Wayne Anthony Allwine (1947 - 2009)

Voice Actor. He is best remembered as the falsetto voice of Walt Disney Studios Mickey Mouse. He was only the third person to voice the iconic animated character. Walt Disney was the first, James “Jimmy” Macdonald  was the second, and Wayne was the third. Born in Glendale, California, he began in the entertainment business early, […]

Wayne Cochran (1939 - 2017)

Talvin Wayne Cochran was born on May 10, 1939, in Thomaston, Georgia, to Talvin A. Cochran, a cotton mill worker, and the former Mini Lee Starley, who came from a farming family. Influenced by the country and rhythm and blues music he heard on the radio, Wayne Cochran fronted his first band – a group […]

Wayne Robson (1946 - 2011)

Robson was born in Vancouver. He began his acting career on stage there, but moved with his family to Toronto, where he continued his stage acting career and appeared in Canadian television commercials in the 1970s. After receiving several small character roles in films such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Popeye (1980), Robson […]

Webb Pierce (1921 - 1991)

Webb Pierce Webb Pierce was one of the most popular honky tonk vocalists of the ’50s, racking up more number one hits than similar artists like Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Lefty Frizzell, and Ernest Tubb. For most of the general public, Pierce — with his lavish, flamboyant Nudie suits — became the most recognizable face […]

Welton David Becket (1902 - 1969)

American Architect. Becket, who graduated from the University of Washington in 1927 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, studied at the École des Beaux Arts, Fontainbleu in France for a year before working several years as a junior designer for firms in Los Angeles and his native Seattle. In 1933, he settled in Los Angeles, […]

Wenche Foss (1917 - 2011)

Wenche Foss was born to engineer Christian August Steenfeldt-Foss (1878–1960) and Alfhild Røren. Foss grew up with an Atheist mother and a devout Christian father; she inherited both views but has stated: “I could not fall asleep without the prayer”. Her first marriage was to engineer and film producer Alf Scott-Hansen (1903–1961), a son of port […]

Wende Wagner (1941 - 1997)

Born to a career U.S. Navy officer and swimming and diving coach father (John H. Wagner) and a mother (Rudy Arnold Wagner) who was a champion skier, Wagner lived in nearly all the Continental United States with her family’s various naval postings. While living in Coronado, California, with her family, Billy Wilder then filming Some […]

Wendell Anderson (1933 - 2016)

Wendell Anderson was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1933. He attended Saint Paul’s Johnson High School and the University of Minnesota, where he received a B.A. in 1954. He served in the United States Army in 1956-57 and earned a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1960. Wendell Anderson played […]

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 […]

Wendell Ford (1924 - 2015)

Wendell Ford (September 8, 1924 – January 22, 2015) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He served for twenty-four years in the U.S. Senate and was the 53rd Governor of Kentucky. He was the first person to be successively elected lieutenant governor, governor and United States senator in Kentucky history. The Senate […]

Wendell Phillips (1811 - 1884)

Abolitionist, Lawyer, and Orator. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where his father was a successful lawyer, politician, and philanthropist. He graduated from Harvard University in 1831 and from Harvard Law School in 1833. He was admitted to the Massachusetts state bar in 1834 and opened a law practice in Boston. In 1835, he was […]

Wendie Jo Sperber (1958 - 2005)

Actress. A native of Hollywood, California, she is best remembered for her roles as ‘Amy Cassidy’ in “Bosom Buddies” from 1980 to 1982 (with Tom Hanks), ‘Pvt. Stacy Kouchalakas’ in “Private Benjamin” from 1982 to 1983, ‘Charlene Gilbert’ on “Babes” from 1991 to 1992, ‘Mavis Davis’ on “Hearts Afire” from 1992 to 1993, and ‘Linda […]

Wendy Barrie (1912 - 1978)

British Actress. Her godfather was the Scottish novelist-playwright J.M. Barrie, in whose “Peter Pan” there was a character called Wendy. Her films include “The Hound of the Baskervilles”  (1939) and  best remembered for her portrayal of Jane Seymour (Royal Wife No. 3) in  ‘The Private Life of Henry VIII’ (1933). She was the hostess of […]

Wendy Barrie (1912 - 1978)

In 1932, Wendy Barrie made her screen debut in the film Threads, which was based upon a play. She went on to make a number of motion pictures for London Films under the Korda brothers, Alexander and Zoltan, the best known of which is 1933’s The Private Life of Henry VIII, which starred Charles Laughton, […]

Wendy Hiller (1912 - 2003)

Born in Bramhall, Cheshire, the daughter of Frank Watkin Hiller, a Manchester cotton manufacturer, and Marie Stone, Hiller began her professional career as an actress in repertory at Manchester in the early 1930s. She first found success as slum dweller Sally Hardcastle in the stage version of Love on the Dole in 1934. The play […]

Wendy Richard (1943 - 2009)

Richard, an only child, was born in Middlesbrough in 1943. Her parents, Henry and Beatrice Reay (née Cutter) Emerton, were publicans and ran the Corporation Hotel in the town. Emerton and Cutter married in Paddington in 1939. While Richard was a baby, her family moved to Bournemouth. They later moved to the Isle of Wight […]

Werner Fuetterer (1907 - 1991)

German Actor. He began his career in 1925 with “Die Brüder Schellenberg.” Next yeart, he appeared in “Faust.” He also worked in “Die keusche Susanne” (1926), “Du sollst nicht stehlen” (1928), “Kreuzer Emden” (1932), “Der Mustergatte” (1937), “Ein Mann auf Abwegen” (1940),”Ich vertraue dir meine Frau an” (1943),”Salto Mortale” (1953), “Des Teufels General” (1955) and […]

Wes Covington (1932 - 2011)

John Wesley Covington (March 27, 1932 – July 4, 2011) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1956 through 1966 for the Milwaukee Braves, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers. Listed at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 205 lb, he batted left-handed […]

Wes Craven (1939 - 2015)

Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Caroline (née Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He was raised in a strict Baptist family. Craven earned an undergraduate degree in English and Psychology from Wheaton College in Illinois and a master’s degree in Philosophy and Writing from Johns Hopkins University. Craven briefly taught English at Westminster […]

Wes Montgomery (1923 - 1968)

Wes Montgomery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. According to NPR Jazz Profiles “The Life and Music Of Wes Montgomery”, the nickname “Wes” was a child’s abbreviation of his middle name, Leslie. He came from a musical family; his brothers, Monk (double bass and electric bass) and Buddy (vibraphone and piano), were jazz performers. The brothers […]

Wesley Barry (1907 - 1994)

Actor, Director, Producer. In over 60 movies from the 1910s to the 1940s. Barry is best remembered as ‘Ben Applegate’ in “The Country Kid” (1923) and ‘Sturrle’ in “Sunny Skies” (1930).

Wesley Ruggles (1889 - 1972)

Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director. He was born in Los Angeles, younger brother of actor Charles Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a dozen or so silent films, on occasion with Charles Chaplin. In 1917, he turned his attention to directing, making […]

West Arkeen (1960 - 1997)

Aaron West Arkeen was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France and grew up in San Diego. He was the grandson of Russian-Jewish immigrants to America and the son of a career U. S. Army Master Sergeant, Morris Arkeen. He was born in France while his father was serving overseas. He started playing guitar at the age of […]

Westley Allan Dodd (1961 - 1993)

Westley Allan Dodd was born in Toppenish, Washington, on July 3, 1961, the oldest of Jim and Carol Dodd’s three children.  Dodd claimed he was never abused or neglected as a child. He also reported that he grew up in a wealthy, happy family. However, The Seattle Times reported that Dodd described in a diary […]

Weston Doty (1914 - 1934)

Child Actor. Born one of a set of identical twins in Malta, Ohio, he and his brother were numbered among the first stars of the “Our Gang” comedy shorts. They appeared in three shorts together; “Our Gang,” “Fire Fighters,” and “One Terrible Day” in 1922, and Winston in an additional two; “A Pleasant Journey” and […]

Wheely Willy (1991 - 2009)

Willy was found abandoned in a cardboard box with spinal injuries and a cut throat. Taken in by a veterinary hospital and treated, Willy stayed there for a year unadopted. Learning that the dog would be euthanised if not adopted, pet groomer Deborah Turner decided to bring him home.  Initially, the two pound (one kilogram) […]

Whit Bissell (1909 - 1996)

Born in New York City, Bissell was the son of prominent surgeon Dr. J. Dougal Bissell. He trained with the Carolina Playmakers, a theatrical organization associated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He had a number of roles in Broadway theatre, including the Air Force show Winged Victory, when he was an […]

Whitelaw Reid (1837 - 1912)

Whitelaw Reid was the longtime editor of the New York Tribune and a close friend of Horace Greeley. He was a leader of the Liberal Republican movement in 1872. During the war he wrote under the by-line “Agate”. A Republican, he had an illustrious career as a diplomat, serving as United States Ambassador to France from 1889 […]

Whitey Bulger (1929 - 2018)

Whitey Bulger James (Whitey) Bulger, the South Boston mobster and F.B.I. informer who was captured after 16 years on the run and finally brought to justice in 2013 for a murderous reign of terror that inspired books, films and a saga of Irish-American brotherhood and brutality, was found beaten to death on Tuesday in a […]

Whitman Mayo (1930 - 2001)

Whitman Blount Mayo was born in New York City, New York, and grew up in Harlem and Queens. At the age of seventeen he moved with his family to Southern California and from there entered the United States Army, serving from 1951 to 1953 during the Korean War. Upon release, he studied at Chaffey College, […]