Jane Greer, Jack Warner, Ruth Roman

Who was born on this date:

Actress Jane Greer was born on September 9, 1924 in Washington, D.C. She is best known for her role as femme fatale, Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir, Out of the Past. A beauty-contest winner and professional model from her teens, Greer began her show business career as a big band singer. Howard Hughes spotted Greer modeling on the cover of Life Magazine of June 8, 1942 and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. She married Rudy Vallee, her senior by 22 years, in 1943. Hughes lent out the actress to RKO to star in many films, including Dick Tracy (1945), They Wont Belive Me (1947), The Big Steal (1949), You’re in the Navy Now (1951), The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), Run for the Sun (1956), and The Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). In 1984, she was cast in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past, as the mother of the character she had played in 1947. She also made numerous television show appearances through the early 1990s. Greer died of cancer on August 24, 2001 and was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Who died on this date: 

On September 9, 1978, studio executive Jack Warner died. He was born on August 2, 1892 in London, Ontario, Canada. He was the president and driving force behind Warner Bros. Studios. His 45-year career was longer than that of any other traditional Hollywood studio tycoon. As co-head of production at Warner Bros. Studios, he worked with his brother, Sam, to procure the technology for the film industry's first talking picture. After Sam's death, Jack clashed with his surviving older brothers, Harry and Albert. He assumed exclusive control of the film production company in the 1950s, when he secretly purchased his brothers' shares in the business after convincing them to participate in a joint sale of stocks. Although Warner was feared by many of his employees and inspired ridicule with his uneven attempts at humor, he earned respect for his shrewd instincts and tough-mindedness. He recruited many of Warner Bros.'s top stars and promoted the hard-edged social dramas for which the studio became known. Given to decisiveness, Warner once commented, "If I'm right fifty-one percent of the time, I'm ahead of the game." On September 9, 1978, Warner died of a heart inflammation (edema) and he was buried at the Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles.

On September 9, 1999, actress Ruth Roman died. She was born on December 23, 1922 in Lynn, Massachusetts. She is best known for appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 thriller, Strangers on a Train. In the 1950 film Three Secrets, she played a distraught mother waiting to learn whether or not her child survived an airplane crash. Although she never achieved the level of success as a leading lady that many predicted, Roman nevertheless worked regularly in film well into the 1960s after which she began making appearances on television shows. Greer died on September 9, 1999 in Laguna Beach, California, her remains were cremated and scattered at sea.