Kai Ato (1946 - 2015)

Japanese Actor. Ato, born Koichi Ato, was an actor known for his appearances in film and television. He joined Haiyuza Theater Co. after graduating from a predecessor to Tokyo Metropolitan University. Ato then went into film and television, often playing “villain roles” early in his career.   His most popular role was of a colleague […]

Frank Atkinson (1893 - 1963)

British Actor. He was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, and died in Pinner, Middlesex, England. His film and television credits include “Murder at the Gallop,””Coronation Street,” “The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll,” “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning,” “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” “The Quatermass Experiment,” “The Titfield Thunderbolt” “The Man in the White Suit,””Great […]

Roscoe Ates (1895 - 1962)

Actor. Born in Grange, Mississippi, for over three decades he was a popular figure in films and television. His first film role was at the age of 34 in “South Sea Rose” (1929), followed by “Billy the Kid” (1930). He is most remembered for his role as Soapy Jones appearing in fifteen western films such […]

Hooper Atchley (1887 - 1943)

Hooper Atchley was born in Tennessee and his early years were spent on the stage in traveling repertory companies, theater and Broadway plays. Newspapers and trade publications have many mentions of Atchley doing stage work circa 1910 – 1925. Examples: he was a member of the Majestic Stock Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana; he was […]

Humbert Allen Astredo (1929 - 2016)

American Actor. Astredo, who appeared in television, film, and stage, will best be remembered for the numerous roles he performed on the TV show ‘Dark Shadows’. After serving in the Korean War, he studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse in the early 1960s, later appearing at the Hollywood Bowl in ‘Faust’. In the mid-60s, he […]

Raoul Aslan (1886 - 1958)

Actor. Performer of Armenian origin who came from Greece to Austria. The director of “Burgtheater” from 1945 to 1948, he was the member of its ensemble since 1920. The first “Kammerschauspieler” title holder in Austria. Cause of death: heart attack

Leon Askin (1907 - 2005)

Actor. He is best remembered for playing the recurring role of ‘General Albert Hans Burkhalter’ on the CBS television World War II sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes” that ran from September 1965 until July 1971. Born Leon Aschkenasy into a Jewish family, his father was a salesman. At age 9 he recited a 17-stanza eulogy for Austrian […]

Arthur Bowden Askey (1900 - 1982)

English Comedian and Actor. He is remembered for the playfulness of the characters he portrayed on British radio, film, and the stage, his improvising, and his use of catchphrases, which included “Hello playmates!”, “I thank you” (pronounced “Ay-Thang-Yaw”), and “Before your very eyes”. His father was a secretary of a commercial firm in Liverpool, England. […]

Luke Askew (1932 - 2012)

Actor. Born Francis Luke Askew, he attended the University of Georgia, Mercer University and was preparing for a career in law at the Walter F. George School of Law, when he changed career directions towards the entertainment industry. During his collegiate years, he served in the strategic air command intelligence with the US Air Force. […]

Max Asher (1885 - 1957)

Actor. Known as “The Funniest Dutch Comedian in Pictures,” Asher appeared in early Laurel & Hardy and Charly Chase films. He co-starred in a handful of “Mike and Jake” movies in the early teens. He started his career in vaudeville and in 1912 joined Mack Sennett and onto Universal’s “joker comedies” unit where he starred […]

William John Ashcroft (1970 - 1918)

Actor, singer, and comedian. Born in Rhode Island to parents who had emigrated there from Belfast, he achieved fame on the American stage, then married an English actress named Kitty Brooke (it is not clear whether Laura Brooke, who is buried with him, was a relative) and moved to England, where he became even more […]

Russell Harvey Ash (1910 - 1974)

Actor. Born in Springfield, Ohio, he was a veteran character performer in feature films from the 1930s to 1960s. His credits included “The Champ’s a Champ” (1936), “Weekend in Havana” (1941), “Where Do We Go From Here?” (1945), “Around the World in Eighty Days” (1956), “Marjorie Morningstar” (1958) and “Do Not Disturb” (1965). He died […]

Jan Arvan (1913 - 1979)

Actor. Born Jan Arvanitas in Wisconsin, he was most noted as a popular character performer on many television shows from the 1950s to 1970s. His credits included “Biff Baker, U.S.A”, “Fireside Theatre”, “Studio 57”, “Zorro”, “Sea Hunt”, “Mannix”, “Bonanza”, “Family” and “The Paper Chase”. For feature films, he appeared in “The Robe” (1954), “Istanbul” (1957), […]

Johnny Arthur (1883 - 1951)

Actor.  Comedic character performer of silent and early talkie films.  Born in Scottsdale,  Pennsylvania,  he began performing as a teen and had 25 years of experience in vaudeville and English music hall before making his movie debut in 1923.  He starred in the 1925 horror spoof “The Monster” (as the unlikely romantic interest),  and in […]

Antonin Artaud (1896 - 1948)

Writer, Actor. Born in Marseille, France, he was a French playwright, actor and theatre director. In 1920, he moved to Paris to pursue a career as a writer and soon started performing on the stage. He soon gained an interest in cinema and wrote the scenario for the first Surrealist film, “The Seashell and the […]

Cliff “Charlie Weaver” Arquette (1905 - 1974)

Actor, Comedian. Born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Charles Augustus and Winifred Clark Arquette. Cliff began his career as a night club pianist, later joining the Henry Halstead orchestra in 1923.  From here he evolved into a successful, working radio actor and comedian, which led by the 1950s to television. He created the character […]

Robert Clive Cooper Arnold (1931 - 2003)

Actor. He was born in Mansten, Kent, England and died in Brighton, East Sussex, England. He was married to June Brown, British actress, since 1958 until his death in 2003. He is survived by his wife and 6 children. He is best remembered for his role as PC/Det. Con. Swain on the television series “Dixon […]

Phil Arnold (1909 - 1968)

Actor. Best known for his roles in the Three Stooges shorts, and over 150 appearances on television, stage, and screen between 1939 and 1968. Born Philip Aranoff in Hackensack, New Jersey, he was the son of Solomon and Maria(Eisenstadt) Aranoff. Among his Three Stooges shorts, he was the voice of “Tom” in “The Ghost Talks”(1949), […]

Dickie Arnold (1970 - 1990)

Actor. His film and television credits include “A Small Problem,” “Clockwise,” “Santa Claus,” “The Magnificent Evans,” “I’m Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “All Creatures Great and Small,” “Juliet Bravo,” “Bergerac,” “Coronation Street,” and “Ripping Yarns.”

Sig Arno (1895 - 1975)

Actor. He was born as Siegfried Aron in Hamburg (Germany) and died in Woodland Hills (California). He began his career on stage, but soon he moved to cinema. He worked in Germany, and at the start of the Second World War, he moved to United States, where developed the rest of his work, playing in […]

Siegfried Arno (1895 - 1975)

Actor. Also known as Sig Arno, he appeared in over 150 films in his career, starting in Germany in the 1920s. He fled Germany in 1933, and left Europe for the U. S. in 1939. He returned to Germany in 1955 to perform in the theater. Most of his films were made in the United […]

Robert Armstrong (1890 - 1973)

Actor. Born Robert William Armstrong, he was a popular character performer best remembered for his role as Carl Denham in “King Kong” (1933). With the success of “King Kong”, he reprised his role in “The Son of Kong” (1933) and “Mighty Joe Young” (1949). He appeared in 127 films between 1927 and 1964, to include […]

(1970 - 1970)

Actor. Robert Golden Armstrong was born in the deep South to parents who were practitioners of Fundamentalism, they had aspirations of their son one day becoming a pastor. He had other plans and pursued his desire of becoming an entertainer. He enrolled at the University of North Carolina where he attained a Masters degree in […]

Graham Armitage (1936 - 1999)

Actor. He was born in Manchester, England and died in South Africa. His film and television credits include “Cry, the Beloved Country,” “Kickboxer 5,” “Daisy,” “The Gods Must Be Crazy III,” “Going Bananas,” “Shaka Zulu,””Open All Hours,” “The Naked Civil Servant,””Two’s Company,” “Wodehouse Playhouse,” “Nearest and Dearest,” “Z Cars,” “The Boy Friend,””Public Eye,” “The Devils,” […]

Robert Armin (1970 - 1970)

Entertainer. A stage comedian, he was the successor of Will Kemp. Where Kemp was a ‘clown’, Armin’s style of comedy was different, as can be seen in later Shakespeare plays where the part of the ‘fool’ becomes less physical and more prone to song and amusing philosophy. He was probably the first to play ‘Touchstone’ […]

Henry Armetta (1888 - 1945)

Actor. At the age of 14, he stowed away on a boat to America, performed menial tasks to get by and eventually got a part in a chorus for a New York City stage show. In 1920, he moved to Hollywood and easily found work performing as stereotypical Italian in silent films. He went on […]

Pedro Armendariz (1912 - 1963)

Actor. Born in Churubusco, a suburb of Mexico City, and raised in Texas, he studied at California Polytechnic State University where he graduated with an engineering degree. He began his acting career at the stage in Mexico City, entering films there in 1935. During the next years he made 42 Spanish-language films, among them “Maria […]

George Arliss (1868 - 1946)

Actor. Appearing on stage and in motion pictures, he is best known for his portrayal of famous historical personalities. He began his acting career in 1887 but did not gain his popularity until around 1900-1901 when he appeared with British actress, Mrs. Patrick Campbell in London during the stage season. In 1902 he appeared on […]

Richard Arlen (1898 - 1976)

Actor.  Born Cornelius Richard Van Mattimore, in Charlottesville, Virginia, he served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War I. While working as a motorcycle messenger for a film laboratory, he was injured in an accident at Paramount Studios in the early 1920s.  When he later went to the studio to […]

John Arledge (1907 - 1947)

Actor. Born Johnson Lundy Arledge, he performed in vaudeville and on stage, making his big screen debut in “King of Jazz” (1930). A veteran of nearly fifty films, his credits included “Heart Break” (1931),”County Fair” (1937), “Gone With the Wind” (1939), “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), “Ski Patrol” (1940), “Cheers for Miss Bishop” (1941) and […]