Aretha Franklin (1942 - 2018)

Aretha Franklin Aretha Franklin, whose gospel-rooted singing and bluesy yet expansive delivery earned her the title ” the Queen of Soul,” has died, a family statement said Thursday. She was 76. Aretha Franklin died at 9:50 a.m. at her home in Detroit, surrounded by family and friends, according to a statement on behalf of Franklin’s […]

Argentina Brunetti (1907 - 2005)

Actress. Best remembered as ‘Mrs. Martini’ in the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She began her show business career at the age of three in a walk on part in the opera, “Cavalleria Rusticana” and followed her mother actress Mimi Aguglia’s footsteps in the theater performing several supporting roles on stages in Europe, and […]

Argentina Brunetti (1907 - 2005)

Actress. Best remembered as ‘Mrs. Martini’ in the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She began her show business career at the age of three in a walk on part in the opera, “Cavalleria Rusticana” and followed her mother actress Mimi Aguglia’s footsteps in the theater performing several supporting roles on stages in Europe, and […]

Ariel Castro (1960 - 2013)

Castro was 52 years old at the time of his arrest. He was born on July 10, 1960 in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Pedro Castro and Lillian Rodriguez. Shortly after his parents divorced when he was a child, Castro moved to the mainland U.S. with his mother and three siblings. The family first settled […]

Aristide Boucicaut (1810 - 1877)

Businessman, creator of the shop “Le Bon Marché.”

Aristotle Socrates Onassis (1906 - 1975)

Greek Shipping Magnate. He is best remembered as the second husband of former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  During his lifetime, he was one of the richest and most famous men in the world, with his name becoming synonymous with extreme wealth.  Born Aristotle Sokratis Onassis in Smyrna, in the Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey), […]

Arkady Averchenko (1881 - 1925)

Author,  Editor.  One of Russia’s most popular satirists in the years before the 1917 Revolution.  In his hundreds of short stories he used farcical situations and grotesque characters to make pungent observations about urban middle class life of his era.  Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko was born in Sevastapol,  Crimea,  the son of an impoverished merchant.  He […]

Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842 - 1910)

Innovative Russian artist who foreshadowed impressionism.

Arkie Whiteley (1965 - 2001)

Actress. Real name Arkje Deya Whiteley. A native of London, England, she is best remembered for her role as ‘Donna Mason’ in the television series, “Prisoner” in 1982. The daughter of famed Australian painter Brett Whiteley, and his wife Wendy Whiteley, she also appeared in numerous other films and television shows. Among Whiteley’s other roles […]

Arkle (1957 - 1970)

Arkle (19 April 1957 – 31 May 1970) was a famous Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by Archive out of Bright Cherry, he was the grandson of the unbeaten (in 14 races) flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was bred at Ballymacoll Stud, County Meath, by Mrs Mary Alison Baker of Malahow House, […]

Arleen Whelan (1916 - 1993)

Actress in 24 films including “Kidnapped,” “Young Mr. Lincoln,” “Sabotage,” “Charley’s Aunt,” “Ramrod” and “The Senator Was Indiscreet.” (bio by: TLS)

Arlen Specter (1930 - 2012)

Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was a United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from 1965 until 2009, when he switched back to the Democratic Party. First elected in 1980, he represented his state for 30 years in the Senate. Specter was […]

Arlene Francis (1907 - 2001)

Arlene Francis was born on October 20, 1907, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Leah (née Davis) and Aram Kazanjian. Her Armenian father was studying art in Paris at the age of 16 when he learned that both his parents had died in one of the Hamidian massacres perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia […]

Arlene Martel (1936 - 2014)

In 1962, Arlene Martel made her first of two appearances on Perry Mason, as Fiona Cregan in “The Case of the Absent Artist”. Later, she guest starred as Sandra Dunkel in “The Case of the Dead Ringer” (1966) when Raymond Burr played a dual role, that of Mason and as the actual murderer, Grimes. Martel […]

Arlene McQuade (1936 - 2014)

Actress. She will be fondly remembered for playing ‘Rosalie Goldberg’ in the TV series “The Goldbergs” (1949 to 1956). Her father was an attorney, Arlene began her acting career on radio while a child and at the age of twelve, she landed the part of ‘Young Alma’ in the Tennessee Williams’ Broadway play “Summer and […]

Arletta Duncan (1914 - 1985)

Actress. Born Arletta Howe, Duncan was the Bridesmaid in “Frankenstein” (1931), Miss Jones in “Teacher’s Beau” (1935), and ‘Henrietta Allen Dupont’ in “Damaged Goods” (1937).  (bio by: MC) Cause of death: Cardiopulmonary arrest

Arletty (1898 - 1992)

Arletty was born Léonie Marie Julie Bathiat in Courbevoie (near Paris), to a working-class family. After her father’s death, she left home and pursued a modeling career. She took the stage name “Arlette” based on the heroine of a story by Guy de Maupassant. She was not interested in acting until she met Paul Guillaume, […]

Arletty-Leonie Bathiat (1898 - 1992)

Noted French Actress on Stage and Screen. She is best remembered for her films: “Les Perles de la Couronne” (1937), “Hôtel du Nord” (1938), “Le Jour se Lève” (1939), “Madame Sans-Gêne” (1941), “Les Enfants du Paradis” (1945), “Le Grand Jeu” (1954), “Huis Clos” (1954) and “Les Petits Matins” (1962). She was cremated. (bio by: José […]

Arline Judge (1912 - 1974)

Arline Judge (February 21, 1912 – February 7, 1974) was an American actress who worked mostly in low-budget B movies, but gained some fame for marrying and divorcing seven times. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Judge was educated in a Catholic convent. Arline Judge “got her theatrical start in Broadway musicals and revues such as The Second Little […]

Armen Gilliam (1964 - 2011)

Armen Gilliam began his college basketball career in 1982–83 at Independence Junior College in Independence, Kansas. That year, Gilliam was a standout player on the basketball team that reached the Junior College Finals and finished 6th in the nation. Gilliam averaged 24.9 points and 14 rebounds in five tournament games and was named to the […]

Army Archerd (1922 - 2009)

Journalist. Born in the Bronx borough of New York City, he was a writer for the trade magazine Daily Variety for 52 years. A graduate of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1941, he began his career as a mailroom attendant at Paramount Pictures before moving to the Associated Press in October 1945 […]

Arna Wendell Bontemps (1902 - 1973)

Arna Bontemps was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance. He was a poet (PERSONALS), novelist (BLACK THUNDER), editor (THE POETRY OF THE NEGRO), author of children’s books (SAD-FACED BOY). He ended his remarkable career as a teacher and librarian at Fisk University, University of Illinois (Chicago Circle), and Yale. His birthplace in Alexandria is […]

Arne Jacobsen (1902 - 1971)

Architect, Industrial designer. Professor of architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1956 to 1965. Arne Jacobsen helped to introduce functionalism into Denmark in the 1930s. He gained international fame through his work in almost all areas of architecture generating a renewal both in housing, in public buildings such as town halls and schools, […]

Arno Breker (1900 - 1991)

Sculptor. He was born in Elberfeld, Germany. He became a sculptor after viewing Rodin’s ‘Age of Bronze’ in the Düsseldorf Museum. From 1927 to 1934 he lived in Paris, where he knew Jean Cocteau, Ernest Hemingway, Man Ray, Jean Renoir and Alexander Calder. His sculptures of this period include “Aurora,” “Sitting Man,” “Torso of David,” […]

Arno Frey (1900 - 1961)

German-born motion picture actor of the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. He appeared with James Cagney in the 1946 war thriller “13 Rue Madeleine.” (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Arnold Bennett (1867 - 1931)

Arnold Bennett won a literary competition hosted by Tit-Bits magazine in 1889 and was encouraged to take up journalism full-time. In 1894, he became assistant editor of the periodical Woman. He noticed that the material offered by a syndicate to the magazine was not very good, so he wrote a serial which was bought by […]

Arnold Daly (1875 - 1927)

Actor in 11 silent films.

Arnold Diamond (1915 - 1992)

Actor. Born in London, England, he was a British performer whom appeared in nearly a 150 International films and television shows. His film credits include “The Golden Mask” (1953), “Don Kikhot” (1957), “The Revenge of Frankenstein” (1958), “The Italian Job” (1969), “March or Die” (1977) and “Omen 3: The Final Conflict” (1981). For television, he […]

Arnold Friberg (1913 - 2010)

Painter. A realist who specialized in historical and religious subjects, he is probably best remembered for his 1975 portrait of George Washington, “The Prayer at Valley Forge”. Raised in Arizona from age three, he was employed as a sign painter in his teens and then trained at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.  Moving to […]

Arnold Klein (1945 - 2015)

Arnold Klein was born on February 27, 1945, in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, the son of a Jewish Orthodox rabbi. He was raised in Michigan and North Miami, Florida, graduating from North Miami High School in 1963. In 1967, Arnold Klein earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. He attended the University of […]