Michele Yvette “Missy” Avila (1968 - 1985)

Murder Victim. Michele Avila grew up in Arleta, Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. She lived with her siblings and her mother Irene, her parents were divorced. Known as Missy to her friends she was a social butterfly, Pretty to her peers and like most teenagers stylish. Missy and Karen had grown apart since […]

Pammy Annette Avent (1966 - 1983)

Murder victim. Born in Seattle, Washington to Herbert L. Avent and Velma Harris. Pammy was last seen on October 26, 1983 in Seattle. Pammy’s remains were identified 20 years later through dental records. Her family conducted a memorial service for their daughter on November 8, 2003. Pammy was a victim of Gary Leon Ridgway, known […]

Martina Theresa Authorlee (1965 - 1983)

Murder victim. Born in Fuerth, West Germany, while her father was stationed there in the US Army. The family lived in Germany from 1965-1968, they returned to the States and settled in Washington. Martina went to Bethel high school and joined the Army National Guard while still in high school. She was medically discharged before […]

Madeleine Talmage Force Astor (1893 - 1940)

Socialite. The wife of John Jacob Astor IV, she survived of the sinking of the “RMS Titanic” on April 14/15, 1912 which took her husband. She was 18 years old at the time. (bio by: Erik Lander)  Family links:  Spouses:  William Karl Dick (1888 – 1953)  John Jacob Astor (1864 – 1912)*  Children:  John Jacob […]

Lillian Gertrud Asplund (1906 - 2006)

RMS Titanic Disaster Survivor.  At her death, she was the last American survivor of the sinking of the famed “RMS Titanic”. Throughout her life, she staved off its accompanying publicity. She was only five years old when the ship went down in the North Atlantic. Her father, Carl, a Worcester laborer, had returned the family […]

Carl Oscar Vilhelm Gustafsson Asplund (1871 - 1970)

He was the son of Kristina Adlene Samuelson of Repperda, Gustafsgård, Ädelfors, Jönköping. He married to Selma Augusta Emilia Johansson. They were the parents of five children: Filip Oscar, Clarence Gustaf Hugo, Carl Edgar, Lillian Gertrud and Felix Rojj. The Asplunds emigrated to USA on the Titanic board in 1912. Carl and his three elder […]

Askold (1970 - 1970)

Legendary founder of Kiev. Modern scholarship holds that Askold was apparently Rurik’s trusted man but was neither a relative nor an aristocrat. As Rurik’s agent to Constantinople, he discovered a settlement that would become Kiev while en route along the Dnieper. He claimed it as his capital from which he ruled over the Polans, a […]

Daniel Askew (1828 - 1875)

Western Frontier Figure. He was the neighbor to the east of the Jesse James family farm near Kearney, Missouri.  He had a man that worked for him, Jack Ladd, that was believed to have been a Pinkerton spy.  In January 1875, Pinkerton agents raided the James family farm, and threw a bomb in a window. […]

Arsenal Monument (1970 - 1862)

This monument was erected in 1928 to honor the memory of 43 young women buried here, some of the approximately 78 young workers killed at the nearby Allegheny Arsenal by an explosion. The accident of Sept 17, 1862 was the worst industrial accident associated with the Civil War.

Edward Anthony Andrassy (1906 - 1935)

Murder victim. Edward Andrassy was one of the first victims of the Cleveland Torso Killer, or Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. He worked as a hospital orderly and eventually turned to petty crime. On September 23, 1935, the bodies of Andrassy and an unidentified man were found at the base of Jackass Hill in Kingsbury […]

Scott Bernard Amedure (1963 - 1995)

Murder Victim.  He was killed after appearing on the “Jenny Jones” television talk show, where he admitted he had a crush on another man, Jonathan Schmitz, who turned out to be homophobic. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his father, Frank Amedure was a local tractor-trailer driver, and his mother, Patricia Graves Amedure, was a housewife.  In […]

Baylee Isabel Almon (1994 - 1995)

Disaster Victim. One year-old victim of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. A widely-published photograph of her injured body in the arms of firefighter Chris Field came to symbolize the children who were lost in the tragedy. The photo won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography. Cause of death: Murdered

Fanny Adams (1859 - 1867)

Murder Victim. She was a victim of one of the most infamous child murder cases in Great Britain. She and her friend Minnie Warner, both aged eight, along with Fanny’s sister Lizzie, aged seven, were out for a walk on August 24, 1867 when, at half past one in the afternoon, they were approached by […]

Michael Bennett (1943 - 1987)

Michael Bennett was born Michael Bennett DiFiglia in Buffalo, New York, the son of Helen (née Ternoff), a secretary, and Salvatore Joseph DiFiglia, a factory worker. His father was Roman Catholic and Italian American and his mother was Jewish. He studied dance and choreography in his teens and staged a number of shows in his […]

Harve Bennett (1930 - 2015)

Harve Bennett was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois in 1930, the son of Kathryn (née Susman), a journalist, and Yale Fishman, a lawyer. As a young boy, Bennett appeared on the radio program Quiz Kids, which introduced him to show business. By the time Bennett had reached college age, the radio business—aside […]

Estelle Bennett (1941 - 2009)

Estelle Bennett and her sister, Veronica, grew up New York. Children of a white father and black mother, were reported to have been bullied at school, because of their mixed race appearance. She attended George Washington High School in Manhattan where she was valedictorian. Known as studious and interested in fashion, she went on to […]

Edward Bennett (1970 - 1935)

Major League Baseball Figure. He was the mascot/Batboy for the New York Yankees, serving in that capacity from 1921 till May of 1932 when he was involved in a serious car accident. Born an orphan with severe physical deformity (known then as having a “hunchback”) in the mid-west, he served time with the Chicago White […]

Spencer Gordon Bennet (1893 - 1987)

Spencer Gordon Bennet (January 5, 1893 – October 8, 1987) was an American film producer and director. Known as the “King of Serial Directors”, he directed more film serials than any other director. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Spencer Gordon Bennet first entered show business as a stunt man, when he answered a newspaper ad to […]

Liz Benn (1929 - 2012)

Model. An early ‘supermodel’, she is remembered for numerous fashion magazine covers. Raised in Toronto under poor circumstances after her father lost his job in the Depression, she was stunningly attractive from childhood and by her early teens was supporting her family with modeling jobs. At 14 Liz turned-down the role in “National Velvet” that […]

Richard “Pepe” Benedict (1920 - 1984)

Actor, Director. Italian-born motion picture and television figure of the 1940s to the 1960s. Appeared with Frank Sinatra and the rest of the ‘Rat Pack’ in the 1960 feature “Ocean’s Eleven.” Father of actor Nick Benedict. (bio by: A.J. Marik) Cause of death: Heart attack

Amador Bendayán (1920 - 1989)

Entertainer. In the 1950´s he gained popularity for his radio comedies “El Bachiller y Bartolo” and “La Bodega de la Esquina.” He participated in several movies at Venezuela and Mexico. After his actor career Bendayán was the most popular Venezuelan television. figure thanks to the show “Sábado Sensacional” (1972 to 1989). (bio by: 380W)

Robert Benchley (1889 - 1945)

Humorist. Author. Born Robert Charles Benchley in Worcester, Massachusetts. Very little is known about his childhood as he never related anything but humorous tales about it rather than realities. In 1898, however, his idolized older brother, Edmund, was killed in the Spanish-American War. Robert Benchley attended South High School from 1904 until 1907, when his […]

Lionel Belmore (1867 - 1953)

Director and Actor. Lionel was on Broadway from 1899 and in American films by 1914. He was the director of 9 films between 1914 and 1920. During the 1930’s, Lionel was employed in Hollywood as English butlers, innkeepers, lairds, burgomasters and town elders. He acted in over 171 films. He was notable as the huffy-puffy […]

William Joseph Bell (1927 - 2005)

William Joseph Bell was married to former talk show host Lee Phillip Bell, who co-created The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with him. Their three children, Bill Jr., Bradley, and Lauralee, and daughter-in-law Maria Arena Bell are all involved in their parents’ soaps in some capacity. Brenda Dickson, an original cast […]

Monta Bell (1891 - 1958)

Director, Producer. Born Louis Monta Bell in Washington, D.C., he was a stage performer and a set director when Charlie Chaplin hired him as an assistant director for “The Pilgrim” (1924). Becoming a director in his own right, he produced and directed more then 20 films between 1924 to 1945. His credits include “Lady of […]

Freddie Bell (1931 - 2008)

Ferdinando Dominick Bello, known as Freddie Bell, (September 29, 1931 – February 10, 2008), was an American musician, whose group, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, were influential in the development of rock and roll in the 1950s. He was a prominent performer with the group on the Las Vegas Strip in the 1950s and 1960s, […]

Bob “Bozo” Bell (1922 - 1997)

Bob Bell was born in Flint, Michigan to a General Motors factory worker. He spent his life after high school doing odd jobs until he enlisted first in the United States Marine Corps and later the United States Navy during World War II, though he did not see any combat action due to the loss […]

Maurice Béjart (1927 - 2007)

Choreographer, Dancer. He was considered an icon of European dance for many years. Born in Marseille,  France, he studied with ballet master Léo Staats and dance teacher Madama Rousanne Sarkissian in Paris, and then performed with Mona Inglesby’s International Ballet and the Royal Swedish Ballet. In 1960 he founded his own company,  “The Ballet of […]

Joseph Behar (1933 - 2003)

Television Director. Behar directed many television series’ including, “From These Roots” from 1958 to 1961, “General Hospital” beginning in 1963, “People Will Talk” in 1963, “Let’s Make A Deal” from 1963 to 1976, “Days Of Our Lives” beginning in 1965, “The Young & The Restless” in 1973, “It’s Anybody’s Guess” in 1977, “Let’s Make A […]

Ford Ingalsbe Beebe (1888 - 1978)

Ford Ingalsbe Beebe was born on November 26, 1888 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Before moving to Hollywood, he was a freelance writer who was also experienced in advertising. He arrived in Hollywood in 1916, and began working as a writer for Western films. His first credit was as scenario writer for the 1916 film A […]