L. C. Greenwood (1946 - 2013)

Greenwood was born in Canton, Mississippi. He graduated from Arkansas AM&N (now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff), where he became a member of the Beta Theta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. He was also named the 1968 Ebony All-American defensive lineman in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).  Greenwood was drafted by the Pittsburgh […]

L. Frank Baum (1856 - 1919)

Author and Journalist. Lyman Frank Baum (who used “Frank” as his Christian name throughout his life) showed a remarkable inclination for journalism from an early age, publishing his own small newspaper and stamp-collecting magazine while still in his teens. He would run several small publications through his adult life, taking jobs with newspapers like the […]

L.L. Bean (1872 - 1967)

Businessman, Mail Order Magnate, Author. He is remembered as the founder of the successful mail order company L.L. Bean. Born Leon Leonwood Bean, one of six boys, he showed an early interest in business by selling steel traps. When he was 12 years old, his parents died only four days apart and he moved to […]

La Jana (1905 - 1940)

Dancer. A pretty brunette trained as a classical ballerina, she is remembered for her many appearances in German films and stage revues. Born Henriette Margarethe (“Henny”) Hiebel, she was raised in Frankfurt from a young age, and studied at the Frankfurt Opera Ballet where she made her initial professional stage appearances at around age eight. […]

Lady Elizabeth Southerden Thompson Butler (1846 - 1933)

Artist.  Encouraged by her parents to sketch and paint from an early age, she began studying art about 1862, and in 1866 entered the Female School of Art in London.  As a young woman, she and her younger sister, poet and essayist Alice Meynell, and their parents spent much time in Italy, and there the […]

Lady Hazel Martyn Lavery (1880 - 1935)

Hazel Martyn was the daughter of a Chicago industrialist of Irish descent. In 1904, she was on holiday in Brittany, where she met John Lavery (q.v.), thirty years her senior, who had been a widower since 1891. Hazel was engaged to a Canadian doctor, who died shortly after their marriage; and, in 1910, she married […]

Lady Helen Violet Bonham Carter (1887 - 1969)

British politician, baroness. She was the only daughter among five children of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith by his first wife, Helen. Unlike her brothers she had no formal school education but was educated by governesses, later spending time in both Dresden and Paris perfecting her languages. In 1915 Violet married her father’s principal […]

Lady Pauline Laetitia Tennant Rumbold (1927 - 2008)

Actress, Poet, Socialite. A noted beauty and performer in her youth, she was later a respected author. Born to wealth and privilege, she was raised initially on a Wiltshire estate though her aristocratic father David Tennant allowed the too-attractive-for-her-own-good Pauline to rub elbows with many noted personalities of the day at his Soho nightspot, The […]

Lady Rachel Kempson Redgrave (1910 - 2003)

Actress. She was an acclaimed British figure of theater, television, and motion pictures. She is the matriarch of the Redgrave acting dynasty. She married actor Michael Redgrave in 1935 and became Lady Redgrave when Sir Michael was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1959. Mother of actors Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave and Corin Redgrave. Grandmother […]

Laird Cregar (1913 - 1944)

Laird Cregar was tested for the second lead in The Letter and made screen tests for MGM and Paramount. The producer and director of Oscar Wilde were reported as preparing an independent company to star Cregar in The Life of Mohammed. He was then tested by 20th Century Fox, who considered him as a replacement […]

Lale Andersen (1905 - 1972)

Singer, Actress.  She is best remembered as the first singer of  “Lili Marleen” (1939), which became one of the most popular songs of World War II.  Born Liese Lotte Helene Berta Bunnenberg in Lehe, Germany (now a part of the city of Bremerhaven), she married Paul Ernst Wilke, a local painter, at the age of […]

Laleh Bijani (1974 - 2003)

Medical Figure. She was the second of 29-year-old craniopagus twins to pass away after a 50-hour surgical procedure to separate them. Although the twins were successfully separated, her sister Ladan Bijani died first and Laleh died 90 minutes later, due to loss of blood during surgery. The twins were from a family of 11 children […]

Laly Soldevila (1933 - 1979)

Actress. A native of Barcelona, Catalunya, she began her career on stage in the 1950s. In 1957, she moved to Madrid, where played in “La Celestina” directed for the stage for Luis Escobar. Also, she triumphed as comic vedette in the musical revue “Te Espero en el Eslava.” On stage, she is remembered on “El […]

Lamar Hunt (1932 - 2006)

On the strength of his great inherited oil wealth, Lamar Hunt applied for a National Football League expansion franchise but was turned down. In 1959, professional football was a distant second to Major League Baseball in popularity, and the thinking among NFL executives was that the league must be careful not to “oversaturate” the market […]

Lamar Lundy (1935 - 2007)

Lamar J. Lundy, Jr. (April 17, 1935 – February 24, 2007) was an American defensive end with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League for 13 seasons, from 1957 to 1969. Along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Rosey Grier, Lundy was a member of the Fearsome Foursome, often considered one of the […]

Lamont Bentley (1973 - 2005)

Artimus Lamont Bentley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and moved to Los Angeles with his mother, Loyce, who wished to pursue a career as a professional singer. He began his career as a child actor appearing in television commercials and guest spots on various television series before landing a role on the short-lived but critically […]

Lana Clarkson (1962 - 2003)

Clarkson was born in Long Beach, California to Donna and James M. Clarkson, and was raised in the hills of Sonoma County, California. She has a brother, Jessee J. Clarkson, and a sister Fawn. While living in Northern California, she attended Cloverdale High School and also Pacific Union College Preparatory School. During the Christmas season […]

Lana Guitry (1917 - 1990)

Actress who began her relationship with the actor Sacha Guitry  in May 1945 and became his fifth wife in November 1949. (bio by: David Conway)

Lana Turner (1921 - 1995)

Lana Turner Turner was well known inside Hollywood circles for dating often, changing partners often, and for never shying away from the topic of how many lovers she had in her lifetime. However, she claimed that sex was not important to her and that she was more of a romantic, stating: “All those years that […]

Lance Reventlow (1936 - 1972)

Lance Reventlow began his racing career in America in the mid-1950s, initially with a Mercedes before moving to an 1100cc Cooper in 1956. The next year he went to Europe to buy a Maserati, which he crashed heavily at Snetterton, escaping unhurt. He also briefly drove a Cooper Formula 2 car, before returning to the […]

Lancelot “Capability” Brown (1970 - 1783)

Famed British landscape designer. He served as head gardener at Stowe before moving to London in 1751. He then purchased a small estate at Fenstanton and Hilton in 1767, later acquiring the manor of Fenstanton in 1770. His work is still thriving today across the country at many of the most famous estates in the […]

Lane Bradford (1922 - 1973)

Lane Bradford (August 29, 1922 – June 7, 1973) was an American actor. Bradford was born in Yonkers, New York, the son of actor John Merton (1901-1959). Lane Bradford was the brother of actor Robert Lavarre. Bradford appeared in many television series and “B” western movies. On stage, he co-starred in Desperadoes’ Outpost (1952), The Great Sioux […]

Lane Chandler (1899 - 1972)

Lane Chandler was born as Robert Chandler Oakes on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the son of a horse rancher. At an early age, the family relocated to Helena, Montana, where he graduated from high school. He briefly attended Montana Wesleyan College (which later merged and became part of Rocky Mountain College), but quit to […]

Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)

Renowned Poet Lauerate of African Americans. He translated the joy, pain and love of African Americans to the world. He is buried at the Schomburg Library of African American Culture in Harlem. (bio by: Dianne Washington)  Family links:  Parents:  Caroline Mercer Langston Clark (1873 – 1938)Cause of death: Cancer

Lani Kai (1936 - 1999)

Lani Kai, whose real name was George Clarence Dennis James Von Ruckleman Woodd III, represented the image of the handsome, native Polynesian man for viewers of a television series in the early 1960s. His big break in show business came when he accompanied his mother to a casting call for the TV series Adventures in […]

Lani Agrati O’Grady (1954 - 2001)

Actress. Born Lanita Rose Agrati in Walnut Creek, California, to Lou A. Agrati and to Mary B. (née Castellino), a children’s talent agent. Lanita changed her name to Lani O’Grady after landing the role on the television show Eight is Enough. She began acting at the age of 13 with a role in the television […]

Lanna Saunders (1941 - 2007)

Actress. She is best remembered by many for the role of Marie Horton in the popular daytime television soap opera “Days of Our Lives”, and for her performances as Barbara in the Broadway musical “Milk and Honey”. Her other memorable stage credits include “The Changeling”, “Never Live Over a Pretzel Factory” and “Philadelphia, Here I […]

Laraine Day (1920 - 2007)

Day was born La Raine Johnson in Roosevelt, Utah, one of eight children in an affluent Mormon family. She had a twin brother, Lamar. The family later moved to California where she began her acting career with the Long Beach Players. She was a 1938 graduate of Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California. In […]

Larri Thomas (1932 - 2013)

American Actress and Dancer. Born Lida Thomas, she began her career by appearing in a string of television commercials before appearing in such films as ‘Road to Bali’ (1952), ‘House of Wax’ (1953), ‘Artists and Models’ (1955) and ‘Guys and Dolls’ (1955) for which she became one of the six ‘Goldwyn Girls’, hand-picked by Sam […]

Larry Hagman (1931 - 2012)

Larry Hagman Actor, Producer, and Director. He will be remembered for two iconic television roles: As the comical Major Anthony Nelson in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, and for the villainous Texas oil tycoon, J.R. Ewing on the prime-time hit Dallas. Hagman was born in Weatherford, Texas, near Fort Worth. His parents divorced in […]