Matthew Cowles (1944 - 2014)

Matthew Cowles (September 28, 1944 – May 22, 2014) was an American actor and playwright. Matthew Cowles is the son of actor and theatre producer Chandler Cowles, he was born in New York City. In 1980, he married actress [Kathleen Dezina], his All My Children co-star. In 1983 he married actress Christine Baranski with whom he had two […]

Maurice Costello (1877 - 1950)

Maurice Costello was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants Ellen (née Fitzgerald; born 1853) and Thomas Costello (born 1852). He appeared in his first motion picture in 1905, in which he had the honour of appearing in the first serious film to feature the character of Sherlock Holmes in the movie Adventures of Sherlock […]

Lou Costello (1906 - 1959)

As a young man, Lou Costello was a great admirer of silent movie great Charlie Chaplin, and in 1927 Costello went to Hollywood to become an actor, but could only find work as a laborer or extra at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Brothers, including MGM’s The Fair Co-Ed (1927). His athletic skill brought him occasional work […]

Wendell Corey (1914 - 1968)

Wendell Corey “began acting in 1938 with the depression-spawned Federal Theatre Project”. His Broadway debut was in Comes the Revelation (1942). After appearing in a number of supporting roles, he scored his first hit as a cynical newspaperman in Elmer Rice’s comedy Dream Girl (1945). While appearing in the play, Corey was seen by producer Hal […]

Jackie Cooper (1922 - 2011)

Jackie Cooper first appeared in films as an extra with his grandmother, who would bring him along in hopes of aiding her own attempts to get extra work. At age three, Jackie appeared in Lloyd Hamilton comedies under the name of “Leonard”. He graduated to bit parts in feature films such as Fox Movietone Follies of […]

Gary Cooper (1901 - 1961)

Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American film actor known for his natural, authentic, and understated acting style and screen performances. His career spanned thirty-five years, from 1925 to 1960, and included leading roles in eighty-four feature films. He was a major movie star from the […]

Tom Conway (1904 - 1967)

Joining his brother George in Hollywood, Tom Conway became a contract player for MGM. Conway is perhaps best known for playing “The Falcon” in ten of the series’ entries, taking over for his brother in The Falcon’s Brother, in which they both starred. This work led Conway to become a contract player with RKO Pictures. While […]

Frank Conroy (author) (1936 - 2005)

Frank Conroy was born on January 15, 1936 in New York, New York to an American father and a Danish mother. Conroy graduated from Haverford College, and was director of the influential Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa for 18 years, from 1987 until 2005, where he was also F. Wendell Miller Professor. […]

Hans Conried (1917 - 1982)

One of Hans Conreid’s early radio appearances came in 1937, when he appeared in a supporting role in a broadcast of The Taming of the Shrew on KECA in Los Angeles, California. Four years later, a newspaper reported about his role on Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood: “But at the mike he’s equally convincing as old men, […]

William Conrad (1920 - 1994)

William Conrad estimated that he played more than 7,500 roles during his radio career. At KMPC, the 22-year-old Conrad produced and acted in The Hermit’s Cave (circa 1940–44), the Los Angeles incarnation of a popular syndicated horror anthology series created at WJR Detroit. He was among the supporting cast for the espionage drama The Man Called […]

Michael Conrad (1925 - 1983)

Michael Conrad (October 16, 1925 – November 22, 1983) was an American actor, primarily on television. Michael Conrad had a long acting career in television from the 1950s to the 1980s. In 1962 he appeared in the television series Car 54, Where Are You? in an uncredited part as a construction worker. In 1963 he played […]

Kenneth Connor (1918 - 1993)

Born in Islington, London, the son of a naval petty officer who organised concert parties, Kenneth Connor first appeared on the stage at the age of two as an organ-grinder’s monkey in one of his father’s shows, in Portsmouth. By 11 years old, he had his own act. He attended the Central School of Speech […]

Joe Conley (1928 - 2013)

Joe Conley (March 3, 1928 – July 7, 2013) was an American actor who played many small roles on television and is most remembered for his role as the storekeeper Ike Godsey on The Waltons. Joe Conley was born in Buffalo, New York. He started acting after returning from military service in Korea, and was running […]

Jeff Conaway (1950 - 2011)

Jeff Conaway was born in the New York City borough of Manhattan and raised in the Astoria, Flushing, and Forest Hills neighborhoods of the borough Queens. His father, Charles, was an actor, producer and publisher. His mother, Helen, an actress who went by the stage name Mary Ann Brooks, taught music at New York City’s […]

Pinto Colvig (1892 - 1967)

Pinto Colvig was born Vance DeBar Colvig in Jacksonville, Oregon, one of seven children of Judge William Mason Colvig (1845–1936) and wife Adelaide Birdseye Colvig (1856–1912). Although William Colvig was a pioneer, an attorney and a distinguished Oregonian, he was never actually a judge. Pinto graduated from Oregon State University in 1911 at age 18. After […]

Jerry Colonna (1904 - 1986)

Jerry Colonna started his career as a trombonist in orchestras and dance bands in and around his native Boston; he can be heard with Joe Herlihy’s orchestra on discs recorded for Edison Records in the late 1920s. During the 1930s, Colonna played with the CBS house orchestra, the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, and developed a reputation […]

Ray Collins (1889 - 1965)

Ray Collins was born December 10, 1889, in Sacramento, California, to Lillie Bidwell and William Calderwood Collins. His father was a newspaper reporter and dramatic editor on The Sacramento Bee. His mother was the niece of John Bidwell, pioneer, statesman and founder of society in the Sacramento Valley area of California in the 19th century. […]

Greg Willard (1958 - 2013)

While attending Long Beach State University, Greg Willard officiated football as a member of the Orange County Football Officials Association and worked as a high school basketball official before advancing to the Continental Basketball Association where he spent four years. Willard also spent four years officiating basketball in college’s PCAA (now Big West) and Pac-10 […]

Orlando Woolridge (1959 - 2012)

Orlando Woolridge was selected sixth in the 1981 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls, where he played for his first five seasons. Woolridge made his NBA debut on November 7, 1981. Woolridge was named NBA Player of the week on December 9, 1984. During the 1984–85 season, Woolridge averaged 22.9 points/game and combined with rookie […]

Wayman Tisdale (1964 - 2009)

Wayman Tisdale graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he grew up. As a college player at the University of Oklahoma from 1982 to 1985, he was a three-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year and the first player in collegiate history to be named a first-team All American by […]

Robert Traylor (1977 - 2011)

Robert Traylor was an American professional basketball player. In the 1998 NBA Draft, Robert Traylor was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round (with the sixth pick), then traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Pat Garrity and German prospect Dirk Nowitzki. In the 2005 offseason, Traylor had surgery on his aorta. He then signed on […]

Mel Turpin (1960 - 2010)

A 6’11” center, Mel Turpin was born in Lexington, Kentucky and attended Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia from 1979–80. He was FUMA’s most valuable player for the postgraduate squad under coach Fletcher Arritt, also being voted the number one player in the state for varsity basketball; he averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds […]

Ed Snider (1933 - 2016)

Ed Snider was born to a Jewish family in the Washington, D.C. region, the son of a grocery-store chain owner. He attended the University of Maryland and earned his bachelor’s degree. He later became a partner in Edge Ltd., a record company. After selling the company, Snider joined Jerry Wolman (builder) and his brother-in-law Earl Foreman […]

Jim Simpson (1927 - 2016)

Jim Simpson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in nearby Chevy Chase, Md. He began his broadcasting career with a short-lived radio show, “Hunting and Fishing With Jimmy Simspon,” when he was 15. He attended George Washington University in Washington and served in the Coast Guard and Navy Reserve. After several jobs in […]

Abe Pollin (1923 - 2009)

Abe Pollin was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 3, 1923 to Jennie and Morris Pollin. When he was 8, Pollin’s family moved to the Washington area from Philadelphia. Pollin graduated from The George Washington University in 1945 and took a job with his family’s construction company for 12 years. The […]

George Mikan (1924 - 2005)

George Mikan, (June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed Mr. Basketball, was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Invariably playing with thick, round spectacles, the […]

Slater Martin (1925 - 2012)

Slater Martin (October 22, 1925 – October 18, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and coach who was a playmaking guard for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born in Elmina, Walker County, Texas and played in seven NBA All-Star Games. Martin was one of the NBA’s best defensive players in […]

Maurice Lucas (1952 - 2010)

In 1973, the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association (ABA) obtained that league’s rights to Maurice Lucas in the first round of the ABA draft. In 1974, Lucas was also selected by the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the 14th pick of the NBA draft. Lucas chose the ABA over […]

Tommy Kron (1943 - 2007)

Tommy Kron played for the legendary Orlando “Gunner” Wyman at Tell City High School (Tell City, Indiana); he led the Marksmen to 4 Sectional and 3 Regional titles; during his Junior season (1960–61), he led them to the Indiana Final Four. The Marksmen lost their semi-final matchup to the Indianapolis Manual Redskins, starring the Van […]

Alec Kessler (1967 - 2007)

Alec Kessler played collegiately for the University of Georgia Bulldogs where he was a three-time academic all-American first-team selection as well as the national academic all-American of the year in 1989 and 1990. Kessler left Georgia as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,788 points (until the record was surpassed by Litterial Green). The 6′ 11″ […]