Pola Negri

Who was born on this date:

Actress Pola Negri was born on December 31, 1899 (although the date and year are in dispute) in Poland. She received fame through femme fatale roles from the silent era through the 1940s. Her Polish film debut was in 1914s, Slave to Her Senses and also appeared in a variety of films made by the Warsaw film industry, including Room No. 13, His Last Gesture, Students,  and The Wife.

Negri ended up becoming one of the most popular Hollywood actresses of the era, and certainly the richest woman of the film industry at the time. Negri's first two Hollywood films were Bella Donna (1923) and The Cheat (1923). Initially Paramount utilized Negri as a mysterious European femme fatale, as they did with their other major actress Gloria Swanson, and staged an ongoing feud between the two actresses. Film credits include Forbidden Paradise (1924), Woman of the World (1925), Hotel Imperial (1927), Barbed Wire (1927), and The Woman from Moscow (1928), after which she temporarily retired from movies. This turned out to be a short lived retirement, Negri returned to Hollywood in 1931 to begin filming her first talking film, A Woman Commands (1932). The film itself was poorly received, but Negri sang the song "Paradise" in the film, and the song was a hit and for many years was considered to be a standard.  

She made headlines and gossip columns with a string of celebrity love affairs with stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino. Negri met Rudolph Valentino at a costume party held by Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst at San Simeon, and was Valentino's lover until his death in 1926. Negri caused a media sensation at his New York funeral in August 24, 1926, at which she "fainted" several times, and arranged for a large floral arrangement, which spelled out "P-O-L-A", to be placed on Valentino's coffin. The press dismissed her actions as a publicity stunt. At the time of his death and for the remainder of her life, Negri would state that Valentino was the love of her life.

Negri came out of retirement once to appear in the Walt Disney’s, The Moon-Spinners (1964). She spent the remainder of her years largely out of the public eye. Pola Negri died on August 1, 1987 from pneumonia; however she was also suffering from a brain tumor (for which she had refused treatment). Negri was interred in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Tom Keene, Lew Ayres, Mary Brian & Dorothy Comingore

Who was born on this date:

Actor Tom Keene was born on December 30, 1896 in Rochester, New York. He is best known for his roles in B-Westerns of the 1930s and 1940s. He made his film debut in the 1923 short, The Just a Little Late Club. Other movie credits include, The Godless Girl (1929), Tide of Empire (1929), Sun Down Trail (1931), Our Daily Bread (1934), The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944), Dick Tracy’s Dilemma and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947). His last film was Ed Wood directed, cult classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959). Keene died from cancer on August 4, 1963 and is buried at Forest Lawn Glendale. 

Who died on this date:

On December 10, 1996, actor Lew Ayres died. He was born on December 28, 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in several movies of the late 1930s. Ayres appeared with Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), Janet Gaynor in Servant’s Entrance (1934), with Joan Crawford and Jimmy Stewart in The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939). In 1948 he was nominated for a best actor Academy Award for his role in Johnny Belinda. His co-star, Jane Wyman fell in love with Ayres and left her husband Ronald Reagan for him. He was married three times, most notably to Ginger Rogers from 1934-1940. Ayres also made numerous TV appearances from the late 1950s to 1990s. Ayres died December 30, 1996 and was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California next to the unmarked grave of Frank Zappa.

On December 30, 2002, actress Mary Brian died. She was born on February 17, 1906 in Corsicana, Texas. At the age of 16, she was discovered at a local Long Beach, California bathing beauty contest. Her first film was Peter Pan (1924) and Brian was dubbed "The Sweetest Girl in Pictures." During her years at Paramount, Brian appeared in more than 40 movies. She successfully transitioned to talking pictures with Varsity (1928) and The Virginian (1929) co-starring Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. Other film credits include The Royal family of Broadway (1930), Paramount on Parade (1930), The Front Page (1931), Manhattan Tower (1932), Shadows of Sing Sing (1933), College Rhythm (1934), Charlie Chan in Paris (1935), Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935), Navy Blues (1937), The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1936) and Affairs of Cappy Ricks (1937).  She was absent from the screen from 1937 to 1943, and appeared in only a handful of films thereafter. Her last performance on the silver screen was in Dragnet (1947). Over the course of 22 years, Brian had appeared in more than 79 movies. Though she was engaged numerous times and was linked romantically to numerous Hollywood men, including Cary Grant and notorious womanizer Jack Pickford. She died of heart failure at on December 30, 2002 in Del Mar, California and is buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

On December 30, 1971, actress Dorothy Comingore died. She was born on August 24, 1913in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for her portrayal of Susan Alexander in Citizen Kane (1941). Other film credits include The Hairy Ape (1944) and The Big Night (1951). Her career ended in 1951, when she was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist and refused to answer question by the House Un-American Activities Committee. She struggled with alcoholism during her later life, and died from pulmonary disease on December 30, 1971 in Stonington, Connecticut. Her ashes were given to family and final disposition of her remains is unknown.

Lew Ayres & Florence Lawrence

Who was born on this date:

Actor Lew Ayres was born on December 28, 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in several movies of the late 1930s. Ayres appeared with Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), Janet Gaynor in Servant’s Entrance (1934), with Joan Crawford and Jimmy Stewart in The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939). In 1948 he was nominated for a best actor Academy Award for his role in Johnny Belinda. His co-star, Jane Wyman fell in love with Ayres and left her husband Ronald Reagan for him. He was married three times, most notably to Ginger Rogers from 1934-1940. Ayres also made numerous TV appearances from the late 1950s to 1990s. Ayres died December 30, 1996 and was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California next to the unmarked grave of Frank Zappa.

Who died on this date:

On December 28, 1938, actress Florence Lawrence died. She was born on January 2, 1886 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She is often referred to as "The First Movie Star." When she was popular, she was known as "The Biograph Girl," "The Imp Girl," and "The Girl of a Thousand Faces." Lawrence appeared in more than 270 films for various motion picture companies. Lawrence was unsuccessful in transitioning from silent film to talkies. 

During the filming of Pawns of Destiny 1914), a staged fire got out of control and Lawrence was burned and she suffered a serious fall. She went into shock for months. She returned to work, but collapsed after its completion. Universal refused to pay her medical expenses. Although only 29 years old, she never regained her stature as a leading film actress after taking time off to recover from her injuries.  

Lawrence returned to the screen in 1936, when MGM began giving small parts to old stars for seventy-five dollars a week. Alone, discouraged, and suffering with chronic pain from a rare bone marrow disease, she was found unconscious in bed in her West Hollywood apartment on after she had ingested ant paste. She was rushed to a hospital but died a few hours later on December 28, 1938. Lawrence was interred in an unmarked grave at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. She remained forgotten until 1991, when actor Roddy McDowall paid for a memorial marker that reads: "The Biograph Girl/The First Movie Star."

Marlene Dietrich

Who was born on this date:

Actress Marlene Dietrich was born on December 27, 1901 in Berlin, Germany. Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930), brought her international fame and provided her a contract with Paramount Pictures. Hollywood films include Morocco (1930), for which she was nominated for a best actress Academy Award, Dishonored (1931), Blonde Venus (1932), Shanghai Express (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil is a Woman (1935), Desire (1936), and I Loved a Soldier (1936). 

Extravagant offers lured Dietrich away from Paramount to make The Garden of Allah (1936) and Knight without Armour (1937).  By this time, Dietrich was labeled "Box Office Poison.” She returned to Paramount to make another romantic comedy, Angel (1937) but reception to the film was so lukewarm and Paramount bought out the remainder of her contract. In 1939, she appeared the western, Destry Rides Again, opposite Jimmy Stewart. The bawdy role revived her career. She played roles in Seven Sinners (1940) and The Spoilers (1942), both opposite John Wayne. While Dietrich arguably never fully regained her former screen glory, she continued performing in the movies. 

From the early 1950s until the mid-1970s, Dietrich worked almost exclusively as a highly-paid cabaret artist, performing live in large theaters in major cities worldwide. In her sixties and seventies, Dietrich's health declined: she survived cervical cancer in 1965 and suffered from poor circulation in her legs. Dietrich became increasingly dependent on painkillers and alcohol. Dietrich's show business career largely ended on September 29, 1975, when she broke her leg during a stage performance in Sydney, Australia. Dietrich withdrew to her apartment in Paris and spent the final 11 years of her life mostly bedridden, allowing only a select few, including family and employees to enter the apartment. She died from renal failure on May 6, 1992 at the age of 90 in Paris and was buried at the Berlin-Schoneberg Cemetery in Berlin.

Richard Widmark & Elsa Lanchester

Who was born on this date:

Actor Richard Widmark was born on December 26, 1914 in Sunrise Township, Minnesota. He was nominated for a best supporting actor Academy Award for Kiss Of Death (1947), as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film. Early in his career Widmark specialized in similar villainous or anti-hero roles, but he later branched out into more heroic leading and support roles in westerns, mainstream dramas and horror films, among others. Widmark made his debut as a radio actor in 1938 and made his Broadway debut in 1943 with Kiss and Tell. Other film credits include The Street Car with No Name (1948), Don’t Bother to Knock (1952). Pick Up on South Street (1953), The Alamo (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), How the West was Won (1962), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Coma (1978), and The Swarm (1978). In all, Widmark appeared in over 60 films before making his final movie appearance in the 1991 thriller True Colors. From 1942 until her death in 1997, Widmark was married to playwright Jean Hazlewood. He died after a long illness on March 24, 2008, at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut and is buried at the Roxbury Center Cemetery.

Who died on this date:

On December 26, 1986, actress Elsa Lanchester died. She was born on October 28, 1902 in Lewisham, London. She met actor Charles Laughton in 1927, and they were married two years later. She began playing small roles in British films, including the role of Anne of Cleves with Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). Her role as the title character in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), brought her recognition. She played supporting roles through the 1940s and 1950s. She was nominated for a best supporting Academy Award for Come to the Stable in 1949 and Witness for the Prosecution 1957. Lanchester died on December 26, 1986 from pneumonia at the Motion Picture Actor Home. Her ashes were scattered at sea.

Humphrey Bogart

Who was born on this date:

Actor Humphrey Bogart was born on December 25, 1899 in New York City. The American Film Institute has ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema. Bogart began acting in 1921 and became a regular in Broadway productions in the 1920s and 1930s. His first foray into movies was in The Petrified Forest (1936), and this led to a period of typecasting as a gangster with films such as Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and others. 

His breakthrough as a leading man came in 1941 with High Sierra and the Maltese Falcon. The next year, his performance in Casablanca raised him to the peak of his profession and, at the same time, cemented his trademark film persona, that of the hard-boiled cynic who ultimately shows his noble side. Other successes followed, including To Have and Have Not (1944); The Big Sleep (1946); Dark Passage (1947) and Key Largo (1948), with his wife (Lauren Baccall) in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948); In a Lonely Place (1950); The African Queen (1951), for which he won his only Academy Award; Sabrina (1954); and The Caine Mutiny (1954). His last movie was The Harder They Fall (1956). During a film career of almost thirty years, he appeared in 75 feature films. 

Bogart met Lauren Bacall while filming To Have and Have Not in 1944. When they met, Bacall was nineteen and Bogart was forty-five. He nicknamed her "Baby." Their physical and emotional rapport was very strong from the start, and the age difference and different acting experience also created the additional dimension of a mentor-student relationship. Quite contrary to the Hollywood norm, it was his first affair with a leading lady. Bogart was still miserably married and his early meetings with Bacall were discreet and brief, their separations bridged by ardent love letters. Yet Bogart was still torn between his new love and his sense of duty to his marriage. Divorce proceedings were initiated by February 1945. Bogart and Bacall then married in a small ceremony at the country home of Bogart's close friend near Lucas, Ohio. 

By the mid-1950s, Bogart's health was failing. A heavy smoker and drinker, he contracted cancer of the esophagus but almost never spoke of his failing health and refused to see a doctor until January 1956. A diagnosis was made several weeks later and by then it was too late to halt the disease. Bogart had just turned 57 when he died on January 14, 1957 after falling into a coma at his home. His cremated remains are interred in Forest Lawn Glendale and buried with him is a small gold whistle, which he had given to Lauren Bacall, before they married. In reference to their first movie together, it was inscribed: "If you want anything, just whistle."

Ava Gardner & Peter Lawford

Who was born on this date:

Actress Ava Gardner was born on December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina. She was one of Hollywood's most beautiful actresses and was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for Mogambo (1953). She appeared in several high-profile films from the late 1940s to 1970s, including The Killers (1946), The Hucksters (1947), Show Boat (1951), The Snow of Kilimanjaro (1952), The Barefoor Contessa (1954), Bhowano Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Earthquake (1974), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976).

Soon after her arrival in Los Angeles, Gardner met fellow MGM contract player Mickey Rooney; they married in 1942; she was 19 years old and he was 21. Rooney and Gardner divorced in 1943. Gardner was close friends with Howard Hughes in the early to mid-1940s and the relationship lasted into the 1950s. Gardner's second marriage was brief and to jazz musician and band leader Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946. Her third and last marriage (1951–1957) was to singer and actor Frank Sinatra. She would later say in her autobiography that he was the love of her life. Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Ava and their subsequent marriage made headlines. The Gardner-Sinatra marriage was tumultuous and they divorced in 1957.   

After a lifetime of smoking, Gardner suffered from emphysema and an auto-immune disorder (which may have been lupus). She suffered two stokes in 1986, which left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Although Gardner could afford her medical expenses, Sinatra wanted to pay for her to visit a specialist in the United States, and she allowed him to make the arrangements for a medically-staffed private plane. Her last words (to her house keeper), were reportedly, "I'm so tired," before she died of pneumonia on January 25, 1990 in London. After her death, Sinatra's daughter, Tina, found him slumped in his room, crying, and unable to speak. Gardner was not only the love of his life, but also was the inspiration for one of his most personal songs, "I'm a Fool to Want You." Garner was buried at the Sunset Memorial Park in Smithfield, North Carolina, next to her brothers and parents.

Who died on this date:

On December 24, 1984, actor Peter Lawford died. He was born on September 7, 1923 in London, England. He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to President John F. Kennedy. In his earlier professional years (late 1930s through the 1950s) he had a strong presence in popular culture and starred in a number of highly acclaimed films. Lawford made his film debut in Poor Old Bill (1930). His first major movie role was A Yank at Eton (1942), where he played a snobbish bully opposite Mickey Rooney. The picture was a smash hit, and Lawford's performance was widely praised. He won even greater acclaim for his performance in The White Cliff of Dover (1944), in which he played a young soldier in World War II. MGM gave him another important role in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and Son of Lassie (1945). 

Lawford's busiest year as an actor was 1946, when two of his films opened within days of each other: Cluny Brown (1946) and Two Sisters From Boston (1946). He also made his first comedy that same year: My Brother Talks To Horses (released in 1947). He appeared with Frank Sinatra for the first time in the musical It Happened in Brooklyn (1947). Lawford was given other important roles in MGM films over the next few years, including Easter Parade (1948), Little Women (1949), and It Should Happen to You (1954). In 1959, Frank Sinatra invited the Englishman to join "The Rat Pack" and also got him a role in Never So Few. The casino caper Ocean’s Eleven (1960) was a project Lawford first brought to Sinatra's attention. It became the first film to feature all five main "Rat Pack" members Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop and Lawford. He also guest starred on various television series throughout the 1950s and 1960s.  

His first marriage, in 1954, was to Patricia Kennedy, sister of then-US Senator John F. Kennedy. Lawford, along with other members of the "Rat Pack", helped campaign for Kennedy and the Democratic Party. Lawford and Patricia Kennedy divorced in February 1966. Lawford married his second wife, Mary Rowan, the daughter of comedian Dan Rowan in October 1971 when she was one day shy of twenty-second birthday. Rowan and Lawford separated two years later and divorced in January 1975. In June 1976, he married aspiring actress Deborah Gould, twenty-five, whom he had known for only three weeks. Lawford and Gould separated two months after marrying and divorced in 1977. During his separation from Gould, Lawford met seventeen-year-old Patricia Seaton, who would later become his fourth and final wife in July 1984, months before his death.  

Peter Lawford died on December 24, 1984 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from cardiac arrest which was complicated by kidney and liver failure after years of drug and alcohol abuse. His body was cremated, and his ashes were interred originally interred at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Owing to a dispute between his widow and the cemetery, Lawford's ashes were removed and scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California by his widow, Patricia Seaton Lawford, who invited the National Enquirer tabloid to photograph the event. A plaque bearing Lawford's name was erected at Westwood Village Memorial Park.

Ruth Roman

Who was born on this date:

Actress Ruth Roman was born on December 23, 1922 (other sources state her birth date as December 22. 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.

Darryl F. Zanuck

Who died on this date:

On December 22, 1979, Legendary director/ studio executive Darryl F. Zanuck died. He was born on September 5, 1902 in Wahoo, Nebraska. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors. He earned three Academy Awards during his tenure. In 1933 he founded 20^th Century Films, releasing material through United Artists. In 1935 he bought out Fox studios, which became 20^th Century Fox. Zanuck was vice-president of this new studio and took an interventionist approach, closely involved in editing and producing. In the 1950s, he withdrew from the studio to concentrate on independent producing in Europe. He returned to control of Fox in 1962, but became involved in a power struggle with the board and his son from around 1969. In May 1971 Zanuck was finally forced from "his" studio. Zanuck died on December 22, 1979 from cancer in Palm Springs, California. He is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Betty Grable, June Storey & Anne Revere

Who was born on this date:

Actress Betty Grable was born on December 18, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri. Grable had several nicknames during her career like: "the girl with the million dollar legs," "the quick-silver blonde," "the queen of the Hollywood musical," and "the darling of the forties." Her legendary swim suit photo made her the number-one pin up girl during World War II. Despite being noted for her good looks, Grable was a talented actress and appeared in several successful musicals during the 1940s like, Down Argentine Way (1940),  Moon Over Miami (1941), Springtime in the Rockies (1942), Coney Island (1943), Pin-Up Girl (1944), and The Dolly Sisters (1945). However, she is best noted for her 1947 film Mother Wore Tights. By the 1950s, Grable was still making films like, Wabash Avenue (1950), Meet Me After the Show (1951), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and How to be Very, Very Popular (1955). She retired from the movie industry in 1955. Grable died on July 2, 1973 from lung cancer and is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.

Who died on this date:

On December 18, 1991, actress June Storey-Clark died. She was born on April 20, 1918 in Ontario, Canada. Storey was a screen actress in the 1930’s and 1940’s; she starred in forty-five motion pictures. She was primarily, a lead actress in B-westerns for Republic Pictures, and was Gene Autry’s leading lady in ten of his films. Her major screen credits include In Old Chicago (1937), Home on the Prairie (1939), Colorado Sunset (1939), In Old Monterrey (1939), South of the Border (1939), Carolina Moon (1940), Ride Tenderfoot Ride (1940), and Lone Wolf Takes a Chance (1941). June retired from acting in the late 1940’s, and married an Oregon rancher. She died on December 18, 1991 in Vista, California from cancer and is buried at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach, California.

On December 18, 1990, actress Anne Revere died. The versatile veteran character actress was born on June 25, 1903 in New York City. She was a graduate of Wellesley College and is a direct descendant of American Revolutionary hero, Paul Revere. She began her show business career on the Broadway stage and graduated to film in 1934’s Double Door. During her film career (1934-1977), which included nearly forty motion pictures, she often played the role of the strong, maternal figure. Her major film credits include: Men of Boys Town (1941), Remember the Day (1941), and A Place in the Sun (1951). She won the 1946 Oscar for best supporting actress in National Velvet (1945), and was nominated for the same award for The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Gentlemen’s Agreement (1947). 

In 1947, a year after winning the Oscar, she refused to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, was blacklisted and did not appear in another motion picture for twenty years. Unable to find work in films, she returned to the Broadway stage, where in 1961, she won a Tony Award for her performance in Toys in the Attic. She also made numerous television appearances during this period and her last role was in the soap opera, Ryan’s Hope (1977). Anne Revere died on December 18, 1990 at her home on Long Island, New York from pneumonia. She is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Van Heflin

Who was born on this date:

Van Heflin, the talented character actor who often played tough guys with a sensitive and often vulnerable side was born Emmett Evan Heflin, Jr. on December 13, 1910 in Walters, Oklahoma. In his youth, Heflin worked as a merchant marine and got his start in show business by accident while on shore leave in New York City. He was discovered by Broadway director Richard Boleslawski, who cast him in the play, Mr. Moneypenny. The play closed after a short run, and he returned to the sea but the acting bug had been planted. Three years later, Heflin returned state side, and enrolled in drama school. In 1936, after a successful run in which he appeared in eight Broadway plays, Heflin made the switch to motion pictures, and was quickly signed by RKO Pictures, and appeared in his first film, A Woman Rebels (1936). In a memorable screen career that included over fifty motion pictures from 1936 to 1971, Heflin’s most unforgettable movie credits include: The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1937), Santa Fe Trail (1940), The Three Musketeers (1948), Shane (1953), Battle Cry (1955), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), and Airport (1970). He won the best supporting actor Academy Award in 1943, for his portrayal of the hard drinking stooge, Jeff Harnett in Johnny Eager (1942). He almost always played the supporting role in films, his rugged characters seemed to possess a certain vulnerability that showed weakness which often lead to his characters into dire circumstances.

Heflin was an ardent health fanatic in his later years and often swam laps in his Los Angeles area apartment pool. On June 6, 1971, while completing his regular swimming routine, he suffered a heart attack. He was able to get to the side of the pool and hang onto a ladder but was unsuccessful in getting out of the water. Fellow tenants helped pull the stricken actor from the water but when paramedics finally arrived, he was unconsciousness and unresponsive. Heflin was transported to Citizens Emergency Hospital in Hollywood, where he lay in a coma for forty-seven days. The award winning actor died on July 23, 1971, at age sixty, never having regained consciousness. Van Heflin’s remains were cremated and scattered in the Pacific Ocean.    

Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Van Johnson & Anne Baxter

Who was born on this date:

Singer/ actor Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was born on Hoboken, New Jersey. He began his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s. His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in From Here to Eternity. He followed that with a nomination for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm, and critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate. He also starred in such musicals as High Society, Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls and On the Town. He was married four times, most notably to actresses Ava Gardner (1951–1957) and Mia Farrow (1966–1968). Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of depression. Sinatra garnered considerable attention due to his alleged personal and professional links with organized crime. Sinatra began to show signs of dementia in his last years and after a heart attack in February 1997, he made no further public appearances. After suffering another heart attack, he died on May 14, 1998 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and was buried at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.

Actor Edward G. Robinson was born on December 12, 1893 in Bucharest. He began his acting career in 1913 and made his Broadway debut in 1915. He made his film debut in a minor and uncredited role in 1916. Robinson was popular in the 1930s and 1940s and was able to avoid many flops during a 50-year career that included 101 films. An acclaimed performance as the gangster Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello in Little (1931) led to him being typecast as a "tough guy" for much of his early career in works such as Five Star Final (1931), Smart Money (1931), Tiger Shark (1932), Kid Galahad (1937),  Larceny Inc. (1942), Double Indemnity (1944), The Woman in the Window (1945), Scarlet Street (1945) and The Stranger (1946). As a memorable tribute to his past gangster roles, he appeared as 'Johnny Rocco' in Key Largo (1948). He also appeared in numerous 'B' movies such as Vice Squad (1953), Tank Battalion (1958).Director Cecil B. DeMille cast him as Dathan in The Ten Commandments in 1956. Robinson's acting career was later bolstered by notable roles in 1959's A Hole in the Head and the Cincinnati Kid (1965). Robinson's last film was Soylent Green (1973). Edward G. Robinson died from cancer on January 26, 1973 and was buried at Beth-El Cemetery in Queens, New York.

Who died on this date:

On December 12, 2008, actor Van Johnson died. He was born on August 25, 1916 in Newport, Rhode Island. Johnson was the embodiment of the "boy next door," playing "the red-haired, freckle-faced soldier, sailor or bomber pilot who used to live down the street" in MGM movies during the war years. At the time of his death on December 2008, he was one of the last surviving matinee idols of Hollywood's "golden age." Johnson performed at social clubs in Newport while in high school and moved to New York City after graduating from high school in 1935 to join an off-Broadway revue. He was an understudy to Gene Kelly in the Broadway musical Pal Joey. He was introduced to an MGM casting director by Lucille Ball. This led to a screen test at Columbia Pictures and then Warner Bros. Studios. His all-American good looks and easy demeanor were ill-suited to the gritty movies Warner made at the time, and the studio dropped him at the expiration of his six-month contract. Shortly before leaving Warner, he was cast as a cub reporter opposite Faye Emerson in the 1942 film Murder in the Big House.  

His big break was in A Guy Named Joe (1943) with Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne. Midway through the movie's production, he was involved in a car crash that left him with a metal plate in his forehead and a number of scars on his face that the plastic surgery of the time could not completely correct or conceal; he used heavy makeup to hide them for years. Dunne and Tracy insisted that Johnson not be removed from the cast despite his long absence. With many actors now serving in the armed forces, the accident proved to be a major career break for Johnson. MGM built up his image as the all-American boy in war dramas and musicals, with his most notable starring roles including Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Easy to Wed (1946), In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Battleground (1949), Go For Broke (1951), Remains to Be Seen (1953), and Brigadoon (1954). Johnson was dropped by MGM in 1954, after appearing in The Last Time I Saw Paris with Elizabeth Taylor. He enjoyed critical acclaim for his performance in The Caine Mutiny (1954).  

During the 1950s, Johnson continued to appear in films and also appeared frequently in television guest appearances. In the 1970s, after twice fighting bouts of cancer, Johnson began a second career in summer stock and dinner theater. In 1985, returning to Broadway for the first time since Pal Joey, he was cast in the starring role of the musical La cage aux Folles. Van Johnson lived in a penthouse on Manhattan’s Upper Eastside until 2002, when he moved to an assisted living facility in Nyack, New York. He died there of natural causes on December 12, 2008. He had been ill for the previous year and receiving hospice care. His body was cremated and final disposition is unknown.

On December 12, 1985, actress Anne Baxter died. The multi-talented Academy Award winning actress was born on May 7, 1923 in Michigan City, Indiana but grew up in Bronxville, New York. In 1936, at the age of thirteen, Baxter made her Broadway theater debut in Seen but not Heard, garnering rave reviews but she yearned for Hollywood’s bright lights. An initial foray into film in 1937 was unsuccessful and Baxter returned to Broadway. Then in 1940, at age seventeen, she was given another chance and was given a screen test at 20th Century Fox Studios, and was offered a seven year movie contract. Before she could make a movie for Fox, she was loaned out to MGM where she appeared in 20 Mule Team (1940). Her early film career was filled great success and roles that other actresses would have had to work for years to attain. She was an actress who relied on her charm rather than great beauty and would star in over fifty motion pictures and numerous television series from 1940 to 1985, her film credits include: The Pied Piper (1942), The North Star (1943), Angel on My Shoulder (1946), The Walls of Jericho (1948), Follow the Sun (1951), and Cimarron (1960). She won the best supporting actress Oscar in 1947 for The Razor’s Edge (1946) and was nominated in 1951 for All About Eve (1950). Perhaps her most famous role is that of the beautiful and conniving Queen Nefretiri in Cecile B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956).

In 1960, tiring of the bright lights and glamour of Hollywood, she retired from film and settled with her second husband Randolph Galt on a cattle ranch in Australia. In 1970, after a decade away from show business, she yearned to return to the screen saying, “Acting is not what I do. It’s what I am. It is my permanent, built in cathedral.” She then became a staple of television appearing in numerous programs such as East of Eden (1981) and Hotel (1983). Her last appearance was in the made for television movie, The Masks of Death (1984). On December 8, 1985, while walking along Madison Avenue in Manhattan, she collapsed from a stroke. Baxter was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she lay in a coma for eight days. She died on December 12, 1985, never regaining consciousness. Anne Baxter’s cremated remains are interred at the Lloyd-Jones Cemetery next to the historic Unity Chapel in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Her ashes rest under a small tree memorial which is marked by a non-descript marker. It is near the now empty gravesite of her famous grandfather (Frank Lloyd Wright’s remains were disinterred and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in the mid-1980’s). The cemetery is situated in the valley not far from Wright’s historic Taliesin estate.  

Dorothy Lamour, Victor McLaglen & Ed Wood

Who was born on this date:

Actress Dorothy Lamour was born on December 10, 1914 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is best remembered for appearing with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in the “Road to” movies. In 1936, she moved to Hollywood and began appearing regularly in films for Paramount Pictures. The role that made her a star was Ulah in The Jungle Princess (1936). While she first achieved stardom as a sex symbol, Lamour also showed talent as both a comic and dramatic actress. She was among the most popular actresses in motion pictures from 1936 to 1952. During the World War II, Lamour was among the most popular pinup girls among American servicemen. Some of Lamour's other notable films include The Hurricane (1937),Disputed Passage (1939), Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942), My Favorite Brunette (1947), and the best picture Oscar winner The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). She died at her home in North Hollywood, California from a heart attack on September 22, 1996 and is buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

Actor Victor McLaglen, the tough guy actor with a heart of gold was born on December 10, 1886 in Tunbridge, England. The son of a Protestant Minister, Victor was the second eldest of eight children. After turning eighteen, the adventuresome young man immigrated to Canada. It was there where he found his calling with forays into show business with travelling circuses, vaudeville shows, Wild West extravaganzas, and even prize fighting challenges.

McLaglen’s distinguished and award winning career in motion pictures spanned nearly four decades from 1920 to 1959 and included over one hundred films. His early movies found him type cast as the tough guy in action adventure pictures but as his popularity increased diversity in roles developed.  He was a versatile actor, who was able to move effortlessly between the tough guy, lovable rouge, and debonair leading man, his major film credits include: What Price Glory (1926), The Magnificent Brute (1936), Gunga Din (1939), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950). He was a favorite actor of director John Ford, who cast McLaglen as an Irishmen in many films, even though he was British. In 1935, McLaglen was nominated and won the Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of the dim-witted giant in John Ford’s, The Informer and was nominated in 1953 for a best supporting actor Oscar in The Quiet Man (1952), co-starring John Wayne.

McLaglen died on November 7, 1959 at his Newport Beach, California home from congestive heart failure. His funeral service was held at the Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn, Glendale in attendance were over two hundred mourner that included numerous Hollywood personalities. The eulogy was delivered by fellow actor and good friend, Donald Crisp who spoke of McLaglen as “a great and kindly man of mighty physique and generous nature.” The actor’s remains were cremated and are interred in the Columbarium of Eternal Light within the Garden of Memory at Forest Lawn, Glendale. McLaglen is interred only a few feet from legendary actor Humphrey Bogart.  

Who died on this date:

On December 10, 1978, director Ed Wood died. He was born on October 10, 1924 in Poughkeepsie, New York. In the 1950s, Wood made a number of low-budget films now enjoyed for their technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, large amounts of ill-fitting dialogue, eccentric casts and outlandish plot elements, although his flair for showmanship gave his projects at least a modicum of critical success. Wood's popularity waned soon after his biggest name star Bela Lugosi died. He was able to salvage a saleable feature from Lugosi's last moments on film, but his career declined thereafter. His infamy began two years after his death, when he was awarded a Golden Turkey Award as Worst Director of All Time. The lack of filmmaking ability in his work has earned Wood and his films a considerable cult following. He died on December 10, 1978 in Los Angeles and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Margaret Hamilton, Broderick Crawford, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., & Gene Barry

Who was born on this date:

Actress Margaret Hamilton was born on December 9, 1902 in Cleveland, Ohio. She was best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. A former schoolteacher, she worked as a character actor in films for seven years before she was offered the role that defined her public image. In later years, Hamilton made frequent cameo appearances on television sitcoms and commercials. She also gained recognition for her work as an advocate of causes designed to benefit children and animals, and retained a lifelong commitment to public education. 

Hamilton's unlikely career as a film actress was driven by the very qualities that placed her in stark contrast to the stereotypical Hollywood glamour girl. Her image was that of a New England spinster, extremely pragmatic and impatient. Hamilton's plain looks helped to bring steady work as a character actress. She made her screen debut in 1933 in Another Language. Hamilton went on to appear in These Three (1936), Saratoga, You Only Live Once, Nothing Sacred (all 1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), and My Little Chickadee (1940). She strove to work as much as possible to support herself and her son; she never put herself under contract to any one studio and priced her services at $1000 a week.  

In 1939, Hamilton played the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, opposite Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, creating not only her most famous role, but also one of the screen's most memorable villains. Hamilton was chosen when the more traditionally attractive Gale Sondergaard refused to wear makeup designed to make her appear ugly. In the 1940s and 1950s, Hamilton had a long running role on the radio series Ethel and Albert in which she played the lovable, scattered Aunt Eva. During the 1960s and 1970s, Hamilton appeared regularly on television. She did a stint as one of the What's My Line? Mystery Guests on the popular Sunday Night CBS-TV program. She reprised the image of Elmira Gulch from The Wizard of Oz for her role as Morticia Addams' mother Hester Frump in The Addams Family. 

During the 1960s she was a regular on the CBS soap opera, "The Secret Storm," and in the early 1970s, she joined the cast of ‘As the World Turns.’ She had a small role in the made-for-TV film The Night Strangler (1973) and appeared in Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. She would reprise her role as the Wicked Witch of the West in an episode of Sesame Street, but after complaints from parents of terrified children, it hasn't been seen since 1976. Hamilton also appeared as herself in an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and continued acting regularly until 1982. Her last role was a guest appearance as a veteran journalist on an episode of Lou Grant. She lived in New York City for most of her adult life and her Gramercy Park apartment building also boasted James Cagney as a tenant. On May 16, 1985, she died in her sleep following a heart attack. There is conflicting information about the exact location where her ashes were scattered one sources states that they were scattered at her home in Amenia, New York, while another source says it is Cape Island, Maine.

Broderick Crawford, the husky, gravelly voiced actor of both film and television was born on December 9, 1911 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents Lester and Helen Crawford were successful vaudevillian performers. His mother excelled in comedic roles on stage and film. Broderick’s successful career in show business began on the Broadway stage in 1937’s Of Mice and Men. In that same year, he ventured to Hollywood and appeared in his first motion picture, Woman Chases Man (1937). In a film and television career that spanned over four decades (1937-1982), Crawford appeared in over eighty feature films that included; Ambush (1939), Beau Geste (1939), Slightly Honorable (1940), The Black Cat (1941), North to the Klondike (1942), Larceny, Inc. (1942), Black Angel (1946), A Kiss in the Dark (1949), Lone Star (1952), Born Yesterday (1950), and The Last Posse (1953). Crawford was not the typical Hollywood leading man type with a deep voice, large and burly physique. He primarily played supporting roles as tough guys in “B” westerns.

In 1949, Crawford was not a big box office star. Director Robert Rosen was casting the lead role for the film, All the Kings Men, a film adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s fictionalized account of the life of flamboyant Louisiana politician, Huey Long.  Rosen was not looking for a big star for his film. On the contrary, all he needed was an actor like Crawford, whose unknown stature, powerful build, and raspy voice, fit the persona of Willie Stark (AKA Huey Long). For this role, Crawford won the best lead actor Academy Award for 1949. Crawford was unable to follow up the success of All the Kings Men, and his film career slowed. In 1955, he got another big break, this time on the small screen, playing one of the most memorable and legendary roles in television history that of Chief Dan Mathews in Highway Patrol (1955-1959). Crawford successful television career lasted for twenty plus years. On April 26, 1986, Broderick Crawford died after suffering a massive stroke at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Springs, California and was buried at Ferndale Cemetery in Johnstown, New York.

Actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was born on December 9, 1909 in New York City. He was the only child of famed silent film star Douglas Fairbank and Anna Beth Sully. He began his career during the silent film era with supporting roles in a range of films featuring many of the leading female players of the day. Notable film credits include Stella Dallas (1925), An American Venus (1926), Women Love Diamonds (1927),  Our Modern Maidens (1929), Woman of Affairs (1929), Morning Glory (1933), Outward Bound (1930), The Dawn Patrol (1930), Little Caesar (1931), Prisoner of Zenda (1937), and Gunga Din (1939). His first notable relationship was with the actress Joan Crawford, whom he married on June 3, 1929 in New York City. The couple divorced in 1933. On May 7, 2000, Fairbanks died of a heart attack in New York. He is buried next to his father at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Who died on this date:

On December 9, 2009, actor Gene Barry died. He was born Eugene Klass on June 14, 1919 in New York City. Barry chose his professional name in honor of John Barrymore and made his Broadway debut as Captain Paul Duval in the 1942 revival of Sigmund Romberg's The New Moon. In 1950, Barry began appearing on TV with the "NBC Television Opera Theatre.” In 1955, he appeared on the CBS anthology series Appointment with Adventure. 

Barry appeared in his first movie, The Atomic City (1952), and then was cast as "Dr. Clayton Forrester" in the sci-fi classic, The War of the Worlds (1953). In 1955, Barry returned to television and had a recurring role in the situation comedy Our Miss Brooks. From 1958-1961, he starred in Bat Masterson, a fictionalized recounting of the life of the real-life U.S. Marshal / gambler. In his next TV series, Burke's Law, Barry played a millionaire who always used a chauffeured limousine and who solved crimes, first as the Chief of Detectives and then as a secret agent. This series was telecast from 1963 to 1965. For his performance in it, Barry won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in 1965.  

Barry returned to Broadway on two occasions, 1962 in The Perfect Setup, and in 1983 in the Broadway premiere of the musical La Cage aux Folles. For his portrayal of Georges, Barry was nominated for a Tony Award. Barry died on December 9, 2009 at Sunrise Senior Living in Woodland Hills, California and is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.

Fay Bainter

Who was born on this date:

Actress Fay Bainter was born on December 7, 1894 in Los Angeles, California. Her short ten year film acting career (1934 to 1944) began with This Side of Heaven (1934) and concluded with Dark Waters (1944). During this brief ten year period, she appeared in twenty-seven motion pictures that included: Quality Street (1937), The Shinning Hour (1938), Young Tom Edison (1940), Woman of the Year (1942), Cry Havoc (1943), and Heavenly Body (1944). In 1939, Bainter was the first actress to be nominated for two separate Academy Awards in the same year, best actress, White Banners (1938), and best supporting actress, Jezebel (1938). She lost in the best actress category but won the best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Aunt Belle in Jezebel (opposite Bette Davis, who won for best actress). Due to confusion in the voting, the Academy was forced to change the rules. Bainter came out of semi-retirement in 1961 to film, The Children’s Hour, and was again honored with a best supporting actress Oscar nomination but lost to Rita Moreno. Bainter died on April 16, 1968 at her home in Los Angeles, California from pneumonia. Her funeral service was held at the All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. She is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington D.C., lawn section 3, space 2456-1, next to her husband, U.S. Navy, Lt. Commander Reginald Venable. 

Agnes Moorehead, Lynn Fontanne & Don Ameche

Who was born on this date:

Actress Agnes Moorehead was born on December 6, 1900 in Clinton, Massachusetts. She appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane (1941) and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences for her role as Endora on the 1960’s TV series Bewitched. While rarely playing leads in films, Moorehead's skill at character development and range earned her one Emmy Award, two Golden Globes and four Academy Award nominations. She appeared in the 1956 movie The Conqueror, which was shot near Saint George, Utah, downwind from the Yucca Flat, Nevada nuclear test site. She was one of over 90 (of 220) cast and crew members, including costars Susan Hayward, John Wayne, and Pedro Armendariz, as well as director-producer Dick Powell, who, over their lifetimes, all developed cancer. Moorehead died of uterine cancer on April 30, 1974 in Rochester, Minnesota and is buried at Dayton Memorial Park in Dayton, Ohio.

Actress Lynn Fontanne was born on December 6, 1887 in Woodford, England. From the late 1920s onward, Fontanne acted exclusively with her husband Alfred Lunt. She made only three movies, but nevertheless was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931’s, The Guardsman. Lynn Fontanne died on July 30, 1983 and is interred next to her husband at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Who died on this date: 

On December 6, 1993, actor Don Ameche died. He was born on May 31, 1908 in Kenosa, Wisconsin. His acting career spanned sixty years and he won the 1985 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Cocoon. He made his film debut in 1935 and by the late 1930s, had established himself as a leading actor in Hollywood appearing films such as Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938), The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Trading Places (1983). He also enjoyed a substantial Broadway career and appeared in numerous TV shows. Ameche died on December 6, 1993 from prostate cancer and his ashes are buried at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Dubuque, Iowa.

Bert Lahr and Leila Hyams

Who died on this date:

On December 4, 1967, actor Bert Lahr died. He was born Irving Lahrheim on August 13, 1895 in New York City. He is best remembered for his roles as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz (1939). In 1927 he debuted on Broadway and played to packed houses, performing classic routines. Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931's Flying High but aside from The Wizard of Oz (1939), his movie career was limited and he made occasionally appearances on television. He died on December 4, 1967 from cancer and was buried at the Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, New York.

On December 4, 1977, actress Leila Hyams died. She was born on May 1, 1905 in New York City. Her relatively short film career began in silent films, and ended in the mid 1930s. She made her first film in 1924, and with her blonde hair, delicate features, and good natured demeanor, was cast in a string of supporting roles, where she was required to do very little but smile and look pretty. She proved herself capable of handling the small roles she was assigned, and over a period of time she came to be taken seriously as an actress. By 1928 she was playing starring roles, achieving success in Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928) and The Thirteenth Chair (1929). The quality of her parts continued to improve as the decade turned, including a role in The Big House (1930), Surrender (1931), Freaks (1932), Island of Lost Souls (1933) and Red Headed Woman (1932), The Big Broadcast (1932) and Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). After ten years and fifty films, Hyams retired from acting in 1936, but remained part of the Hollywood community for the rest of her life. She died on December 4, 1977 in Bel Air, California. Her remains were cremated and scattered.