued recordings produced another major hit with "Candy Kisses" and finally while Roy and Dale were running their museum in Victorville, California in late life another hit which put him back on the charts "Hold On Partner" from a special "Tribute" album he made at age 80. In 1988, he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The couple remained favorites through their connection with Christian programs and the Roy Rogers Museum in Victorville. Roy Rogers died at the age of 86 in his home in at Apple Valley, California from heart failure. A public service was held at the Church of the Valley with a western theme laced with frontier Army traditions. With the singing of his western songs by the Sons of the Pioneers, his body was conveyed in a glass enclosed 1898 hearse drawn by a single Clydesdale to his final resting place while accompanied by an array of people dressed in old western style garb. Dale joined him upon her death and even the animals who starred with the famous couple, Trigger who lived to be 33, Dales horse Buttermilk and even the dog Bullet were all mounted with places of honor in the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum. However: the stuffed animals as well as the museum, suffering from dwindling attendance, hit the trail and was moved from Victorville to Branson, Missouri in 2003.

Burial:
Sunset Hills Memorial Park
Apple Valley
San Bernardino County
California, USA

David Doyle (TV actor)

2008-05-22T00:48:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: Dec. 1, 1929
Death: Feb. 26, 1997

He is perhaps best remembered for his role as detective John Bosley on the television series Charlie's Angels, for which reason he is occasionally mixed up with TV actor Tom Bosley. He is also remembered by younger generations as being the voice of Grandpa Lou Pickles on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats until his death. Doyle died of a heart attack at the age of 67 in Los Angeles, California on February 26, 1997. The role of Grandpa Lou Pickles was taken over by Joe Alaskey, better known as the voice of Plucky Duck in Tiny Toon.

Doyle was born in Omaha, Nebraska to Mary Ruth Fitzgerald and Lewis Raymond Doyle, an attorney. His maternal grandfather, John Fitzgerald, was a prominent railroad builder and banker in Nebraska.[1] He graduated from Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in 1947. Doyle was married twice, first to Rachel, then Anne Nathan Doyle. Doyle had a sister who was mostly a stage actress, Mary Doyle, who died from lung cancer in 1995.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

Jesse White (actor)

2008-05-21T00:33:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: heart attack following surgery

Birth: Jan. 4, 1917
Death: Jan. 9, 1997

an American television, film and stage character actor. He is best remembered for portraying the Maytag repairman in television commercials, a role he played from 1967 to 1988.

Born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Akron, Ohio, White began acting in local stage productions at 15. After moving to Cleveland, he worked a variety of jobs while working the nightclub circuit. In the late 1930s, he appeared in vaudeville performances. In 1942, White made his Broadway debut in The Moon is Down followed by the role of a sanitarium orderly in Harvey. He would later reprise his role in the 1950 film version and the 1972 television movie.[1]

In 1947, White made his film debut in a small part in Kiss of Death. During the 1950s, he began landing roles on televisions show including appearances in Make Room for Daddy and Dear Phoebe. In 1954, he landed a semi regular role on Private Secretary starring Ann Sothern. The role led to another semi regular part in The Ann Sothern Show in 1960. White guest starred on Four Star Playhouse and The Bob Cummings Show. He also appeared in roles in The Bad Seed (1956), Designing Woman (1957) with Lauren Bacall, and Marjorie Morningstar (1958) with Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly.

Throughout the 1960s, White also appeared on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Donna Reed Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, That Girl, and I Dream of Jeannie. In 1967, he began his long running stint as the "lonely" Maytag Repairman in television commercials. White continued appearing in both television and films during his Maytag stint. His last onscreen role was in an episode of Seinfeld in 1996.

In addition to film and television work, White lent his voice to several cartoons including Jonny Quest, Garfield and Friends, and Inspector Gadget.

In 1942, White married Celia Cohn. The couple had two daughters, Carole Ita White who later became an actress, and Janet Jonas.

Burial:
Mount Sinai Memorial Park
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Denver Pyle (actor)

2008-05-20T00:20:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Lung cancer

Birth: May 11, 1920
Death: Dec. 25, 1997

Pyle was born in Bethune in Kit Carson County in eastern Colorado, to farmers Maude W. and Ben H. Pyle;[1] he was the nephew of journalist Ernie Pyle and had one brother, Willis. After graduation from high school, Pyle briefly attended college before he decided to pursue a career in show business. He worked as a drummer and band member until the start of the Second World War, when he entered the Merchant Marines.

After the war ended, Pyle began his film career, having starred in several motion pictures throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He made several appearances as "Briscoe Darling", the gruff patriarch of a clan of musical hillbillies, on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show. He also appeared in a number of Westerns by John Ford, including The Horse Soldiers with William Holden and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. One of his early roles was a villain in an Adventures of Superman TV episode called "Beware the Wrecker".

His most known television role may have been that of Uncle Jesse Duke in the CBS series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985). In addition, Pyle played the role of Mad Jack in the NBC series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977–1978), the antagonist in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Buck Webb (Doris Day's father) during the first two seasons of CBS's The Doris Day Show (1968–1970), and Briscoe Darling on The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968).

In his later life, Pyle played mostly cameo television roles and retired from full time acting. His last cinematic movie role was alongside Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner in the 1994 film Maverick. His last known acting role was a reprisal of Jesse Duke in the 1997 made-for-TV movie The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!. He frequently appeared on Gunsmoke and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, Frontier Justice, all on CBS.

Pyle would claim in later life that he was a U.S. Navy veteran who had been wounded in action at Guadalcanal. However the National Personnel Records Center stated in 1991 that there was no evidence that Denver Pyle had ever served on active duty in the Navy. Pyle’s statements were not resolved prior to his death. As a Merchant Mariner with veteran status, the exact extent of his military service remains unclear to this day.[citation needed]

Pyle died of lung cancer on Christmas Day 1997. His presents that year were auctioned on Ebay with all proceeds going to charity.

His son, David Pyle is a Master Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy. He resides in Newport Beach, California and is the owner of Los Angeles-area vocational medical career schools, American Career College and West Coast University. He has four children: Henry, Mary Lynn, Annie and Willie.

Burial:
Forreston Cemetery
Forreston
Ellis County
Texas, USA

Burgess Meredith (actor)

2008-05-19T00:10:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Melanoma and Alzheimer's Disease

Birth: Nov. 16, 1907
Cleveland
Cuyahoga County
Ohio, USA

Death: Sep. 10, 1997
Malibu
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Born in Cleveland Ohio, the youngest of three children, in the late 1920s, he drifted to New York City, where he had numerous jobs including selling vacuum cleaners, clerking at Macy's, and working as a runner on Wall Street. He then made two trips to South America as an ordinary seaman on an ocean liner, after which he was fired for disobeying orders. In 1933 he joined Eva Le Gallienne's theatre company in New York. His debut role of Red Barry in ‘Little Ol' Boy', a play of reform school life gained him notice. His film premier was ‘Winterset' in 1936. He was a founder of the New Stage Society in 1937 and in the following year served as vice president of Actors' Equity. He attracted attention as 'George' in a 1939 film adaptation of the book ‘Of Mice and Men'. His career was put on hold during World War II when he joined the United States Army Air Corps, where he attained a captaincy. With the end of the war he demonstrated his versatility in both dramatic and comedic roles, and appeared in four different starring roles in the ‘The Twilight Zone' until being named an unfriendly witness and blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, after which studio work disappeared. There is a conspicuous gap in his filmography between 1950 and 1957 as a result. With the help of industry friend including Otto Preminger, Meredith came back to the screen with a vengeance appearing in more than eighty roles after the end of his working exile, most memorably perhaps as 'The Penguin' on the television series "Batman". In 1960, he received a special Tony Award for ‘A Thurber Carnival.' He appeared in ‘Madame X' in 1966 with Lana Turner; and ‘Stay Away, Joe' with Elvis Presley in 1968. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1974 as Best Director for ‘Ulysses in Nighttown.' He landed the role of Rocky Balboa's trainer, 'Mickey', in ‘Rocky', to great acclaim. He returned for four of the five ‘Rocky' sequels, appearing in flashback in ‘Rocky V'. He earned back-to-back Academy Award nominations, in 1975 for ‘The Day of the Locust' and in 1976 for ‘Rocky'. He also did a great deal of voice over work, serving as the spokesman for Skippy Peanut Butter and United Air Lines, among others including the narrator's role in ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie' in 1983. His last films included the ‘Grumpy Old Men' duology the last of which was released in 1995. He died two years later at his home in Malibu, California.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

James Stewart (actor)

2008-05-18T23:46:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Pulmonic blood clot

Birth: May 20, 1908
Death: Jul. 2, 1997

James Stewart was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he had an ideal childhood with encouraging and supporting parents. When he won the Best Actor Oscar in 1940 for his role in "The Philadelphia Story," he sent it to his father saying, "It belongs to us both." His dad, who owned a hardware store, kept it on a shelf for 25 years where it could be viewed by the customers. James had great empathy for his hometown and years later they would erect and dedicate a statue to him in the town square with him in attendance. He attended Princeton University and came away with a degree in architecture. He was the first movie star to enter the service in World War II, joining a year before Pearl Harbor, becoming a Colonel. James flew 20 combat missions, earned the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross presented to him by Gen Jimmy Doolittle, The Croix de Guerre presented by France and seven battle stars. He was promoted to brigadier general while serving in the Air Force Reserve. His movie career spanned over forty years during which he portrayed many different characters who were always morally resolute. Some of his Western credits and there were many: "The Far Country, The Man from Laramie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, How the West Was Won, Cheyenne Autumn, and the Shootist." In a general category: "You Can't Take It With You, Mr Smith Goes to Washington and Harvey" but a few. He made four Hitchcock thrillers: "Rope," "Rear Window," "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "Vertigo." James Stewart had a radio and TV career and even had time to write poetry published in book form by Crown Publishing. He died at his home of a pulmonary blood clot at the age of eighty nine. Jimmy Stewart's funeral service was held at The Presbyterian Church which was the family church in Beverly Hills. The Stewart family sat in the same pew for forty years. Here he was married and where his wife's funeral was held a few years prior to his own. His legacy and many memorials remain: The James Stewart Museum is located in Indiana, Pennsylvania his home town. He was presented a Life Achievement Award by The American Film Institute. His movie "It's A Wonderful Life" has become a classic and part of the American Christmas tradition with a showing by almost every TV station in the land on Christmas day. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom, "America's highest Civilian Honor." The City of Los Angeles erected the Jimmy Stewart Flagpole which stands atop a rock pedestal with a plaque affixed which is the starting point of the Jimmy Stewart Marathon in Griffith Park and run each year. The flag is raised each morning honoring his patriotic service to the country, his stable family life and a salute to one of Hollywoods most enduring actors. His stepson was killed at the age of twenty four in Vietnam and is interred beside the couple.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Wee Kirk Churchyard, Space 2, Lot 8, near the statue of a man holding an arrow. To the left of the Wee Kirk of the Heather Church on the hill.

Jack Nance (actor)

2008-05-17T23:38:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: He died as a result of head injuries incurred in a fight at a donut shop the previous day

Birth: Dec. 21, 1943
Death: Dec. 30, 1996

He is best remembered for his role of sawmill owner 'Pete Martell' in the television series "Twin Peaks." Born in Boston, Massachusetts, of Irish ancestors, and raised in Dallas, Texas, he began his acting career playing children's theater, working for the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. In the early 1970s, he was cast in the role of 'Henry Spencer' in "Eraserhead" (1977), a film that took nearly five years to make. Other small, supporting roles followed, in such films as "Dune" (1984), "Ghoulies" (1985), "The Blob" (1988 remake of the classic 1950s film), and "Colors" (1988). In 1990, he won the role of quirky sawmill owner 'Pete Martell' in "Twin Peaks." In 1991, his wife, Nancee Kellee, committed suicide, and his roles declined after that. He continued making appearances in later movies, in such less remembered films as "Love and a .45" (1994), "Across the Moon" (1995), "Voodoo" (1995), and "Assault on Dome 4" (1996). In December 1996, he was involved in a brawl with two men in Winchell's donut shop in Pasadena, California, and received several blows to the head. A friend checked on him the next morning and found him dead, and his death has been recorded as a homicide.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Ted Bessell (director/actor)

2008-05-16T23:23:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Aortic aneurysm

Birth: Mar. 20, 1935
Death: Oct. 6, 1996

Born in New York City. He was a piano prodigy and at age 12 performed a recital at Carnegie Hall. By the time he graduated from college in 1958, he had decided to become an actor. His early work included guest appearances in soap operas. He launched his career in 1961, playing an elevator operator in the feature film "Lover Come Back." He become a semi-regular on "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." in 1966. His big break would be as Don Hollinger on the Marlo Thomas television series "That Girl" (1966). He also played small roles in a few feature films, including "Don't Drink the Water" (1969). Following the end of "That Girl," Bessell starred opposite a chimpanzee in the short-lived "Me and the Chimp" (1972). The 1970s were a slow time for him. He had a few memorable appearances as the boyfriend of Mary Tyler Moore on her sitcom. The 1980s included two unsuccessful attempts at TV sitcoms: "Good Time Harry" (1980) and "Hail to the Chief" (1985) in which he played Patty Duke's husband. By the late 1980s, He had largely abandoned acting and became a television director. In 1989, he shared an Emmy for directing an episode of Fox television's "Tracey Ullman Show." At the time of his death, he was preparing to direct a movie version of the Television series "Bewitched". He died of an aortal aneurysm at the age of 61.

Burial:
Woodlawn Cemetery
Santa Monica
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Section 12
GPS (lat/lon): 34.0178, -118.47387

Jason Bernard (actor)

2008-05-15T23:11:00.003-05:00

cause of death: heart attack

Birth: May 17, 1938
Death: Oct. 18, 1996

He started his career by playing Seldon in the blaxploitation classic film "Thomasina and Bushrod" (1974). Other film roles followed with "Friday Foster" (1975), "Car Wash"(1976), "Paint It Black" (1986), and "While You Were Sleeping" (1995). Some of his most remembered TV roles include Preston Wade in the daytime drama "Days of Our Lives" from 1982 to 1983, Inspector Marquette in the 1980s TV series "Cagney and Lacey," the chronically humorless publishing executive Mr. Paul Bracken in the 1991 Fox sitcom "Herman's Head," and his supporting role in the Lifetime movie "Sophie and the Moonhanger"(1995). He was a very popular addition to the Wing Commander franchise in 1994 as Captain William Eisen. His last feature film role was that of a judge in the Jim Carrey comedy "Liar Liar" (1997). On October 18, 1996, Bernard was driving in Hollywood when he suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 58.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

Herb Edelman (actor)

2008-05-14T22:58:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Emphysema

Birth: Nov. 5, 1933
Death: Jul. 21, 1996

The 6'5", Emmy-nominated actor began his career by performing in the Broadway theater production of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park in 1963; a role he reprised when the play was adapted to television in 1967. Though appearing in numerous television sitcoms and movies throughout the 70s and 80s, Herbert Edelman is most remembered for his part as Stan Zbornack, Dorothy's ex-husband in the popular, comedic sitcom The Golden Girls, which ran from 1985 to 1992. Edelman also played memorable parts as regular or recurring characters on the popular sitcoms and Knots Landing, Cagney & Lacey, Murder, She Wrote, St. Elsewhere, Welcome Back, Kotter, and Maude, where he first played opposite his Golden Girls partner, Bea Arthur. Born in Brooklyn, New York in November of 1933, Edelman originally attended Cornell University to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine. During a stint as a taxi cab driver in 1963, he met stage director, Mike Nichols, after picking him up in his cab. Fate was his tip that night, and Edelman went on to an acting career in stage, film, and television that spanned three decades. Personally, Edelman was married – for six years – to soap opera actress, Louise Sorel. After the marriage ended in 1970, Edelman was later linked with his St. Elsewhere costar, the British actress, Christina Pickles. The two were romantically involved until his death. On July 21, 1996, in Woodland, California, Herb Edelman, aged only 62, lost his fight with emphysema.

Burial:
Unknown

Tommy Rettig (businessman/kid actor)

2008-05-13T22:50:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: Dec. 10, 1941
Death: Feb. 15, 1996

Best remembered for his role of 'Jeff Miller on the "Lassie" television series from 1954 to 1957. He appeared in numerous films throughout the 1950s, including "The River of No Return" with Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe and the cult classic "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T." After high school, he was unsuccessful at returning to a career in acting and worked at a variety of jobs before discovering his talent for computer programming. He was one of the designers of dBASE III, started his own software company and wrote several computer software handbooks becoming highly respected in the computer field. He made an appearance on "The New Lassie" as the adult 'Jeff Miller' teaching Lassie to use the computer.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Morey Amsterdam (actor)

2008-05-12T22:38:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: Dec. 14, 1908
Chicago
Cook County
Illinois, USA

Death: Oct. 27, 1996
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, to a Jewish family, he began working in vaudeville in 1922 as the straight man for his brother's jokes. He was also a cellist, a skill which he used throughout his career. By 1924, he was working in a speakeasy operated by Al Capone. After being caught in a gunfight, Amsterdam moved to California and sought work writing jokes. His enormous repertoire and ability to come up with a joke on any subject earned him the nickname "The Human Joke Machine." He sometimes performed with an actual machine on his chest, hanging by a neck strap. When he turned a hand crank on the gadget and paper rolled out, he would then read the machine's joke -- although the paper was blank.

During the 1930s, Amsterdam hosted a radio show and also wrote songs, including "Why Oh Why Did I Ever Leave Wyoming." He copyrighted the popular "Rum and Coca-Cola," although the song was written by a Trinidadian calypsonian, Lord Invader. Amsterdam lost an eventual copyright suit over the song. In the early 1940s he was a screenwriter, contributing joke dialogue for two East Side Kids films. By 1947, he was performing on three daily radio shows. Beginning in 1948, he appeared on the radio show Stop Me If You've Heard This One.

In 1948, Amsterdam began hosting his own television show, The Morey Amsterdam Show which ran on CBS from December 1948 to March 1949 and on DuMont from April 1949 to October 1950.

In 1950, he costarred on the comedy-variety show, Broadway Open House, television's first late-night entertainment show, on the NBC network. Among his regular guests was a song-and-dance man named Art Carney. The cigarette girl was future author Jacqueline Susann, wife of the producer of the show, Irving Mansfield. Jazz musician Johnny Guarneri led the band. Selected episodes of The Morey Amsterdam Show can be viewed on TV4U.Com.

Amsterdam's most famous role is comedy writer Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), a role suggested for him by his friend Rose Marie, who also appeared on the show. Amsterdam wrote lyrics for the show's theme song, which were never heard on the air but have been performed by Dick Van Dyke in concert.

He also played "Cappy," owner of the local nightclub, in the Beach Party movies of the 1960s.

Amsterdam and Rose Marie later appeared as panelists on The Hollywood Squares and guest-starred together in a February 1996 episode of the NBC sitcom Caroline in the City (his final television appearance). They also co-starred in the 1966 film, "Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title," a comedy co-written and co-produced by Amsterdam. (The film also features Richard Deacon, their co-star on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," plus a cameo by the show's co-producer Danny Thomas.) Amsterdam was an occasional panelist on Match Game during the 1970s. He appeared as a small-time criminal in several episodes of the soap opera The Young and the Restless in the 1990s.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Court of Remembrance, furthest north-east section, C-3632

Howard Rollins (actor)

2008-05-11T21:51:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Lymphoma

Birth: Oct. 17, 1950
Death: Dec. 8, 1996

Born Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Junior, nicknamed Ho Ro. Studied theater in Maryland at Towson State College. "Our Street" the nation‚s first black soap opera featured Howard as "Slick". 1964 Howard was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor on the daytime soap opera "Another World". In 1974 he left Baltimore for New York City to pursue his career in acting. 1981 he won an Oscar nomination for his role as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., in "Ragtime". Howard got his start in acting in "Of Mice and Men" and then "On The Block". Howard starred in other movies and nighttime television series: "A Soldier‚s Story", "New York Undercover" and "Remember Wenn". Howard is well known for his role as Virgil Tibbs, "In The Heat of the Night". Due to spending a month in jail in 1993 and continuous legal issues, he was dropped from In The Heat of the Night. In 1995 he made his final feature film, "Drunks".

Burial:
Woodlawn Memorial Park
Baltimore
Baltimore city
Maryland, USA

McLean Stevenson (actor)

2008-05-10T21:32:00.003-05:00

cause of death: cardiac arrest

Birth: Nov. 14, 1927
Death: Feb. 15, 1996

Character Actor, Comedy Writer. He was born Edgar McLean Stevenson in the Illinois area known as the twin cities, Normal-Bloomigton to a father who was a cardiologist. His extended family was a provider of famous politicians to the American scene. While attending Bloomington High School he was active in sports however there was never any indication of an acting career. Stevenson was confused after high school graduation, had no apparent occupational direction and his quest was nomadic...a medical supply salesman, insurance clerk, radio announcer, clown on live TV and a stint in the Navy before enrollment at Northwestern University coming away with a theater arts degree and a desire for a show business career. A visit to New York while attending a political function was his defining moment and well placed advise motivated him toward a show business career. Stevenson decided to stay while enrolling at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy where Lee Strasberg and Sandy Meisner were instructors. He spent much of the 60's in the city while performing in nightclubs and comedy spots leaving to work the summers in stock theatre at Warsaw, Indiana. His first Broadway stage break came in 1962 with a title role in "The Music Man" followed by parts in "Bye Bye Birdie" and "I'll Always Remember Miss What's Her Name." He broke into TV as a guest actor on various series such as "Naked City" and "The Defenders." When acting roles were scarce, he wrote revue comedy which further established him in show business. Hollywood beckoned in 1968 and initially work was found as a writer for the "Smothers Brothers Show." While guesting on various venues, he landed a regular role on the "The Doris Day Show" and simultaneously appeared on "The Tim Conway Comedy Hour." A tryout for a comedy series called "MASH" landed him a leading role as mythical Henry Blake, commander of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War which became his career highlight and made him an American household name. He performed this character, a laid-back, off-centered commanding officer from its premiere in Sept 1972 until miffed by the secondary role asked to leave and was willingly written out during the 1974-75 season. His departure hardly led to his dream of a leading man status. He was very busy but a series of sitcoms all were cancelled after the first season..."Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes" "The McLean Stevenson Show" "In the Beginning, Hello, Larry" and "Dirty Dancing." (movie spinoff) He appeared 56 times as host of "The Tonight Show" substituting for Johnny Carson during his absences. His movie appearances were scanty with a small role in "The Christian Licorice Store" and the ET film "The Cat From Outer Space. McLean performed in public service as the spokesman for USAir and First Alert. He was barely active in the 90's having been diagnosed with cancer but hosted "The Crosby Clambake" on the Nashville Network from 1991 to 1993 performing for the last time with a supporting role in the 1994 PBS miniseries "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City." He died from a heart attack following surgery for cancer in Tarzana, California and was cremated. A memorial services was held at the Bel Air Presbyterian Church, Van Nuys. Legacy...During his three years on the MASH series, Stevenson collected three Emmy nominations and in 1974 garnered an Emmy nomination for writing a MASH episode entitled "The Trial of Henry Blake". Interesting family history...He was a member of the family that gave American politics two famous Adlai Stevensons...one was vice president of the United States under Grover Cleveland from 1893-1897 and the other was governor of Illinois, twice the Democratic party's nominee for president and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Many others, minor Illinois official originated from the Stevenson family He worked as the press secretary to candidate Stevenson during his quest for the White House in 1952 and again in 1956. Stevenson was also the brother of actress Ann Whitney. He was very instrumental in his final years working with various charities while appearing in scores of golf tournaments, telethons and other fund raising events. His favorite, where he was the national spokesman, The Children's Burn Foundation in Sherman Oaks, California. He was motivated from memories of his own having been seriously burned as a child by a Halloween pumpkin. In a bit of trivia...Stevenson McLean's hasty departure from MASH and his post era disappointing career has led to the coining of a word. "McLeaning" derived from his middle name which in-turn came from McLean County, Indiana, his birth place. Its connotation in Hollywood denotes an actor leaving a show and his or her character's subsequent demise.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Courts of Remembrance, Columbarium of Valor, niche G64649

Ed Flanders (actor)

2008-05-09T21:20:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Suicide

Birth: Dec. 29, 1934
Death: Feb. 22, 1995

Edward Paul Flanders (December 29, 1934 – February 22, 1995) was an American actor best known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Dr. Donald Westphall in the television series St. Elsewhere.

Flanders was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Bernice (née Brown) and Francis Michael Grey Flanders.[1] Flanders began his acting career on Broadway before moving on to guest parts in television series. From 1967 through 1975, Flanders appeared in more than a dozen American TV shows, including six appearances on Hawaii Five-O (as six different characters). During this time, he was also prolific in TV movies. He also married actress Ellen Geer during this time; they later divorced.

In the late 1970s, Flanders moved away from small TV roles to take major credits in both TV and feature films. In 1982, he commenced his role in St. Elsewhere, which was to earn him four Emmy nominations as Outstanding Lead Actor in a TV Series. He won this award in 1983. After a stormy departure from the series in 1987, he returned for two more episodes including the 1988 series finale. During a scene in which Westphall addressed the staff, Flanders began speaking extemporaneously about the quality of art and had to be edited for broadcast. However, Flanders continued his working relationship with executive producer Bruce Paltrow in the short-lived 1994 CBS series, The Road Home.

Flanders continued working in telemovies in the early 1990s, but was suffering from depression, particularly after his 1992 divorce from his second wife. He took his own life by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on February 22, 1995 age 60 in Denny, California.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

Hugh O'Connor (actor)

2008-05-08T21:05:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: gunshot

Birth: Apr. 7, 1962
Death: Mar. 28, 1995

Hugh O'Connor was born in Rome, Italy. When he was six days old he was adopted by Carroll O'Connor and his wife Nancy. Carroll was in Rome filming Cleopatra. He was named after Carroll O'Connor's brother, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1961. When he was 16 he was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. He survived the cancer with chemotherapy and two surgeries, but became addicted to drugs. He had been taking prescription drugs for the pain and marijuana for nausea. He quickly became addicted to harder drugs. Despite numerous stays at rehabilitation clinics, he never conquered his addiction.

He was married to Angela Clayton, a wardrobe assistant on In the Heat of the Night, on March 28, 1992, and their son Sean Carroll O'Connor was born in 1993.

On March 28, 1995, the third anniversary of his marriage, O'Connor called his father to tell him he was going to end his life. He told his father he believed he could not beat the drugs and could not face another drug rehabilitation program. Carroll called the police, who arrived at Hugh's Pacific Palisades home just as he shot himself in the head. The police later determined he had cocaine in his blood.

Hugh O'Connor was cremated and his remains buried at the Church of St. Susanna in Rome, Italy. He has a cenotaph at his father's gravesite, leading many people to believe that he is buried there.

Burial:
Westwood Memorial Park *
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Cremated remains buried at the Church of St. Susanna in Rome, Italy.
*Cenotaph

Gale Gordon (actor)

2008-05-07T20:54:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: lung cancer

Birth: Feb. 2, 1906
Death: Jun. 30, 1995

Gale Gordon (February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor. Remembered best as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil — and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television situation comedy, The Lucy Show — Gordon was just as respected for his earlier career in classic American radio, where he was once the highest-paid actor in the medium, even though he was never a top-billed radio star.

Born Charles T. Aldrich, Jr. in New York City, the son of British actress Gloria Gordon and her vaudevillian husband Charles Aldrich, Gordon's first big radio break came was the recurring role of Mayor La Trivia on Fibber McGee and Molly, before playing Rumson Bullard on the show's successful spinoff, The Great Gildersleeve. Gordon was the first actor to play the role of Flash Gordon, in the 1935 radio serial The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon. [1] In 1950, Gordon played John Granby in the radio series "Granby's Green Acres", which became the basis for the 1960s television series, "Green Acres." Gordon went on to create the role of pompous principal "Osgood Conklin" on Our Miss Brooks, carrying the role to television when the show moved there in 1952. In the interim, Gordon turned up as Rudolph Atterbury on My Favorite Husband, which starred Lucille Ball in a precursor to I Love Lucy." Gordon and Ball previously worked together on "The Wonder Show" starring Jack Haley from 1938 to 1939. The two had a longterm friendship as well as recurring professional partnership. In addition, Gordon landed a recurring role as fictitious Rexall Drugs sponsor representative Mr. Scott on yet another radio hit, The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, staying with the role as long as Rexall sponsored the show.

The widely acknowledged master of the "slow-burn" temper explosion in character, Gordon was actually the first pick to play Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy, but he was committed to Our Miss Brooks and had to decline the offer in favor of William Frawley. But he did make two guest shots on the show as Ricky Ricardo's boss, Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana Club where Ricky's band played, and later played a judge on a The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episode. (Gordon also had a co-starring role in the television comedy Pete and Gladys.)

In 1962, Ball created The Lucy Show and planned to hire Gordon to play Mr. Mooney, the banker who was first Lucy Carmichael's executor and subsequently her employer, when she went to work in his bank. Gordon, however, was still under contract to play the second Mr. Wilson (after the death of Joseph Kearns) on Dennis the Menace. When that show ended in spring 1963, Gordon joined The Lucy Show as Mooney for the 1963-64 season. In the interim, Charles Lane played the similar Mr. Barnsdahl character for the 1962-63 season. The somewhat portly Gordon was not only adept at physical comedy, but could do a perfect cartwheel. He did this once on The Lucy Show, and again as a guest on The Dean Martin Show.

After the sale of Desilu studios, Ball shut down The Lucy Show in 1968 and retooled it into Here's Lucy. She used Gordon yet again---this time as her irascible boss (and brother-in-law) Harry Carter, at an employment agency that specialized in unusual jobs. It was really the Lucy Carmichael/Mr. Mooney relationship continued with new names and a new setting.

Gordon all but retired when Here's Lucy ended (although he did reprise his role of Mr. Mooney in the first aired episode of Hi Honey, I'm Home!), but in the 1980s he came out of retirement to join Ball one last time, for the short-lived Life With Lucy. When Lucille Ball finally called it a career, Gale Gordon turned out to be the only actor to have co-starred or guest-starred in every weekly series, radio or television, she had done since the 1940s.

Gale Gordon died of lung cancer at age 89 in Escondido, California not long after the death of Virginia, his wife of nearly 60 years. They had no children.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

Slappy White (actor/comedian)

2008-05-06T20:44:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart Attack

Birth: Sep. 20, 1921
Death: Nov. 7, 1995

(born Melvin White, September 20, 1921, Baltimore, MD, died November 7, 1995, Brigantine, NJ) was an American comedian and actor. He worked with Redd Foxx on the Chitlin' circuit of stand-up comedy during the 1950s and 1960s. He appeared on the television shows Sanford and Son, Blossom, and Cybill and in the films Mr. Saturday Night and Amazon Women on the Moon.

One of his jokes: "I went into a new barbershop in my neighborhood and told the brother, "Give me that Afro look". Well, I fell asleep in the chair. And when I woke up, I had a bone in my nose."

Slappy White's official biography reported that he actually "ran away to join the circus" as a child. White's most notable success in later years was his being a fixture at the infamous Friar's Club "Roasts" where he routinely delivered memorable performances that stood toe to toe with roast legends like Milton Berle, Jackie Vernon, Pat Buttram and Dick Shawn. White was very well known as a reliable "heavy hitter" by the roast organizers, capable of "saving" a roast that had lost momentum due to lesser comics bombing.

Among the many of Slappy White's risque' routines performed at the roasts was a joke about an early spiritual black man questioning God about his physical features thusly: "... and so the black man said to God... Lord why is my skin this dark?" "... and the Lord replied My Son, it is so that the intense sun in Africa will not burn you" "... and then he said Lord, why is my head covered with large mass of kinky hair?" "... and the Lord replied My Son that is so that the mosquitoes and other insects in Africa cannot bite your head" "... so this Black dude says ... Then God, why the fuck am I in Detroit?"

In contrast to the ability to hold his own in the off-color humor world of the Friars Roasts, Slappy White also wrote and performed a highly respected and innovative "straight" routine using one black and one white glove while reciting his poem about equality between men. Performed many times at the height of the civil rights movement in America, White once recounted that President John F. Kennedy gave it a heartfelt standing ovation.

Although not as well known today, Slappy White was one of several unsung heroes who paved the way for the enormous success of the generations of black comedy performers who followed him. White has enjoyed somewhat of a minor renaissance after his death owing to some select "bootleg" recordings of the Friars Club Roasts becoming available through outlets of comedy records.

Burial:
Unknown

Dean Martin (singer/actor)

2008-05-05T20:10:00.006-05:00

Cause of death: Acute respiratory failure

Birth: Jun. 7, 1917
Steubenville
Jefferson County
Ohio

Death: Dec. 25, 1995

Legendary Singer, Actor, and Comedian. Born Dino Paul Crocetti in Stuebenville, Ohio. Before acheiving stardom, he performed various job duties, some of which were as a steelmill worker, a service station attendant, a gambler, and he also tried to be a professional boxer. As a boxer, he fought under the name of "Kid Crochet." When asked about his boxing career, he said that he had won "all" but 11 of his 12 bouts. In 1946 his life would change forever when he met a very hard working young up-start named Jerry Lewis. This would mark the beginning of one of Hollywood's greatest teams. During the next 11 years and 16 films, the team of Martin and Lewis not only brought about super-stardom, but it also brought a lot of personal conflicts. These conflicts not only led to their break-up, but the hurt was felt by the two for a great number of years. After the Martin-Lewis split, 1958-59 brought two films for Dean, "The Young Lions" (1958) and a film entitled "Rio Bravo" (1959). In this film, he was not only starring with another Hollywood icon, John Wayne, but also a very popular teen idol, Ricky Nelson. While sharing songs with Nelson in this film, it became a hit with music fans everywhere. A 1960 film, however, added yet another high point in his career. The mega-hit film "Oceans Eleven" would bring with it the ever famous "rat pack" label, when he was teamed with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. This proved to be an enduring bond among these greats. Dean's film career continued until 1965, when he made a daring venture into the television industry with "The Dean Martin Show." He hosted this show until 1973, and earned a Golden Globe award. His show would change, and by adding a panel of some of Hollywood's biggest names, the "Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast" was formed. This show would be known as one of the best in television history, and will remain a classic. When the show's run ended in 1984, and after a 19 year stint in tv, he thought it was a time to relax, but after a short respite, he went on a singing tour with his old friends of the "rat pack." But 1987 would bring with it a very tragic event, one from which Dean would never recover, when his son, Dean Paul Martin, was killed in a plane crash. Dean immediately left the rat pack tour, never to return, and he resigned to a solitary life until his death on a Christmas day. In his personal life, Dean was married 3 times, of which all ended in divorce. His first wife was Betty Mcdonald (1940-49) and had 4 children. His second wife was Jeanne Biegger (1949-73) 3 children. And his third wife Catherine Hawn (1973-76) with one step daughter. As a singer, he was known as one of the greatest crooners, and "Dino" was an extremely popular singer with the Italian segment of society. Dean has been honored by Hollywood with 2 stars on the Walk of Fame.

Burial:
Westwood Memorial Park
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Sanctuary of Love, left side
GPS (lat/lon): 34.05869, -118.44067

Joe E. Ross (actor)

2008-05-04T19:58:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: heart attack

Birth: Mar. 15, 1914
Death: Aug. 13, 1982

Joe E. Ross (March 15, 1914 - August 13, 1982), was an American actor known for his trademark "Ooh! Ooh!" exclamation, which he used in many of his roles.

He was born Joseph Roszawikz in New York, New York. After attending Seward Park High School, in 1930, he left school at the age of 16 to become a singing waiter at the Van Cortlandt Inn in the Bronx. When the cafe added a girl dancer and singer, Ross was promoted to announcer. He added some jokes and became a comedian.

In 1938, he appeared at the Queens Terrace, near Jackson Heights, New York. Jackie Gleason had already been playing there for 16 weeks, and the manager was about to ask Gleason to stay a while longer. Ross heard of the opening, auditioned for it, got the contract, and also stayed 16 weeks. Ross then turned burlesque comic on the Schuster circuit out of Chicago.

His career was interrupted by World War II, and he served in the Army Air Corps at Camp Blanding, Florida, and later was sent to England.

After war, Ross took the stand as announcer-comic at Billy Gray's Bandbox in Hollywood. He kept his ties to burlesque intact, and appeared in Irving Klaw's feature-length theatrical film Teaserama (1955), a filmed re-creation of a burlesque show.

In 1955, Joe worked at a nightclub in Miami Beach called Club Ciro. It was there that he was spotted by Nat Hiken and Phil Silvers, who were planning a show called You'll Never Get Rich (later known as The Phil Silvers Show) and immediately loved Joe's comedic talent. He was hired on the spot and cast as mess sergeant Rupert Ritzik.

Ross made Ritzik a memorable character. Ritzik was henpecked, dumb, and greedy, so he was an easy mark for Sgt. Bilko's con games. Whenever Ritzik had a sudden inspiration, he would hesitate and stammer "Ooh! Ooh!" before articulating his idea. This catchphrase came from the actor's own frustration when he couldn't remember his next line. Phil Silvers recalled deliberately straying from the scripted dialogue and giving Ross the wrong cues, thus prompting a genuinely confused reaction and an agonized "Ooh! Ooh!" from Ross.

After the The Phil Silvers Show ended in 1959, Nat Hiken went on to produce Car 54, Where Are You? and cast Joe E. Ross in his most famous role as Patrolman Gunther Toody of New York's 53rd Precinct. Fred Gwynne, another Bilko alumnus, played Toody's partner, Francis Muldoon. Toody could usually be counted on at some point to say,"Ooh! Ooh! Francis!" Ross became so identified with his policeman role that he recorded an album of songs entitled "Love Songs from a Cop." Roulette Records released the LP in 1964.

Ross's personal life was as noisy and troubled as his screen characters. Silvers estimated that Ross was married 11 times.

Ross also starred as Gronk in Sherwood Schwartz's ill-fated 1966 sitcom It's About Time, which featured two 1960s American astronauts who were thrown back in time to the prehistoric era.

Ross also was a prominent cartoon voice into the 70s, playing the stereotypical bumbling sergeant in many cartoons such as Hong Kong Phooey (as Sgt. Flint) and Help! It's The Hair Bear Bunch (as Botch). His "Ooh! Ooh!" phrase was emulated by Frank Welker in the animated series Fangface.

Ross died while on stage on August 13, 1982 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 68.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Summerland, L-149
GPS (lat/lon): 34.15137, -118.3185

Paul Lynde (comedian)

2008-05-03T19:24:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Heart attack

Birth: Jun. 13, 1927
Mount Vernon
Knox County
Ohio

Death: Jan. 10, 1982
Beverly Hills
Los Angeles County
California

Lynde played Samantha's mischievous Uncle Arthur (the practical joker) on the television show "Bewitched." Comic-Actor-Panelist. Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Paul Lynde was one of six children of Hoy and Sylvia Lynde. Upon viewing the original “Ben-Hur” film at the tender age of five, little Paul announced he would be a rich and famous actor when he grew up. By the end of his life 50 years later, he was indeed both. Paul Lynde attended Mount Vernon High School, graduating in 1944. Encouraged by his high school drama coach, young Paul enrolled at Northwestern University's Speech and Drama School, where he completed his studies in 1948 as “Best Student Actor of the Year.” After graduation he pursued an actor’s life in New York, surviving four years by waiting tables and selling his own blood for five dollars a pint in order to scrape together the money he needed for food and rent, hoping for a chance at the big time. On Thanksgiving Day 1950, Paul won an amateur talent contest which led to his first New York nightclub gig. Other successful club dates followed, and he was soon cast in “New Faces of 1952”, a hit revue which led to comedy roles in the original stage (and later screen) production of “Bye Bye Birdie.” Besides “Birdie” (with Ann-Margret - 1963), Paul Lynde’s film credits include “New Faces” (with Eartha Kitt - 1954), “Under the Yum Yum Tree” (with Jack Lemmon - 1963), “Son of Flubber” (with Fred Mac Murray - 1963), “Send Me No Flowers” (with Rock Hudson - 1964), “The Glass Bottom Boat” (with Doris Day - 1966), “Charlotte’s Web” (with Debbie Reynolds - 1973), “Rabbit Test” ( with Billy Crystal - 1978), and “The Villain” (with Kirk Douglas - 1979). Television appearances run the gamut from “Bewitched”, “Donny & Marie”, “Love American Style”, “The Munsters”, “The Carol Burnett Show”, and “What’s My Line?”, to his own Special “Paul Lynde Goes Maaad!”, “I’ve Got A Secret”, and - of course - “Hollywood Squares”, where he occupied the center square for nearly a dozen years total, collecting two Emmy Awards for his caustic wit, wisecracking his way to financial independence, gaining international recognition by answering such questions put to him by host Peter Marshall as: “In the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ the lion wanted courage and the tin man wanted a heart. What did the scarecrow want?” Paul: “He wanted the tin man to notice him.” Recorded performances include “New Faces of 1952” (RCA - 1952), “Bye Bye Birdie” (Columbia - 1960), “Zingers From The Hollywood Squares” (Event Records - 1974), and “This is Broadway’s Best” (Columbia CD - 2000). He achieved success as a comedy writer, club performer, director, recording artist, actor on Broadway, in films, television, cartoons and summer stock, and - off the clock - one of Hollywood's finest chefs. About his overloaded schedule he complained, “I can't even get three weeks off to have cosmetic surgery!” Although engaged in ongoing personal struggles in private life, as tabloids and newspapers occasionally reported, Paul Lynde remained appreciated by those in his profession, his personal friends, and legions of fans alike. He was perhaps most famous just for being Paul Lynde. Enigmatic to himself, he opined “I don't know who the hell Paul Lynde is, or why he's funny, and I prefer it to be a mystery to me. An actor shouldn't undergo psychoanalysis, because there are a lot of things you're better off not knowing.” The 55 year old actor passed away unexpectedly on January 10, 1982 of a massive heart attack, in his Beverly Hills North Palm Drive home. His body was discovered in the early hours of January 11 by concerned friends, seeking to determine why Paul Lynde had failed to attend a dinner party the night before. Hollywood services were held at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Westwood, California, with interment at Amity Cemetery, Amity, Ohio.

Burial:
Amity Cemetery
Knox County
Ohio, USA

John A. Belushi

2008-05-01T14:29:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Overdose of cocaine and heroin

Birth: Jan. 24, 1949

Death: Mar. 5, 1982
Hollywood
Los Angeles County
California, USA

In 1975 a new skit comedy program was being cast and John won a spot with an audition featuring his soon to be familiar Samurai character as a pool hustler. John formed a partnership with fellow cast mate Dan Aykroyd and together they introduced the Blues Brothers with a rendition of "Hey Bartender" in the spring of 1978 on SNL and followed it with the released of an album; “Briefcase Full of Blues”. That same year saw the release of “National Lampoon's Animal House” and John became a huge star. John continued as a member of SNL until September of 1979.

Burial:
Elmwood Cemetery and Mausoleum *
River Grove
Cook County
Illinois, USA
*Cenotaph

Jack Webb (actor)

2008-04-30T09:47:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: heart attack

Birth: Apr. 2, 1920
Death: Dec. 23, 1982

He is best remembered for his role of Police Sgt. Joe Friday on the television series "Dragnet" in the 1960s and 1970s.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Sheltering Hills, Lot 1999
GPS (lat/lon): 34.1484, -118.32718

Henry Fonda (actor)

2008-04-29T13:13:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Heart Failure

Birth: May 16, 1905
Death: Aug. 12, 1982

The tall, gangling Oscar-winning actor's screen career lasted from 1935 to 1981, with films such as "Young Mr. Lincoln," "Mister Roberts," "The Grapes of Wrath" and "On Golden Pond." With his distinctive Midwest twang, Fonda embodied a quiet, decent honesty in his roles. He also started a Hollywood dynasty with daughter Jane, son Peter and granddaughter Bridget.Born in Grand Island, Nebraska, Fonda majored in journalism in college, but found acting more to his liking: His early stage stints included the amateur Omaha Community Playhouse, where he met Jocelyn Brando, the mother of Hollywood icon Marlon Brando.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered.

Jane Wyman (actress)

2008-04-28T06:11:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: natural causes

Birth: Jan. 5, 1917
Saint Joseph
Buchanan County
Missouri, USA

Death: Sep. 10, 2007
Palm Springs
Riverside County
California, USA

Jane Wyman was born Sarah Jane Mayfield on January 5, 1917, in St. Joseph, Missouri (she was also known later as Sarah Jane Fulks). When she was only eight years old, and after her parents filed for divorce, she lost her father prematurely. After graduating high school she attempted, with the help of her mother, to break into films, but to no avail. In 1932, after attending the University of Missouri, she began a career as a radio singer, which led to her first name change to Jane Durrell. In 1936 she signed a contract with Warner Bros. Pictures and that led to another name change, the more familiar one of Jane Wyman. Under that name she appeared in "A" and "B" pictures at Warners, including two with her future husband, Ronald Reagan: Brother Rat (1938) and its sequel, Brother Rat and a Baby (1940). In the early 1940s she moved into comedies and melodramas and gained attention for her role as Ray Milland's long-suffering wife in The Lost Weekend (1945). The following year she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Ma Baxter in The Yearling (1946), and won the coveted prize in 1949 as deaf-mute rape victim Belinda MacDonald in Johnny Belinda (1948). She followed that with a number of appearances in more prestigious films, such as Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950), Frank Capra's Here Comes the Groom (1951), Michael Curtiz's The Story of Will Rogers (1952) and the first movie version of The Glass Menagerie (1950). She starred opposite Bing Crosby in the musical Just for You (1952). She was Oscar-nominated for her performances in The Blue Veil (1951) and Magnificent Obsession (1954). She also starred in the immensely popular So Big (1953), Lucy Gallant (1955), All That Heaven Allows (1955) and Miracle in the Rain (1956). In addition to her extensive film career, she hosted TV's "Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre" (1955) and starred in most of the episodes of the show, which ran for three seasons. She came back to the big screen in Holiday for Lovers (1959), Pollyanna (1960) and her final film, How to Commit Marriage (1969). Although off the big screen, she became a presence on the small screen and starred in two made-for-TV movies, including The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel (1979) (TV). In early 1981, in the 49th year of her career, she won the role of conniving matriarch Angela Channing Erikson Stavros Agretti in the movie "The Vintage Years", which was the unaired pilot for the prime-time soap opera "Falcon Crest" (1981), later in the year. For nine seasons she played that character in a way that virtually no other actress could have done, and became the moral center of the show. The show was a ratings winner from its debut in 1981, and made stars out of her fellow cast members Robert Foxworth, Lorenzo Lamas, Abby Dalton and Susan Sullivan. At the end of the first season the storyline had her being informed that her evil son, played by David Selby, had inherited 50% of a California newspaper company, and the conflicts inherent in that situation led to even bigger ratings over the next five years. Wyman was nominated six times for a Soap Opera Digest Award, and in 1984 she won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Drama. By the show's eighth season, however, she was emotionally drained and the strain of constantly working to keep up the quality of a hit show took its toll on her. In addition, there was friction on the set among cast members. All of these events culminated in her departure from the show after the first two episodes of the ninth season (her character was hospitalized and slipped into a coma) for health reasons. After a period of recuperation, she believed that she had recovered enough to guest-star in the last three episodes of the season (her doctor disagreed, but she did it anyway). She then guest-starred as Jane Seymour's mother on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (1993) and three years later appeared in Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick (1996). In the late 1990s she purchased a home in Rancho Mirage, California, where she's still living in retirement. Her daughter, Maureen Reagan (who died in August 2001), was a writer who also involved herself in political issues and organized a powerful foundation. Also, she placed her 3200-sq.-ft. Rancho Mirage condominium on the market.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Cathedral City)
Cathedral City
Riverside County
California, USA

Robert Goulet (singer/actor)

2008-04-27T06:32:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Birth: Nov. 26, 1933
Lawrence
Essex County
Massachusetts, USA

Death: Oct. 30, 2007
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

After graduation he became a popular male ingénue in theatre and on television, finally landing a job as host of the weekly variety show for CBCTV. On December 3, 1960 he made his Broadway debut in the role of Lancelot du Lac in the original run of ‘Camelot' which turned him into an international star. He remained with the play until it closed after 873 performances on January 5, 1963. Goulet won a Grammy Award in 1962 as best new artist and made the singles chart in 1964 with ‘My Love Forgive Me.' he returned to Broadway in 1968 winning the Tony Award for best actor in a musical in ‘The Happy Time.' He also appeared in feature films including "I'd Rather Be Rich' in 1964; ‘Scrooged' in 1988; and ‘Toy Story' in 1999; as well as numerous guest roles on television series including ‘Police Story;' ‘Matt Houston;' and ‘Murder She Wrote.' Goulet's humor was showcased in a recent series of advertisement for Emerald nuts in which he disrupts offices of dozing workers. His last performance was in the one-man show ‘A Man and his Music.' On September 30, 2007, he was hospitalized in Las Vegas, diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis; on October 13 he was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Goulet died there while awaiting an emergency lung transplant.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

Dick Wilson (actor)

2008-04-26T08:53:00.003-05:00

Cause of death: Old age

Birth: Jun. 30, 1916
Death: Nov. 19, 2007

Born Riccardo DiGuglielmo, he is best remembered for the Charmin bathroom tissue commercial that ran from 1964 to 1985. Playing the role of grocer Mr. Whipple in over 500 commercials, his famous line of "Please don't squeeze the Charmin" became a part of American culture. Besides his work in commercials, he enjoyed a seventy year career as a character actor in both film and television.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Enduring Faith, Lot 822, Space 1

Charlton Heston (Actor/NRA activist)

2008-04-25T16:07:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Alzheimer's

Birth: Oct. 4, 1923
Death: Apr. 5, 2008

A Hollywood legend, he became a superstar playing larger-than-life characters, from Moses to Michaelangelo, in big screen epics of the 1950s and 1960s. He won an Academy Award for his powerful performance in the title role of "Ben-Hur" (1959). Born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois, he caught the acting bug as a teen and took on the pseudonym Charlton Heston (borrowed from his mother's maiden name and his stepfather's surname) as a drama major at Northwestern University. While there he starred in a student film, "Peer Gynt" (1942), shot on 16mm.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

Yvonne De Carlo (actress)

2008-04-24T05:12:00.004-05:00

Cause of death: Natural causes

Birth: Sep. 1, 1922
Death: Jan. 8, 2007

In 1959, she made the cross over to television, appearing in guest role on ‘Bonanza,' and ‘The Virginian.' In 1964, she landed what is probably her most famous role, Lily Munster, in the television series ‘The Munsters' which would run through the 1966 season and spawn two movies ‘The Munsters' Revenge' in 1981 and ‘Here Come the Munsters' in 1995 in which she made a cameo appearance.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

Allan Melvin (actor)

2008-04-23T11:13:00.006-05:00

Cause of death: Cancer

Birth: Feb. 18, 1922
Kansas City
Jackson County
Missouri, USA

Death: Jan. 17, 2008
Brentwood (Los Angeles County)
Los Angeles County
California, USA

He is best remembered for appearances in television comedy series as "The Phil Silvers Show," "All in the Family" and "The Brady Bunch." Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in New York City, he had his first success on "The Phil Silvers Show," which ran from 1955 to 1959, playing 'Corporal Henshaw', the right-hand man to Silvers' 'Master Sergeant Ernie Bilko'. He went on to play Archie Bunker's neighbor 'Barney' in "All in the Family," and different roles on at least eight episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show." On the popular and long syndicated series "The Brady Bunch" he gamed notoriety as "Sam the Butcher", the boyfriend of 'Alice' the housekeeper. Melvin also worked in cartoons, providing the voices of "Magilla Gorilla" in the Hanna-Barbera series of the same name and 'Bluto' on "Popeye."

Burial:
Unknown

Bob Crane (actor)

2008-04-22T11:39:00.005-05:00

Cause of death: Murdered (Crushed Skull)

birth: Jul. 13, 1928
Death: Jun. 29, 1978

Born in Connecticut, Crane started out in show business as a drummer, and eventually became a disk jockey. For nine years in California, he hosted a morning drive show that was very popular. He had many famous people on this show, ranging from Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Marilyn Monroe, and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. Eventually he decided to get into acting, and landed guest roles on such shows as the Dick Van Dyke Show. He was cast in a regular role on The Donna Reed Show as Dr. David Kelsey. He left that show in 1965 to star in Hogan's Heroes on CBS, which many felt would be a failure. Instead, the show was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, and ran until 1970, when it was cancelled.

Burial:
Oakwood Memorial Park *
Chatsworth
Los Angeles County
California, USA
*Former burial location

Will Geer (actor)

2008-04-21T04:43:00.005-05:00

Respiratory Arrest

Birth: Mar. 9, 1902
Death: Apr. 22, 1978

He is best remembered for his role of ‘Zebulon "Grandpa" Walton’ on the television series, "The Waltons" (1972 to 1981; his death was written into the drama in a special two hour episode, "The Empty Nest").

Burial:
Shakepeare Garden at The Will Geer Estate
Topanga
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Zara Cully (actress)

2008-04-19T14:24:00.004-05:00

cancer

Birth: Jan. 26, 1892
Death: Feb. 28, 1978

George's Mom on 'The Jeffersons.'

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot: Freedom Mausoleum, Columbarium of Victory

Blossom Rock (actress)

2008-04-19T14:08:00.005-05:00

Old age

Birth: Aug. 21, 1896
Death: Jan. 14, 1978

'Grandmama' from the Addams Family television series.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot: Memory Slope #1183

Charlie Chaplin (actor/director)

2008-04-18T08:38:00.004-05:00

Old age

Birth: Apr. 16, 1889
Death: Dec. 25, 1977

From his screen debut in 1914 to his last completed film in 1967, the versatile Charlie Chaplin, actor, writer, director, producer, composer and choreographer, left a legacy of some 80 mostly silent films but the icon of the silent screen is forever associated with his "Little Tramp" character, the man with the toothbrush mustache, bowler hat, bamboo cane and the funny walk.

Burial:
Corsier Cemetery
Corsier-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland

Sebastian Cabot (actor)

2008-04-18T08:19:00.006-05:00

Stroke

Birth: Jul. 6, 1918
Death: Aug. 22, 1977

Born Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot in London. He worked both as a mechanic and a chauffer before making his uncredited screen debut in 1935's 'Foreign Affaires .' He won a steady string of bit roles for the next ten years before landing the prominent role of Iago in 1946's 'Othello.' The following year he relocated to the United States where he appeared in such films as 'Ivanhoe' in 1952, 'Kismet' in 1955, 'The Time Machine' in 1960, and 'The Family Jewels' in 1965. The following year he won one of his more memorable roles, that of Mr French in the television series 'Family Affair.' The series ran until 1971.

Burial:
Westwood Memorial Park
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
In the large urn garden (in front of the office) His ashes are in the top row, nine from right

Groucho Marx (comic)

2008-04-16T08:40:00.004-05:00

pneumonia

Birth: Oct. 2, 1890
Death: Aug. 19, 1977

Legendary Actor, Comedian. Groucho was probably the best known of the Marx Brothers comedy team. He achieved fame in film with his brothers Harpo and Chico and sometimes Zeppo, and went on to radio and TV success with the "You Bet Your Life" program.

Burial:
Eden Memorial Park
Mission Hills
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
In a small room in the large outdoor mausoleum in the middle of the cemetery. His marker is in the middle of the larger indoor wall
GPS (lat/lon): 34.28138, -118.46735

Joan Crawford (actress)

2008-04-16T07:58:00.005-05:00

Cancer and acute coronary occlusion

Birth: Mar. 23, 1905
Death: May 10, 1977

Born Lucille Fay Le Sueur in San Antonio, Texas, but christened Joan Crawford by Hollywood, she exemplified the 1920s carefree "flapper" era to a 'T'. Her beauty and vivacity catapulted her to stardom in the late 1920s in the hugely popular silent classic "Our Dancing Daughters". Ever since that point, the resilient actress with the ever expressive eyes, the famous overpainted lips and the will of steel created for herself one of the most legendary and enduring Hollywood personae of all time.

Burial:
Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum
HartsdaleWestchester County
New York, USA

Plot:
Main Mausoleum, Unit 8, Alcove E, Crypt 42

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (actor)

2008-04-13T19:37:00.005-05:00

Heart ailment

Birth: Sep. 18, 1905
Death: Feb. 28, 1977

He is best remembered for his role of ‘Rochester Van Jones', on the "Jack Benny Show". The son of a minstrel, Big Ed Anderson, and a circus tightrope walker, Ella May Anderson, Eddie was born into a show business family, where he joined his brother, Cornelius, in a vaudeville troop.

Burial:
Evergreen Cemetery
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot: Section A, Lot 2504

Burt Mustin (actor)

2008-04-13T19:14:00.010-05:00

Old Age

Birth: Feb. 8, 1882
Death: Jan. 28, 1977

His first film appearance didn't occur until he was 67 years old. He was a regular on "Leave It To Beaver" as Gus the volunteer fireman.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Loving Kindness section, Lot #7844

Jack Cassidy (TV actor)

2008-04-12T21:50:00.003-05:00

He died in a fire at his home

Birth: Mar. 5, 1927
Death: Dec. 12, 1976

Jack Cassidy, by his own design, defied mere definition from the day he was born in Richmond Hills, New York in 1927 until his tragic death in 1976. An actor, singer, writer, designer – the consummate showman and irrefutable creative entity – his life never followed a simple path nor did it ever lead quite where expected.

Burial:

Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Specifically:

Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean

Anissa Jones (Buffy)

2008-04-12T21:14:00.003-05:00

Drug overdose

Birth: Mar. 11, 1958

Death: Aug. 28, 1976

She is best remembered for playing the role of ‘Buffy’ on television's "Family Affair"(1966 to 1971).

Burial:

Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Ozzie Nelson (actor)

2008-04-11T03:43:00.004-05:00

Cancer

Birth: Mar. 20, 1906
Death: Jun. 3, 1975

Fondly remembered as the kindly father in the classic 1950s-60s television series "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet.

Burial:

Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills

Los Angeles

Los Angeles County

California, USA

Plot:

Revelation

Lot 3540GPS (lat/lon): 34.14592, -118.32385

Moe Howard (stooge)

2008-04-11T03:29:00.006-05:00

Lung cancer

Birth: Jun. 19, 1897
Death: May 4, 1975

From a very early age he was interested in acting, a talent that was helped along by his voracious memory and capacity for memorizing just about anything, including all of the many books he read and all of the plays he saw when he was skipping school. His parents, however, were displeased by his constant truancy and his desire to have a career in show business, so he enrolled at the Baron DeHirsch Trade School in New York, where he took a class in electric shop. However, this only lasted a few months, and he returned to his original desire to be in show business.

Burial:
Hillside Memorial Park
Culver City
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Alcove of Love

Susan Hayward (actress)

2008-04-08T02:28:00.007-05:00

Brain Tumor

Birth: Jun. 30, 1918
Death: Mar. 14, 1975

She is best remembered for her roles in the movies "I'll Cry Tomorrow" (1955) and "I Want to Live!" (1958).

Burial:
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery
Carrollton
Carroll County
Georgia, USA

Larry Fine (stooge)

2008-04-08T02:08:00.007-05:00

Stroke

Birth: Oct. 5, 1902
Death: Jan. 24, 1975

He was the frizzy-haired star of the legendary comedy team the The Three Stooges. Upstaged by the team's angry leader Moe Howard and the scene-stealing Curly Howard, Larry was indeed the comic "glue" between the two.

Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Liberation

Specifically:
Larry is entombed next to his wife, who died in 1967, and his son, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1961.

Jack Benny (actor)

2008-04-07T01:59:00.010-05:00

Cancer

Birth: Feb. 14, 1894
Death: Dec. 26, 1974

Actor, Producer, Comedian. He is best remembered for his comically inept violin playing (he was actually a very good violin player), his carefully constructed image as a penny-pincher, and for never being older than 39.

Burial:
Hillside Memorial Park
Culver City
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Mausoleum, Hall of Graciousness

Richard Long (actor)

2008-04-07T01:44:00.004-05:00

Heart attack

Birth: Dec. 17, 1927
Death: Dec. 21, 1974

Fondly remembered for his role of 'Professor Harold Everett' on the popular 1970s TV comedy "Nanny and the Professor." He appeared in numerous films and classic television series, the latter including "The Twilight Zone," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Bonanza," "The Big Valley," and "Love American Style," to name a few.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Frank Sutton (actor)

2008-04-04T06:37:00.006-05:00

Heart Attack

Birth: Oct. 23, 1923
Death: Jun. 28, 1974

He is best remembered for his role of 'Gunnery Sergeant Vincent Carter' on the television comedy series "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." (1964 to 1968).

Burial:
Greenwood Cemetery
Clarksville
Montgomery County
Tennessee, USA

Plot:
Section 12, section 188, next to the access road in the back of the cemetery

Agnes Moorehead (actress)

2008-04-04T06:10:00.007-05:00

Lung cancer

Birth: Dec. 6, 1900
Death: Apr. 30, 1974

Agnes Moorehead appeared in many movies often cast in acid tongue roles and some are: "The Magnificent Ambersons, Our Vines have Tender Grapes, Dark Passage, The Left Hand of God and The Bat." Her numerous TV guest appearances led her to the 1960s TV sitcom Bewitched and became "Endora" the overbearing mother.

Burial:
Dayton Memorial Park
Dayton
Montgomery County
Ohio, USA

Plot:
Memorial Abby Mausoleum

Bud Abbott (comic)

2008-04-03T03:13:00.005-05:00

Cancer

Birth: Oct. 2, 1895
Death: Apr. 24, 1974

Actor, Comedian. He is best remembered for his partnership with Lou Costello. Currently, he and Lou Costello are the only non-sports figures honored in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, for their famous "Who's on First" routine.

Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea.

Specifically:
Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean

Bruce Lee (actor)

2008-04-03T02:42:00.006-05:00

Acute cerebral edema

Birth: Nov. 27, 1940
Death: Jul. 20, 1973

Acclaimed Martial Artist, Actor, and Film Director. Balancing martial arts theory and film performance, Bruce Lee remains the most recognized martial artist of the twentieth century.

Burial:
Lake View Cemetery
Seattle
King County
Washington, USA

Plot:
Lot 276, east side of circular driveway in center of cemetery
GPS (lat/lon): 47.6333, -122.3158

Irene Ryan (actress)

2008-04-03T02:13:00.006-05:00

Stroke

Birth: Oct. 17, 1902
Death: Apr. 26, 1973

American vaudeville, stage, motion picture, and television actress of the 1920s thru 1960s. Gained international fame while playing the role of 'Granny' on the 1960s TV series "The Beverly Hillbillies.

Burial:
Woodlawn Cemetery
Santa Monica
Los Angeles County
California, USA

Plot:
Mausoleum, Corridor C
GPS (lat/lon): 34.01802, -118.47516