Sam Hardy (1883 - 1935)

American film actor of the 1910s, 20s, and 30s. Married to actress Betty Scott. The are buried side by side. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Sam Houston Clinton (1923 - 2004)

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Justice. He was a criminal defense attorney and he represented atheist leader Madeline Murray O’Hair and Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who allegedly shot and killed President John F. Kennedy. Mr. Clinton was able to get the guilty verdict against Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who killed Oswald on […]

Sam Kinison (1953 - 1992)

Sam Kinison Kinison acquired much of his material from his difficult first two marriages, to Patricia Adkins (1975-1980) and Terry Marze (1981-1989). Kinison began a relationship with dancer Malika Souiri towards the end of his marriage with Marze. In 1990, Souiri alleged she was raped by a man Kinison hired as a bodyguard that same […]

Sam Levene (1905 - 1980)

Sam Levene (August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was an American Broadway and film actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1927 with five lines in a play titled Wall Street, and over a span of nearly 50 years, appeared on Broadway in 37 Shows, of which 33 were the original Broadway Productions, many […]

Sam Morris Russell (1889 - 1971)

U.S. Representative, Judge. Born on a farm near Stephenville, Texas. A graduate of John Tarleton College. He taught school in Erath County, Texas from 1913 to 1918. During World War I he served as a private in the Forty-sixth Machine Gun Company, United States Army, in 1918 and 1919. Once he returned he began to […]

Sam Muchnick (1905 - 1998)

Businessman. He was the founder of the National Wrestling Alliance in 1948 and served as president for 25 years. Considered the dean of wrestling promoters, he also founded the St. Louis Wrestling Club in 1958. He was elected to the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003. Before becoming involved with wrestling, he was a […]

Sam Newfield (1899 - 1964)

Sam Newfield, born Samuel Neufeld, (December 6, 1899 – November 10, 1964), also known as Sherman Scott or Peter Stewart, was an American B-movie director, one of the most prolific in American film history—he is credited with directing over 250 feature films in a career that began in the silent era and ended in 1958. […]

Sam Peckinpah (1925 - 1984)

David Samuel “Sam” Peckinpah was born February 21, 1925, in Fresno, California, where he attended both grammar school and high school. He spent much time skipping classes with his brother to engage in cowboy activities on their grandfather Denver Church’s ranch, including trapping, branding, and shooting. During the 1930s and 1940s, Coarsegold and Bass Lake […]

Sam Rivers (1923 - 2011)

Rivers was born in El Reno, Oklahoma. His father was a gospel musician who had sung with the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Silverstone Quartet, exposing Rivers to music from an early age. Rivers was stationed in California in the 1940s during a stint in the Navy. Here he performed semi-regularly with blues singer Jimmy […]

Sam Shepard (1943 - 2017)

Sam Shepard began his acting career in earnest when cast in a major role as the land baron in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978), opposite Richard Gere and Brooke Adams. This led to other important film roles, including that of Cal, Ellen Burstyn’s love interest, in the film Resurrection (1980), and most notably his […]

Sam Shockley (1909 - 1948)

Richard Samuel “Sam” Shockley Jr. (January 12, 1909 – December 3, 1948) was an inmate at Alcatraz prison who participated in the Battle of Alcatraz in 1946.  Shockley was the son of Richard “Dick” Shockley and Anna Bearden. He was born in Arkansas City, Arkansas. Shockley was arrested for bank robbery and kidnapping in Oklahoma […]

Sam Simon (1955 - 2015)

Samuel Michael “Sam” Simon (June 6, 1955 – March 8, 2015) was an American director, producer, writer, animal rights activist, boxing manager, tournament poker player, and philanthropist, most noted as co-developer of the television series The Simpsons. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at […]

Sam Sniderman (1920 - 2012)

Canadian Music Figure. He is best remembered as the founder of Sam the Record Man, the Canadian record store chain. He was raised in the Jewish enclave known as Kensington Market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He attended high school at Harbord Collegiate Institute and in 1937 began selling records in his brother Sidney’s store, Sniderman […]

Sam Wanamaker (1919 - 1993)

Wanamaker was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants from Nikolayev, tailor Maurice Wattenmacker (Manus Watmakher) and Molly (Bobele). He was the younger of two brothers, the elder being William Wanamaker, long-term cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Wanamaker trained at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and began working with […]

Sam Wood (1884 - 1949)

Samuel Grosvenor “Sam” Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer, who was best known for directing such Hollywood hits as A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and The Pride of the Yankees. He was also involved in a few acting […]

Sammy Cahn (1913 - 1993)

Sammy Cahn was born Samuel Cohen in the Lower East Side of New York City, the only son (he had four sisters) of Abraham and Elka Reiss Cohen, who were Jewish immigrants from Galicia, then ruled by Austria-Hungary. His sisters, Sadye, Pearl, Florence, and Evelyn, all studied the piano. His mother did not approve of […]

Sammy Fain (1902 - 1989)

Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest’s Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to music. Fain was a self-taught pianist who played by ear. He began working as […]

Sammy Lee (1920 - 2016)

Sammy Lee was born in Fresno, California to parents of Korean descent who owned what he described as “a little chop suey restaurant”. His father, who was fluent in English and Korean and who tutored in French, graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Occidental College, but was unable to find work due to […]

Samuel Andrews (1836 - 1904)

Samuel Andrews (1836–1904) was a chemist and inventor. Born in England, he immigrated to the United States before the American Civil War, and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. He is best known as a partner in the oil refining firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, the major predecessor company of the Standard Oil corporate empire. When […]

Samuel Arentz (1879 - 1934)

Samuel Arentz was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 8, 1879. He graduated from the Chicago Manual Training School in 1897 and from the South Dakota School of Mines at Rapid City in 1904. He was a member of the South Dakota National Guard at Rapid City from 1901 to 1904. He moved to Ludering, […]

Samuel Arnold (1834 - 1906)

Lincoln Assassination Conspirator.  His role in the conspiracy was to help kidnap President Abraham Lincoln, but he dropped out of the murder conspiracy two weeks before President Lincoln was assassinated. Born in Washington, DC, the Arnold family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where Samuel Arnold was raised, and he attended St. Timothy’s Hall, a military academy, […]

Samuel Beckett (1906 - 1989)

Author, Playwright. Lived in France from 1937 on and wrote primarily in French after 1945. His work was influenced primarily by Franz Kafka and James Joyce. His best known work is the absurdist play “Waiting for Godot” (1953).  Family links:  Parents:  William Frank Beckett (1871 – 1933)  Mary Jones Roe Beckett (1872 – 1950)  Spouse: […]

Samuel Blatchford (1820 - 1893)

Blatchford was born in Auburn, New York, where his father was a well known attorney and friend of Daniel Webster. He was educated at Columbia College, graduating when he was 17 years old. In 1840, he served as the private secretary to Governor William H. Seward.  Blatchford read law while working for the governor and […]

Samuel Chapman Armstrong (1839 - 1893)

Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General, Educator. He served in the Civil War first as Major of the 125th New York Volunteer Infantry, then as Lieutenant Colonel of the 9th United States Colored Troops, then finally as Colonel and commander of the 8th United States Colored Troops. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on […]

Samuel Chase (1741 - 1811)

Samuel was the only child of the Reverend Thomas Chase (c. 1703 – 1779) and his wife, Matilda Walker, born near Princess Anne, Maryland.  His father was a clergyman who immigrated to Somerset County to become a priest in a new church. Samuel was educated at home. He was eighteen when he left for Annapolis […]

Samuel Colt (1909 - 1986)

Actor. He was the son of actress Ethel Barrymore and the great-grandson (and namesake) of Samuel Colt, inventor of the Colt revolver. He appeared in four films, “The Mating Season” (1951), “A Star is Born” (1954),  “Three Brave Men” (1956),  and “Johnny Trouble” (1957). (bio by: Bobb Edwards)  Family links:  Parents:  Russell Griswold Colt (1882 […]

Samuel Cousins (1801 - 1887)

Engraver. Born in Exeter, Devon, England, he studied illustrating art works after the introduction of steel for engraving art metal transcripts about 1823. His mezzotints steel plates and etching processes of the 18th century, are consided to have captured and yield the finest impressions of metal during a critical phase of art’s history. (bio by: […]

Samuel Curtis Johnson (1928 - 2004)

Business Magnate. Johnson was said to be the richest man in Wisconsin according to Forbes Magazine who estimated his wealth at $7.5 billion. He was the fourth generation to head the 118-year-old former Johnson Wax Company now known as SC Johnson. His vision turned it into four global companies employing more than 28,000 people. Under […]

Samuel Daniel (1970 - 1619)

Poet, Playwright, Historian. A significant literary figure of England’s Renaissance period. His famous sonnet sequence “Delia” (1592) had an influence on the sonnets of William Shakespeare. His other works include the narrative poem “The Complaint of Rosamund” (1592); “The Civil Wars” (1595 to 1609), a verse history of the War of the Roses; the prose […]

Samuel Davies (1723 - 1761)

After Samuel Davies completed his studies with Blair, the Presbytery of New Castle licensed him to preach in 1746. He joined the New Side synod of New York, and married Sarah Kirkpatrick on October 23, 1746, while he was preaching in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Commissioned as an evangelist to Virginia several months later, on February 17, […]