Richard Brooker (1954 - 2013)

Richard Brooker, a former trapeze artist, started his career in acting in a casting magazine, “Dramalogue”. He began his career in the third Friday the 13th film, and later appeared in small film roles in Deathstalker, Deep Sea Conspiracy, and the television series Trapper John, M.D.. Brooker later became a director, for such notable series […]

Briony McRoberts (1957 - 2013)

On television, Briony McRoberts played “Tessa Kilpin” in Episode 057 (05.11) ‘No Stone’ of The Professionals, and appeared in television programmes including The Bill, EastEnders, Taggart, The Crezz and Diamonds. She had a regular role as Lady Laird Sam Hagan in the Scottish soap Take the High Road for STV from 1990 to 1999. In […]

Paul Shane (1940 - 2013)

Paul Shane was born George Frederick Speight in Thrybergh, West Riding of Yorkshire, near Rotherham. He was a miner at Silverwood Colliery but slipped on soap in the pit-head baths in 1967, resulting in double herniated discs. He was pensioned from the pit at 27. Two years later, he became a professional entertainer since he […]

Elliott Reid (1920 - 2013)

Elliott Reid was born in Manhattan, New York, the son of artist Christine Challenger Reid and banker Blair Reid. In 1935, Reid debuted on the radio program The March of Time, which led to him working regularly on radio dramas during the Golden Age of radio. Early on he took “Elliott” as his stage name. His […]

Elspet Gray (1929 - 2013)

Elspet Gray appeared in many television programmes, her first appearance being in Love in Waiting in 1948. She had several roles in the 1970s including parts in Fawlty Towers, as the wife of a psychiatrist baffled by Basil’s behaviour, The Crezz, Catweazle, and in the 1980s with Doctor Who story Arc of Infinity and the […]

Nigel Davenport (1928 - 2013)

Nigel Davenport was born in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, to Katherine Lucy (née Meiklejohn) and Arthur Henry Davenport. His father was a bursar at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He grew up in an academic family and was educated at St Peter’s School, Seaford, Cheltenham College and Trinity College, Oxford. Originally he chose to study Philosophy, Politics […]

Lewis Collins (1946 - 2013)

The son of Bill Collins, a shipwright and amateur musician who played the piano in local clubs with the Savoy Swingers band, Lewis was born in Bidston, Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula (then part of Cheshire). Aged two, he won the Most Beautiful Baby in Liverpool contest. He was educated at Bidston Primary and Grange […]

Frank Thornton (1921 - 2013)

Frank Thornton Ball was born in Dulwich, London, the son of Rosina Mary (née Thornton) and William Ernest Ball. His father was organist at St Stephen’s Church, Dulwich, and his son learned to play for a short while. Music proved too difficult for him, however, and he wanted to act from an early age. His […]

Edmond O’Brien (1915 - 1915)

Edmond O’Brien was born in Brooklyn, New York, of English and Irish stock. After attending Columbia University for one year, he went to Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre on a scholarship. Edmond O’Brien made his first Broadway appearance at age 21 in Daughters of Atreus. Edmond O’Brien made his film debut in 1938, and […]

Ruth Roman (1922 - 1999)

Ruth Roman was born to Lithuanian-Jewish parents, Mary Pauline (née Gold) and Abraham Roman. Her mother was a dancer and her father a barker in a carnival that they owned at Revere, Massachusetts. She had two sisters, Ann and Eve. Her father died when Ruth was eight, and her mother sold the carnival. As a girl, […]

Dorothy Collins (1926 - 1994)

As a youngster, Dorothy Collins sang on radio stations in Windsor and Detroit. In 1940, at age 14, she and her family were introduced to bandleader/composer Raymond Scott in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, she became Scott’s protégée. In early 1942, at age 15, she became a featured vocalist with Scott’s orchestra, performing on radio and on […]

Gloria Grahame (1923 - 1981)

Grahame was born Gloria Grahame Hallward in Los Angeles, California. She was raised a Methodist. Reginald Michael Bloxam Hallward, her father, was an architect and author and her mother, Jeanne McDougall, who used the stage name Jean Grahame, was a British stage actress and acting teacher. McDougall taught her younger daughter acting during her childhood […]

Gene Nelson (1920 - 1996)

Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he moved to Seattle when he was one year old. He was inspired to become a dancer by watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films when he was a child. After serving in the Army during World War II during which he also performed in the musical This […]

Glenda Farrell (1904 - 1971)

Glenda Farrell came to Hollywood towards the end of the silent era. She began her career with a theatrical company at the age of 7. She played the role of Little Eva in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She paused at times to continue her education but appeared with a number of theatrical companies and in several […]

June Storey (1918 - 1991)

Mary June Storey was born on April 20, 1918 in Toronto, Canada. Her father was a forest ranger. Her family moved to Tyler Lake, Connecticut in the United States when she was five years old. In 1930, her family moved to Southern California, where she attended Laguna Beach High School. Pretty in her youth, she […]

Jane Adams (1921 - 2014)

Jane Adams was born in San Antonio, Texas and received a full scholarship to Juilliard, which she turned down to spend years studying at the Pasadena Playhouse. From there she got her start on Lux Radio Theatre and then with the Harry Conover Modeling Agency, where she was given her nickname “Poni”. (This was supposedly […]

China Zorrilla (1922 - 1922)

Born in Montevideo into an aristocratic Uruguayan family, “China” was the second of the five daughters of Guma Muñoz del Campo and sculptor José Luis Zorrilla de San Martín (1891–1975), a disciple of Antoine Bourdelle, responsible for monuments in Uruguay and Argentina. Revered as Uruguay’s national poet, her paternal grandfather was Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, […]

Bill Kerr (1922 - 2014)

Bill Kerr was born William Henry Kerr in Cape Town, South Africa, on 10 June 1922 to an Australian performing arts family, growing up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. His career in show business began when he was very young. Wilton, his son, recalled: “His mum used him instead of using a prop, […]

Leslie Carlson (1933 - 2014)

Leslie Merle Carlson (February 24, 1933 — May 3, 2014) was an American Canadian film and television character actor who acted on stage in Canada, the U.S. and England. His films include the horror films Deranged and Black Christmas, and his television credits include The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. His stage name was frequently […]

Rhodes Reason (1930 - 2014)

Rhodes Reason was born in Glendale, California, the son of Jean (Robinson) and Rex G. Reason. The younger brother of actor Rex Reason, Reason made his acting start at the age of eighteen in a production of Romeo and Juliet directed by Charles Laughton. Among his starring roles were parts in King Kong Escapes (1967) and […]

Mónica Spear (1984 - 2014)

During the Miss Venezuela 2004 pageant,Mónica Spear won the national crown and represented Venezuela at Miss Universe 2005. Spear made the top 15 after Ana Karina Áñez (Miss Venezuela 2003) failed to make the top 15 in Miss Universe 2004, which was the first time in 22 years that Venezuela failed to place. Spear went on […]

Booth Colman (1923 - 2014)

Booth Colman (March 8, 1923 – December 15, 2014) was an American film, television and stage actor. In his later years he played older authority figures such as doctors and lawyers. Colman appeared in films since 1952, when he appeared uncredited in The Big Sky directed by Howard Hawks. Booth Colman was born in Portland, Oregon. […]

Frank Marth (1922 - 2014)

Frank Marth (July 29, 1922 – January 12, 2014) was an American film and television actor. He may be best known as a cast-member of Cavalcade of Stars (1949; 1950–1957), especially segments of The Honeymooners, which later became a television series (1955–56). Tall and fair-haired, Marth, often in tandem with the short, dark-haired George O. Petrie, […]

Mary Grace Canfield (1924 - 2014)

Mary Grace Canfield was born in Rochester, New York, the second child of Hubert and Hildegard (née Jacobson) Canfield. She grew up in Pittsford, New York. She had an elder sister, Constance, who was two years older. Acting mostly in small theatre companies and regional theatre, between 1952 and 1964 she appeared in several Broadway plays, […]

Vanna Bonta (1958 - 2014)

Vanna Bonta was born in the United States to Maria Luisa Bonta (née Ugolini), an artist from Florence, Italy, and James Cecil Bonta, a military officer from Kentucky. Her mother’s elder sister was Italian children’s author Lydia Ugolini. In 1995, Bonta’s first novel, Flight: A Quantum Fiction Novel was published. Flight has been characterized as “inter-genre” […]

Anthony Mason (1966 - 2015)

Anthony Mason attended Tennessee State University and was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in the third round of the 1988 NBA Draft (53rd pick), but was cut shortly afterwards. He then played for the Efes Pilsen basketball club in Turkey. Mason played for Marinos de Oriente in Venezuela and other teams in the CBA and the […]

David McAlister (1951 - 2015)

David McAlister was born on 2 April 1951 in Worthing, Sussex and died on 26 June 2015 of cancer. He was married with two children (a girl and a boy) living with his family in Surrey. David McAlister was best known for his portrayal of Daddy Warbucks in the stage production of the American musical Annie. […]

Aarthi Agarwal (1984 - 2015)

Aarthi Agarwal (March 5, 1984 – June 6, 2015) was an Indian-American actress who primarily worked in Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood. Aarthi Agarwal was born on March 5, 1984, to a Gujarati family. Her father, Shashank, is in the hotel business and her mother, Veema, is a homemaker. She has two siblings. At around […]

Claire Gordon (1941 - 2015)

Claire Gordon was born in Cambridge, in England. Her father was a doctor and her mother a make-up artist who worked for Max Factor. After being photographed by chance at the Queens Ice Rink, Bayswater, for the cover of the magazine Lilliput, Claire Gordon was signed to a five-year contract with film agent Bill Watts […]

Moira Orfei (1931 - 2015)

Moira Orfei (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmɔira orˈfɛi]; born Miranda Orfei; 21 December 1931 – 15 November 2015) was a popular Italian actress and television personality. Moira was considered the queen of the Italian circus. Raised in a family who owned the circus company Circus Orfei, Moira became the symbol of circus in Italy and attained international fame. […]