Anissa Jones (1958 - 1976)

Anissa Jones She is best remembered for her role of ‘Buffy’ on the television series “Family Affair”. Born in West Lafayette, Indiana, her parents moved to San Diego County, California, when she was a small girl, settling in Playa del Rey, where she grew up. In 1966 she was cast as ‘Elizabeth “Buffy” Patterson-Davis’ in […]

Al Jolson (1886 - 1950)

Al Jolson Legendary singer, actor, entertainer. Al Jolson was one of the greatest entertainers of the first half of the 20th century, referred to as the World’s Greatest Entertainer in his time. A singer and dancer of boundless energy and expressive face, Jolson’s greatest claim to fame was starring in the first talking motion picture, […]

Michael Jeter (1952 - 2003)

Michael Jeter Jeter’s body was found in his Hollywood Hills home Sunday, publicist Dick Guttman said. Friends said they had communicated with him as recently as Saturday, Guttman added. An autopsy was planned to determine the cause of death. Guttman said Jeter, who was HIV-positive but had been in good health, apparently died of natural […]

George Jessel (1898 - 1981)

George Jessel Known as “The Toastmaster General of the United States.” He was born to a poor Jewish family in Harlem, New York . His father was an unsuccessful playwright who declared that George would “…never be an actor as long as I live.” His father died by the time he was 9, when George […]

David Janssen (1931 - 1980)

David Janssen He is best remembered for his role as ‘Dr. Richard Kimble’ in the ABC television drama series “The Fugitive,” about a Midwest doctor falsely convicted of murdering his wife and his escape from custody, followed by his intense search for the actual killer, which aired from 1963 until 1967. At the time, the […]

Isabel Sanford (1917 - 2004)

Sanford was born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford in Harlem, New York, to James Edward and Josephine Sanford (née Perry). She was the youngest of seven children and was the only child to survive beyond infancy. Sanford’s mother Josephine was devoutly religious and insisted that her daughter attend church every Sunday and occasionally made her attend on […]

Marilyn Chambers (1952 - 2009)

Born Marilyn Ann Briggs in Providence, Rhode Island, Chambers was raised in Westport, Connecticut, in a middle-class household. It is often reported that she was born in Westport; however, in a 2007 interview Chambers confirmed she was born in Providence but grew up in Westport. Her father was in advertising and her mother was a […]

Dom DeLuise (1933 - 2009)

Dom DeLuise DeLuise was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Vincenza “Jennie” (née DeStefano), a homemaker, and John DeLuise, a public employee (garbage collector). He was the youngest of three children, having an older brother, Nicholas “Nick” DeLuise, and an older sister, Antoinette DeLuise-Daurio. DeLuise graduated from Manhattan’s High School of Performing […]

Michael Jackson (1958 - 2009)

Michael Jackson He was called the “King of Pop,” and is best remembered for his revolutionary videos such as “Thriller” (1982), and “Dangerous” (1991), as well as two Guinness World Records: Most successful entertainer of all time (with 13 Grammy Awards, 13 Number One single hits in a solo career, and sales of over 750 […]

Natasha Richardson (1963 - 2009)

Natasha Richardson Richardson was born and raised in London, a member of the Redgrave family, known as a theatrical and film acting dynasty. She was the daughter of director and producer Tony Richardson and actress Vanessa Redgrave, granddaughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, sister of Joely Richardson, half-sister of Carlo Gabriel Nero […]

Betty Hutton (1921 - 2007)

Betty Hutton Ms. Hutton, a brassy, energetic performer with a voice that could sound like a fire alarm, had the lead role in the 1950 film version of Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun” and a starring role in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1952 spectacular, “The Greatest Show on Earth.” She was known for her renditions […]

John Huston (1906 - 1987)

John Huston John Huston, the legendary director and scenarist who made such classic films as ”The Maltese Falcon,” ”The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” ”The Asphalt Jungle” and ”The African Queen,” died yesterday in Middletown, R.I., at the age of 81. Associates said he had died in his sleep of complications from emphysema. The film […]

Rock Hudson (1925 - 1985)

Rock Hudson He was the son of an auto mechanic and a telephone operator who divorced when he was eight years old. He failed to obtain parts in school plays because he couldn’t remember lines. After high school he was a postal employee and during WW II served as a Navy airplane mechanic. After the […]

Moe Howard (1897 - 1975)

Moe Howard From a very early age he was interested in acting, a talent that was helped along by his voracious memory and capacity for memorizing just about anything, including all of the many books he read and all of the plays he saw when he was skipping school. His parents, however, were displeased by […]

Jerome Howard (1903 - 1952)

Jerome Howard He was the youngest of Jennie and Solomon Horwitz’s five sons, and because of his status as family baby, his mother would often call him “My baby,” leading his four much-older brothers to tease him by calling him Baby and later Babe, a nickname he later grew to like so much he often […]

Edward Everett Horton (1886 - 1970)

Edward Everett Horton Horton started his stage career in 1906, singing and dancing and playing small parts in Vaudeville and in Broadway productions. In 1919, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he began acting in Hollywood films. His first starring role was in the comedy Too Much Business (1922), and he portrayed the lead […]

Bob Hope (1903 - 2003)

Bob Hope Hope was born in Eltham, London, the fifth of seven sons. His English father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and his Welsh mother, Avis Townes, was a light opera singer from Barry who later worked as a cleaner. They married in April 1891 and lived at 12 Greenwood Street, […]

Darla Hood (1931 - 1979)

Darla Hood Darla Hood was born in a small rural Oklahoma town on Sunday, November 8th, 1931, she grew up as dark-banged cute girl, Darla Hood began her association with the motley “Our Gang” group at the tender age of 2 1/2, as she stated on the The Jack Benny Program (1950). Her father, James […]

William Holden (1918 - 1981)

William Holden Born William Franklin Beedle in O’Fallon, Illinois, he initially followed in his father’s footsteps by studying chemistry at Pasadena Junior College before he signed a contract with Paramount in 1937. His first role was an unaccredited appearance 1938’s “Prison Farm” but he became a star almost effortlessly by virtue of his starring role […]

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 - 1980)

Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 – 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 – 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and Eileen Hitchcock (born […]

Charlton Heston (1923 - 2008)

Charlton Heston Heston made his feature film debut as the lead character in a 16mm production of Peer Gynt (1941), based on the Henrik Ibsen play. Shortly thereafter, he played ‘Marc Antony’ in Julius Caesar (1950), however Heston firmly stamped himself as genuine leading man material with his performance as circus manager ‘Brad Braden’ in […]

Rita Hayworth (1918 - 1987)

Rita Hayworth Margarita Carmen Cansino was born on October 17, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of dancers. Her father, Eduardo was a dancer as was his father before him. He emigrated from Spain in 1913. Rita’s mother met Eduardo in 1916 and were married the following year. Rita, herself, studied as a […]

Bobby Hatfield (1940 - 2003)

Bobby Hatfield The duo, whose 42-year career featured pop standbys like “Unchained Melody,” “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” were in Kalamazoo to kick off a four-day series of performances in Michigan and Ohio.”It’s a shock, a real shock,” Cohen said during a telephone interview. Medley, he said, was “broken […]

George Harrison (1943 - 2001)

George Harrison A master musician, a film producer and actor, best known as the lead guitarist and occasionally lead vocalist of The Beatles, George Harrison was born February 25, 1943, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He was also the youngest of four children, born to Harold and Louise Harrison. Like his future band mates, Harrison was […]

Jonathan Harris (1914 - 2002)

Jonathan Harris Jonathan Harris, a versatile character actor perhaps best known for his role as the villainous Dr. Smith in the science-fiction fantasy series ”Lost in Space” on CBS television, died on Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 87 and lived in the Encino section of Los Angeles. He had been hospitalized for a back […]

Leonard Nimoy (1931 - 2015)

Leonard Simon Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931 in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, Soviet Union (now Ukraine). His parents left Iziaslav separately—his father first walking over the border into Poland—and reunited in the United States. His mother, Dora (née Spinner), was a homemaker, […]

Oliver Hardy (1892 - 1957)

Oliver Hardy Although his parents were never in show business, as a young boy Oliver Hardy was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with minstrel shows. In 1910 he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to studying law. In 1913 he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company in Florida […]

Jack Haley (1897 - 1979)

Jack Haley Full name: John Joseph Haley, was the actor who played the part of the Tin Woodman and Hickory in MGM‘s 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. An established song-and-dance man, Haley was loaned to the MGM studio by his contract-holder, 20th Century Fox, on 4 November 1938. Haley replaced Buddy Ebsen, the actor who […]

Edmund Gwenn (1877 - 1959)

Edmund Gwenn Gwenn was born Edmund Kellaway in Wandsworth, London, on September 26, 1877. He was the oldest boy in the family, which at that time meant he was the only one who really mattered. His father was a British civil servant, and he groomed Edmund to take a position of power in the Empire. […]

Merv Griffin (1925 - 2007)

Merv Griffin He is best remembered as the host of his CBS television talk show, “The Merv Griffin Show,” which ran from 1965 to 1986. Additionally, he created the game shows “Jeopardy!” (1964), “Wheel of Fortune” (1975), “Ruckus” (1991), “Click” (1997), and “Merv Griffin’s Crosswords” (2007) with his own television production companies, Merv Griffin Enterprises […]