Celebrity Deaths (1996)
A list of all the celebrity deaths in 1996 in no order. If I am missing a person let me know. Thanks
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- Music Artist
- Composer
- Music Department
Born in New York City, Tupac grew up primarily in Harlem. In 1984, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he became good friends with Jada Pinkett Smith. His family moved again in 1988 to Oakland, California. His first breakthrough in music came in 1991 as a member of the group Digital Underground. In the same year he received individual recognition for his album "2Pacalypse Now," but this album was also the beginning of his notoriety as a leading figure of the gangster permutation of hip-hop, with references to cop killing and sexual violence. His solo movie career also began in this year with Juice (1992), and in 1992 he co-starred with Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice (1993).
However, law confrontations were soon to come: A 15-day jail term in 1994 for assault and battery and, in 1995, a conviction for sexual assault of a female fan. After serving 8 months pending an appeal, Shakur was released from jail.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Mr. Simpson was an extravagant movie producer whose blockbusters Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), and Top Gun (1986) helped define the pop culture of the 1980s. Mr. Simpson teamed with Jerry Bruckheimer in 1983 to produce these hits. In 1985 and 1988, the duo were named producers of the year by the National Association of Theater Owners. In 1991, their films had generated more than $2 billion in sales from theater tickets, videocassettes and record albums. Mr. Simpson also received 10 Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Awards, and two People's Choice best picture awards. The soundtracks from his pictures have received 18 Grammy nominations. Mr. Simpson worked at Paramount Pictures from 1975 through 1991, leaving to join Walt Disney Studios.
In the summer of 1995, his personal physician, Dr. Stephen W. Ammerman, was found dead from a multiple drug overdose in the pool house on Mr. Simpson's estate. Simpson himself died of heart failure the following year, and the coroner's report lists his death as a result of natural causes.- Actor
- Director
Burly Brooklyn-born tough guy Adam Roarke made an infamous name for himself in 1960s biker flicks, usually donning a black leather jacket and a mean, mean scowl, typically the head of a bunch of hell-raisers. Nine of his more than 30 films would be in motorcycle movies, sometimes at odds with young rebel Jack Nicholson before his 'Easy Rider' fame.
The former Richard Jordan Gerler was born on August 8, 1937, and destined to become some type of entertainer as his dad was a vaudeville comic and his mom a chorus girl. His parents met while performing in a Ziegfeld Follies show. He grew up rough and rebellious and was a former gang member surviving on the streets of New York. He eventually straightened up by enlisting in the Army. Following his military duty, he studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and eventually earned a Universal contract to boot, making his film debut (billed as Jordan Gerler) in the crimer 13 West Street (1962). Some of his early work includes a bit part in the film Ensign Pulver (1964) and parts on the TV shows Combat! (1962) and The Virginian (1962).
Adam played tough on TV in many of the "hip" 60's and 70's shows at the time such as Mod Squad (1968), the first pilot episode of Star Trek (1966) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). His cult films include Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) with Nicholson, The Savage Seven (1968), Psych-Out (1968) again with Nicholson, Hell's Belles (1969) and Platinum Pussycat (1968). In addition, he appeared on horseback in John Wayne's western El Dorado (1966), and co-starred with Anthony Perkins in Play It As It Lays (1972), Peter Fonda in Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974), and Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man (1980).
Parts grew scarce in the early 80s and Adam decided to focus his attentions on teaching. In 1982 he opened the Film Actor's Lab in Dallas, Texas and settled there. One of his prized students would be Lou Diamond Phillips of "La Bamba" fame. During this time he also acted in and co-directed the low-budget vengeance thriller Trespasses (1986) with Loren Bivens and co-written by former protégé Phillips. Adam's last film was a featured role in the low-budget film Sioux City (1994) directed by and starring Phillips.
Adam, 58, died suddenly of a heart attack in his sleep in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Euless, Texas. A sturdy 60's 'leader of the pack' prototype was survived by second wife Carla Delane-Roarke who co-starred in the film Final Cut (1987) and actor/son Jordan Gerler.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Al Silvani was born on 26 March 1910. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979) and Rocky III (1982). He died on 10 January 1996 in North Hollywood, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Eugene Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third son of Harriet Catherine (Curran) and James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was of Irish and German ancestry.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest and most powerful studio in Hollywood when Gene Kelly arrived in town in 1941. He came direct from the hit 1940 original Broadway production of "Pal Joey" and planned to return to the Broadway stage after making the one film required by his contract. His first picture for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was For Me and My Gal (1942) with Judy Garland. What kept Kelly in Hollywood were "the kindred creative spirits" he found behind the scenes at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The talent pool was especially large during World War II, when Hollywood was a refuge for many musicians and others in the performing arts of Europe who were forced to flee the Nazis. After the war, a new generation was coming of age. Those who saw An American in Paris (1951) would try to make real life as romantic as the reel life they saw portrayed in that musical, and the first time they saw Paris, they were seeing again in memory the seventeen-minute ballet sequence set to the title song written by George Gershwin and choreographed by Kelly. The sequence cost a half million dollars (U.S.) to make in 1951 dollars. Another Kelly musical of the era, Singin' in the Rain (1952), was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry. Kelly was in the same league as Fred Astaire, but instead of a top hat and tails Kelly wore work clothes that went with his masculine, athletic dance style.
Gene Kelly died at age 83 of complications from two strokes on February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Albert Romolo Broccoli was born in Astoria, Queens (New York City) on April 5th, 1909. His mother and father, Cristina and Giovanni Broccoli, raised young Albert in New York on the family farm. The family was in the vegetable business, and Albert claimed one of his uncles brought the first broccoli seeds into the United States in the 1870's. Albert's cousin Pat DiCicco gave him the nickname "Cubby" after a comic strip character named Kabibble. Cubby worked in a pharmacy and then as a coffin-maker, but a trip to see his cousin in Los Angeles gave him an ambition for film stardom. Pat was an actor's agent, and introduced Cubby to such stars as Randolph Scott, Cary Grant and Bob Hope.
In 1940, at the age of 31, Cubby married actress Gloria Blondell. That same year the head of 20th Century-Fox offered him an assistant director position on The Outlaw (1943), directed by Howard Hawks and produced by his good friend Howard Hughes. After this initial job opportunity Cubby became the top assistant director at Fox. He went on to serve as A.D. on such films as The Song of Bernadette (1943) and The Black Swan (1942). When World War II began, Cubby joined the U.S. Navy, where he met future film producer Ray Stark, and together they become heads of entertainment for the troops. Cubby and Gloria decided to end their marriage in 1945, but remained good friends. After the war Cubby determined to get back into the movie business.
In 1946 his cousin Pat worked out the financing for a project called Avalanche (1946), on which Cubby served as production manager. The film spawned a partnership between Cubby and director Irving Allen. Broccoli and Allen later formed Warwick Productions, which eventually became a very successful independent production company based in London, England. After the poor response to "Avalanche", however, Broccoli worked various odd jobs, including selling Christmas trees in California, and eventually took a job as a talent agent, where he represented, among others, Robert Wagner and Lana Turner.
In 1951 Cubby married Nedra Clark. That same year he left the talent agency and, together with his partner Allen, reformed Warwick to make Paratrooper (1953). The film, released in the US as "Paratrooper", was very profitable. Broccoli and Allen become the most successful independent producers in England, turning out such hits as Safari (1956), Zarak (1956) and The Bandit of Zhobe (1959). Cubby and Nedra wanted to start a family but, according to the doctor, Nedra was unable to become pregnant. They instead adopted a young baby boy named Tony. Shortly afterwards Nedra became pregnant after all, and gave birth to a girl, whom they named Tina. Unfortunately, Nedra died in New York shortly afterwards. Cubby was now a widower with two children to raise. He spent months trying to get new film projects off the ground and support his family.
Cubby met Dana Wilson at a New Year's Eve party and there was an instant attraction. The two fell in love and, after five weeks, Cubby proposed marriage. Dana flew to London and started a new life with Cubby. However, things were about to turn sour for him. After making The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), which was financed out of his and Allen's own pockets, the two went bankrupt due to the poor box-office returns because of adverse reaction to the subject matter--Oscar Wilde's homosexuality. The film wasn't allowed to be advertised in the US and never made back its production costs during initial release. Cubby and Allen ended their partnership after the failure of the film. On June 18, 1960, Dana gave birth to a baby girl, Barbara Broccoli. One night Dana asked Cubby if there was something he really wanted to do. Cubby replied. "I always wanted to film the Ian Fleming James Bond books."
Cubby then managed to meet with Harry Saltzman, the man who held the option to the books. Together they formed Eon Productions Ltd. and Danjaq S.A. to make the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962). However, they needed financing. The two men flew to New York and met with Arthur Krim, the head of United Artists. Within the hour Broccoli and Saltzman had a deal to make the first 007 film adventure. Despite the small budget of $1 million, the producers insisted on filming on location in Jamaica and using the then virtually unknown Sean Connery in the title role. Bond became the most successful film series in history and made Cubby Broccoli a household name.
Together with Saltzman, Broccoli produced From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). After nine years as partners, Saltzman sold his share of Eon/Danjaq to United Artists and Cubby became the sole producer of the James Bond films. He later brought in his stepson, Michael G. Wilson, and his daughter Barbara, making it a true family affair. Broccoli's last non-Bond film was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). He had purchased the rights to this Ian Fleming story when he got the 007 book option. They brought in songwriters Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who were under contract to Disney, to write the music for this musical.
In 1982 Broccoli received the Irving G. Thalberg Award for his long and successful producing career. The award was presented by Roger Moore at the Academy Awards ceremony. Broccoli stated that it was one of the happiest days of his life and was very pleased to have received such a great honor. He stopped during his speech to thank all of the hundreds of crew technicians and actors who have helped make his films possible. In 1990 he was honored by having his star placed on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and was even honored by the Queen of England for his contribution to cinema and the British community. Broccoli's last film was Licence to Kill (1989). He had heart problems throughout the early 1990s and was unable to go to the set of GoldenEye (1995).
Cubby's last years were spent at his home in Beverly Hills, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Despite awards, honors and an amazing film career, the most important thing in his life was his family. After undergoing a triple-bypass in 1995, Cubby Broccoli passed away on Thursday, June 27, 1996, surrounded by loved ones. He was 87 and was one of the best-loved and most respected producers in Hollywood. No one ever had anything bad to say about Cubby and, according to many, he was a gentleman who cared about every one of his cast and crew and was the last true film producer. Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli's legacy lives on thanks to his family, which carries on the tradition of making the James Bond films.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Alexander D'Arcy was born on 10 August 1908 in Cairo, Egypt. He was an actor, known for The Awful Truth (1937), Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969) and Horrors of Spider Island (1960). He was married to Arleen Whelan. He died on 20 April 1996 in West Hollywood, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Aliki Vougiouklaki was born in 1934 (or 1933, according to some sources), in Maroussi Attikis, Greece. She studied at the Drama School of the Greek National Theater and made her stage debut in a 1953 Athens production of Molière's "Le malade imaginaire". Around the same time she made her movie debut in To pontikaki (1954). The late 1950's was her breakthrough period: she starred in a successful revival of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" (as Eliza Doolittle) and took the leading part in a very popular movie, Maiden's Cheek (1959). She instantly became Greece's most popular star, created her personal stage group (with a repertory including Aristophanes' "Lysistrata", Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" and Sophocles' "Antigone") and starred in many films, light comedies and melodramas (in many of them she co-starred with Dimitris Papamichael, who was her husband and theater partner during 1965-1974). Her film Ypolohagos Natassa (1970) has been the biggest moneymaker in the history of Greek cinema.- Al Zarilla was born on 1 May 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Winning Team (1952). He died on 28 August 1996 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
- She spent the last 25 years of her life doing what she loved most: travelling the world. Before her death in 1996, she travelled extensively to Asia, Africa, India, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Central America, Russia, Scandinavia, Middle East. Aline Towne was not only an accomplished actress, she was a citizen of the world and left behind friends everywhere she travelled. She is survived by two daughters, one son, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
- Althea Henley was born on 23 July 1911 in Egypt, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for The Phantom Broadcast (1933), Find the Lady (1936) and Hip Zip Hooray (1933). She was married to William Begg, Arthur Markham and Bud Ernest. She died on 25 April 1996 in Smith's Island, Bermuda.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Abbas Ali Hatami was born in Tehran, Iran in 1944. He graduated from the College of Dramatic Arts and began his professional career as a writer of short TV screenplays and also as a playwright. Among his plays are: The Demon and the Bald Hassan, Adam and Eve, The Fisherman's Story, City of Oranges, Talisman and Silk. He began his professional film career in 1970 by writing and directing Hassan, the Bald (1970). In the following years, he developed a personal style that was characterized by melodious dialogue, traditional Iranian ambiance created through architecture and set design. His last film, World Champion Takhti, remained unfinished because of his death in 1996 due to cancer.- Alyce Ardell was born on 14 November 1902 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Magnificent Obsession (1935), A Notorious Gentleman (1935) and Remember Last Night? (1935). She died on 3 March 1996 in Laguna Hills, California, USA.
- Actress
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Soundtrack
Alyce King was born on 14 August 1915 in Payson, Utah, USA. She was an actress, known for On Stage Everybody (1945), Cuban Pete (1946) and Larceny with Music (1943). She was married to Robert Clarke and Sydney de Azevedo. She died on 21 August 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
At age 16, Annabella was chosen by Abel Gance to appear in Napoleon (1927). In the 30s, she became a star of French movies. She made movies in numerous other countries, before being called to Hollywood in 1938, where she met and married Tyrone Power. She remained in the USA until 1947. Then she attempted a comeback in France. She retired from show business in 1954.- Annie Ducaux was born on 10 September 1908 in Besançon, Doubs, France. She was an actress, known for Rendez-vous à Paris (1947), Dreams of Love (1947) and Nuit de mai (1934). She died on 31 December 1996 in Champeaux, Seine-et-Marne, France.
- Spanish actor (although reportedly born in Puerto Rico) who relocated to Mexico in 1946 and became a popular leading man opposite stars like María Félix, María Antonieta Pons, and Gloria Marín. Calvo, the son of well-known Spanish actor Juan Calvo, began working on the stage at the age of 5. His Spanish film debut came in 1934, and in late 1945 he was hired by Mexico producer Gregorio Walerstein to appear with María Félix in La mujer de todos (1946). During the 1960s, Calvo returned to work in the Spanish film industry, but came back to Mexico in the 1970s, where he was a TV and stage regular and made occasional film appearances. During the last few years of his life, Calvo was something of a recluse, living in straitened circumstances in a Mexico City hotel and spending his time writing and painting. He suffered from emphysema and kidney trouble, and died of heart failure in July 1996.
- Arthur Peterson was born on 18 November 1912 in Mandan, North Dakota, USA. He was an actor, known for Soap (1977), Mission: Impossible (1966) and Targets (1968). He was married to Norma Ransome. He died on 31 October 1996 in Pasadena, California, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Audrey Meadows was born in New York City as Audrey Cotter, the youngest of four children. After she was born, her family returned to Wu'chang, China, where they worked as missionaries. Her family returned to the US and settled in New England when Audrey was age 6, and she and sister Jayne Meadows attended an all-girls boarding school. After high school, Jayne went to NYC with the goal of becoming an actress and finally convinced her little sister to join her in show business, but as a singer instead of an actress. Audrey spent months working on the Broadway show "Top Banana" and then got a job on The Bob & Ray Show (1951). She then replaced Pert Kelton as the most famous and best-loved "Alice Kramden" of The Honeymooners (1955). After "The Honeymooners" ended, she went on to do films, such as Take Her, She's Mine (1963) and That Touch of Mink (1962), and even portrayed Ted Knight's mother-in-law in the 1980s sitcom Too Close for Comfort (1980). But her heart--and ours--will forever remain in that two-burner-stove Chauncey Street kitchen.- Actress
- Writer
Audrey Munson was a model and actress who achieved fame in the early part of the 20th Century in the United States. Born on June 8, 1891, in Rochester, New York, Munson was the only child produced by the marriage of Edgar Munson and Katherine Mahoney Munson. After her parents divorced, Munson was raised by her mother. At age 17, she and her mother moved to New York City where she began modeling.
By her early 20's, Munson had posed for numerous sculptures on display around New York, including the Firemen's Monument, the Pulitzer Memorial, and the Maine Monument in Central Park, commemorating the 260 American sailors who died in 1898 when the battleship Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. Then, in 1915, at age 23, her popularity grew when she was selected as "The Panama Girl" and posed for both sculptures and painting to be exhibited that year in San Francisco at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. During this time, newspapers erroneously reported Munson's birthplace as New York City.
That year, her life story inspired a motion picture named Inspiration, loosely based on her own experiences as a professional model. The movie features full nudity, and led to a ban by some theaters before a screening and a prohibiting of a second screening once the nudity was discovered. Following its release, Munson expressed an interest in moving further into performance, naming vaudeville as a place to explore next. Movie audiences around the country would see her again in 1919 when Inspiration was adapted as The Perfect Model. Her work in film would be limited to a few roles, including posing in long shots as herself in the 1921 silent movie, Heedless Moths, loosely based on her life.
Her personal life began to generate more interest than her professional work in 1919 when she was connected to a murder case involving a New York physician who was charged with killing his wife. Although she wasn't implicated in the crime, Munson pointed to its publicity in the newspapers as a reason for the downfall of her career. By late 1920, she had left New York and was living in Syracuse in what newspaper accounts characterize as "shabby" conditions, and attempted to earn an income making personal appearances in the region.
Munson made an attempt to start over by requesting a New York newspaper falsely report her death so she could assume a new identity. The report of her request was published in October 1920, and Munson shared in the story how her film contract was ended and she was unable to secure a new one with other studios due to the negative publicity over the murder case. After considering other cities, she went home to Syracuse where she applied for numerous jobs, but claims no one would hire her.
In 1921, Munson turned to writing as a means of sharing her story with an audience of newspaper readers. Starting in late January of that year and continuing into May, the New York American published her stories on consecutive Sundays. Munson used the medium as a way to tell the public about her experiences, misfortunes, and observations as a model and an actress. In the same year, Munson turned to the newspapers to publicize how she was looking for the "perfect" man to marry.
In April 1922, she made headlines again when newspapers reported Munson had found a mate. Articles named an army aviator and electrical contractor from Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the man Munson would marry, but no marriage would take place. A month later, newspapers reported the former model survived a suicide attempt after ingesting poison.
Munson remained in Central New York for many years, living in relative obscurity. Movie audiences nationwide continued to see her work on occasion when her films, including Heedless Moths, played at theaters well past their original release years. She returned to making headlines later in the decade when, in spring of 1926, newspapers reported Munson moved to a farm in Mexico, New York, to continue her private life and make a new home for her aging mother.
Five years later, on Munson's 40th birthday, Munson's mother petitioned a judge in Oswego, New York, to commit her to an institution for treatment of depression and schizophrenia. She was sent to the St. Lawrence State Hospital in Ogdensburg, New York, later renamed the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center, where she remained a patient until she died at age 104 on February 20, 1996. She's buried alongside her father, stepmother, and a half-sister at a family plot in New Haven Cemetery in New Haven, New York.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr. was born on 10 June 1925 in Tulare County, California, USA. He was a director and actor, known for One Way Ticket to Hell (1955). He was married to Diana Joy Dubois, Margaret E. Richardson, Diane J. Coldwell and Anne Francis. He died on 23 August 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Barbara Jordan was born on 21 February 1936 in Houston, Texas, USA. She died on 17 January 1996 in Austin, Texas, USA.
- Barton Heyman was a "working actor", a character actor whose career spanned 30 years. He appeared on the stage in several New York Shakespeare Festival productions, including "A Doll's House", "Henry V", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "A Private View." He appeared in numerous feature films, made-for-TV movies and guest star TV roles.
- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Born in Oklahoma, Ben Johnson was a ranch hand and rodeo performer when, in 1940, Howard Hughes hired him to take a load of horses to California. He decided to stick around (the pay was good), and for some years was a stunt man, horse wrangler, and double for such stars as John Wayne, Gary Cooper and James Stewart. His break came when John Ford noticed him and gave him a part in an upcoming film, and eventually a star part in Wagon Master (1950). He left Hollywood in 1953 to return to rodeo, where he won a world roping championship, but at the end of the year he had barely cleared expenses. The movies paid better, and were less risky, so he returned to the west coast and a career that saw him in over 300 movies.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Bernard Edwards was born on 31 October 1952 in Greenville, North Carolina, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Super 8 (2011), Commando (1985) and Taxi (2004). He died on 18 April 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Beryl Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in industrial Manchester, England. She left home at the age of 16 to go and work in a shop. She lasted 6 weeks. She applied for and was accepted in a revue in the Summer season in Bridlington. She had no formal training but joined the National Theater in London as a comedy actress. Her first big success came in the BBC radio show "Educating Archie" (a ventriloquist - on the radio). She played the naughty schoolgirl, Monica, and later, the Brummie Marlene. Her film roles were few and far between, but always well received. She transferred her Tony award winning performance of the lesbian radio star to the screen in The Killing of Sister George (1968). But she was best known and loved for her (slightly tipsy) older ladies such as in The Beiderbecke Tapes (1987) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979).- Bibi Besch, a talented actress, was born in Vienna, Austria, to Gotfrid Köchert, a renowned race car driver, and actress Gusti Huber. She had a busy career, especially as a supporting actress on TV, spanning over twenty years. Her exceptional performance in the TV series, Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992), earned her an Emmy award nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actress. Later in 1993, she was again nominated for her guest appearance in the TV series, Northern Exposure (1990).
Besch was a veteran of numerous television movies between 1976 and 1995. Despite her success on TV, she also appeared in several feature films, including the iconic role of Dr. Carol Marcus in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). She also delivered remarkable performances in movies like Steel Magnolias (1989), Tremors (1990), and Who's That Girl (1987). Besch was equally phenomenal on stage and acted in plays such as Fame, The Chinese Prime Minister, Here Lies Jeremy Troy, and Once For the Asking. She also made guest appearances on popular network shows like ER (1994) and Murder, She Wrote (1984).
Besch's acting talents knew no bounds, and her TV work ranged from the soap opera Somerset (1970) to Backstairs at the White House (1979) to The Hamptons (1983). Sadly, Bibi Besch passed away at the young age of 54 on 7 September 1996, after a long battle with breast cancer. Her remarkable contributions to the entertainment industry continue to inspire many aspiring actors and actresses. - Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Born in Rosine Kentucky, he was the youngest of eight children. Orphaned at age 11 he was raised by his uncle, fiddler Pendleton Vandiver. Learning the fiddle from his mother and taught further by his uncle, at an early age he began playing dances with uncle and brothers. Besides his uncle (whom he immortalized in the song "Unlce Pen") his musical inspiration was Arnold Schultz, a black guitarist from whom he learned the blues. By the early 1930s he and his brother Charlie had a successful duo, cutting their first record in 1936, but in 1938 they broke up. In the late 1930s, the first person to make the mandolin a lead instrument in country music, he developed the style that became bluegrass. In has debut at the Grand Old Opry in 1939 he performed a version of 'Rodgers, Jimmy (II)' tune "Muleskinner Blues" - this is generally considered the first true bluegrass tune. In the classic band The Bluegrass Boys in the late 1940s he set an instrumental standard for bluegrass that still stands. In later years, with the explosion of interest in bluegrass on college campuses, he began an expanded career with festival appearances. In 1981, battling colon cancer, he wrote and recorded "My Last Days on Earth" - those last days lasted another 15 years.- Bob Hannah was born on 13 February 1939 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). He died on 14 August 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Bradley Nowell was born on 22 February 1968 in Long Beach, California, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Hardcore Henry (2015), Idle Hands (1999) and Knocked Up (2007). He was married to Troy Dendekker. He died on 25 May 1996 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Born in Berlin, Germany. After her role in Metropolis (1927) she made a string of movies in which she almost always had the starring role, easily making the transition to sound films. Her last film was An Ideal Spouse (1935) which was released in 1935. She died on June 11th 1996 of heart failure in Ascona, Switzerland.
- Bruce Lidington was born on 30 January 1950 in Harrow, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Sword of the Valiant (1984), Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and The Devil's Crown (1978). He was married to Sheila A Johnson. He died on 5 August 1996 in Harrow, London, England, UK.
- Actress
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
The daughter of a railroad official, Camilla Horn was educated in Germany and Switzerland. She initially trained as a dressmaker and received her first job experience in a fashion salon in Erfurt. This was merely a stepping stone for a performing career which began with dance lessons in Berlin and subsequent acting studies under Lucie Höflich. The lithe, blond and strikingly beautiful Camilla soon appeared in cabaret revues staged by Rudolf Nelson. By 1926, she was employed as an extra at Ufa, where she was spotted by the director F.W. Murnau, who found in her the ideal representation of Gretchen for his seminal production of Faust (1926) . The role catapulted Camilla to instant stardom. Within a year, she was signed by United Artists in Hollywood, befriending Charles Chaplin and, more importantly, studio chairman Joseph M. Schenck. The friendship with Schenck may, or may not, have led to an affair -- depending on which story one is to believe -- but it did result in two high profile starring roles opposite John Barrymore in the torrid melodramas Tempest (1928) and Eternal Love (1929), both produced by Schenck. Neither film was a commercial success.
With the coming of sound, Camilla returned to Europe, briefly appearing on stage in London and Paris, before resuming her screen career in Germany. As the 1930's went on, she rarely turned down a role, playing anything from baronesses and fashion models, to vamps and 'fallen women'. The quality of her films was variable, but there were several noteworthy standouts, such as Hans in allen Gassen (1930) (opposite Hans Albers), The Last Waltz (1934) and Fahrendes Volk (1938) (as a circus artiste, again with Albers).
During this tumultuous decade, Camilla conducted a lengthy affair with the singer Louis Graveure, fifteen years her senior. This came to an end in 1938, when Graveure was suspected of espionage by the Gestapo and fled to England, via the Cote d'Azure. After her luxury villa in Berlin was ransacked in search for non-existent clues, Camilla's outspoken criticism of the Nazi regime reached a point where it got her into serious trouble. She saw out the first half of her career with a trio of long forgotten films made in Italy. Having failed in an attempt to flee to Switzerland, she kept a low profile and even tried her hand at farming. After the war, she had a stint as an interpreter for the occupying U.S. forces in Germany. Camilla made a successful return to the stage in a 1948 Frankfurt production of Jean Cocteau's "L'Aigle a Deux Tetes" (aka 'The Eagle Has Two Heads'). She spent the latter half of her acting career playing grand dames, matriarchs and worldly ladies with colourful backgrounds, in both films and on television. In 1974, she was awarded the 'Filmband in Gold' (also known as 'Lola') for lifetime achievement in the German film industry. In her 1985 autobiography, "Verliebt in die Liebe" ('In Love with Love'), she happily recounted her marriages and liaisons.- Writer
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Astronomer, educator and author Carl Sagan was perhaps the world's greatest popularizer of science, reaching millions of people through newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts. He is well-known for his work on the PBS series Cosmos (1980), the Emmy Award and Peabody Award-winning show that became the most watched series in public-television history. This was seen by more than 500 million people in 60 countries. The accompanying book, "Cosmos" (1980), was on the New York Times bestseller list for 70 weeks and was the best-selling science book ever published in English.
Carl Edward Sagan was born November 9, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. Having taught at Cornell University since 1968, Sagan received a bachelor's degree (1955) and a master's degree (1956), both in physics, and a doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics (1960), all from the University of Chicago. He taught at Harvard University in the early 1960s before coming to Cornell, where he became a full professor in 1971. Sagan played a leading role in NASA's Mariner, Viking, Voyager and Galileo expeditions to other planets. He received NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and twice for Distinguished Public Service and the NASA Apollo Achievement Award. His research focused on topics such as the greenhouse effect on Venus; windblown dust as an explanation for the seasonal changes on Mars; organic aerosols on Titan, Saturn's moon; the long-term environmental consequences of nuclear war; and the origin of life on Earth. A pioneer in the field of exobiology, he continued to teach graduate and undergraduate students in courses in astronomy and space sciences and in critical thinking at Cornell.
The breadth of his interests were made evident in October 1994, at a Cornell-sponsored symposium in honor of Sagan's 60th birthday. The two-day event featured speakers in areas of planetary exploration, life in the cosmos, science education, public policy and government regulation of science and the environment -- all fields in which Sagan had worked or had a strong interest. Sagan was the recipient of numerous awards in addition to his NASA recognition. He received 22 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities for his contributions to science, literature, education and the preservation of the environment and many awards for his work on the long-term consequences of nuclear war and reversing the nuclear arms race. Among his other awards were: the John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award of the American Astronautical Society; the Explorers Club 75th Anniversary Award; the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Medal of the Soviet Cosmonauts Federation and the Masursky Award of the American Astronomical Society. He also was the recipient of the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences, "for distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare".
Sagan was elected chairman of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, president of the Planetology Section of the American Geophysical Union and chairman of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For 12 years, he was editor of Icarus, the leading professional journal devoted to planetary research. He was co-founder of the Planetary Society, a 100,000-member organization and the largest space-interest group in the world. The society supports major research programs in the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, the investigation of near-Earth asteroids and, with the French and Russian space agencies, the development and testing of balloon and mobile robotic exploration of Mars. Sagan also was Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and was contributing editor of Parade magazine, where he published many articles about science and about the disease that he battled for the last two years of his life.
On December 20, 1996, Carl Sagan died at age 62 of pneumonia at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. He was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York.- Born Verna Charlene Stavely. Holt, a former "Miss Maryland," enjoyed a rewarding modeling career prior to her screen work in both films and television that began when caught director Howard Hawks's attention when he saw her in a lipstick commercial. After her debut appearance in the Sandra Dee-Bobby Darin comedy, If a Man Answers (1962), Holt went on to appear in such films as Days of Wine and Roses (1962), Man's Favorite Sport? (1964), Red Line 7000 (1965), Zigzag (1970), and the TV movie Wonder Woman (1974). Her television series appearances included guest roles on Hawaiian Eye (1962), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963), Perry Mason (1965), It Takes A Thief (1968), and CHiPs (1980). Following the filming of El Dorado in 1966, Holt married millionaire real estate developer William A. Tishman in 1966. The couple enjoyed traveling and collecting antiques and artwork for their lavish home in Trousdale Estates in West Los Angeles until their 1972 divorce. Her last screen appearance before retiring was in Melvin and Howard (1980).
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Chas Chandler was born on 18 December 1938 in Heaton, Tyne and Wear, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Tag (2018), Cruella (2021) and American Animals (2018). He was married to Madeleine Stringer and Lotta. He died on 17 July 1996 in Heaton, Tyne and Wear, England, UK.- Christian Haren was born on 1 February 1935 in San Bernardino County, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Medicine Ball Caravan (1971), Playhouse 90 (1956) and Lifeguard (1976). He died on 27 February 1996 in San Francisco, California, USA.
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Christine Pascal was born on 29 November 1953 in Lyon, Rhône, France. She was an actress and writer, known for The Little Prince Said (1992), Félicité (1979) and Let Joy Reign Supreme (1975). She was married to Robert Boner. She died on 30 August 1996 in Garches, Hauts-de-Seine, France.- Claire Rommer was born on 7 December 1904 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Leontines Ehemänner (1928), Hoheit tanzt Walzer (1926) and Die Frauen von Folies Bergères (1927). She was married to Adolf Strenger. She died on 19 August 1996 in London, England, UK.
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One of the brightest film stars to grace the screen was born Emilie Claudette Chauchoin on September 13, 1903, in Saint Mandé, France where her father owned a bakery at 57, rue de la République (now Avenue Général de Gaulle). The family moved to the United States when she was three. As Claudette grew up, she wanted nothing more than to play to Broadway audiences (in those days, any actress or actor worth their salt went for Broadway, not Hollywood). After her formal education ended, she enrolled in the Art Students League, where she paid for her dramatic training by working in a dress shop. She made her Broadway debut in 1923 in the stage production of "The Wild Wescotts". It was during this event that she adopted the name Claudette Colbert.
When the Great Depression shut down most of the theaters, Claudette decided to make a go of it in films. Her first film was called For the Love of Mike (1927). Unfortunately, it was a box-office disaster. She wasn't real keen on the film industry, but with an extreme scarcity in theatrical roles, she had no choice but to remain. In 1929 she starred as Joyce Roamer in The Lady Lies (1929). The film was a success and later that year she had another hit entitled The Hole in the Wall (1929). In 1930 she starred opposite Fredric March in Manslaughter (1930), which was a remake of the silent version of eight years earlier. A year after that Claudette was again paired in a film with March, Honor Among Lovers (1931). It fared well at the box-office, probably only because it was the kind of film that catered to women who enjoyed magazine fiction romantic stories. In 1932 Claudette played the evil Poppeia in Cecil B. DeMille's last great work, The Sign of the Cross (1932), and once again was cast with March. Later the same year she was paired with Jimmy Durante in The Phantom President (1932). By now Claudette's name symbolized good movies and she, along with March, pulled crowds into the theaters with the acclaimed Tonight Is Ours (1933).
The next year started a little on the slow side with the release of Four Frightened People (1934), where Claudette and her co-stars were at odds with the dreaded bubonic plague on board a ship. However, the next two films were real gems for this young actress. First up, Claudette was charming and radiant in Cecil B. DeMille's spectacular Cleopatra (1934). It wasn't one of DeMille's finest by any means, but it was a financial success and showcased Claudette as never before. However, it was as Ellie Andrews, in the now famous It Happened One Night (1934), that ensured she would be forever immortalized. Paired with Clark Gable, the madcap comedy was a mega-hit all across the country. It also resulted in Claudette being nominated for and winning the Oscar that year for Best Actress. IN 1935 she was nominated again for Private Worlds (1935), where she played Dr. Jane Everest, on the staff at a mental institution. The performance was exquisite. Films such as The Gilded Lily (1935), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) and No Time for Love (1943) kept fans coming to the theaters and the movie moguls happy. Claudette was a sure drawing card for virtually any film she was in. In 1944 she starred as Anne Hilton in Since You Went Away (1944). Again, although she didn't win, Claudette picked up her third nomination for Best Actress.
By the late 1940s and early 1950s she was not only seen on the screen but the infant medium of television, where she appeared in a number of programs. However, her drawing power was fading somewhat as new stars replaced the older ones. In 1955 she filmed the western Texas Lady (1955) and wasn't seen on the screen again until Parrish (1961). It was her final silver screen performance. Her final appearance before the cameras was in a TV movie, The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987). She did, however, remain on the stage where she had returned in 1956, her first love. After a series of strokes, Claudette divided her time between New York and Barbados. On July 30, 1996, Claudette died in Speightstown, Barbados. She was 92.- Actress
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Dana Hill was born Dana Lynne Goetz on May 6, 1964, in a suburb of Los Angeles, to parents Sandy Hill and Ted Goetz, a commercial director. Despite diabetes ending a promising future in athletics when she was just ten years old, Dana gamely threw herself into acting when still in her early teen years, taking her mother's maiden name as her professional acting name. She found success early on with her performances in both Fallen Angel (1981) and Shoot the Moon (1982), winning high praise from critics. For her stage work, Hill won the 1986 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award as Best Featured Actress for her performance in "Picnic." However, complications from her diabetes set in and the consequent decline in her health meant that from the mid-1980s on, Dana increasingly turned to voice-over roles in animated movies and television programs such as Jetsons: The Movie (1990), Goof Troop (1992) and Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man (1994). In early 1996, Dana's health grew increasingly fragile as was evident to her friends and costars. Late that May, she slipped into a diabetic coma. On June 5th she suffered a paralytic stroke and on July 15th she died peacefully in the hospital at the age of 32 years, bringing an untimely end to a career that in less than two decades had spanned the big and small screen, animation and the theatre.- Actress
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Delia Magaña was born on 22 July 1906 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Los chiflados del rock and roll (1957), Charros, gauchos y manolas (1930) and Historia de un abrigo de mink (1955). She died on 30 March 1996 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Dervis Ward was born on 5 December 1923 in Dowlais, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for The Avengers (1961), BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950) and To Sir, with Love (1967). He died on 27 March 1996 in Ascot, Berkshire, England, UK.
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George Burns was an American actor, comedian, singer, and published author. He formed a comedy duo with his wife Gracie Allen (1895-1964), and typically played the straight man to her zany roles. Following her death, Burns started appearing as a solo performer. He once won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and continued performing until his 90s. He lived to be a centenarian, was viewed as an "elder statesman" in the field of comedy.
Burns was born under the name "Nathan Birnbaum" in 1896, and was nicknamed "Nattie" by his family. His father was Eliezer "Louis" Birnbaum (1855-1903), a coat presser who also served a substitute cantor at a local synagogue in New York City. His mother was Hadassah "Dorah" Bluth (1857-1927), a homemaker. Both parents were Jewish immigrants, originally from the small town of Kolbuszowa in Austrian Galicia (currently part of Poland). Kolbuszowa had a large Jewish population until World War II, when the German occupation forces in Poland relocated the local Jews to a ghetto in Rzeszów.
The Birnbaums were a large family, and Burns had 11 siblings. He was the 9th eldest of the Birnbaum Children. In 1903, Louis Birnbaum caught influenza and died, during an ongoing influenza epidemic. Orphaned when 7-years-old, Burns had to work to financially support his family. He variously shined shoes, run errands, selling newspapers, and worked as a syrup maker in a local candy shop.
Burns liked to sing while working, and practiced singing harmony with three co-workers of similar age. They were discovered by letter carrier Lou Farley, who gave them the idea to perform singing in exchange for payment. The four children soon started performing as the "Pee-Wee Quartet", singing in brothels, ferryboats, saloons, and street corners. They put their hats down for donations from their audience, though their audience was not always generous. In Burns' words: "Sometimes the customers threw something in the hats. Sometimes they took something out of the hats. Sometimes they took the hats."
Burns started smoking cigars c. 1910, when 14-years-old. It became a lifelong habit for him. Burns' performing career was briefly interrupted in 1917, when he was drafted for service in World I. He eventually failed his physical exams, due to his poor eyesight.
By the early 1920s, he adopted the stage name "George Burns", though he told several different stories of why he chose the name. He supposedly named himself after then-famous baseball player George Henry Burns (1897-1978), or the also famous baseball player George Joseph Burns (1889-1966). In another version, he named himself after his brother Izzy "George" Birnbaum, and took the last name "Burns" in honor of Burns Brothers Coal Company.
Burns performed dance routines with various female partners, until he eventually married his most recent partner Gracie Allen in 1926. Burns made his film debut in the comedy short film "Lambchops" (1929), which was distributed by Vitaphone. The film simply recorded one of Burns and Allen's comedy routines from vaudeville.
Burns made his feature film debut in a supporting role of the musical comedy "The Big Broadcast" (1932). He appeared regularly in films throughout the 1930s, with his last film role for several years appearing in the musical film "Honolulu" (1939). Burns was reportedly considered for leading role in "Road to Singapore" (1940), but the studio replaced him with Bob Hope (1903-2003).
Burns and Allen started appearing as comic relief for a radio show featuring bandleader Guy Lombardo (1902-1977). By February 1932, they received their own sketch comedy radio show. The couple portrayed younger singles, until the show was retooled in 1941 and started featuring them as a married couple. By the fall of 1941, the show had evolved into a situational comedy about married life. Burns and Allen's supporting cast included notable voice actors Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet, and Hal March.
The radio show finally ended in 1949, reworked into the popular television show "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (1950-1958). Allen would typically play the "illogical" housewife, while Burns played the straight man and broke the fourth wall to speak to the audience. The couple formed the production company McCadden Corporation to help produce the show.
Allen developed heart problems during the 1950s, and by the late 1950s was unable to put up the energy needed for the show. She fully retired in 1958. The show was briefly retooled to "The George Burns Show" (1958-1959), but Burns comedic style was not as popular as that of his wife. The new show was canceled due to low ratings.
Following Allen's death in 1964, Burns attempted a television comeback by creating the sitcom "Wendy and Me" (1964-1965) about the life of a younger married couple. The lead roles were reserved for Ron Harper and Connie Stevens, while Burns had a supporting role as their landlord. He also performed as the show's narrator.
As a television producer, Burns produced the military comedy "No Time for Sergeants", and the sitcom "Mona McCluskey". As an actor, he mostly appeared in theaters and nightclubs. Burns had a career comeback with the comedy film "The Sunshine Boys" (1975), his first film appearance since World War II. He played faded vaudevillian Al Lewis, who has a difficult relationship with his former partner Willy Clark (played by Walter Matthau). The role was met with critical success, and Burns won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. At age 80, Burns was the oldest Oscar winner at the time. His record was broken by Jessica Tandy in 1989.
Burns had his greatest film success playing God in the comedy film "Oh, God!" (1977). The film 51 million dollars at the domestic box office, and was one of the greatest hits of 1977. Burns returned to the role in the sequels "Oh, God! Book II" (1980) and "Oh, God! You Devil" (1984). He had a double role as both God and the Devil in the last film.
Burns had several other film roles until the 1990s. His most notable films in this period were the musical comedy "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1978), the comedy film "Just You and Me, Kid" (1979), the caper film "Going in Style" (1979), and the fantasy-comedy "18 Again!" (1988). The last of the four featured him as a grandfather who exchanges souls with his grandson.
Burns' last film role was a bit part in the mystery film "Radioland Murders" (1994), which was a box office flop. In July 1994, Burns fell in his bathtub and underwent surgery to remove fluid in his skull. He survived, but his health never fully recovered. He was forced to retire from acting and stand-up comedy.
On January 20, 1996, Burns celebrated his 100th birthday, but was in poor health and had to cancel a pre-arranged comeback performance. In March 1996, he suffered from cardiac arrest and died. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, next to Gracie Allen.- Actress
Donna Mae Roberts was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Walter Roberts and Cora H. Myers. She went to the University in California, where she majored in psychology and belonged to two honorary scholastic fraternities. She left her classes at the end at the end of her junior year to join the chorus. Roberts started as a "Goldwyn girl" in movies and was a chorus girl in a couple of Busby Berkeley movies. She also played small parts in Warner Bros. movies of the 1930s.
Donna Mae Roberts had the highest intelligence quotient of 54 chorus girls given a bona fide test by Prof. Neil Warren of the university of Southern California. Her IQ rating was 132, which falls in the "near Genius" class. Since the test, Donna Mae Roberts was acclaimed: "The smartest chorus girl in Hollywood".
Her career started to decline in the late 1930s; during that period she did some work as an extra and then retired from the screen.
Her first husband was Paul Spark, who died in 1943. Her second husband was Robert Roderick, with whom she had a son.
Roberts died at the Cottonwood Care Center in Gardnerville in 1996. Her body was cremated at Fitzhenry's Crematory.- Actress
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Dorothy Hyson was one of the British cinema and theatre's most gifted players. Noted for her great beauty and striking looks, the songwriters Rogers and Hart dedicated their song, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", to her. Her second husband, the actor Anthony Quayle, described her as "the Most Beautiful Creature I Have Ever Seen".
She was born in Chicago in 1914, the only child of the musical comedy star, Dorothy Dickson and her husband, Carl Heison (who changed his name to Hyson). She made her London stage debut at the age of 12 at the Savoy Theatre in J.M. Barrie's "Quality Street" and, the following year, acted in Daisy Ashford's "The Young Visitors" (Strand Theatre), prompting the leading critic of the day, James Agate, to write: "I think in Dorothy Hyson we may have the comedienne of the future". In 1933, Ivor Novello, impressed by her charm and beauty, offered her the role of Gladys Cooper's daughter in his play, "Flies in the Sun". Later successes included Maxwell Anderson's comedy, "Saturday's Children and Touch Wood", in which she co-starred with Flora Robson.
In March 1935, she appeared with Laurence Olivier in the play, "The Ringmaster", directed in London's West End by Raymond Massey. At the age of 20, she married the British film actor Robert Douglas.
She was rarely off the West End stage throughout the thirties and forties and, in June 1947, married Anthony Quayle. In later years, Quayle said of his wife, "Without her, I could have been nothing - and done nothing. With her love and help, our two lives joined together and I could lift the world up and carry it aloft".
Hyson was a renowned hostess in London and numbered among her close friends, H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Noël Coward and John Gielgud. On her retirement from acting, she said: "I always tried my best at being an actress - but when I met Anthony Quayle all I wanted to do was to be his wife and look after him. My acting didn't matter anymore. He always came first for me".
Her son is the designer Christopher Quayle. Her two daughters are Rosanna Astley and the actress Jenny Quayle.- Actress
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In addition to being Miss New Orleans in 1931, Dorothy Lamour worked as a Chicago elevator operator; band vocalist for her first husband, band leader Herbie Kaye; and radio performer. In 1936 she donned her soon-to-be-famous sarong for her debut at Paramount, The Jungle Princess (1936), and continued to play female Tarzan-Crusoe-Gauguin-girl-with make-up parts through the war years and beyond. The most famous of these was in the popular Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road" pictures - a strange combination of adventure, slapstick, ad-libs and Hollywood inside jokes. Of these she said, "I was the happiest and highest-paid straight woman in the business." As she aged, however, the quality of her films dropped. Among her serious films were Johnny Apollo (1940) and A Medal for Benny (1945).- Music Department
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Eddie Harris was born on 20 October 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Casino (1995), The Ice Storm (1997) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978). He died on 5 November 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Artist
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On Saturday, June 15th, 1996, an era in jazz singing came to an end, with the death of Ella Fitzgerald at her home in California. She was the last of four great female jazz singers (including Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Carmen McRae) who defined one of the most prolific eras in jazz vocal style. Ella had extraordinary vocal skills from the time she was a teenager, and joined the Chick Webb Orchestra in 1935 when she was 16 years old. With an output of more than 200 albums, she was at her sophisticated best with the songs of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, of George Gershwin, and of Cole Porter. Her 13 Grammy awards are more than any other jazz performer, and she won the Best Female Vocalist award three years in a row. Completely at home with up-tempo songs, her scat singing placed her jazz vocals with the finest jazz instrumentalists, and it was this magnificent voice that she brought to her film appearances. Her last few years, during which she had a bout with congestive heart failure and suffered bilateral amputation of her legs from complications of diabetes, were spent in seclusion.- Cinematographer
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Erik Blomberg was born on 18 September 1913 in Helsinki, Finland. He was a cinematographer and director, known for The White Reindeer (1952), Aila, Pohjolan tytär (1951) and Kihlaus (1955). He was married to Maria Karpowicz and Mirjami Kuosmanen. He died on 12 October 1996 in Kuusjoki, Finland.- Writer
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Often called one of the greatest humorists America has produced in the last 50 years, Erma Bombeck was a product of the American midwest. A journalist at the Dayton Herald in Ohio for four years, she quit to raise a family. Bored as a housewife, she began to write humorous columns for a local newspaper. Her old employer, the Dayton Herald, then hired her to write a regular column, and soon the columns became syndicated. In addition to these writings, and the several collections in book form of her stories, she was a correspondent on the ABC news show "Good Morning, America". In 1971 she moved with her family to Paradise Valley, Arizona. She long had an interest in cancer research, and was active in raising money for treatment of children with cancer. In Houston Texas in 1992 she received the Cancer League's "Laughter is the Best Medicine" award; five months later she herself was diagnosed with cancer. She survived breast cancer and mastectomy, but kept secret the fact that she had been diagnosed with adult polycystic kidney disease in 1991, enduring daily dialysis. She went public with her condition in 1993. On a waiting list for transplant for years, one kidney had to be removed in the past year for pain, and the remaining one ceased to function. On April 3 1996 she received a kidney transplant. Complications of the operation were the cause of her death.- Actress
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Ethel Smith graduated from Carnegie Tech, having majored in piano. She got a job as an organist in California, and then went to Rio de Janeiro for a four-week booking. She returned to the United States during WWII, and "Tico Tico" ("Tico Tico no Fubá", the Brazilian title) became a major hit in New York and across the country. She was asked to appear in several films, and made enough money to live well. She eventually concentrated more on acting, appearing in a number of plays. She did not have any children and died following a progressive illness.- Ms. Clair, a natural happy extrovert, starred in silent comedies, Westerns, and serials. She was most popular in Westerns opposite cowboy stars such as Hoot Gibson although her career was less than a decade long. She made her Hollywood debut in a series of comedies called 'The Newlyweds and Their Baby', and her national reputation was boosted by two serials The Vanishing Rider (1928) and Queen of the Northwoods (1929). In 1929, Ms. Clair was named by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers (or WAMPAS) as one of 13 Baby Stars, along with Helen Twelvetrees and Loretta Young. Unfortunately for her, her voice wasn't deemed to resonate well in talkies and her career was cut short.
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Eva Marie Cassidy was born on 2nd February, 1963 in Washington Hospital Center in the United States to Barbara and Hugh Cassidy. Eva grew up with her siblings, Anette, Margaret and Dan, in Bowie, Maryland. The Cassidy family was very musical. From an early age, Eva could master harmonies and first learned the auto-harp but later went on to learn the acoustic guitar. It wasn't just music at which she excelled, she was also a very talented artist. Through her teens, alongside her brother, Eva performed in a high school band called "Stonehenge". Some of the members from "Stonehenge" later worked with her on her later recordings. Though an musician, Eva also worked at a tree nursery, called Behnke's. While recording an album in 1987, alongside ex-Stonehenge musician, Ned Judy, Eva sang vocals for Method Actor. Songs written by David Christopher (formerly known as David Lourim). It was through these recording sessions that she met music producer, Chris Biondo. She made eight albums in total. The Other Side (Duet With Chuck Brown), Live At Blues Alley, Eva By Heart, Songbird, Time After Time, Imagine, American Tune and Method Actor. But tragedy struck on November 2nd, 1996, when she died of melanoma (skin cancer) after a long battle with the disease.
It was after Eva's death that her albums became really successful. It was in 1997, that Paul Walters, a producer for BBC Radio 2 discovered her, and it was "Over The Rainbow" that was played on Terry Wogan's show and ultimately led to the release of the "Songbird" album, which by late 2000 achieved Gold and, by 2001, platinum. Eva's songs have brought solace to those who have lost loved ones, and her songs have been used for cancer research adverts and have been used in Love Actually (2003) and Maid in Manhattan (2002).- Eva Hart was born on 31 January 1905 in Ilford, Essex, England, UK. She died on 14 February 1996 in London, England, UK.
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London-born Evelyn Laye, daughter of actor parents, was already treading the boards at the age of two. Her father managed the Palace Theatre in Brighton and this was where Evelyn first made a name for herself. A seasoned stage performer by the age of fifteen, she graduated to the London West End three years later in a small part in "The Beauty Spot". During the 1920's, she was one of England's most popular stars of musical revue and operetta, with hits in the aviation musical "Going Up" (1918-19), "Madame Pompadour" (1923), "Betty in Mayfair" (1925-26) and "Merely Molly" (1926-27), the last two at the Adelphi Theatre. She appeared, both in London and on Broadway, in Noël Coward's "Bitter Sweet" in 1929, her song "I'll See you Again" becoming her trademark signature piece. Her performance attracted the attention of producer Samuel Goldwyn, who promptly brought her to Hollywood.
Tagged (by Goldwyn) as "the Champagne Blonde", the lovely Evelyn made her American debut in the operetta, One Heavenly Night (1930), directed by the experienced George Fitzmaurice. The ridiculously contrived story and silly dialogue made this one of the worst flops of 1931, not helped by the wooden performance of Laye's co-star, John Boles. Although New York Times critic Mordaunt Hall, in his January 10 review reserved sole praise for Laye's singing and performance, Goldwyn washed his hands of the whole affair and Evelyn returned to England. She made another attempt at Hollywood, four years later, in The Night Is Young (1935), another continental operetta, co-starring Ramon Novarro, and featuring songs by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein. Reviewer Andre Sennwald (January 14) caustically described the picture as being technically well-made, but otherwise "without any distinguishing virtue". There were considerably better reviews for Evelyn's two British-Gaumont productions, Waltz Time (1933) and, without doubt her best motion picture, Evensong (1934), the story of the rise and decline of an Irish diva.
There was a three-decade long hiatus until Evelyn's return to the screen (though she had appeared as herself with then-husband, and fellow actor, Frank Lawton, in the TV sitcom My Husband and I (1956)). She was also rather incongruously cast in the horror film, Theatre of Death (1967). Three years later, Evelyn gave a strong performance as the mother of Jean Simmons in Say Hello to Yesterday (1971), a romance set in swinging 60's London. For the most part, she continued to act on the stage, which had always been her favourite medium, performing in plays like "Three Waltzes", "The School for Scandal", "Wedding in Paris", "The Marquise" and "The Amorous Prawn". One of her last plays was Noël Coward's "Semi-Monde" (1987-88), at the Royalty Theatre in London, with fellow cast members Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench. Retaining her popularity well into her nineties, Evelyn Laye made her farewell tour of Britain in 1992. She died three years later at the age of 95.- Actor
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Faron Young was born on 25 February 1932 in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Country Style, U.S.A. (1957), The Spectacular Now (2013) and Walk the Line (2005). He was married to Hilda Margo Macon. He died on 10 December 1996 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Producer
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G. David Schine was born on 11 September 1927 in Gloversville, New York, USA. He was a producer and director, known for The French Connection (1971) and That's Action (1977). He was married to Hillevi Rombin. He died on 19 June 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
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- Additional Crew
Gene Nelson was barely a teen when he saw the Fred Astaire movie Flying Down to Rio (1933), which would change his life. It was then that he decided he would be a dancer. After graduating from high school, Nelson joined the Sonja Henie Ice Show and toured for 3 years before joining the Army in World War II. After he was discharged, he appeared in a handful of movies before 1950. He worked with Debbie Reynolds in The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950), Doris Day in Tea for Two (1950) and Virginia Mayo in She's Working Her Way Through College (1952). He would be best known for his role of cowboy Will Parker in Oklahoma! (1955), where he would twirl the lasso to the tune of "Kansas City".
After his dancing days ended he turned to directing TV and films, including two Elvis Presley movies, Kissin' Cousins (1964) and Harum Scarum (1965). For television he directed episodes of I Dream of Jeannie (1965), Star Trek (1966), The Rifleman (1958), The Donna Reed Show (1958) and many others.- George N. Neise was born on 16 February 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Valley of Hunted Men (1942), Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968) and Fort Massacre (1958). He was married to Danielle Dreyer and Lorna Thayer. He died on 14 April 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Born in New York, raised in Philadelphia, Mulligan was the foremost baritone sax player of his generation, as well as an acclaimed composer and arranger, and one of the founders of the post-WWII "West Coast" school of jazz. In addition to his three marriages, Mulligan was the long-term lover of actress Judy Holliday, an affair which began in 1958 and ended with her death. When she became terminally ill in the 1960s, he put his own career on hold to nurse her until the end.- Gloria Gordon was born on 7 May 1881 in West Darby, Lancashire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for My Friend Irma (1949), My Friend Irma (1952) and Exclusive Rights (1926). She was married to Charles T. Aldrich and William Singleton. She died on 21 November 1962 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson was born on September 29, 1904 in London, England, to Nancy Sophia (Greer) and George Garson, a commercial clerk. Of Scottish and Ulster-Scots descent, Garson displayed no early interest in becoming an actress. Educated at the University of London intending to become a teacher, she opted instead to take a job at an advertising agency. During her off hours she appeared in local theatrical productions, gaining a reputation as an extremely talented and charismatic performer. During a stage production of "Old Music," Garson was offered a studio contract by MGM Vice President of Production Louis B. Mayer while he was on a visit to London looking for new talent. Garson's very first film under that arrangement was the immensely popular Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress - the first of six she would receive. The following year would see Greer in the highly acclaimed Pride and Prejudice (1940) as "Elizabeth Bennet". 1941 saw her earn a second nomination for her role as Edna Gladney in Blossoms in the Dust (1941), but it was the moving, if propagandist, Mrs. Miniver (1942), in a role that she would forever be known by, that actually brought her the Oscar statuette as Best Actress.
As Marie Curie in Madame Curie (1943), she would draw yet another nomination, and the same the next year in Mrs. Parkington (1944). It began to seem that any movie she was part of would be an automatic success. Sure enough, in 1945, she won yet another nomination, for her role as "Mary Rafferty" in The Valley of Decision (1945). Still, Garson began to chafe at the unbroken stream of "noble woman" roles in which the studio was casting her. MGM felt that they had an winning formula and saw no compelling reason to alter it. Two standard seven-year contract extensions kept her at MGM until 1954 when, by mutual consent, she left the only studio she had ever known. In 1946, Greer appeared in Adventure (1945), which was a flop at the box-office. 1947's Desire Me (1947) was no less a disaster, downward spiral finally arrested with the hit That Forsyte Woman (1949). The next year, she reprised her role as "Kay Miniver" in The Miniver Story (1950), though audiences were unsurprisingly put off by her character's untimely demise from cancer, leaving screen husband Walter Pidgeon to soldier on alone.
For the remainder of the 1950s, she endured several predictably unappreciated films. Then, 1960 found her cast in the role of Eleanor Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello (1960). This film was, perhaps, her finest work and landed her seventh and final Academy Award nomination. Her final screen appearances were in The Singing Nun (1966) as "Mother Prioress" and The Happiest Millionaire (1967). After a few TV movies, Garson retired to the New Mexico ranch she shared with her husband, millionaire Buddy E.E. Fogelson. She concentrated on the environment and other various charities. By the 1980s, she was suffering from chronic heart problems, prompting her to slow down. That was the cause of her death on April 6, 1996 in Dallas, Texas, at age 91.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Born in Cleveland, Morris came to Hollywood in the early 1960s. His acting experience at that time consisted of a few minor roles on the Seattle stage. He found work appearing on Television series such as The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) and The Twilight Zone (1959) before being cast in Mission: Impossible (1966). Morris played quiet, efficient electronics expert Barney Collier from 1966-1973. After the show ended, Morris continued to appear in other Television series and a couple of Television movies. In 1979, he went to Las Vegas to film the television series Vega$ (1978) in which he played Lt. David Nelson. He liked the city so much he decided to stay. This series lasted 2 years. In 1981, Morris survived a serious road accident and did not reappear on television for years. In 1989, he appeared in a short-lived remake of Mission: Impossible (1988). In 1990, he was diagnosed with cancer.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tough-looking New Zealander, with a long string of credits as an actor in Australian films and theatre. He was also prolific on radio as actor, announcer and compère. In August 1952, Doleman won a £300 prize for his performance in an Actor's Choice half-hourly play, entitled "The Coward". He used this as a travelling fund for a trip to Hollywood and was duly cast in a supporting role in the adventure film His Majesty O'Keefe (1954). That was followed by an uncredited bit in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder (1954). More substantial roles, however, failed to materialise. Doleman consequently returned to Australia, where he found regular work on radio and on stage in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, between 1957 and 1960.
Doleman had his best spell in Britain in the 1960's: fondly remembered as SPECTRE operative Count Lippe in the James Bond movie Thunderball (1965), and as the hard-edged spook Colonel Ross in the Harry Palmer trilogy, beginning with The Ipcress File (1965). In a similar vein, he also made a worthy antagonist for Patrick McGoohan as the first 'Number 2' in The Prisoner (1967). Doleman eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he died of lung cancer in January 1996.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Handsome American leading man Guy Madison stumbled into a film career and became a television star and hero to the Baby Boom generation. As a young man he worked as a telephone lineman, but entered the Coast Guard at the beginning of the Second World War. While on liberty one weekend in Hollywood, he attended a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast and was spotted in the audience by an assistant to Henry Willson, an executive for David O. Selznick. Selznick wanted an unknown sailor to play a small but prominent part in Since You Went Away (1944), and promptly signed Robert Moseley to a contract. Selznick and Willson concocted the screen name Guy Madison (the "guy" girls would like to meet, and Madison from a passing Dolly Madison cake wagon). Madison filmed his one scene on a weekend pass and returned to duty. The film's release brought thousands of fan letters for Madison's lonely, strikingly handsome young sailor, and at war's end he returned to find himself a star-in-the-making. Despite an initial amateurishness to his acting, Madison grew as a performer, studying and working in theatre. He played leads in a series of programmers before being cast as legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickok in the TV series Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951). He played Hickok on TV and radio for much of the 1950s, and many of the TV episodes were strung together and released as feature films. Madison managed to squeeze in some more adult-oriented roles during his off-time from the series, but much of this work was also in westerns. After the Hickok series ended Madison found work scarce in the U.S. and traveled to Europe, where he became a popular star of Italian westerns and German adventure films. In the 1970s he returned to the U.S., but appeared mainly in cameo roles. Physical ailments limited his work in later years, and he died from emphysema in 1996. His first wife was actress Gail Russell.- Haing S. Ngor was a native of Cambodia. Before the war, he was a physician & medical officer in the Cambodian army. He became a captive of the Khmer Rouge. He was imprisoned & tortured. In order to escape execution, he denied being a doctor or having an education. He moved to the U.S. as a refugee in 1980. Though he had no formal acting experience, he was chosen to portray photographer Dith Pran in The Killing Fields (1984) & won an Academy Award. He went on to a modestly distinguished acting career while continuing to work w/ human rights organizations in Cambodia on improving the conditions in resettlement camps as well as attempting to bring the perpetrators of the Cambodian massacre to justice. OnFebruary 25, 1996, he was found shot to death in the garage of his apartment building in L.A. Relatives & friends speculated that the killing was revenge for his opposition to the Khmer Rouge.
- Harvey Vernon was born on 30 June 1927 in Flint, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Teen Wolf (1985), All of Me (1984) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993). He died on 9 October 1996 in Sun Valley, California, USA.
- Helen Cohan was born on 13 September 1910 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Lightnin' (1930), Kiss and Make-Up (1934) and The Penal Code (1932). She died on 14 September 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Location Management
Herb Edelman was born on 5 November 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for The Odd Couple (1968), The Golden Girls (1985) and The Way We Were (1973). He was married to Louise Sorel. He died on 21 July 1996 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Hillevi Rombin was born on 14 September 1933 in Alfta, Gävleborg, Sweden. She was an actress, known for Istanbul (1957), The Adventures of Hiram Holliday (1956) and The Tonight Show (1953). She was married to G. David Schine. She died on 19 June 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Howard E. Rollins Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1950. He was the youngest of four children born to Howard E. Rollins Sr. (steelworker) and Ruth R. Rollins (domestic worker). Rollins graduated from Towson State College, where he studied theater. His first break into acting came when a friend convinced him to try out for a role in "Of Mice and Men" at a local Baltimore theater. He surprised himself with his acting talent.
He left for New York City in 1974 to further his acting career. Rollins earned an Oscar nomination for the role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime (1981) and an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor on the NBC daytime drama Another World (1964). He is also known for his brilliant portrayal of Virgil Tibbs on the long running hit TV series In the Heat of the Night (1988), based on the 1967 movie of the same name. In 1995, he made his final feature film appearance in Drunks (1995).
Rollins was diagnosed with lymphoma in late 1996. Six weeks later, he died of complications from the disease at the age of 46. - Actor
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
Swiss-born actor Howard Vernon (né Mario Lippert) would make his infamous claim to fame as a stock lead player for the lowgrade, campy horror features of notorious director Jesús Franco, starring as Dr. Orloff, Dracula, and other terrorizers, most of them produced in Spain or France. Born in 1914 the son of a Swiss father and American mother, Howard received his dramatic training in both Berlin and Paris and was originally a stage and radio player (from 1945) before arriving in post-war French films. He articulated and personified a number of nefarious Nazis and sinister criminals in his five-decade career, although he could grab a sympathetic role from time such as in the French film The Silence of the Sea (1949), which remains one of his best. Occasionally a still photographer, he forged a long, non-creative association beginning in the early 1960s with cult director Jess Franco following his good showing for Fritz Lang in _Tausend Augen des Dr. Mabuse, Die (1960)_ [The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse]. With his piercing gaze and gravely-voiced he entered into an enduring alliance with Franco, albeit in dreadful schlock. It began promisingly enough with the horror classic The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962) [The Awful Dr. Orloff] in which he portrayed the creepy title role with a slightly sympathetic countenance, but his appearances quickly degenerated into cheap exploitation, void of deserving artistic merit. He died in Paris shortly after his 82nd birthday.- In a 40-year stage, film, and television career, Weston played sleazy villains to hapless men going through midlife crises to clumsy comics. He was one of the bad guys who victimize a blind Audrey Hepburn in the 1967 cult classic Wait Until Dark (1967) but meets his end at the hands of the number one Bad Guy Alan Arkin. He appeared in much lighter fare in Cactus Flower (1969), Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960), and Dirty Dancing (1987). In the last of these, he ran the Catskills resort that set the stage for romance between Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
His stage work on Broadway included "California Suite" (1976) and "The Floating Lightbulb" (1971). For the latter, he received a Tony Award nomination for his role as the trashy manager. Also in 1981, Weston appeared opposite Alan Alda in The Four Seasons (1984) about the friendship between three middle-class, middle-aged couples. Other film credits include Stage Struck (1958), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), The Ritz (1976), and Ishtar (1987). - A distinguished stage and film actress Jane Baxter was one of the most glamorous performers on the London stage. Winston Churchill, an ardent fan, once described her as, "that charming lady who grace personifies all that is best in British womanhood". Her stage career spanned half a century and she is best remembered for her role in "Dial M For Murder", in which she co-starred with Michael Redgrave. Redgrave said that she was "every undergraduate's ideal of an English rose".
Born Fedora Kathleen Alice Forde in Germany, she came to London as a child and studied acting at the Italia Conti Stage School. She made her West End debut at the age of 13 in the musical comedy "Love's Prisoner". On the advice of the playwright J.M. Barrie, she changed her name to Jane Baxter and, in 1938, played the lead in the hit comedy "A Damsel in Distress".
Several other West End shows followed as well as films such as We Live Again (1934), with Fredric March and The Clairvoyant (1935), with Claude Rains and, in 1935, she joined the repertory company at the Liverpool Playhouse where the leading actor was Michael Redgrave. He viewed her arrival "with some alarm", expecting "a spoilt and temperamental film star". Instead, he found "a delightful actress". Baxter eventually became godmother to Redgrave's daughter, the future actress Vanessa Redgrave.
She had success again in London in 1937 with "George and Margaret", which ran for two years and, on Broadway, she co-starred with John Gielgud and Margaret Rutherford in "The Importance of Being Earnest", in which she played "Cicely Cardew".
She continued to make films and appear on stage throughout the 1960s and her final London stage role was in John Mortimer's "A Voyage Round My Father", in which she starred opposite Michael Redgrave. Her last stage role was at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley in 1978 in the thriller "Assault", in which she appeared with Richard Todd. In 1992, she made a guest appearance - to a standing ovation - at the London Palladium in "A Tribute to Evelyn Laye". In her will, she requested that there be no memorial service for her but just a gathering of friends at her local church in Wimbledon, South London. Film director Bryan Forbes gave the address. - Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Jean Howell was born on 21 November 1927 in Pomona, California, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Superstar (1999), The Fast and the Furious (1954) and Emergency! (1972). She was married to Larry Thor. She died on 23 July 1996 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jean Muir was an attractive blonde-haired U.S. stage, screen and television actress from the 1930s through the mid-1960s.
Upon retiring from acting Jean went on to teach drama, first, for eight years beginning in 1968, at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, where she headed their new drama department, and afterwards at a university in Mexico.- Jeanne Bal was born on 3 May 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Star Trek (1966), Perry Mason (1957) and Thriller (1960). She was married to Edward Richard Lee and Ross Bowman. She died on 30 April 1996 in Sherman Oaks, California, USA.
- Editor
- Cinematographer
- Producer
Jed Johnson was born on 30 December 1948 in Alexandria, Minnesota, USA. He was an editor and cinematographer, known for Heat (1972), Women in Revolt (1971) and Bad (1977). He died on 17 July 1996 in East Moriches, New York, USA.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Originally a lawyer from New York City, Jennings Lang came to Hollywood in 1938 and set up an office as a talent agent. In 1940, he joined the Jaffe Agency and, within a few years, became the company's president and one of Hollywood's leading agents. He joined MCA in 1950 and, two years later, became vice president of MCA TV Ltd. In this capacity, he worked with Universal Studios and was involved in developing, creating and selling new series throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including Wagon Train (1957), The Bob Cummings Show (1955) and McHale's Navy (1962). Lang also played a key role in developing television movies as a staple of TV programming.
Lang produced and executive-produced theatrical films for Universal from 1969 to 1986, when his career was curtailed by a major stroke. Among them were Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), Play Misty for Me (1971), Charley Varrick (1973), Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), Airport 1975 (1974), Airport '77 (1977), Earthquake (1974), Rollercoaster (1977), Nunzio (1978), The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979) and The Sting II (1983). He is credited with helping launch the early careers of Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg and developing the technique of "Sensurround".- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Jerry Siegel was born in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1931, he met and befriended his future partner, Joe Shuster, when the latter moved from his birthplace in Canada. Siegel and Shuster were both avid science fiction fans, publishing a fanzine in the mid-1920s. It was during this period that they read Philip Wylie's book, "Gladiator", about a mysterious character with superpowers and invulnerability. They created a strip for their fanzine (Shuster drawing, Siegel writing) featuring a super-powered villian, but later made him into a hero. In 1936, they tried, unsuccessfully, to turn it into a daily comic strip. About the same time, both young men got a job working for DC-National (now DC Comics), working on such titles as Doctor Occult, Slam Bradley, and Radio Squad. Siegel also created and worked on the Spectre In 1939, DC editor Sheldon Meyer decided to give the two young men a chance, and published their character Superman a new comic title, "Action Comics". Superman was an almost imediate hit, spawning his own eponymous title within a year, then going on to be featured in virtually every type of media.
Siegel and Shuster continued working on Superman for many years, but became increasingly resentful of the profits that DC-National made off their character (because of the practice at the time, the creators had signed away all rights to the character to the publisher). In 1946, Shuster and Siegel sued DC for a share of the rights to Superman (their lawyer was Albert Zugsmith). The case dragged on until 1948, when the two men settled for royalties only on the Superboy character. They were also required to sign away any future claims to the Superman character.
Shuster left the comic field, while Seigel left DC to become comics editor at Ziff-Davis Publications during the 1950s. Without his long-time partner, however, Siegel found the creative spark to be missing, and gradually lost work. Finally, Siegel's wife went to DC's publisher and told them, "Do you really want to read the headline "Superman Creator Starves to Death'?", and asked for the comic publisher to give him uncredited work.
Siegel wrote many Superman stories in the 1960s, including many about Superman's home planet Krypton. In 1964, however, DC once again let Siegel go. He moved to Los Angeles, where he became a virtual recluse. In 1975, after the Superman movie raised new interest in the character, the two men once again sued DC for recognition and royalties. DC, with much prodding from publisher/editor Carmine Infantino, re-instated Siegel and Shuster's name on the masthead as creators, and awarded the two men an annual stipend of $35,000. Finally receiving the recognition he deserved, Siegel became recognized as one of the pioneers of the comics industries. In 1999, his heirs' finally won their court case with DC and received 50% ownership and control of Superman.- Actor
- Composer
- Additional Crew
Prior to his illustrious Hollywood and television careers, Joe Seneca (né Joel McGhee) belonged to a top flight singing group - The Three Riffs - that worked the better supper clubs in New York City. He was also a fine songwriter and had a big hit with "Talk to Me" sung by Little Willie John.- Martin Henry Balsam was born on November 4, 1919 in the Bronx, New York City, to Lillian (Weinstein) and Albert Balsam, a manufacturer of women's sportswear. He was the first-born child. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant, and his mother was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. Martin caught the acting bug in high school where he participated in the drama club. After high school, he continued his interest in acting by attending Manhattan's progressive New School. When World War II broke out, Martin was called to service in his early twenties. After the war, he was lucky to secure a position as an usher at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. By 1947, he was honing his craft at the Actors Studio, run at that time by Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg. His time at the Actors Studio in New York City allowed him training in the famous Stanislavsky method. Despite his excellent training, he had to prove himself, just like any up and coming young actor. He began on Broadway in the late 1940s. But, it was not until 1951 that he experienced real success. That play was Tennessee Williams' "The Rose Tattoo". After his Broadway success, he had a few minor television roles before his big break arrived when he joined the cast of On the Waterfront (1954). In the 1950s, Martin had many television roles. He had recurring roles on some of the most popular television series of that time, including The United States Steel Hour (1953), The Philco Television Playhouse (1948), Goodyear Playhouse (1951) and Studio One (1948). In 1957, he was able to prove himself on the big-screen once again, with a prominent role in 12 Angry Men (1957), directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda. All of Martin's television work in the 1950s did not go to waste. While starring on an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), Hitchcock was so impressed by his work, that he offered him a key supporting role of Detective Milton Arbogast in Psycho (1960). His work with Hitchcock opened him up to a world of other acting opportunities. Many strong movie roles came his way in the 1960s, including parts in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Cape Fear (1962) and The Carpetbaggers (1964). One of the proudest moments in his life was when he received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for A Thousand Clowns (1965). It was soon after that he began accepting roles in European movies. He soon developed a love for Italy, and lived there most of his remaining years. He acted in over a dozen Italian movies and spent his later life traveling between Hollywood and Europe for his many roles. After a career that spanned more than fifty years, Martin Balsam died of natural causes in his beloved Italy at age 76. He passed away of a stroke at a hotel in Rome called Residenza di Repetta. He was survived by his third wife Irene Miller and three children, Adam, Zoe and Talia.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jo Van Fleet was born on December 29, 1915 in Oakland, California. She established herself as a notable dramatic actress on Broadway over several years, winning a Tony Award in 1954 for her skill in a difficult role, playing an unsympathetic, even abusive character, in Horton Foote's "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish and Eva Marie Saint. Her first film role was playing the estranged mother of James Dean's character in East of Eden (1955). This debut performance earned Van Fleet an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her subsequent film work was steady through 1960, then very sporadic, and include such films as The Rose Tattoo (1955), I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), The King and Four Queens (1956), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) and Cool Hand Luke (1967).
In 1958, Van Fleet was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her performance in "Look Homeward, Angel" on Broadway. Other films include Wild River (1960), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1965) and I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968). Her television work include Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), Bonanza (1959), Thriller (1960) and The Wild Wild West (1965).
Jo Van Fleet died at age 80 of undisclosed causes on June 10, 1996 in Queens, New York City.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in Florida, Joan went to New York where she worked as a model. In 1935 she went to Hollywood where she was signed at Columbia Pictures. While at Columbia, Joan appeared in a number of films and worked with leading men such as Ralph Bellamy, Melvyn Douglas and Lew Ayres. She also caught the eye of studio mogul Harry Cohn who wanted Joan for his wife. After Columbia, Joan went to Warner Brothers where she appeared in a handful of films including International Squadron (1941) and Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941) with Ronald Reagan. More of a supporting actress than the leading lady, she became very powerful when she finally married Harry Cohn in 1941 and retired from films.- Actress
- Soundtrack
The daughter of a West Virginia druggist, Joanne Dru came to New York in 1940. In New York she worked as a model and was cast by Al Jolson as one of the showgirls in his Broadway play "Hold Onto Your Hats." When the show closed in 1941, she married popular singer Dick Haymes and went with him to Hollywood. Discovered by a talent scout while working in the theater, Joanne made her screen debut in Abie's Irish Rose (1946), and that picture almost ended her career. Two years later she "redeemed" herself with her role in the classic Howard Hawks western Red River (1948). She followed that with another western, John Ford's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), again playing opposite John Wayne. Unfortunately, her success in those two classics resulted in the scripts being submitted to her consisting of mostly westerns, and she got typecast (this from a woman who said, "I simply hated horses...").
In 1950 she was cast in another John Ford western, Wagon Master (1950), which became the basis for the Ward Bond TV series Wagon Train (1957). Even though she played in films other than westerns--All the King's Men (1949), The Pride of St. Louis (1952) and Hell on Frisco Bay (1955), for example--it was the westerns for which she was remembered. By the late 1950s westerns were running out of steam and so was her screen career, so she turned to TV, where she appeared on shows such as Playhouse 90 (1956).
In 1960 Joanne was cast in the role of the Eastern owner of a dude ranch in the comedy series Guestward Ho! (1960). Perhaps even funnier is that she would play an Easterner after all those westerns is the fact that her character name was Babs. The show ended in 1961.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Starting out in 1924 as a lab technician at MGM, John Alton left there for Paramount to become a cameraman. He traveled to France and then to South America, where he wrote, photographed and directed several Spanish-language films. Returning to Hollywood in 1937, he soon achieved a reputation as one of the industry's most accomplished cinematographers. In 1951, he and Alfred Gilks won an Academy Award for color photography for An American in Paris (1951).- John Breckinridge was born August 6, 1903 into a wealthy family and descended from former U.S. Vice President John C. Breckinridge. He got the role of the Ruler in Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) because he was a house guest of Paul Marco at the time the film was shooting, as was David De Mering, who played copilot Danny. A serious auto accident prevented Breckinridge from getting a longed-for sex-change operation in Mexico. Plan 9 is his only screen appearance. He later was portrayed by Bill Murray in the Tim Burton film Ed Wood (1994). In his latter years, Bunny lived in New Jersey.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
John Snagge was born on 8 May 1904 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Danger UXB (1979), Comedy Playhouse (1961) and Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962). He died on 25 March 1996 in Buckinghamshire, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Nightclub singer; leading man in a few Hollywood musicals of the 1940's. Mr. Johnston began his career in small nightclubs and soon became a singer with Art Kassel and his band, "Kassels in the Air". He also appeared on many radio shows in the late 1930's. In 1942, he signed with Capitol Records - becoming one of the first four artists signed by the label - and recorded "That Old Black Magic", "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" and other songs. His recording of "Laura" sold more than a million copies.- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Jon Pertwee is best known for his portrayal of the Third Doctor on the BBC's science-fiction television series Doctor Who (1963) from 1970 to 1974. He was also the first to play the role following the transition of BBC One from black and white to colour. His 60-year entertainment career included work in radio, films and cabaret. This was despite the inauspicious beginning of having been thrown out of drama school as a young man and told he had no future as an actor.
Jon Pertwee was born John (after the apostle and disciple) Devon (after the county) Roland (after his father) Pertwee (an Anglicised version of the true family name, Perthuis de Laillevault) on 7 July 1919 in the Chelsea area of London. He was the second son of famous playwright, painter and actor Roland Pertwee, and his actress wife Avice - his writer brother Michael Pertwee being three years his senior. The Pertwee family had a long connection with show business and the performing arts, and it was at Wellington House preparatory school in Westgate-On-Sea in Kent that Jon, as a small and rebellious child, was encouraged in that direction. Later, at Frensham Heights co-educational school, Jon had his first taste of "real" theatre with real women in the school stage productions of "Twelfth Night" and "Lady Princess Stream". In 1936 he auditioned for, and was accepted by, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He was later kicked out for refusing to play the part of the wind in a play.
Jon Pertwee died on 20 May 1996 of a heart attack. The BBC announced his death. He was survived by his wife Ingeborg Rhoesa, his son Sean Pertwee, a popular and talented actor, and his daughter Dariel Pertwee, an accomplished stage actress.- Music Department
- Writer
- Composer
Jonathan Larson was born to Allan and Nanette Larson in Mount Vernon, New York, on February 4, 1960. A talented actor and musician, he was offered a full scholarship to Adelphi University on Long Island, where he met his idol (and later mentor) Stephen Sondheim. After graduating, he moved to the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan and, over a period of 12 years, wrote many plays and musicals, including the off-Broadway hit "Tick...tick...BOOM!" It wasn't until 1994, however, that he began work on what would be known as Rent. Finished in 1995, the musical was set to go into previews off-Broadway in early 1996. However, the night of the final dress rehearsal, Jonathan died of an aortic dissection as a result of later-to-be-known Marfan's syndrome.- Joseph Brodsky was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian-Jewish poet, writer, director and translator, who was arrested and prosecuted by the Soviet regime before his emigration.
He was born Joseph Aleksandrovich Brodsky on May 24, 1940 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg, Russia). He survived the Nazi siege of Leningrad during WWII. His father, Aleksandr Brodsky, was a professional photographer, who worked for newspapers and magazines. His mother, Maria Volpert, was a professional interpreter. Young Brodsky was brought up in a highly intellectual and stimulating atmosphere of his family. He studied languages for the purpose of reading the banned Western authors.
Joseph Brodsky was an unusual individual with his own independent views. He was destined to be at odds with the Soviet system due to his highly original thinking and his uncommon ways. He got tired of being abused by the Soviet propaganda and countless portraits of Lenin at his school. In an act of disobedience to the totalitarian system he dropped out of school at the age of 15. Then he tried many different jobs, including a sanitary job in the morgue at the "Kresty" prison, where he would be imprisoned a few years later. From the age of 16 he was writing his own poetry and produced literary translations. In 1961, Brodsky met the leading Russian woman poet Anna Akhmatova, at her dacha in Komarovo. That meeting was a pivoting point in his life as a poet and man. Anna Akhmatova and her circle was an unofficial incubator for talented youth. She praised Brodsky's poetry as "enchanting", and encouraged him to keep on writing. At that time Brodsky met his first love, the artist Marianna Basmanova, who inspired him on writing a collection of poetry, dedicated to "M. B." But his happiness was not on the agenda of the secret police.
The Soviet regime attacked Brodsky after he wrote a poem "Isaac and Avraam", based on the Old Testament and tried to publish it in 1963. He was arrested for an unofficial publication in an underground edition in 1963. Then he was charged with "social parasitism" in 1964. The trial of poet Brodsky was designed to intimidate other intellectuals during the return of censorship under the hard-line regime of the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. The Soviet judge announced that Brodsky was not an officially registered poet, and that his activity does not help the construction of Communism. He was sentenced to five years of hard labor. He was exiled to the remote Northern village of Norenskaya in Arkhangelsk region. There he was visited by several Russian intellectuals and cultural figures. Marianna Basmanova went along to live with Brodsky in his exile for several months, and in 1965 she became the mother of his son, Andrei. The civil union between Joseph Brodsky and Marina Basmanova could not be registered officially due to obstruction from the Soviet authorities. Brodsky and Marina agreed to have the baby registered on the mother's name for the safety of their child.
The unfair trial and exile of Joseph Brodsky caused political protests from such prominent figures as Korney Ivanovich Chukovskiy, Dmitri Shostakovich, Anna Akhmatova, Samuil Marshak, Yevgeniy Yevtushenko, and the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. After their written protests, his sentence was commuted. In 1965, Brodsky returned to Leningrad (St. Petersburg), but his poetry was still under the Soviet censorship. That same year his first collection of poetry was published in USA. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union Brodsky was forcefully sent to a Soviet mental institution, where the treatment consisted of wrapping him in cold, wet sheets. On June 4, 1972, Brodsky became an involuntary exile from the Soviet Union. He made brief stops in Vienna and London, and then went to USA. There he worked as a visiting professor at several universities. In 1978 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at Yale University. In 1979, Brodsky was indicted as a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1981, Brodsky received the "genius" award from the MacArthur Foundation.
While living in America, Brodsky tried to bring his father and mother to live with him. He sent many official requests and invitations, but all his requests were denied by the Soviet authorities, and his parents ended up dying in the Soviet Union without seeing Brodsky ever again. In the 80s he published a collection of love poems, dedicated to Marianna Basmanova, with several verses titled "M. B." He also wanted to reunite with her and their son, Andrei Basmanov, but neither Marianna Basmanova, nor their son, were able to leave the Soviet Union to join Brodsky in emigration. In 1990 he married his Sorbonne student, Maria Sozzani, who was of Russian-Italian heritage, and they had a daughter. Only after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Brodsky succeeded in bringing his son, Andrei Basmanov, for a father-son reunion in New York, and they were together for several months. By that time, his son already had a wife and three children living in Russia.
Joseph Brodsky was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1987), and was designated Poet Laureate of the United States (1991-1992). Outside of his writing profession, he founded a popular Russian restaurant in New York, and also made a documentary film about the city of Venice, which was his favorite place to visit. He died of a heart attack on January 28, 1996, and was laid to rest in the island of San Michele in Venice, near the tomb of Sergei Diaghilev. - Actress
- Soundtrack
The very pretty Judith Allen certainly had the makings of a great actress but her career fell far short, to the point that she came to be more sensational in the tabloid news than she was in the "B" films she graced.
She was born Marie Elliot in New York City on February 8, 1911, of Scottish parentage, and raised in Belmont, Massachusetts. She began studying theatre at the Leland Powers School in Boston following high school graduation, but this was interrupted when, at the age of 19, she married pro wrestler Gus Sonnenberg (aka "The Goat"). The marriage went sour almost immediately and she quickly returned to the dramatic school and picked up where she left off. Following this she joined up with a stock company that toured the New England area and changed her name to the more attractive spelling and sounding Mari Colman.
Paramount took notice of "Mari" and signed her to a contract following a screen test. Cecil B. DeMille cast her in the virginal leading lady role opposite Charles Bickford and Richard Cromwell in This Day and Age (1933), not knowing that the newcomer was already married, which had been a prerequisite for him casting her. Judith kept her faltering marriage a secret from DeMille and the studio.
During shooting, DeMille took it upon himself to change her marquee name to "Judith Allen." Meanwhile, jealous, estranged husband Sonnenberg broke Judith's marriage cover by blabbing to reporters just before the film's opening, to the fury of DeMille. Surprisingly, DeMille did not retaliate against Judith and she continued her Paramount career. The crimer has since reached minor cult status.
A beautiful and talented Depression-era co-star for Paramount and a lovely loanout to other studios in both drama and comedy, Judith went on to appear opposite Randolph Scott in The Thundering Herd (1933); Bing Crosby in the musical Too Much Harmony (1933) (in which she sang the song "The Day You Came Along"); Richard Arlen in Hell and High Water (1933); Reginald Denny in Dancing Man (1934); Tom Brown in The Witching Hour (1934); Johnny Mack Brown in Marrying Widows (1934); William Haines in Young and Beautiful (1934); and Bruce Cabot in both Men of the Night (1934) and Night Alarm (1934). Her best remembered film roles of that period were in the W.C. Fields classic The Old Fashioned Way (1934), as Fields' daughter, and the Shirley Temple vehicle Bright Eyes (1934) opposite James Dunn. Judith was also reunited with Crosby in the musical She Loves Me Not (1934) but Kitty Carlisle was his musical co-star and Judith appeared in support way down in the credits.
Following her divorce, Judith married Irish boxer Jack Doyle, aka "The Gorgeous Gael," in April of 1935 and her career became, naturally, a second priority. A boxing loss to Buddy Baer in August of that year at Madison Square Garden severely damaged Doyle's worldwide reputation. He later tried to focus on a singing career with Allen, touring in vaudeville shows. They were not welcomed when they arrived in Ireland to perform. These upsets triggered an on-again, off-again relationship which made for great tabloid fodder. The couple did co-star together in the film Navy Spy (1937), but it was too late and they eventually split up for good.
Trying to regain some late 30s film momentum, Judith was now solidly trapped in second-string programmers with roles opposite "B" actors Norman Foster, Regis Toomey, William Boyd, Donald Cook, Gene Autry', Harry Carey, Grant Withers and Dick Purcell for Republic Pictures and its "Poverty Row" subsidiaries such as Mascot, Monogram and Winchester. By the end of the decade her leading lady career had all but vanished and she was appearing unbilled in such pictures as Four Girls in White (1939) and the classic The Women (1939).
Into the 1940s, Judith found work on radio, on stage, in vaudeville and in nightclubs. To supplement her income, she also sold life insurance. A rare film would come her way in the 40s and 50s, including one lead role in Train to Tombstone (1950), but it was extremely rare. She married a third time, to publisher Rudolph Field in 1941, but the breakup was nasty and it too hit the tabloid papers while they went through the throes of divorce.
By 1951, Judith had abandoned the limelight. A fourth marriage would also end in divorce and she suffered a nervous breakdown following the death of her mother. In later years she joined the Mentalphysics Spiritual Teaching and Retreat Center in Joshua Tree, California (Palm Springs area) and eventually became an ordained minister. She died at age 85 in Joshua Tree.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in India to South African parents, Juliet studied to be a dancer from the age of 4. Attending the Royal Academy of Dance, by the time Juliet was 14, she was deemed too tall to enter the world of ballet. She signed as a chorus dancer with the London Palladium and then pursued a career as a dancer in European nightclubs. While dancing in Paris, she was spotted by Hollywood choreographer Hermes Pan and signed to a role in the movie Can-Can (1960). While rehearsing for the movie, Soviet Premier Khrushchev was invited to watch the then-unknown Prowse and others rehearsing their steps. The next day, he denounced the dance as immoral and it was Prowse's photo that accompanied the news across newspapers worldwide. An instant celebrity, Juliet shot to stardom with her acting and dancing and the tabloids filled with her romance with star Frank Sinatra. That same year, she also appeared with Elvis Presley in G.I. Blues (1960) and again the tabloids followed her.
She appeared in more films the next year but, as her celebrity status waned, so did her movie career. Her engagement to Sinatra in 1962 fueled her nightclub act, but did nothing for her movie career. In 1965, she moved to television with the series Mona McCluskey (1965), playing a nutty Hollywood starlet, but the show soon ended. Her big-screen career ended with Run for Your Wife (1965) and she, thereafter, appeared on the stage and on the nightclub circuit. Some of her stage shows included "Sweet Charity", "Kismet", "Irma La Douce", "Mame" and "The Pajama Game". She also appeared as a guest on Television but, most of the time, she worked in her nightclub act. In 1994, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.- June Carlson was born on 16 April 1924 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Jeep-Herders (1945), A Trip to Paris (1938) and Off to the Races (1937). She was married to Donald C. McKean. She died on 9 December 1996 in San Clemente, California, USA.
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- Additional Crew
Best known as Mrs. Oscar Levant and for the acute tabloid problems that accompanied that title, gorgeous blonde actress June Gale started things off in a vaudeville sister act that led to her becoming a Broadway and second-string movie actress of the 1930s.
June began life as twin Doris Gilmartin on July 6, 1911 in San Francisco along with her sister Helen. Another set of twins would arrive just fourteen months later in the form of Lenare and Lorraine. The Gilmartin family would relocate to New York City in the early 1920s with all four young girls quickly catching the performing bug.
A clever and intriguing (albeit incorrect) marquee billing as The Gale Quadruplets saw the light initially in vaudeville as a four girl dance act. Teenagers June and her renamed sisters Jane Gale (1911- ), Joan Gale (1912-1998) and Jeanne Gail (1912-1974) quickly made it to Broadway with the shows "Flying High" (1930) and "George White's Scandals (1931). They then headed West and made their first film with the Vitaphone short Poor Little Rich Boy (1932). Living in constant fear that their "quadruplet" scam would be found out, they decided to break up soon after this. While the others quickly put their careers on hold and settled down to marry, June ventured on, but the others too would have a very modest film career of their own.
June, in retrospect, would have the most endurable success of the four. She made her solo debut as a Goldwyn Girl in Eddie Cantor's Roman Scandals (1933) and continued on in decorative show girl type bits with Moulin Rouge (1934), Melody in Spring (1934) (also with Joan and Jane), Bottoms Up (1934) (also with Jean), Young and Beautiful (1934), both the US and French versions of _Folies Bergere de Paris (1935)_, Sing, Baby, Sing (1936) and Pigskin Parade (1936). Film westerns finally opened their doors to June by handing her co-leads opposite cowboy stars Hoot Gibson in Rainbow's End (1935), Swifty (1935) and The Riding Avenger (1936) and Ken Maynard in Heroes of the Range (1936). She and Gibson became an item during this time.
Signed by Fox after this string of visible roles, a disappointed and frustrated June was relegated back to bit parts once again with nothing roles in One in a Million (1936), Pigskin Parade (1936), On the Avenue (1937), Sing and Be Happy (1937) and Thin Ice (1937). She had a better role when she was loaned out to play opposite Kane Richmond and Frankie Darro in the crimer The Devil Diamond (1937). After June took some time off away from the studio to co-star in a touring stage company of "Stage Door," the studio took better care of their client upon her return with co-starring and/or featured roles in the "B" films Time Out for Murder (1938), While New York Sleeps (1938), Pardon Our Nerve (1939), Inside Story (1939), The Jones Family in Hollywood (1939) It Could Happen to You (1939), Hotel for Women (1939), Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939), The Escape (1939), The Honeymoon's Over (1939) and City of Chance (1940).
In 1939, life changed entirely for June when she met and married the composer and pianist extraordinaire Oscar Levant. Putting aside her career completely, she lived with this witty genius and quickly tried to learn how to cope with his chronic hypochondria and acute mood swings. That and raising their three daughters Marcia, Lorna and Amanda would become a full time job to say the least. The marriage itself was loud and noisy from the very start. Constant physical battles, emotional tirades, separations, reconciliations and suicide attempts (on both parts) made for tabloid headlines news. It was not long before the couple became known nationwide as the "Feudin' and Fussin' Levants of Beverly Hills."
After a decade and a half's absence, June finally returned to face the camera in 1956 as the co-host of a local TV show (KCOP) called "The Oscar Levant Show." Working together with her husband was probably not the wisest idea and it certainly showed on camera. One day June simply walked away from the show. KCOP happily gave her a talk show of her own, "The June Levant Show," for which she would be nominated for a local Emmy Award. June also earned a small part on a 1962 episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" and appeared occasionally on talk shows with Jack Paar, Merv Griffin and the like. After this she would preoccupy herself with the Los Angeles stage, appearing in various comedies and dramas including "The Butter and Egg Man," "A Taste of Honey," A Delicate Balance" and "Richard II."
The marriage of the "Battling Levants" finally ended with the death of Oscar in 1972 after the 66-year-old fell victim to a heart attack. In 1978 June wed screenwriter Henry Ephron but they divorced four years later. In her twilight years the former actress wrote and worked to keep the name and work of Oscar Levant alive. Singer/musician/songwriter Michael Feinstein would become a protégé of hers and she subsequently hired him to catalog Levant's compositions.
June died at age 85 of pneumonia in Los Angeles and was interred there at Westwood Memorial Park.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Kiyoshi Atsumi was born on 10 March 1928 in Ueno, Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor and producer, known for Tora-san Plays Daddy (1987), Tora-san's Tropical Fever (1980) and Talk of the Town Tora-san (1978). He died on 4 August 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Krzysztof Kieslowski graduated from Lódz Film School in 1969, and became a documentary, TV and feature film director and scriptwriter. Before making his first film for TV, Przejscie podziemne (1974) (The Underground Passage), he made a number of short documentaries. His next TV title, Personnel (1975) (The Staff), took the Grand Prix at Mannheim Film Festival. His first full-length feature was The Scar (1976) (The Scar). In 1978 he made the famous documentary From a Night Porter's Point of View (1979) (Night Porter's Point of View), and in 1979 - a feature Camera Buff (1979) (Camera Buff), which was acclaimed in Poland and abroad. Everything he did from that point was of highest artistic quality.- Larry Gates spent much of his early career waiting for that "big break." That Big Break finally came when he was cast in the 1956 Broadway comedy 'Bell Book and Candle' opposite Rex Harrison and Lili Palmer. Already middle aged, the role was the first in a long line of character roles that Larry would make famous on both stage and screen. He was featured in the Stephen Sondheim television musical Evening Primrose (1966), and played the over protective Dr. Baugh in the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) with Paul Newman. Gates later played the role of President Hoover in the acclaimed television mini-series Backstairs at the White House (1979) and appeared on Broadway in 'Hamlet' opposite Sam Waterston. During his last decade Gates was beset with various health problems forcing him to use oxygen on a regular basis. This still did not stop the active thespian from appearing on a popular soap opera almost until the month of his death. Mr. Gates passed away in 1996 , survived by his costume designer wife, Judith.