Joan Crawford (1904 - 1977)

Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas, the third child of Thomas E. LeSueur (January 21, 1868 – January 1, 1938), a laundry laborer of English and French Huguenot ancestry and Anna Bell Johnson (November 29, 1884 – August 15, 1958), Texas-born, of Swedish and Irish descent. Her elder siblings were Daisy […]

Judy Garland (1922 - 1969)

Judy Garland Born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Garland was the youngest child of Ethel Marion (née Milne; November 17, 1893 – January 5, 1953) and Francis Avent “Frank” Gumm (March 20, 1886 – November 17, 1935). Her parents were vaudevillians who settled in Grand Rapids to run a movie theatre that featured […]

Amy Winehouse (1983 - 2011)

Amy Winehouse was born in Chase Farm Hospital in north London, to Jewish parents. Her father, Mitchell “Mitch” Winehouse, was a window panel installer then a taxi driver; her mother, Janis Winehouse (née Seaton), a pharmacist. Amy had an older brother, Alex (born 1979), and the family lived in London’s Southgate area.  Part of her […]

Alvy Moore (1921 - 1997)

Alvy Moore was born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of Indiana natives Roy and Elice Moore. When Alvy was young, the family moved with his parents to Terre Haute, where Roy was a grocery store manager. He was the president of the senior class at Wiley High School in 1940-1941. He then attended Indiana State […]

Allan Sherman (1924 - 1973)

Sherman was born in Chicago to Jewish American parents Percy Copelon and Rose Sherman. Percy was an auto mechanic and race car driver who, like his son, suffered from obesity (he weighed over 350 pounds), and died while attempting a 100-day diet. Sherman’s parents divorced when he was in grade school, and Allan adopted his […]

Abigail Folger (1943 - 1969)

Folger was born in San Francisco. Her parents were Peter Folger, Chairman and President of the Folger Coffee Company, and Ines “Pui” Mejia (1907–2007), the youngest child of Gertrude and Encarnacion Mejia, a consul general of El Salvador. She had a younger brother, Peter, Jr. (born 1945). Her Roman Catholic parents divorced in 1952 when […]

Aaron Spelling (1923 - 2006)

Aaron Spelling Spelling was born in Dallas, Texas. He was the son of Pearl (née Wald) and David Spelling, who were Jewish emigrants from Poland. His father worked as a tailor and changed his surname from Spurling to Spelling after emigrating to the United States. Spelling had three brothers: Sam, Max, and Daniel, and a […]

Jenni Rivera (1969 - 2012)

Entertainer.  American-born Dolores Janney Rivera Saavedra, better known as Jenni Rivera and ‘The Diva of Banda’, released her first studio album in 2003 with ‘Homejane A Las Grandes’ and went on to sell over 15 million albums worldwide in the banda and nortena genre.  In 2008, the Latin Grammy-nominated artists tenth studio album became her […]

Jeremy Elliot Applegate (1965 - 2000)

Actor. Appeared in the role of ‘Peter Dawson,’ the straight laced friend to Veronica (played by Wynona Ryder), in the hit movie “Heathers” in 1989. Through the 1980s, he had many guest star and recurring roles on shows like “My Two Dads,” “Our House,” and “21 Jump Street.”

Stanley Andrews (1891 - 1969)

Actor. Born Stanley Andrzejewski in Chicago, Illinois, he was best remembered for his role as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program “Little Orphan Annie” (1931-36). A popular character performer, he appeared in more than 250 movies to include “Beau Geste” (1939), “North to the Klondike” (1942), “Trail of Vengeance” (1945), “Road to […]

Maclyn Arbuckle (1866 - 1931)

Actor. Arbuckle was a cousin of actor/comedian Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, and brother of actor Andrew Arbuckle. He appeared in the films, “The Gilded Highway” (1926), “Lure Of The Track” (1925), “The Old Gang Of Mine” (1925), “The Thoroughbred” (1925), “Janice Meredith” (1924), “Yolanda” (1924), “Broadway Broke” (1924), “Squire Phin” (1922), “Mr. Bingle” (1922), “The Young […]

R. G. Armstrong (1917 - 2012)

R. G. Armstrong R. G. Armstrong Jr., a rough-hewed character actor known for playing sheriffs, outlaws and other macho roles, died on Friday at his home in Studio City, Calif. He was 95. His death was confirmed by his daughter Robbie Armstrong-Dunham. Mr. Armstrong’s five-decade career took off with guest spots on virtually all the […]

Edward Arnold (1890 - 1956)

Actor. A veteran actor of over 150 movies in his career, Edward Arnold achieved the kind of stardom seldom achieved by character actors. A burly man with a commanding presence, a round face and piercing eyes, Arnold began acting in his teens in New York. He worked in several Broadway shows and made several dozen […]

Herbert Anderson (1917 - 1994)

Actor. He was best remembered for his role as Henry Mitchell, Dennis’ father on the TV series “Dennis the Menace”. After signing with Warner Bros. Studios, he made his film debut in “Navy Blues” (1941), followed by a great performance as Private Hanson in the World War II movie, “Battleground” (1949). His many television credits […]

Eddie Lincoln Anderson (1905 - 1977)

Actor. He is best remembered for his role of ‘Rochester Van Jones’, on the “Jack Benny Show”. The son of a minstrel, Big Ed Anderson, and a circus tightrope walker, Ella May Anderson, Eddie was born into a show business family, where he joined his brother, Cornelius, in a vaudeville troop. For a while, he […]

John Anderson (1922 - 1992)

Actor. Born in Clayton, Illinois, he was a brilliant character performer best remembered for his role as a snooping used-car salesman in Alfred Hitchcock’s film, “Psycho”(1960). He began his acting career on the Mississippi River showboat Goldenrod and made his debut in the Broadway show “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” in the 1940s. His […]

Gilbert Anderson (1882 - 1971)

Actor. He began his career at age 18, as a stage perform in vaudeville and is best known as the first star of the Western film genre. As the character “Bronco Billy”, he was the first silent screen cowboy star appearing in “The Great Train Robbery” (1903). As “Bronco Billy”, he played the first real […]

Cachirulo Alonso (1923 - 2004)

Actor, Playwright. He was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Born Enrique Fernández Tallaeche, he made his debut on stage in 1948 with the play “La Temporada del Recuerdo.” But he is fondly remembered for his character “Cachirulo” that he played for the childrens’ program for television “Teatro Fantástico” of which he also was producer and […]

Ernesto Alonso (1917 - 2007)

Ernesto began his career as an uncredited extra in La Zandunga (1938), a movie starring Lupe Vélez. He then appeared in 1939’s “Papacito Lindo”. His popularity grew as he starred in many films of the 1940s, including “La Gallina Culeca”, “Historia de una gran Amor”, “El Padre Morelas”, “El Jorobado”, “La Corte del Faraon”, “Marina”, […]

Anne Burr (1920 - 2003)

Actress. She was also known as Anne Burr McDermott. She was an actress who appeared on Broadway in New York City and appeared as Gloria LaRue Harper on “Guiding Light” as an original cast member from 1952 to 1954 on radio and television. She later appeared as another original cast member, Clare English Lowell Cassen […]

Dorothy Burgess (1907 - 1961)

Actress. After learning her art on the stage, she appeared in several dozen Hollywood features during the 1930s. Raised initially in Los Angeles where her father was in the transportation business, she studied painting and sculpture in New York, then got her theatrical start as a bit-player and dancer in productions that featured her maternal […]

Jean Byron (1925 - 2006)

Actress. Best remembered as ‘Natalie Lane,’ mother of Patty Duke on the 1960s series, “The Patty Duke Show.” Before acting, she worked briefly as a singer and entertainer on a local area radio show. She made a handful of films, but her career mainly consisted of numerous guest-starring roles on television. In 1963 she began […]

Kathleen Byron (1921 - 2009)

Actress. She is best known for her role as the mad nun Sister Ruth in the 1947 film “Black Narcissus”. Born in London, she was educated at the Old Vic School before making her motion picture debut in the Carol Reed film “The Young Mr. Pitt” (1942). Among her other big screen credits are “The […]

Billie Burke (1884 - 1970)

American Stage and Motion Picture Actress. She is best remembered in the role of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, from the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”, and in the role of the scatterbrained Clara Topper, wife of stuffy banker Cosmo Topper, in the “Topper” series of films (1937-1941). She was married to […]

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 […]

Brenda Bruce (1918 - 1996)

She was with the Birmingham Repertory Company (1936–39) and a long-time actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). She was the RSC’s resident Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, playing the role in 1964, 1968, 1975 and 1995. She also appeared as Irma in the RSC’s production of Jean Genet’s The Balcony in […]

Carol Bruce (1919 - 2007)

Actress and Singer. Best known for her role as Lillian “Mama” Carlson on the television series “WKRP in Cincinnati” from 1979-1982 replacing actress Sylvia Sidney. She was born Shirley Levy and started her singing career in a Montréal night club in 1937. In 1940, she made her Broadway debut in the musical comedy “Louisiana Purchase.” […]

Geraldine Brooks (1925 - 1977)

Actress. She is best remembered for her supporting roles in numerous films and television shows from the 1940s through the 1970s. Born Geraldine Stroock in New York City, her father, James Stroock, owned a costume company that provided costumes to stage theaters. Her mother, Bianca, was a costume designer and stylist. Her aunt was a […]

Leslie Brooks (1922 - 2011)

Actress. Born Virginia Leslie Gettman, she was raised in Los Angeles where she attended Hollywood High School. Her career in entertainment began as a model and cover girl which led to an uncredited part in the picture “Ziegfeld Girl” (1941). This was followed by her being put under contract with Columbia Pictures and her name […]

Mozelle Britton (1912 - 1953)

Actress. American motion picture actress of the 1930s. She is interred along with her husband, actor Alan Dinehart.