Dinah Maria Craik (1826 - 1887)

Author. Her father was a nonconformist clergyman; her mother taught in a small school. In 1864, she married a partner in the publishing house of Macmillan and Company, and was, afterwards, known as Mrs. Craik. She is best remembered for the novel “John Halifax, Gentleman” (1859). Her other works include, “The Ogilvies” (1849), dedicated to […]

Dinah Sheridan (1920 - 2012)

English Actress. With a career spanning seven decades, she was best known for roles in comedies and appeared in many films starting in the 1930s, including Genevieve (1953) and The Railway Children (1970). She acted extensively on stage and in television, including appearing in the long-running 1980s sitcom Don’t Wait Up. (bio courtesy of: Wikipedia)

Dinah Shore (1916 - 1994)

Singer, actress, television hostess. Fondly remembered for her long career on stage, screen, TV, and radio. Dinah Shore’s 55 years in show business included more than 70 hit recordings…”Dear Hearts and Gentle People” “Buttons and Bows” “Blues in the Night” “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To” “I’ll Walk Alone” and “I Wish I […]

Dinah Washington (1924 - 1963)

Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as “the most popular black female recording artist of the ’50s”. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music, […]

Dino Risi (1916 - 2008)

Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of Commedia all’italiana. He was born in Milan. Risi had two brothers, an older brother, Fernando, a cinematographer and a younger brother, Nelo (1920–2015) a director […]

Dion Boucicault (1822 - 1890)

Playwright, Actor.  Family links:  Children:  Dion Boucicault (1859 – 1929)*  Nina Boucicault (1867 – 1950)* *Calculated relationship

Dirch Passer (1926 - 1980)

When he was young, Passer was very shy, and had a dream of becoming an actor, but consented to his father’s wishes by attending J. Lauritzen’s sea training school near Svendborg in 1944. But since he had ongoing problems with seasickness, he later started at De frederiksbergske teatres Elevskole.  During the 1950s he formed a […]

Dirk Bogarde (1921 - 1999)

Actor. Popular British stage and screen figure. He starred in such films as “Ill met by Moonlight” (1957), “Doctor at Large” (1957), “The Doctor’s Dilemma” (1959), “The Singer, Not the Song” (1961), “The Password is Courage” (1962) and “Oh! What a Lovely War” (1969). He was knighted in 1992. He was also a successful writer, […]

Dita Parlo (1906 - 1971)

Dita Parlo (4 September 1906 – 12 December 1971), born Gerda Olga Justina Kornstädt in Stettin (present-day Szczecin), was a German film actress. Parlo made her first film appearance in Homecoming (Heimkehr) in 1928 and quickly became a popular actress in Germany. During the 1930s she moved easily between German and French films, achieving success in […]

Divya Bharti (1974 - 1993)

Divya Bharti was born on 25 February 1974, in Mumbai, India, as the child of Om Prakash Bharti, an insurance officer, and his second wife, Meeta Bharti. She had a younger brother named Kunal and two half siblings who were the result of her father’s first marriage. She spoke Hindi, English and Marathi fluently. In […]

Dixie A. Cheney (1945 - 2005)

Child Actress. Also known as Ann Barnes. A native of Lansing, Michigan, she is best known for her role as ‘Cookie’ on the short-lived 1957 television series, “Blondie.” The show which only lasted for 26 episodes, also starred Arthur Lake and Pamela Britton. She also played the role of, ‘Frances Hobbs’ on “Leave It To […]

Dixie Carter (1939 - 2010)

Carter was born in McLemoresville, Tennessee, and spent many of her early years in Memphis. She attended college at the University of Memphis and Rhodes College.  In college, she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. In 1959, Carter competed in the Miss Tennessee pageant, where she placed first runner-up to Mickie Weyland. […]

Dixie Evans (1926 - 2013)

Dixie Evans (August 28, 1926 – August 3, 2013), born as Mary Lee Evans, was an American burlesque dancer and stripper. Evans is probably best remembered for her burlesque parody as Marilyn Monroe. Evans entered show-business as a model and later chorus girl before becoming a star dancer. By the early 1950s she was a […]

Dixie Hall (1970 - 2015)

Dixie Hall Dixie Hall, bluegrass and country music songwriter and wife of Country Music Hall of Fame member Tom T. Hall, passed away on Jan. 16. “Miss Dixie,” as she was often known, was 80 years old. She had, in recent years, been diagnosed with a brain tumor and had other health troubles. Born Iris […]

Dixie Lee Crosby (1911 - 1952)

Actress, Singer. Born Wilma Winifred Wyatt, she was Bing Crosby’s first wife. She played in movies such us: “Dad’s Girl,” “The Big Party” and “Manhattan Love Song.” She suffered from acute alcoholism, which contributed to her early death. (bio by: MC)  Family links:  Parents:  Evan Evans Wyatt (1881 – 1973)  Nora Matilda Scarbrough Wyatt (1882 […]

Dizzy Gillespie (1917 - 1993)

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (/ɡᵻˈlɛspi/; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and singer. AllMusic’s Scott Yanow wrote, “Dizzy Gillespie’s contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended […]

DJ AM (1973 - 2009)

Goldstein was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a Jewish family. As a child, he was verbally abused by his father, whom Goldstein called “unbelievably cruel.” His father abused drugs and alcohol and was sent to jail for committing bank fraud and later died due to complications from AIDS. Goldstein attended the elite Quaker school Friends’ […]

Djuna Barnes (1892 - 1982)

Writer/Journalist: She was home schooled as a child. She attended Pratt Institute and Art Students League. She was a writer and illustrator for the Brooklyn Eagle. She published her first poetry book, “The Book of Repulsive Women” in 1915. By 1919, 3 of her plays were producted at the Provincetown Players. She published “A Book” […]

Djura Danicic (1825 - 1882)

Educator. A philologist, he was one of the most important researchers of the Serbo-Croatian language, as well as a defender of ideas of Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic and a great admirer of his work.. He served as the librarian of the National Library from 1856 to 1859, during which time he defined the acquisition policy according […]

Djura Jaksic (1832 - 1878)

Poet and painter. He studied fine arts in Vienna and Munich. He has been a teacher and professor in various towns in Serbia. He belongs to the most expressive representatives of Serbian romanticism. Passionate, of impetuous imagination, flamy emotions, rebellious and a freedom-lover, he has written, with romanticist pathos, songs about freedom, against tyranny, and […]

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975)

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Russian: Дми́трий Дми́триевич Шостако́вич (help·info), tr. Dmitriy Dmitrievich Shostakovich, pronounced [ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ˈdmʲitrʲɪɪvʲɪtɕ ʂəstɐˈkovʲɪtɕ]; 25 September [O.S. 12 September] 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Russian pianist and composer of the Soviet period. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. Dmitri Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union under the patronage of Soviet […]

DMX (1970 - 2021)

Dark Man X, considered the next coming of the slain Tupac Shakur, though asking him to comment on this will bring this angry response “I say they don’t know what the f**k they are talking about. And when people say I’m the second Pac, I’m not, I’m the first X.” That being said, Earl Simmons […]

Doc Holliday (1851 - 1887)

Doc Holliday A gunfighter and professional gambler, he is remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the notorious Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona that resulted in the killing of three members of the Cochise County Cowboys, a loosely associated group of outlaw cowboys in Pima and Cochise County […]

Dody Goodman (1914 - 2008)

Dody Goodman was born Dolores Goodman in Columbus, Ohio, she was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dexter Y. Goodman. She had one sister, Rose, and one brother, Dexter Jr. She attended Columbus North High School and is a member of the Hall of Fame at Columbus North High School. She attended Northwestern University, where […]

Doe Avedon (1925 - 2011)

Actress, Model. She parlayed marriage to a photographer into a brief but spectacular career in the pages of fashion magazines as well as into time on stage and screen, and in the process inspired the 1957 “Funny Face”. Born Dorcas Marie Newell to an upper level servant family, she was orphaned at 12 and subsequently […]

Dolley Madison (1768 - 1849)

The first girl in her family, Dolley Payne was born on May 20, 1768, in the Quaker settlement of New Garden, North Carolina, in Guilford County to John Payne Jr. and Mary Coles Payne. Her parents, both Virginians, had moved there in 1765. Her mother, Mary Coles, a Quaker, had married John Payne, a non-Quaker, […]

Dolly Davenport (1828 - 1873)

Actor. An acclaimed stage actor, he shortened “Adolphus” to “Dolly” and adopted his middle name for his last name to become “Dolly Davenport.” His breakthrough role came in 1848 as “Willis,” in “Paul Pry” at the Baltimore Athenaeum then, onward and upward to the role of “Claude Melnotte,” which he played opposite actress Josephine Shaw. […]

Dolores Agnes Etienne (1970 - 2005)

Actress. Her credits include the films, “Strange Justice” (1999), ‘Ruby’s Bucket Of Blood” (2001), and “Sins Of The Father” (2002).

Dolores Cassinelli (1893 - 1984)

Actress. She is best remembered as ‘Ducheess Bianca’ in “The Unguarded Hour,” (1925) ‘Queen Isabella’ in “Columbus” (1923) and as ‘Doris Parker’ in “Unknown Love.” (1919) Cause of death: Cardiopulmonary arrest. (bio by: MC)

Dolores Costello (1903 - 1979)

Dolores Costello Dolores Costello was born in Pittsburgh, the daughter of actors Maurice Costello and Mae Costello (née Mae Altschuk). She was of Irish and German descent. She and her younger sister, Helene, made their first film appearances in the years 1909–1915 as child actresses for the Vitagraph Film Company. They played supporting roles in […]