1970-1979 RIP

1. James Edwards

Pioneering actor who was among Hollywood's first - years ahead of Sidney Poitier - to crush the Stepin Fetchit stereotype of black males as shiftless illiterates. Although in some pictures Edwards would portray subservient characters (e.g. "General" George C. Scott's valet in Patton (1970)), he ...

2. Frank Gerstle

Actor | D.O.A.

Frank Gerstle was born on September 27, 1915 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for D.O.A. (1949), The Neanderthal Man (1953) and 13 West Street (1962). He died on February 23, 1970 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

3. William Hopper

Actor | Perry Mason

William Hopper was born on January 26, 1915 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Perry Mason (1957), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955). He was married to Jeanette Juanita Ward and Jane Gilbert. He died on March 6, 1970 in Palm Springs, ...

4. Byron Foulger

Actor | Sullivan's Travels

One of those wonderfully busy character actors whose face is familiar if not his name, mild-mannered actor Byron Foulger began performing with community theater, and stock and repertory companies after graduating from the University of Utah. He met his future wife, character actress Dorothy Adams, ...

5. Ed Begley

Actor | 12 Angry Men

Charismatic character star Edward James Begley was born in Hartford, Connecticut of Irish parents and educated at St.Patrick's school. His interest in acting first surfaced at the age of nine, when he performed amateur theatricals at the Hartford Globe Theatre. Determined to make his own way, he ...

6. Inger Stevens

Actress | Hang 'Em High

This enigmatic Stockholm-born beauty had everything going for her, including a rapidly rising film and TV career. Yet on April 30, 1970, at only 35, Inger Stevens would become another tragic Hollywood statistic -- added proof that fame and fortune do not always lead to happiness. Over time, a ...

7. Billie Burke

Actress | The Wizard of Oz

Billie Burke was born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1885 in Washington, D.C. Her father was a circus clown, and as a child she toured the United States and Europe with the circus (before motion pictures and after the stage, circuses were the biggest form of entertainment in the...

8. Charles Fredericks

Actor | Tender Is the Night

Charles Fredericks was born on September 5, 1918 in Columbus, Mississippi, USA. He was an actor, known for Tender Is the Night (1962), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) and Arrest and Trial (1963). He was married to Robin Mortimor. He died on May 14, 1970 in Sherman Oaks, California, USA.

9. Vinton Hayworth

Actor | China Passage

Vinton Hayworth was born on June 4, 1906 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor, known for China Passage (1937), Hazel (1961) and Arrest and Trial (1963). He was married to Jean Hayworth and Florence Alvina McEnany. He died on May 21, 1970 in Van Nuys, California, USA.

10. Frank Silvera

Actor | Killer's Kiss

He was a highly successful black actor/director in the 1950s and 1960s who - because of his light-skinned appearance - transcended race and ethnicity in his performances. In motion pictures, Frank Silvera was cast as black, Latino, Polynesian and "white"/racially indeterminate (due to black + white...

11. Harry Swoger

Actor | Bronco

Harry Swoger, late Sunday, June 14, 1970, died at Valley Emergency Hospital in Van Nuys, CA.

Funeral services were held Thursday, June 18, 1970, at Steen's Mortuary in North Hollywood, CA.

Swoger was a character actor in over 100 television shows, many westerns, from 1959 at the age of 40, until his ...

12. Frances Farmer

Actress | Flowing Gold

Born in Seattle, Frances Farmer studied drama at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 1935, she went to Hollywood where she secured a seven-year contract with Paramount. In 1943, she was wrongfully declared mentally incompetent and committed by her parents to a series of asylums and public ...

13. Steve Darrell

Actor | The Monolith Monsters

Steve Darrell was born on November 19, 1904 in Osage, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for The Monolith Monsters (1957), Tarantula (1955) and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (1948). He died on August 14, 1970 in Hollywood, California, USA.

14. Jimi Hendrix

Soundtrack | Woodstock

Widely regarded as the greatest and most influential guitarist in rock history, Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, to African-American parents Lucille (Jeter) and James Allen Hendrix. His mother named him John Allen Hendrix and raised him alone while his father, Al ...

15. Alex Montoya

Actor | The Magnificent Seven

Alex Montoya was born on October 19, 1907 in El Paso, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) and Soldiers of Fortune (1955). He died on September 25, 1970 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

16. Fred Coby

Actor | Government Agents vs Phantom Legion

Fred Coby was born on March 1, 1916 in Glenbrook, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Government Agents vs Phantom Legion (1951), Jungle Goddess (1948) and Laramie (1959). He died on September 27, 1970 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

17. Janis Joplin

Soundtrack | Watchmen

Janis Lyn Joplin was born at St. Mary's Hospital in the oil-refining town of Port Arthur, Texas, near the border with Louisiana. Her father was a cannery worker and her mother was a registrar for a business college. As an overweight teenager, she was a folk-music devotee (especially Odetta, ...

18. Patrick Wymark

Actor | Where Eagles Dare

British character actor with radio and stage experience from 1951. Studied at University College in London and learned acting at the Old Vic Theatre School. Toured South Africa in 1952 and subsequently appeared in many Shakespearean roles in Stratford-upon-Avon. Busy television actor from the late ...

19. Carolyn Craig

Actress | House on Haunted Hill

Carolyn Craig was born Adele Ruth Crago on October 27, 1934, in Green Acres, New York. Her father, Clarence, was an engineer and her mother, Ruth, was a housewife. The family moved to Santa Barbara, California, when she was child. Carolyn started her career acting at the Santa Barbara Community ...

20. John Dall

Actor | Rope

John Dall was born John Dall Thompson on May 26, 1920, the younger son of Mr. Charles Jenner Thompson and Mrs. Henry (née Worthington) Thompson. He made his Broadway debut in Norman Krasna's comedy, 'Dear Ruth', directed by Moss Hart, in 1944. The show was a hit, running for over a year and a half ...

21. Jay C. Flippen

Actor | The Killing

Jay C. Flippen could probably be characterized these days as one of those craggy, distinctive faces you know but whose name escapes you while viewing scores of old 1950s and 1960s films and television series. Playing both sides of the law throughout his career, his huge cranium, distinctive bulldog...

22. Werner Peters

Actor | Battle of the Bulge

Corpulent German character actor, often seen in menacing or unpleasant roles. Trained under Lina Carstens (1935-1937), Peters initially started out as a comedian. After military service in World War II, he reinvented himself as a serious dramatic actor, resident for some time at the Munich ...

23. Tor Johnson

Actor | Plan 9 from Outer Space

Tor Johnson was a big man, with a big heart, who was born October 19, 1903, in Sweden.

Most of his adult life, he was a professional wrestler. Tor started appearing (uncredited, or in bit parts) in movies as early as 1934. He was in 31 movies, usually as "Weightlifter" or "Strongman."

Later, he got ...

24. Terence de Marney

Actor | Lorna Doone

Gaunt, emaciated-looking British character actor who enjoyed a lengthy career on the stage, both as an actor and as a director. By the age of 19, he was already a noted writer and producer of plays. De Marney made his theatrical debut in London in 1923. His first major role was as Jim Hawkins in "...

25. Audie Murphy

Actor | To Hell and Back

Audie Murphy became a national hero during World War II as the most decorated combat soldier of the war. Among his 33 awards was the Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery that a soldier can receive. In addition, he was also decorated for bravery by the governments of France and Belgium, and...

26. Michael Rennie

Actor | The Day the Earth Stood Still

The British actor Michael Rennie worked as a car salesman and factory manager before he turned to acting. A meeting with a Gaumont-British Studios casting director led to Rennie's first acting job - that of stand-in for Robert Young in Secret Agent (1936) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He put his ...

27. Thomas Gomez

Actor | Key Largo

After graduating from high school in 1923, Thomas Sabino Gomez answered a help wanted ad, which resulted in his joining the Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne theater group. Prior to that time he had not considered acting as a career. He continued working as an actor with the Lunts, traveling across ...

28. Jim Morrison

Soundtrack | Army of the Dead

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American poet, singer, and songwriter from Florida. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band "The Doors" (1965-1973), and has been cited as "one of the most influential frontmen in rock history". Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all...

29. Louis Armstrong

Actor | High Society

Louis Armstrong grew up poor in a single-parent household. He was 13 when he celebrated the New Year by running out on the street and firing a pistol that belonged to the current man in his mother's life. At the Colored Waifs Home for Boys, he learned to play the bugle and the clarinet and joined ...

30. Guy Wilkerson

Actor | The Fugitive

Guy Wilkerson was born on December 21, 1899 in Whitewright, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fugitive (1963), Captain Midnight (1942) and Return of the Rangers (1943). He died on July 15, 1971 in Hollywood, California, USA.

31. Van Heflin

Actor | Shane

Craggy-faced, dependable star character actor Van Heflin never quite made the Hollywood "A" list, but made up for what he lacked in appearance with hard work, charisma and solid acting performances. He was born Emmett Evan Heflin in Oklahoma in December 1908, the son of Fanny Bleecker (Shippey) and...

32. Horace McMahon

Actor | Detective Story

Tough, craggy, furrow-browed, gruff-voiced character actor Horace McMahon's urban film and TV characters played on both sides of the legal fence in over a hundred films. His first few years were usually heavy on the wrong side with various hoods, thugs, jailbirds, mobsters and murderers in crime ...

33. Pier Angeli

Actress | Battle of the Bulge

Anna Maria Pierangeli was born June 19, 1932, in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Anna and her twin sister, Marisa Pavan, both had their eyes on becoming film stars, since that was one of the big Italian pastimes. Anna adopted her surname and split it in half, and it was as Pier Angeli that she would ...

34. Percy Helton

Actor | The Set-Up

One of the most familiar faces and voices in Hollywood films of the 1950s. Percy Helton acted almost from infancy, appearing in his father's vaudeville act. The famed Broadway producer David Belasco cast Helton in a succession of child roles over several years, giving the boy an invaluable ...

35. Ralph Moody

Actor | Get Smart

Ralph Moody was born on November 5, 1886 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA as Ralph Roy Moody, the oldest son of Franklin Jerome Moody and Ida M. Hicklin. His introduction to show business was first as an actor on the stage in pre-radio days and then as a radio personality. His first acting role was in ...

36. James Westerfield

Actor | On the Waterfront

James Westerfield was born on March 22, 1913 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for On the Waterfront (1954), True Grit (1969) and Hang 'Em High (1968). He was married to Alice Gertrude Fay (Fay Tracey) and Rosemary Doris Deveson. He died on September 20, 1971 in Woodland Hills, ...

37. Christopher Dark

Actor | World Without End

Christopher Dark was born on April 21, 1920 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for World Without End (1956), Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958) and The Time Tunnel (1966). He was married to Eleanor Dark. He died on October 10, 1971 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, ...

38. Gladys Cooper

Actress | My Fair Lady

Gladys Cooper was the daughter of journalist William Frederick Cooper and his wife Mabel Barnett. As a child she was very striking and was used as a photographic model beginning at six years old. She wanted to become an actress and started on that road in 1905 after being discovered by Seymour ...

39. Walter Sande

Actor | To Have and Have Not

Chances are you've seen his imposing character face scores of times but couldn't place the name. Colorado-born actor Walter Sande was one of those stern, heavyset character actors in Hollywood everyone recognized but no one could identify.

Born in Denver on July 9, 1906, Sande showed an early ...

40. Frank Wolff

Actor | Il grande silenzio

Frank Wolff started his career by acting in several Roger Corman films. However, Wolff had to travel to Europe to be successful. He was finally able to become a well known actor in Italy and Europe with his performance in Salvatore Giuliano (1962) and had roles in many European film productions. ...

41. Diana Lynn

Actress | The Major and the Minor

She was a child prodigy and pianist at age 10. Her first movie was There's Magic in Music (1941) aka The Hard-Boiled Canary (1941), under the name Dolly (a short version of her real name, Dolores) Loehr. She signed a long-term contract with Paramount in 1942 and had her name changed to Diana Lynn. ...

42. Pete Duel

Actor | Alias Smith and Jones

Born on 24 February 1940 in Rochester, New York, Pete Duel moved to West Hollywood in 1963 following a tour with the National Road Company's "Take Her, She's Mine". After landing small guest spots on various TV series, Pete was cast in a recurring role alongside Sally Field on Gidget (1965) in 1965...

43. George Mitchell

Actor | The Andromeda Strain

George Mitchell was born on February 21, 1905 in Larchmont, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Andromeda Strain (1971), The Twilight Zone (1959) and Dark Shadows (1966). He was married to Katherine Squire and Mary Alice Shroyer. He died on January 18, 1972 in Washington, ...

44. David McMahon

Actor | It Conquered the World

David McMahon was born on December 11, 1910 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for It Conquered the World (1956), Cavalcade of America (1952) and Rescue 8 (1958). He was married to Dorothea McMenamin. He died on January 27, 1972 in Pasadena, California, USA.

45. John Litel

Actor | They Died with Their Boots On

John Litel's tough, no-nonsense demeanor on screen was not entirely due to his skill as an actor--when World War I broke out he enlisted in the French army, not wanting to wait until the US entered, and was twice decorated for bravery. Returning to the US after the war, he enrolled in the American ...

46. Richard H. Cutting

Actor | Attack of the Crab Monsters

In the 1950s Richard Cutting derived fame as "Manners," a tiny butler in a Bowler derby hat in a series of commercials for Kleenex Napkins. By trick photography he appeared to be about only inches in height and would manifest under a dinner table in a traditional butler's cutaway. A paper napkin ...

47. Peter Whitney

Actor | The Big Heat

Peter Whitney's over-powering frame, swarthy looks, bushy brows and maniacal look in his eye made him one of the most fearsome character actors to lump around in 1940s-60s film and TV.

Born on May 24, 1916 in New Jersey of German ancestry, Peter King Engle was educated at Exeter Academy. He ...

48. Brian Donlevy

Actor | Beau Geste

It seems that Brian Donlevy started out life as colorfully as any character he ever played on the stage or screen. He lied about his age (he was actually 14) in 1916 so he could join the army. When Gen. John J. Pershing sent American troops to invade Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa--Mexican ...

49. George Sanders

Actor | All About Eve

George Sanders was born of English parents in St. Petersburg, Russia. He worked in a Birmingham textile mill, in the tobacco business and as a writer in advertising. He entered show business in London as a chorus boy, going from there to cabaret, radio and theatrical understudy. His film debut, in ...

50. Bruce Cabot

Actor | King Kong

Hollywood stalwart Bruce Cabot's main claim to fame, other than rescuing Fay Wray from King Kong (1933), is that he tested for the lead role of The Ringo Kid in John Ford's Western masterpiece Stagecoach (1939). John Wayne got the role and became the most durable star in Hollywood history, while ...

51. Kenneth MacDonald

Actor | The Ten Commandments

Kenneth MacDonald was born Kenneth Dollins on September 8, 1901, in Portland, IN. He began his career as a stage actor in the 1920s and came to Hollywood in the early 1930s. He broke into motion pictures, but after several small roles, he found employment difficult to come by. He hit upon the idea ...

52. Steve Ihnat

Actor | Countdown

Steve Ihnat was born on August 7, 1934 in Jastrabie, Czechoslovakia [now Jastrabie pri Michalovciach, Slovak Republic]. He was an actor and writer, known for Countdown (1967), The Honkers (1972) and Do Not Throw Cushions Into the Ring (1970). He was married to Sally Carter-Ihnat. He died on May 12,...

53. Dan Blocker

Actor | Bonanza

Dan Blocker is one of the true television immortals, having played Hoss Cartwright -- the heart and soul of Bonanza (1959) -- for 13 seasons, before his untimely death in 1972 at the age of 43. "Bonanza" was the most popular TV series of the 1960s, ranked #1 for three straight seasons (1964-65 ...

54. Nigel Green

Actor | Zulu

The character actor Nigel Green, born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1924, was educated in England and studied chemical engineering before winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. By age 24, he was appearing on stage at both the Old Vic and Stratford-on-Avon, and in the ...

55. Brandon De Wilde

Actor | Shane

Brandon De Wilde was born into a theatrical family and made a much-acclaimed Broadway debut in "The Member of the Wedding" at age 9. He was the first child actor to win the Donaldson Award, and went on to repeat his role in the film version, directed by Fred Zinnemann in 1952. As the blond-haired, ...

56. Joi Lansing

Actress | Touch of Evil

Joi Lansing was born Joyce Renee Brown on April 6, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a teen she developed early, and because of her striking good looks, she began to model and was extremely successful throughout the 1940s.

It was only natural that her physical assets eventually landed her on the ...

57. James Patterson

Actor | In the Heat of the Night

James Patterson was born on June 29, 1932 in Derry, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for In the Heat of the Night (1967), Night of the Dark Full Moon (1972) and Play of the Week (1959). He was married to Rochelle Oliver. He died on August 19, 1972 in New York City, New York, USA.

58. William Boyd

Actor | Flaming Gold

The son of a day laborer, William Boyd moved with his family to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was seven. His parents died while he was in his early teens, forcing him to quit school and take such jobs as a grocery clerk, surveyor and oil field worker. He went to Hollywood in 1919, already gray-haired. ...

59. Leo G. Carroll

Actor | North by Northwest

One of the most indispensable of character actors, Leo G. Carroll was already involved in the business of acting as a schoolboy in Gilbert & Sullivan productions. Aged 16, he portrayed an old man in 'Liberty Hall'. In spite of the fact, that he came from a military family, and , perhaps, because of...

60. Tod Andrews

Actor | Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Tod Andrews was born on November 9, 1914 in El Paso, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Heaven Can Wait (1943) and From Hell It Came (1957). He was married to Karolyn Rainwater, Valerie Veigel, Alice Kirby Hooker, Gloria Eleanor Folland and Isabelle ...

61. James H. Nicholson

Producer | Panic in Year Zero!

James H. Nicholson was a longtime theater owner and exhibitor and worked as a promo man for Realart Pictures prior to 1954, when he founded American Releasing Corp., Two years later, he decided he wanted to expand globally and, with lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff, formed American International Pictures. ...

62. J. Carrol Naish

Actor | Sahara

One of the most versatile character actors in the business, Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish (pronounced Nash) was born of Irish descent in New York City. His illustrious ancestors hailed from county Limerick and were listed in Burke's Peerage. He had a Catholic education at St. Cecilia's Academy, but ...

63. Edward G. Robinson

Actor | Double Indemnity

Emanuel Goldenberg arrived in the United States from Romania at age ten, and his family moved into New York's Lower East Side. He took up acting while attending City College, abandoning plans to become a rabbi or lawyer. The American Academy of Dramatic Arts awarded him a scholarship, and he began ...

64. John Banner

Actor | Hogan's Heroes

John Banner, who achieved television immortality for his portrayal of the Luftwaffe POW camp guard Sergeant Schultz in the TV series Hogan's Heroes (1965), was born on Tuesday, January 28th, 1910 in Vienna., which in 1938 was then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The 28-year-old Banner, ...

65. Ludwig Stössel

Actor | The Pride of the Yankees

Born in Austria in 1883, Ludwig Stossel was an established theater presence (from age 17) in both his homeland and in Germany for decades, performing at one time or another for both Max Reinhardt and Otto Preminger. He made a handful of German silents beginning in 1926 and had moved with ease into ...

66. Jack MacGowran

Actor | The Quiet Man

Jack MacGowran was an Irish actor, probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett.

He established his professional reputation as a member of the Abbey Players in Dublin, while he achieved stage renown for his knowing interpretations of the works of Samuel Beckett. He appeared as Lucky in ...

67. Vasiliki Maliaros

Actress | The Exorcist

Vasiliki Maliaros was born on October 16, 1883 in Athens, Greece. She was an actress, known for The Exorcist (1973). She died on February 9, 1973 in The Bronx, New York, USA.

68. Wally Cox

Actor | Mister Peepers

Wally Cox was a beloved character actor who made his mark in television and ranks as one of the medium's most memorable performers. His ability to show his range likely was limited by his short stature, slight frame, and high-pitched voice, which along with his talent for being very funny, made him...

69. Tim Holt

Actor | The Magnificent Ambersons

As they say, like father, like son. Cowboy hero Tim Holt avidly followed in the boots of his famous character-actor dad, the granite-jawed Jack Holt (b. Charles John Holt), who appeared in hundreds of silents and talkies (many of them westerns) over the years. The two actually appeared together as ...

70. Ralph Neff

Actor | Thriller

Ralph Neff was born on August 16, 1907 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for Thriller (1960), Peter Gunn (1958) and Patty (1962). He died on February 27, 1973 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.

71. Cecil Kellaway

Actor | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Though a native of South Africa, Cecil Kellaway spent many years as an actor, author and director in Australian live theatre until he tried his luck in Hollywood in the 1930s. Finding he could get only gangster bit parts, he got discouraged and returned to Australia. Then William Wyler called and ...

72. Robert Siodmak

Director | Nachts wenn der Teufel kam

Robert Siodmak (8 August 1900 - 10 March 1973) was a German-born, American film director. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of stylish, unpretentious Hollywood films noirs he made in the 1940s.

Siodmak (pronounced SEE-ODD-MACK) was born in Dresden, Germany, the son of ...

73. Stacy Harris

Actor | Dragnet

Stacy Harris is probably best known for the many roles he played opposite Jack Webb in Dragnet (1954) and on other Webb-produced shows. Harris and Webb were close friends and Jack named one of his daughters Stacy in his friend's honor.

Harris was born on July 26, 1918 in Seattle, Washington, and ...

74. Carl Benton Reid

Actor | In a Lonely Place

Carl Benton Reid was a drama graduate from Carnegie Tech who had several years of stage experience performing at the Cleveland Playhouse in the 1920s, where he met his future wife, stage actress Hazel Harrison. After moving to New York, he became a noted actor on the Broadway stage with some ...

75. John Call

Actor | Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

John Call was born on November 3, 1908 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), The Anderson Tapes (1971) and Young Man with Ideas (1952). He was married to Helen Churchill Dalby. He died on April 3, 1973 in New York City, New York, ...

76. Ted de Corsia

Actor | The Lady from Shanghai

A big, brawny villain of many 1940s and 1950s films, Ted de Corsia was an actor in touring companies and on radio before making a memorable film debut as the killer in The Lady from Shanghai (1947). Although he occasionally played such sympathetic roles as a judge or prison warden, de Corsia's ...

77. Robert Armstrong

Actor | King Kong

Robert Armstrong is familiar to old-movie buffs for his case-hardened, rapid-fire delivery in such roles as fast-talking promoters, managers, FBI agents, street cops, detectives and other such characters in scores of films--over 160--many of them at Warner Brothers, where he was part of the ...

78. Irene Ryan

Actress | The Beverly Hillbillies

Before becoming known to millions as Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Irene Ryan was already an established vaudeville, radio and movie actress, though not as famous prior to her television stint. She accompanied Bob Hope on his famous military tours and she was known as "the gal who makes...

79. Myrna Fahey

Actress | The Fall of the House of Usher

Myrna Fahey was born on March 12, 1933 in Carmel, Maine, USA. She was an actress, known for House of Usher (1960), The Time Tunnel (1966) and Hawaiian Eye (1959). She died on May 6, 1973 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

80. Lane Bradford

Actor | Zombies of the Stratosphere

Lane Bradford was born on August 29, 1922 in Yonkers, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), The Invisible Monster (1950) and The Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958). He was married to Joan Irene Velin and Mary Schrock. He died on June 7, 1973 in Honolulu, Hawaii...

81. George Macready

Actor | Gilda

George Macready--the name probably does not ring any bells for most but the voice would be unmistakable. He attended and graduated from Brown University and had a short stint as a New York newspaperman, but became interested in acting on the advice of colorful Polish émigré classical stage director ...

82. Veronica Lake

Actress | Sullivan's Travels

Veronica Lake was born as Constance Frances Marie Ockleman on November 14, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the daughter of Constance Charlotta (Trimble) and Harry Eugene Ockelman, who worked for an oil company as a ship employee. Her father was of half German and half Irish descent, and her ...

83. Robert Ryan

Actor | The Wild Bunch

Distinguished U.S. actor and longtime civil rights campaigner Robert Bushnell Ryan was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Mable Arbutus (Bushnell), a secretary, and Timothy Aloysius Ryan, whose wealthy family owned a real estate firm. His father was of Irish ancestry, and his mother was of English and ...

84. Lon Chaney Jr.

Actor | The Wolf Man

American character actor whose career was influenced (and often overshadowed) by that of his father, silent film star Lon Chaney. The younger Chaney was born while his parents were on a theatrical tour, and he joined them onstage for the first time at the age of six months. However, as a young man,...

85. Jack Hawkins

Actor | Ben-Hur

In Britain, special Christmas plays called pantomimes are produced for children. Jack Hawkins made his London theatrical debut at age 12, playing the elf king in "Where The Rainbow Ends". At 17, he got the lead role of St. George in the same play. At 18, he made his debut on Broadway in "Journey's ...

86. Bruce Lee

Actor | Jing wu men

Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream North American and ...

87. Edgar Stehli

Actor | Executive Suite

Edgar Stehli was born on July 12, 1884 in Lyon, Rhône, France. He was an actor, known for Executive Suite (1954), 4D Man (1959) and Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961). He was married to Emeline C Greenough. He died on July 25, 1973 in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA.

88. Douglas Kennedy

Actor | The Land Unknown

A tall, powerfully built man, Douglas Kennedy entered films after graduating from Amherst. Making his debut in 1940, he appeared in many westerns and detective thrillers, often as a villain. World War II interrupted his career, and he spent the war years as a Signal Corps officer and an operative ...

89. Peggie Castle

Actress | I, the Jury

Tall, sultry, green-eyed blonde Peggie Castle was actually spotted by a talent scout while she was lunching in a Beverly Hills restaurant. In her films she was usually somebody's "woman" rather than a girlfriend, and her career was confined to mostly "B"-grade action pictures, dramas or westerns: ...

90. Tol Avery

Actor | Hawaiian Eye

Tol Avery was born on August 28, 1915 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Hawaiian Eye (1959), G.E. True (1962) and Buchanan Rides Alone (1958). He was married to Mabel Grace (Yvonne) Johnston. He died on August 27, 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

91. Meri Welles

Actress | The Pink Panther

Meri Welles was born on February 27, 1937 in Dallas, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for The Pink Panther (1963), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) and Lo sceicco rosso (1962). She was married to Michael M. Moses, Mel Welles and Gene Arthur Cates. She died on August 27, 1973 in Dallas, Texas,...

92. Michael Dunn

Actor | Ship of Fools

Michael Dunn was born Gary Neil Miller in Oklahoma. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Fred Miller. They moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1938. Dunn was 5 years old when he knew he'd be a dwarf but was determined not to let it stop him or make him dependent. He graduated from Detroit's Redford High School...

93. John Ford

Director | The Quiet Man

John Ford came to Hollywood following one of his brothers, an actor. Asked what brought him to Hollywood, he replied "the train". He became one of the most respected directors in the business, in spite of being known for his westerns, which were not considered "serious" film. He won six Oscars, ...

94. J.R.R. Tolkien

Writer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

English writer, scholar and philologist, Tolkien's father was a bank manager in South Africa. Shortly before his father died (1896) his mother took him and his younger brother to his father's native village of Sarehole, near Birmingham, England. The landscapes and Nordic mythology of the Midlands ...

95. Glenn Strange

Actor | Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

At various times in his life a rancher, deputy sheriff and rodeo performer, this huge, towering (6' 5") beast of a man was born George Glenn Strange in Weed, New Mexico, on August 16, 1899, but grew up a real-life cowboy in Cross Cut, Texas. He taught himself (by ear) the fiddle and guitar at a ...

96. Norma Crane

Actress | Fiddler on the Roof

Norma Crane was born on November 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Ben Casey (1961) and Banyon (1971). She was married to Herbert Sargent. She died on September 28, 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

97. Sidney Blackmer

Actor | Rosemary's Baby

Sidney Blackmer, the Tony-award winning actor who played Teddy Roosevelt in seven movies, is best remembered by today's movie audiences for his turn as the warlock/coven-leader Roman Castevet in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968).

Born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina, where he made his ...

98. James Bell

Actor | I Walked with a Zombie

James Bell was born on December 1, 1891 in Suffolk, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Spiral Staircase (1946) and Blind Spot (1947). He was married to Joyce Arling. He died on October 26, 1973 in Kents Store, Virginia, USA.

99. Stringbean

Soundtrack | There's Someone Inside Your House

David Akeman, the country musician known as "Stringbean," was a legend at the Grand Ole Opry and one of the stars of television's Hee Haw (1969). Along with his long-time partner and Hee Haw (1969) co-star Grandpa Jones, he was one of the premier traditional-style banjo players in country music. ...

100. Paul Newlan

Actor | Down Rio Grande Way

Paul Newlan was born on June 29, 1903 in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for Down Rio Grande Way (1942), Dragnet (1947) and The Twilight Zone (1959). He was married to Hazel Bokarney Newlan. He died on November 23, 1973 in Studio City, California, USA.