Date of Death between 1981-01-01 and 1981-12-31 (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)
1. Natalie Wood
Actress | Rebel Without a Cause
Natalie Wood was an American actress of Russian and Ukrainian descent. She started her career as a child actress and eventually transitioned into teenage roles, young adult roles, and middle-aged roles. She drowned off Catalina Island on November 29, 1981 at age 43.
Wood was born July 20, 1938 in ...
2. William Holden
Actor | Stalag 17
Billy Wilder proclaimed William Holden to be "the ideal motion picture actor". For almost four decades, the handsome, affable 'Golden Holden' was among Hollywood's most durable and engaging stars. He was born William Franklin Beedle Jr., one of three sons to a high school English teacher, Mary ...
3. Gloria Grahame
Actress | In a Lonely Place
Gloria Grahame Hallward, an acting pupil of her mother (stage actress and teacher Jean Grahame), acted professionally while still in high school. In 1944 Louis B. Mayer saw her on Broadway and gave her an MGM contract under the name Gloria Grahame. Her debut in the title role of Blonde Fever (1944)...
4. Ross Martin
Actor | The Great Race
Born in Grodek, Poland, Ross Martin grew up on New York City's Lower East Side. He spoke Yiddish, Polish, and Russian before even learning English and later added French, Spanish, and Italian to his amazing repertoire.
Despite academic training (and receiving honors in) business, instruction, and ...
5. Richard Boone
Actor | Have Gun - Will Travel
Richard Allen Boone was born in Los Angeles, California, to Cecile Lillian (Beckerman) and Kirk Etna Boone, a wealthy corporate lawyer. His maternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants, while his father was descended from a brother of frontiersmen Daniel Boone and Squire Boone.
Richard was a...
6. William Wyler
Director | Ben-Hur
William Wyler was an American filmmaker who, at the time of his death in 1981, was considered by his peers as second only to John Ford as a master craftsman of cinema. The winner of three Best Director Academy Awards, second again only to Ford's four, Wyler's reputation has unfairly suffered as the...
7. Jack Albertson
Actor | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
A former song-and-dance man and veteran of vaudeville, burlesque and Broadway, Jack Albertson is best known to audiences as "The Man" in the TV series Chico and the Man (1974), for which he won an Emmy. In 1968 Albertson, the brother of actress Mabel Albertson, won the Oscar for Best Supporting ...
8. Jim Davis
Actor | Big Jake
Tall, rangy Jim Davis spent much of his early career in westerns mainly at Republic Pictures. The Missouri-born and -raised Davis' relaxed, easygoing manner and Southern drawl easily fit most moviegoers' image of the cowboy and Republic put him in a ton of them over the years (the fact that, unlike...
9. Melvyn Douglas
Actor | Being There
Two-time Oscar-winner Melvyn Douglas was one of America's finest actors, and would enjoy cinema immortality if for no other reason than his being the man who made Greta Garbo laugh in Ernst Lubitsch's classic comedy Ninotchka (1939), but he was much, much more.
Melvyn Douglas was born Melvyn Edouard...
10. Edith Head
Costume Department | Sabrina
Edith Head was born on October 28, 1897 in San Bernardino, California, USA. She was a costume designer and actress, known for Sabrina (1954), All About Eve (1950) and The Sting (1973). She was previously married to Wiard Ihnen and Charles Head. She died on October 24, 1981 in Los Angeles, ...
11. Kipp Hamilton
Actress | The Unforgiven
Kipp Hamilton was born on August 16, 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Unforgiven (1960), Mike Hammer (1958) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). She was previously married to Donald Thorman Rosenfeld and Dave Geisel. She died on January 29, 1981 in Beverly ...
12. Don Megowan
Actor | The Creation of the Humanoids
Don Megowan was born on May 24, 1922 in Inglewood, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Creation of the Humanoids (1962), The Werewolf (1956) and Blazing Saddles (1974). He was previously married to Alva Megowan and Betty Eleanor Wright. He died on June 26, 1981 in Panorama City, ...
13. Pat Conway
Actor | Destination 60,000
Born on January 9, 1931, in Los Angeles, California, Patrick (Pat) Douglas Conway was the son of Hollywood "royalty"-film actor/director/producer Hugh ("Jack") Ryan Conway and his second wife, Virginia C. Bushman Conway, daughter of famous silent screen star Francis X. Bushman. Pat was a real ...
14. Jenny Maxwell
Actress | Blue Hawaii
Jenny Maxwell was an American actress of Norwegian descent. She had a relatively brief career during the late 1950s and the 1960s. Her most substantial role was that of Ellie Corbett in the musical comedy "Blue Hawaii" (1961), depicted as a flirtatious teenage girl who has suicidal thoughts.
Maxwell...
15. Bernard Lee
Actor | Diamonds Are Forever
Best remembered as 'M' in the James Bond films, Bernard Lee was a popular character player in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Born into a theatrical family, he made his stage debut at age six and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He first appeared on the West End stage...
16. Robert Montgomery
Actor | Night Must Fall
Robert Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery Jr., the elder son of New York businessman Henry Montgomery and his wife, Mary Weed (Barney), a native of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. Montgomery had a younger brother, Donald. He was not related to Belinda Montgomery.
As a child, he enjoyed a ...
17. Beulah Bondi
Actress | It's a Wonderful Life
Character actress Beulah Bondi was a favorite of directors and audiences and is one of the reasons so many films from the 1930s and 1940s remain so enjoyable, as she was an integral part of many of the ensemble casts (a hallmark of the studio system) of major and/or great films, including The Trail...
18. Wanda Hendrix
Actress | Song of Surrender
Born Dixie Wanda Hendrix in Jacksonville, Florida to a logging camp boss (Max Sylvester Hendrix) and his wife (Mary Bailley), wholesome, green-eyed, dark-haired Wanda Hendrix was involved in her hometown's little theater group when she was "discovered" by a passing talent agent and signed up by ...
19. Vera-Ellen
Actress | White Christmas
Vera-Ellen began dancing at the age of 10, and a few years later became one of the youngest Rockettes. She appeared in several Broadway musicals until she was spotted by film producer Samuel Goldwyn in 1945. She was only 24 years old when Goldwyn cast her opposite Danny Kaye in Wonder Man (1945). ...
20. Frank DeKova
Actor | The Ten Commandments
Frank DeKova parlayed a sinister scowl, piercing eyes and an all-around menacing attitude into a long career of playing cold-blooded trigger-men, rampaging Indian chiefs, brutal Mexican army officers and the like. So it would probably come as a shock to those who know his work to discover that, ...
21. Matthew 'Stymie' Beard
Actor | Dogs Is Dogs
Matthew 'Stymie' Beard was born on January 1, 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Dogs Is Dogs (1931), A Lad an' a Lamp (1932) and Bedtime Worries (1933). He was previously married to Annie. He died on January 8, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
22. James Murdock
Actor | The Godfather Part II
James Murdock was born on June 22, 1931 in Bloomington, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Godfather Part II (1974), Rawhide (1959) and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963). He was previously married to Betty. He died on December 24, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
23. Chief Dan George
Actor | Little Big Man
Actor, author, and musician Chief Dan George was born in present-day North Vancouver as Geswanouth Slahoot (later anglicized as 'Dan Slaholt'), the son of a tribal chief on Burrard Indian Reserve Nº. 3. He is the only Aboriginal actor in Canadian history to date with the right to use the title "...
24. Brenda de Banzie
Actress | The Man Who Knew Too Much
The daughter of a musical conductor, fair-haired, matronly Brenda de Banzie appeared in around 40 films. As the result of two outstanding performances she became an unexpected star when well into her middle age. Brenda first came to public notice as a sixteen year old chorus girl on the London ...
25. Madge Evans
Actress | Dinner at Eight
Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930's. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your ...
26. Arthur O'Connell
Actor | Anatomy of a Murder
Though stage, screen and TV veteran Arthur O'Connell was born in New York City (on March 29, 1908), he looked as countrified as the American Gothic painting or Mom's home-made apple pie. Looking much more comfy in overalls than he ever could in a tuxedo, he would find an equally comfortable niche ...
27. Richard Hale
Actor | Julius Caesar
Richard Hale was born on November 16, 1892 in Rogersville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for Julius Caesar (1953), Star Trek (1966) and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). He was previously married to Fiona O'Shiel, Kathryn Hamill and Temple Duncan. He died on May 18, 1981 in Northridge, ...
28. Lotte Lenya
Actress | From Russia with Love
Lotte Lenya was a Tony Award-winning and Academy award-nominated actress and singer. While best remembered in the U.S. for her supporting role as Rosa Klebb in the classic Bond film From Russia with Love (1963), she is celebrated in Germany for her ground-breaking performances in the plays of Kurt ...
29. George Voskovec
Actor | 12 Angry Men
Czech actor/producer/director/author George Voskovec was born Jirí Wachsmann on June 19, 1905, the son of Jirina Valentina Marie (nee Pinkasová) and Vilem Eduard Voskovec (Wachsmann). His ancestry was Czech, German, and French. Prior to George's birth, the spelling of the family name was Vaksman (...
30. Paddy Chayefsky
Writer | Network
Author, producer, and composer who earned a Bachelor of Science degree from CCNY, then a Purple Heart during World War II while serving in the US Army. Joining ASCAP in 1955, his chief musical collaborators included George Bassman and Harry Warren. His popular-song compositions include "Marty" and ...
31. Nigel Patrick
Actor | Raintree County
This droll, urbane, dry-witted gent was born Nigel Dennis Patrick Wemyss-Gorman in London on May 2, 1912. Coming from a family of actors, his parents were actors Charles Wemyss and Dorothy Turner.
Nigel made his stage debut in the 1932 play "The Life Machine" and continued on the stock and repertory...
32. Robert H. Harris
Actor | How to Make a Monster
Robert H. Harris was born on July 15, 1911 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for How to Make a Monster (1958), Valley of the Dolls (1967) and Bundle of Joy (1956). He was previously married to Viola Harris and Louise Lewis. He died on November 30, 1981 in Los Angeles, ...
33. Hoagy Carmichael
Soundtrack | To Have and Have Not
Award-winning songwriter ("Stardust", "Ole Buttermilk Sky", "Georgia on My Mind"), composer, pianist, actor and singer, educated at Indiana University (LL.B). He played piano in the college bands, and later gave up a law practice for a career in songwriting. He joined ASCAP in 1931, and his chief ...
34. Allen Ludden
Self | Password
Allen Ludden was born on October 5, 1917 in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Password (1961), It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! (1975) and Futureworld (1976). He was previously married to Betty White and Margaret Frances McGloin. He died on June 9, ...
35. Eddie Byrne
Actor | Star Wars
Eddie Byrne was born on January 31, 1911 in Dublin, Ireland. He was an actor, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Island of Terror (1966) and Odd Man Out (1947). He died on August 21, 1981 in Dublin, Ireland.
36. Torin Thatcher
Actor | Witness for the Prosecution
Associated with gritty, flashy film villainy, veteran character actor Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher was born in Bombay, India to British parents on January 15, 1905. The son of a police officer (who died when Torin was 10) and a voice/piano teacher, he was educated in England at the Bedford School...
37. Margaret Lindsay
Actress | Scarlet Street
Picture-pretty brunette Margaret Lindsay was one of a number of pleasant, sweet-natured ingénues who could do no wrong in a score of 1930s stylish Hollywood pictures. Such altruistic love interests were often overlooked in pictures that were carried by the flashy histrionics of a jaunty James Cagney...
38. Harold Bennett
Actor | Are You Being Served?
Harold Bennett was born on November 17, 1898 in Hastings, East Sussex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Are You Being Served? (1972), Are You Being Served? (1977) and Whack-O! (1956). He died on September 15, 1981 in London, England, UK.
39. Patsy Kelly
Actress | Rosemary's Baby
Patsy Kelly was born Bridget Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly on January 12, 1910, in Brooklyn, New York. She began performing in vaudeville when she was just twelve years old. Patsy worked with comedian Frank Fay and starred in several Broadway shows. She was discovered by producer Hal Roach, who paired ...
40. Bob Marley
Soundtrack | I Am Legend
Bob Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in Nine Miles, Saint Ann, Jamaica, to Norval Marley and Cedella Booker. His father was a Jamaican of English descent. His mother was a black teenager. The couple planned to get married but Norval left Kingston before this could happen. Norval died in 1955, ...
41. Jessie Matthews
Actress | Waltzes from Vienna
Born to a huge, poor family in Soho in London's West End, Jessie Matthews became a big stage star in the late 1920s and 1930s, enjoying some crossover success in musical films. Her career never quite relaunched after the war, though, but she staged a comeback when she replaced the lead actress in ...
42. Isobel Elsom
Actress | My Fair Lady
The epitome of opulent, grande dame pomposity, British character actress Isobel Elsom was born Isabelle Reed in Cambridge, England on March 16, 1893. She began on the stage in 1911 and went on to grace a number of silent and sound pictures in England, marrying and divorcing director Maurice Elvey ...
43. Roger Tonge
Actor | Crossroads
Roger Tonge was born on January 30, 1946 in Birmingham, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Crossroads (1964), Crossroads: A Celebration (1971) and Nearest and Dearest (1968). He died on February 26, 1981 in London, England, UK.
44. Allyn Joslyn
Actor | I Wake Up Screaming
Allyn Joslyn, the son of a Pennsylvania mining engineer, made his stage debut at 17. He was soon appearing regularly in Broadway productions, and headed for Hollywood in 1936, making his debut in They Won't Forget (1937). His nervous, at times dyspeptic demeanor and somewhat aristocratic looks fit ...
45. Woodrow Chambliss
Actor | Gargoyles
Woodrow Chambliss was born on October 14, 1914 in Bowie, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Gargoyles (1972), Then Came Bronson (1969) and Gunsmoke (1955). He was previously married to Erika Chambliss. He died on January 8, 1981 in Ojai, California, USA.
46. Jean Eustache
Editor | La maman et la putain
Jean Eustache was born on November 30, 1938 in Pessac, Gironde, France. He was an editor and director, known for The Mother and the Whore (1973), Mes Petites Amoureuses (1974) and Les photos d'Alix (1980). He died on November 3, 1981 in Paris, France.
47. Ray Kellogg
Actor | The F.B.I.
Ray Kellogg was born on November 12, 1919 in Great Bend, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The F.B.I. (1965), The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955) and The Twilight Zone (1959). He died on September 26, 1981 in Olympia, Washington, USA.
48. Yuki Shimoda
Actor | Auntie Mame
Yuki Shimoda was born on August 10, 1921 in Sacramento, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Auntie Mame (1958), A Town Like Alice (1981) and Black Sheep Squadron (1976). He died on May 21, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
49. Ann Harding
Actress | When Ladies Meet
Ann, born Dorothy Gatley, spent most of her childhood as an "army brat" constantly moving around before the family finally settled in New York. Ann first appeared on the stage while she spent a year attending Bryn Mawr College. She became a clerk and freelance script reader with a film company ...
50. Christy Brown
Writer | My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown
Christy Brown was born on June 5, 1932 in Dublin, Ireland. He was a writer, known for My Left Foot (1989). He was previously married to Mary Carr. He died on September 6, 1981 in Parbrook, Somerset, England, UK.