In memoriam

1. River Phoenix

River Phoenix was born River Jude Bottom in Madras, Oregon. His mother, Arlyn (Dunetz), a Bronx-born secretary, and his father, John Bottom, a carpenter, met in California in 1968. They worked as itinerant fruit pickers, and later joined the Children of God religious group (John was originally ...

1970-1993

2. Freddie Mercury

Soundtrack | Flash Gordon

Freddie Mercury was born on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, sent him off to a private school in India, from 1955 til 1963. In 1964, he and his family flew to England. In 1966 he started his education at the Ealing College of Art, where he graduated in 1969. He ...

1946-1991

3. Jim Varney

Actor | Ernest Goes to Camp

James Albert Varney, Jr. was born in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nancy Louise (Howard) and James Albert Varney, Sr. He became interested in theater as a teenager, winning state titles in drama competitions while a student at Lafayette High School in Lexington, Kentucky. At age 15 he played Ebeneezer ...

1949-2000

4. Selena

Soundtrack | Don Juan DeMarco

Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, 50 miles southeast of Houston, to Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and Marcella Quintanilla. Abraham opened a Mexican restaurant, Papagayo, in Lake Jackson. Selena was 9 years old when her father discovered her talent for singing. He formed a band consisting of Selena...

1971-1995

5. Joe Alaskey

Actor | Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Joe Alaskey, among the most talented voice actors in the business, impeccably recreated many of the original characters which the late cartoon pioneer Mel Blanc invented. A natural mimic and gifted actor, his amazing "ear" for voices enabled him to imitate almost anything, including some of the ...

1952-2016

6. Joan Rivers

Actress | Spaceballs

Joan Rivers is an American talk show host, comedian, writer and actress from Brooklyn, New York. She voiced Dot Matrix from Mel Brooks' Spaceballs. She has portrayed in several films and shows such as Shrek 2, Look Who's Talking, The Smurfs and Iron Man 3. She passed away in September 2014 at ...

1933-2014

7. Eartha Kitt

Actress | The Emperor's New Groove

An out-of-wedlock child, Eartha Kitt was born in the cotton fields of South Carolina. Kitt's mother was a sharecropper of African-American and Cherokee Native American descent. Her father's identity is unknown. Given away by her mother, she arrived in Harlem at age nine. At 15, she quit high school...

1927-2008

8. Tiny Tim

Soundtrack | Insidious

Tiny Tim, the ukulele-playing singer of 1920s ditties who was a true icon of the 1960s, was born Herbert Khaury on April 12, 1932, in New York City. The son of a Lebanese father and Jewish mother, the young Khaury grew up in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. A high school dropout, his ...

1932-1996

9. Richard Hunt

Actor | The Muppet Show

Richard Hunt did not have a face known to many -- his voice was known more than anything else. He was a major stronghold behind Jim Henson's "Muppets". 'Scooter', 'Janice', 'Sweetums' and a few others, were some of the "Muppets" that Richard was a performer and puppeteer of. He helped pave the way ...

1951-1992

10. George Harrison

Actor | A Hard Day's Night

A master musician, a film producer and actor, best known as the lead guitarist and occasionally lead vocalist of The Beatles, George Harrison was born February 25, 1943, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He was also the youngest of four children, born to Harold Harrison and Louise Harrison.

Like ...

1943-2001

11. John Lennon

Actor | A Hard Day's Night

John Winston (later Ono) Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman. He was raised by his mother's older sister Mimi Smith. In the mid-1950s, he formed his first band, The Quarrymen (after Quarry Bank High School, ...

1940-1980

12. Bob Dorough

Soundtrack | Schoolhouse Rock!

Bob Dorough was born on December 12, 1923 in Cherry Hill, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Schoolhouse Rock! (1973), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and The Iron Giant (1999). He was married to Sally Shanley, Ruth Corine Meinert and Jacqueline Wright. He died on April 23, 2018 in...

1923-2018

13. Marcia Wallace

Actress | The Simpsons

Born on November 1, 1942, the eldest of three born to an Iowa general storeowner, Marcia Wallace endured a troubled childhood (alcoholism, physical abuse). Performing in high school plays as a teenager, she studied at Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, where she majored in English and theatre.

...

1942-2013

14. Judith Barsi

Actress | The Land Before Time

The only child of Jozsef Barsi and Maria Benko, Judith Eva Barsi beat 10,000-to-1 odds when she was discovered at a San Fernando Valley skating rink at age 5 1/2 in 1983 and mistaken for a three-year-old. Her first commercial was for Donald Duck Orange Juice and she went on to appear in anywhere ...

15. Phil Hartman

Actor | NewsRadio

Phil Hartman was born Philip Edward Hartmann on September 24, 1948, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. His surname was originally "Hartmann", but he later dropped the second "n". He was one of eight children of Doris Marguerite (Wardell) and Rupert Loebig Hartmann, a salesman. He was of German, Irish, ...

1948-1998

16. Jack Riley

Actor | Spaceballs

Cleveland-born comedy actor Jack Riley (on December 30, 1935) switched his career interest from baseball to acting after obtaining a radio job, writing and performing skits while attending John Carroll University. He toured military bases throughout the world in comedy shows after being drafted in ...

1935-2016

17. David Bowie

Soundtrack | Labyrinth

David Bowie was one of the most influential and prolific writers and performers of popular music, but he was much more than that; he was also an accomplished actor, a mime and an intellectual, as well as an art lover whose appreciation and knowledge of it had led to him amassing one of the biggest ...

1947-2016

18. Johnny Cash

Soundtrack | The Johnny Cash Show

Johnny Cash was born February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to Carrie Cash (Rivers) and Raymond Cash. He made his first single, "Hey Porter", for Sun Records in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Columbia Records. He had long periods of drug abuse during the 1960s, but later that decade he successfully ...

1932-2003

19. Thuy Trang

Actress | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Thuy Trang was born on December 14th of 1973 in Saigon, Vietnam. After the fall of Saigon in 1975 to Communist forces, her father who had fought in the Vietnam War, traveled to the United States to seek political asylum. However, his entire family, unable to follow, were left behind.

In 1979, Thuy ...

1973-2001

20. Steve Irwin

Actor | Dr. Dolittle 2

Steve Irwin was born in 1962 to parents Lyn and Bob Irwin, who were animal naturalists. He shared the love for animals all his life, stemming from being raised at the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. There, he partook in daily duties of animal feeding and care. He quickly established himself with...

1962-2006

21. Joe Ranft

Writer | The Brave Little Toaster

Joseph Ranft was an American writer, voice actor, animator, storyboard artist and magician. He worked for Disney and Pixar. He worked on The Lion King, The Brave Little Toaster, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Cars, Monsters, Inc and Finding Nemo. He voiced in the many films he worked on, notably as ...

1960-2005

22. Glenn McQueen

Animation_department | A Bug's Life

Glenn McQueen was born on December 24, 1960 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a director, known for A Bug's Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Toy Story (1995). He was married to Audrey Fleisher and Terry McQueen. He died on October 29, 2002 in Berkeley, California, USA.

1960-2002

23. Blossom Dearie

Soundtrack | The Squid and the Whale

Blossom Dearie was born on April 28, 1924 in East Durham, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Squid and the Whale (2005), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018). She was married to Bobby Jaspar. She died on February 7, 2009 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New ...

1924-2009

24. Grady Tate

Music_department | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Grady Tate was born on January 14, 1932 in Durham, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014) and El invierno en Lisboa (1991). He was married to Vivian. He died on October 8, 2017 in Manhattan, New York City, New York...

1932-2017

25. Cameron Boyce

Actor | Mrs. Fletcher

Cameron Boyce was an American actor, with Afro-Caribbean and African-American descent. His paternal grandmother Jo Ann Allen was one of the "Clinton Twelve", the first African-Americans to attend an integrated high school in the Southern United States (specifically in Clinton, Tennessee).

In 1999, ...

1999-2019

26. Carrie Fisher

Actress | Star Wars

Carrie Frances Fisher was born on October 21, 1956 in Burbank, California, to singers/actors Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. She was an actress and writer known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return ...

1956-2016

27. Debbie Reynolds

Actress | Singin' in the Rain

Debbie Reynolds was born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas, the second child of Maxine N. (Harmon) and Raymond Francis Reynolds, a carpenter for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Her film career began at MGM after she won a beauty contest at age 16 impersonating Betty Hutton. Reynolds wasn't a ...

1932-2016

28. Whitney Houston

Soundtrack | The Bodyguard

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born into a musical family on 9 August 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of gospel star Cissy Houston (née Emily Lee Drinkard) and John Russell Houston, Jr., and cousin of singing star Dionne Warwick.

She began singing in the choir at her church, The New Hope ...

1963-2012

29. Leslie Carter

Soundtrack | Shrek

Leslie Barbara Carter was born on June 6, 1986, in Tampa, Florida, into the family of Robert Gene Carter (aka Robert Carter) and his wife Jane Elizabeth Carter (née Spaulding) and become the third of their five children. Her parents were divorced in 2003 after more than 20 years of marriage. Leslie...

1986-2012

30. Aretha Franklin

Actress | The Blues Brothers

Grammy-winning Queen of Soul and the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Barbara Vernice (Siggers) and C. L. Franklin, a Baptist minister, who preached at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit for over thirty ...

1942-2018

31. Michael Jackson

Soundtrack | Michael Jackson: Thriller

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, and entertained audiences nearly his entire life. His father, Joe Jackson (no relation to Joe Jackson, also a musician), had been a guitarist, but was forced to give up his musical ambitions following his marriage to Michael's ...

1958-2009

32. Russi Taylor

Actress | DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

Russi Taylor was an American voice actress from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 until her death from colon cancer in 2019. She also voiced a lot of minor characters from The Simpsons including Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri. Grey DeLisle-Griffin ...

1944-2019

33. Deem Bristow

Actor | Sonikku adobenchâ 2

Deem Reginald Bristow was an American actor known for providing the English voice of Dr. Eggman from 1999 to 2004. He voiced Dr. Eggman in Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Sonic Advance 3. He passed away due to a heart attack in January 2005. He passed away the same year as ...

1947-2005

34. Madeleine Blaustein

Actress | Gekijô-ban poketto monsutâ - Myûtsû no gyakushû

Madeleine Blaustein was born on October 9, 1960 in Queens, New York, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998), Pokémon (1997) and Pokémon 3 the Movie: Spell of the Unown (2000). She died on December 11, 2008 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA.

1960-2008

35. Christine Cavanaugh

Actress | Dexter's Laboratory

Christine Cavanaugh (birth name: Christine Josephine Sandberg) was an American actress from Layton, Utah. She emerged as a prolific voice actress in the 1990s, voicing roles in many films and television series. She chose to retire from acting in 2001, at the age of 38. Her most famous voice roles ...

1963-2014

36. Cloris Leachman

Actress | The Last Picture Show

The legendary actress set a record when at age 82, she appeared on Dancing with the Stars (2005). Cloris Leachman was born on April 30, 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa to Berkeley Claiborne "Buck" Leachman and the former Cloris Wallace. Her father's family owned a lumber company, Leachman Lumber Co. She ...

1926-2021

37. Bruce Kirby

Actor | The Muppet Movie

One of those hard-working supporting actors whose face you know but whose name might not ring any bells. Italian-American Bruce Kirby (real name Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu) was steadily employed--primarily on the small screen--to play a gallery of often likeable, mainly unimposing characters in a ...

1925-2021

38. Caroll Spinney

Actor | Sesame Street

Caroll Spinney was born on December 26, 1933 in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Sesame Street (1969), The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981). He was married to Debra Spinney and Janice Spinney. He died on December 8, 2019 in Woodstock, ...

1933-2019