Larry Fine and Gloria Grahame

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Actor/ comedienne Larry Fine was born on October 5, 1902 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known as a member of the Three Stooges. In 1925, he met Moe Howard and Ted Healy. Howard and his brother Shemp had been working as audience stooges for Healy. Shemp left soon after to attempt a solo career and was in turn replaced by another brother, Curly. Larry's trademark bushy hair came out, according to rumor, from his first meeting with Healy, in which he had just wet his hair in a basin, and as they talked, it dried oddly. Healy told him to keep the zany hairstyle. Beginning in 1933, The Three Stooges made 206 short films, and several features, with their most prolific period featuring the characters of Larry, Moe and Curly. Their career with Healy was marked by disputes over pay, film contracts, and Healy's drinking and abuse. They left Healy for good in 1934. In many of the Stooge shorts, Fine did more reacting than acting, staying in the background and providing the voice of reason between the extreme characterizations of Moe and Curly. Fine died on January 24, 1975 from a stroke and was buried at Forest Lawn Glendale.

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On October 5, 1981, actress Gloria Grahame died. She was born on November 28, 1923in Los Angeles. She began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her film debut. Despite a featured role in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract toRKO Pictures. Often cast in film noir roles, Grahame received a nomination for an Academy Award for best supporting actress for Crossfire (1947), and she won the Oscar for her work in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). She also appeared in Sudden Fear (1952), Human Desire (1953), The Big Heat (1953), and Oklahoma (1955), but her film career began to wane soon afterwards. Grahame had a string of stormy romances and failed marriages during her time in Hollywood, including marriages to director Nicholas Ray. She died on October 5, 1981 from stomach cancer in New York and was buried at Oakwood Memorial park in Chatsworth, California.

Charlton Heston, Scotty Beckett and Dorothy Dare

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Actor Charlton Heston was born on October 4, 1923 in Evanston, Illinois. He is best known for heroic roles in films such as El Cid, The Ten Commandments, Planet of the Apes and Ben-Hur for which he won the best actor Academy Award. Heston was also known for his political activism. His film debut was in 1950s Dark City but his break through film as a star was in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). In 1965, Heston became president of the Screen Actors Guild. He remained in the position until 1971, the second longest tenure to date in that office. On August 9, 2002, Heston publicly announced he was diagnosed with symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease. He died on April 5, 2008, at his home in Beverly Hills. His funeral was held at the Episcopal Parish of St. Matthew's Church in Pacific Palisades and his ashes were given to the family for final disposition.

Child actor Scotty Beckett was born on October 4, 1929 in Oakland, California. Beckett appeared as a regular in the Our Gang serial from 1934 to 1935. In the gang, Beckett played Spanky’s  best friend and partner in mischief. His trademark look was a crooked black baseball cap and an oversized black sweater exposing one shoulder. His role was taken over by Alfalfa in 1935, and Beckett left the series for feature films. Beckett became a prolific child and young adult actor from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. The last ten years of Beckett's life were filled with stories of divorce, violence, drugs and arrests. After more or less giving up show business, he tried selling real estate, then cars, and twice enrolled at universities with the intention of becoming a medical doctor. On May 8, 1968, he checked into a Hollywood nursing home, needing medical attention after suffering a serious beating and died two days later. Although pills and a note were found, no conclusion was made by the coroner as to the exact cause of death; however, some speculate he overdosed on drugs. He was buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.

 Who died on this date:

On October 4, 1981, actress Dorothy Dare died. She was born in August 6, 1911. Dare arrived in Hollywood in the early 1930’s, changed her name from Herskind to be more recognizable Dare. The vivacious red head was a versatile actress that had a wonderful singing voice, and her screen presence made her roles always memorable. In a relatively short Hollywood film career (1934-1942), she appeared in seventeen films. Dare’s movie credits are wide-ranging, and include musicals, comedies, and dramas such as Private Lessons (1934), Happiness Ahead (1934), Sweet Adeline (1934), Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), Romance of the West (1935), High Hat (1937), Cut Out for Love (1937), and The Yanks are Coming (1942). She died on October 4, 1981 and is buried at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach, California.

Charles Middleton, Roddy McDowall and Janet Leigh

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Actor Charles Middleton was born on October 3, 1874 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, Middleton appeared in nearly two hundred films and is best remembered for his performance as Ming the Merciless opposite Buster Crabbe in the 1930s Flash Gordon serial. His career as a character actor came into full flower with the advent of sound movies. His ominous baritone voice was perfect for villainous roles, and he became an excellent foil for some of the legends of comedy. Charles Middleton died from a heart attack in Los Angeles on April 22, 1949 and was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

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On October 3, 1998, actor Roddy McDowall died. He was born on September 17, 1928in Herne Hill, England. He made his film debut at the age of 12 in How Green was my Valley (1941). This role made him a household name and he then starred in Lassie Come Home (1943), a movie that introduced a girl who would become his lifelong friend, Elizabeth Taylor. He then appeared in My Friend Flicka (1943), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944). McDowall continued his career successfully into adulthood, but it was usually in character roles in films and television, such as Cleopatra (1963), It! (1966), The Planet of the Ape movie series (1968-1973), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Dirty Mary, and Crazy Larry (1974),  Fright Night (1985), and Overboard (1987). McDowall died on October 3, 1998 from lung cancer at his home in Studio City and his ashes were scattered at sea.

On October 3, 2004, actress Janet Leigh died. She was born on July 6, 1927 in Merced, California. Discovered by actress Norma Shearer, Leigh secured a contract with MGM and began her film career in the late 1940s. She made her film debut in The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). She appeared in numerous films over the following decade, including If Winter Comes (1947), The Hills of Home (1948), The Stratton Story (1949), Living It Up (1954), Safari (1958), Touch of Evil (1958), Psycho (1960) for which she was nominated for a best supporting Academy Award, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and The Fog (1980). She co-starred with third husband Tony Curtis in five films Houdini (1953), The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), The Vikings (1958), and Who was that Lady (1960). She also appeared in two horror films with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis. Leigh died at her home on October 3, 2004, after suffering cardiac arrest and is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Deborah Kerr, Lewis Milestone and James Dean

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Actress Deborah Kerr was born on September 30, 1921 in Glasgow, Scotland. She was a highly successful British, television and film actress who was nominated six times for an Academy Award for Best Actress but never won. In 1994, however, she was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for her impeccable grace and beauty, and dedication as an actress in motion pictures in which she always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance. Her films include The King and I, An Affair to Remember, From Here to Eternity, The Innocents, Black Narcissus, heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and Separate Tables. She was married twice and is alleged to have had numerous affairs. Some of Kerr's leading men have stated in their autobiographies that they had an affair or romantic fling with her. The actor Stewart Granger claimed that Kerr seduced him in the back of his chauffeur-driven car at the time he was making Caesar and Cleopatra. Likewise Burt Lancaster claimed that he was romantically involved with her during the filming of From Here to Eternity in 1953. But there has been no independent corroboration of either actor's claims. Deborah Kerr died from the effects of Parkinson’s disease October 16, 2007 in Botesdale, Suffolk, England. Her burial location is unknown.

Director Lewis Milestone was born on September 30, 1895 in Russia. Known as “Milly” to his close associates, he directed over fifty films in a career that spanned over four decades from 1918 to 1964. He was nominated for three best director Academy Awards, winning two. The first win was for Two Arabian Knights (1929), which was the first and only best comedy directing award ever given out. His second best directing Oscar was for 1930’s, All Quiet on the Western Front. Other feature film credits include; Front Page 1931), The General Died at Dawn (1936), Of Mice and Men (1939), A Walk in the Sun (1945), The Red Pony (1949), Les Miserables (1952), Pork Chop Hill (1959), Ocean’s Eleven (1960), and Mutiny on the Bounty (1962). Milestone died on September 25, 1980 at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications following an unknown surgery. He is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in the Sanctuary of Tenderness.

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On September 30, 1955, actor James Dean died. He was born on February 8, 1931 in Marion, Indiana. He is best remembered for his film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were as loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), and as the surly ranch hand, Jett Rink, in Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rests on his performances in only these three films, all leading roles. His premature death in a car crash on September 30, 1955 near Paso Robles, California cemented his legendary status. He is buried at the Park Cemetery in Fairmont, Indiana.  

Gene Autry, Greer Garson, Trevor Howard, Tony Curtis

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Actor Gene Autry was born on September 29, 1907 in Tioga, Texas. He is best known for being the Singing Cowboy on radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s. Autry was also owner of the Los Angeles Angels from 1961 to 1997. He also owned several television and several radio stations in Southern California. Although his signature song was "Back in the Saddle Again," Autry is best known today for his Christmas songs, Here Comes Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Autry died from lymphoma on October 2, 1998 at his home in Studio City, California and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills.

Actress Greer Garson was born on September 29, 1904 in London, England. She never intended to become an actress, educated at London University. She aspired to be a school teacher, but ended up working in an advertising agency. To make ends meet, she sought out work as a part-time actress in small, local London theaters. She quickly gained a reputation as a talented actress and was discovered by MGM studio boss, Louis B. Mayer, while on a talent expedition in London. Signed to a contract by MGM, the vivacious actress took Hollywood by storm appearing for the first time onscreen in 1939’s Goodbye, Mr. Chip’s, in which she garnered the first of seven best actress Oscar nominations. In a television and film career that spanned four decades (1939-1982), she appeared in only twenty-four feature motion pictures. She often played a courageous mother character, but in later years was able to break out of this type casting to play comedic and other forms of dramatic parts. She was often paired with actor Walter Pigeon, and the two appeared together in eight motion pictures.   

She won the golden statuette only once in 1943 for her portrayal of the courageous house wife, Mrs. Miniver in Mrs. Miniver (1942). Her other Academy Award nominated films are Blossoms in the Dust (1941), Madame Curie (1943), Mrs. Parkington (1944), Valley of Decision (1945), and Sunrise at Campobello (1960). By the late 1940’s, her film career began to wane with less than spectacular box office successes. In 1960 she made a comeback with Sunrise at Campbello (considered by many to be her best performance) but this new found success was short lived and she soon found herself with few opportunities. She retired in the late 1960’s with her husband Buddy Fogelson to their New Mexico, ranch. In the 1980’s, she suffered from chronic heart problems which drastically slowed her environmental and charity work. She underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery in 1988. On April 6, 1996 while in residence at the Dallas Presbyterian Hospital, she had another heart attack and died. Greer Garson’s final resting place is found in the Fogelson family plot at Sparkman Hill Crest Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas.  

Actor Trevor Howard was born on September 29, 1913 in Cliftonville, England. His film credits include The Way to the Stars (1945), Brief Encounter (1945), I see a Dark Stranger (1945), Green for Danger (1946), They Made Me a Fugitive (1947), The Passionate Friends (1949), The Third Man (1949),and Sons and Lovers (1960), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Over time Howard easily shifted to being one of England's finest character actors. Howard's later works included such films as Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), Von Ryan’s Express (1965), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), and Superman (1978). He died on January 7, 1988, from a combination of bronchitis and influenza and was buried at the St. Peter Churchyard in Arkley, England.

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On September 29, 2010, actor Tony Curtis died. He was born Bernard Schwartz On June 3, 1925 in the Bronx, New York. Following his discharge from the army following World War II, Curtis attended City College of New York under the G.I. Bill and studied acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German stage director Erwin Piscator. He was discovered by a talent agent and casting director Joyce Selznick. Curtis claims it was because he "was the handsomest of the boys." Arriving in Hollywood in 1948 at age 23, he was placed under contract at Universal Pictures and changed his name to Tony Curtis, taking his first name from the novel Anthony Adverse and his last name from "Kurtz", a surname from his mother's family. Although the studio taught him fencing and riding, Curtis admitted he was at first only interested in girls and money. Nonetheless, he was not hopeful of his chances in becoming a major actor, and feared having to return to the Bronx, a failure.  

Although his early film roles were partly the result of his good looks, by the latter half of the 1950's he became a notable and strong screen presence. He began proving himself to be a “fine dramatic actor,” having the range to act in numerous dramatic and comedy roles. In his earliest parts he acted in a string of "mediocre" films, including swashbucklers, westerns, light comedies, sports films, and a musical. However, by the time he starred in Houdini (1953) with his wife Janet Leigh. He won his first serious recognition as a skilled dramatic actor in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with co-star Burt Lancaster. The following year he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in another drama, The Defiant Ones (1958). Curtis then gave what many believe was his best acting, in a completely different role, the comedy Some Like It Hot (1959). Thomson calls it an "outrageous film," and it was voted the number 1 funniest film in history from a survey done by the American Film Institute. It costarred Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe, and was directed by Billy Wilder. That was followed by Blake Edwards’ comedy Operation Petticoat (1959) with Cary Grant. They were both “frantic comedies,” and displayed "his impeccable comic timing." He often collaborated with Edwards on later films. His most significant serious part came in 1968 when he starred in the true-life drama The Boston Strangler, which some consider his "last major film role." The part reinforced his reputation as a serious actor with his "chilling portrayal" of serial killer Albert DeSalvo. He gained 30 pounds and had his face "rebuilt" with a false nose to look like the real DeSalvo. 

Curtis was married five times. His first wife was actress Janet Leigh, to whom he was married from 1951 to 1962, and with whom he fathered actresses Kelly and Jamie Lee Curtis. On July 8, 2010, Curtis, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was hospitalized in Las Vegas after suffering an asthma attack during a book signing engagement in Henderson, Nevada and died at his Henderson, Nevada home on September 29, 2010, of a cardiac arrest. He is buried at Palm Memorial Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Harpo Marx

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On September 28, 1964, actor Harpo Marx died. He was born on November 23, 1888 in New York City and was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by pantomime traditions, wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate. He got his stage name during a card game at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois. The dealer called him "Harpo" because he played the harp. His first film appearance was in the 1921s, Humor Risk, with his brothers, although according to Groucho, it was only screened once and then lost. Four years later, Harpo appeared without his brothers in Too Many Kisses, four years before the brothers' first widely-released film, The Cocoanuts (1929). Harpo became famous for prop-laden sight gags, in particular the seemingly infinite number of odd things stored in his oversized pockets. In the film Horse Feathers (1932), Groucho, referring to an impossible situation, tells Harpo that he cannot "burn the candle at both ends." Harpo immediately produces from within his coat pocket a lit candle burning at both ends. Earlier in the film a man on the street asks him for a cup of coffee, and he subsequently produces a steaming cup from inside his coat! He often used facial expressions and mime to get his point across. Harpo Marx died on September 28, 1964, after undergoing open heart surgery. Harpo's death was said to have hit the surviving Marx brothers very hard. Harpo was cremated and his ashes were reportedly sprinkled into the sand trap at the seventh hole of the Rancho Mirage golf course which he occasionally played on.

Edmund Burns, Clara Bow, Lloyd Nolan, Donald O'Connor

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Actor Edmund Burns was born on September 27, 1892 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was an actor who appeared in nearly one hundred films from 1915 to 1936.  Notable film credits include D. W. Griffith’s epic, Birth of a Nation (1915), and Frank Capra’s Academy Award winning film, It Happened One Night (1934), starring Clark Gable, and Claudette Colbert. Burns died on April 2, 1980, and his grave is located at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach, California.

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On September 27, 1965, actress Clara Bow died. She was born on July 29, 1905 in Brooklyn, New York. Her high spirits and acting artistry made her the quintessential flapper and the film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol. She appeared in 46 silent films and 11 talkies, including hits such as Mantrap (1926), It (1927) and Wings (1927). She was first box-office draw in 1928 and 1929 and second in 1927 and 1930. Her presence in a motion picture has been described to have ensured investors, by odds of almost 2-to-1, a "safe return" with only two exceptions. At the apex of her stardom, in January 1929, she received more than 45,000 fan letters. Bow ended her career with Hoop-La (1933), and became a rancher in Nevada. In 1931 she married actor Rex Bell, later politician and Lieutenant Governor, with whom she had two sons. 

In 1944, while Bell was running for the U.S. House of Representatives, Bow tried to commit suicide. A note was found in which Bow stated she preferred death to a public life. In 1949 she checked into The Institute of Living to be treated for her chronic insomnia and diffuse abdominal pains. Shock treatment was tried and numerous psychological tests performed. Her pains were considered delusional and she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, despite experiencing neither sound nor vision hallucinations, or psychosis. Bow spent her last years in Culver City, Los Angeles under the constant care of a nurse, living off an estate worth about $500,000 at the time of her death. She died on September 27, 1965 of a heart attack. She was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

On September 27, 1985, actor Lloyd Nolan died. He was born on August 11, 1902 in San Francisco, California. He began his career on stage and was subsequently lured to Hollywood, where he played mainly doctors, detectives, and police officers in many movie roles. Although Nolan's acting was often praised by critics, he was, for the most part, relegated to B pictures. The majority of Nolan's films comprised light entertainment with an emphasis on action. His most famous films include: Atlantic Adventure, Ebb Tide; Wells Fargo; Every Day's A Holiday, Bataan, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Peyton Place. Later in his career, he returned to the stage and appeared on television to great acclaim in The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, for which he received an Emmy award. He also appeared in other numerous television shows throughout the 1960’s. Nolan died of lung cancer in Los Angeles on September 27, 1985 and is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

On September 27, 2003, actor Donald O’Connor died. He was born on August 28, 1925 in Danville, Illinois. O'Connor began performing in movies at the age of 12 in 1937. In 1942 O'Connor joined Universal Pictures and achieved stardom with Mister Big (1943). In 1949, he played the lead role in Francis, the story of a soldier befriended by a talking mule. The film was a huge success. However, his musical career was constantly interrupted by his making one Francis film a year until 1955. O'Connor's role as Cosmo the piano player in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), earned him a Golden Globe Award. He died from heart failure on September 27, 2003 and his burial place is in dispute, some sources state that he is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills and others have his ashes with family.