Deaths: December 15

1. Olga Zubarry

Olga Adela Zubarriain was born in Buenos Aires on October 30th 1929. She began her career in the old Lumiton studios in 1943 as a bit player in Safo (Carlos Hugo Christensen-1943). Her real chance when the studio prepared an adaptation of the novel Frau Elsie by Arthur Schnitzler which was called ...

2. Anatole Litvak

Director | The Snake Pit

The distinguished film director Anatole Litvak was born in the Ukrainian city of Kiev, the son of Jewish parents. His very first job was as a stage hand. In 1915, he became an actor, performing at a little-known experimental theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a teenager, he witnessed the 1917 ...

3. Arnold Moss

Actor | Reign of Terror

Character actor Arnold Moss was born on January 28, 1910. Given his aristocratic bearing, perfect diction and resounding bass voice, it's not hard to believe that he was an experienced Shakespearean stage actor. It's quite rather harder to believe that he was born in Brooklyn, not London, but ...

4. Arthur Maia

Costume_designer | Vamos Cantar Disco Baby

Arthur Maia was born on April 9, 1962 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a costume designer and production designer, known for Vamos Cantar Disco Baby (1979), Dôra Doralina (1982) and O Vampiro de Copacabana (1976).

5. Barbara Mills

Actress | The Harem Bunch

Lovely long-haired brunette Barbara Mills was born on February 23, 1951. She hailed from Oxford, Massachusetts. Mills left home and moved to the bohemian artistic community of Venice Beach, California shortly after turning seventeen. Barbara established permanent roots in Venice Beach in the late ...

6. Blake Edwards

Writer | The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Blake Edwards' stepfather's father J. Gordon Edwards was a silent screen director, and his stepfather Jack McEdward was a stage director and movie production manager. Blake acted in a number films, beginning with Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942) and wrote a number of others, beginning with ...

7. Bob Crowe

Producer | Rabbit Fall

Bob Crowe was born in 1955 in Canada. He was a producer and writer, known for Rabbit Fall (2007), Shadow Puppets (2007) and Stained (2010). He was married to Mary Jane Hendel. He died on December 15, 2017 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

8. Booth Colman

Actor | World Without End

Born in Portland, Oregon, and educated at the University of Washington and University of Michigan, Colman served in the Japanese Language Division of U.S. Military Intelligence during World War II. After his discharge, he began acting on the New York stage. In 1951, he headed to Hollywood to make ...

9. Charles Laughton

Actor | Witness for the Prosecution

Charles Laughton was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, to Eliza (Conlon) and Robert Laughton, hotel keepers of Irish and English descent, respectively. He was educated at Stonyhurst (a highly esteemed Jesuit college in England) and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (received gold medal). ...

10. Chill Wills

Actor | Giant

Colorful character actor of American Westerns. Named "Chill" as an ironic comment on his birth date being the hottest day of 1902. A musician from his youth, he performed from the age of 12 with tent shows, in vaudeville, and with stock companies. While performing in vaudeville in Kansas City, he ...

11. Christopher Hitchens

Writer | On an Electric Night

Christopher Eric Hitchens (born April 13, 1949) was a British-American author, journalist, and literary critic. He was a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, The Nation, Slate, and Free Inquiry.

Hitchens is known for his atheism and anti-theism and was a firm believer in the Enlightenment values ...

12. Chuck Peddle

Self | 8 Bit Generation: The Commodore Wars

Chuck Peddle - Father of the Personal Computer, got the idea of developing a personal computer that should be a closed system which can immediately be used after plugging it to the power outlet. The result was the worlds first personal computer, the Commodore PET. This occurred almost at the same ...

13. Craig Sager

Actor | NBA 2K7

Craig Sager was born on June 29, 1951 in Batavia, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for NBA 2K7 (2006), Arli$$ (1996) and 1999 National League Championship Series (1999). He was married to Stacy Strebel and Lisa Gabel. He died on December 15, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

14. Darlanne Fluegel

Actress | To Live and Die in L.A.

American leading lady, briefly prominent on screen during the 80s and 90's. Blond, gray-eyed Darlanne (whose not very Hollywood-sounding birth name literally translates to 'wing' in German) began her career in 1974 as a model with the Eileen Ford and Zoli Agencies in New York. Seven year later, ...

15. Dave Christenson

Actor | Stabilizers: One Simple Thing

Dave Christenson was an actor, known for Stabilizers: One Simple Thing (1986). He died on December 15, 2017 in the USA.

16. Dorothy Abbott

Actress | Dragnet

Perennial starlet Dorothy Abbott was a sexy, vivacious, wide-smiling model, showgirl and actress who could brighten up a room. Unfortunately, her cinematic offerings wound up being pretty minimal and her last years were marred by depression and, ultimately, a tragic end.

She was born Dorothy E. ...

17. Ed Parker

Actor | The Money Jungle

Ed Parker was born on March 21, 1931 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. He was an actor, known for The Money Jungle (1967), Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) and Dimension 5 (1966). He died on December 15, 1990 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

18. Fran Jeffries

Actress | The Pink Panther

Fran Jeffries was born on May 18, 1937 in Mayfield, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Pink Panther (1963), Sex and the Single Girl (1964) and Harum Scarum (1965). She was married to Steven Schaeffer, Richard Quine, Dick Haymes and Edward Emile Belasco, Jr.. She died on December 15,...

19. Glenn Miller

Soundtrack | Wild at Heart

Alton Glenn Miller was born on March 1, 1904, in Clarinda, Iowa; the son of Lewis Elmer and Mattie Lou Cavender Miller. He started his music studies when his father gave him a mandolin. He soon traded the mandolin for an old horn. In 1916 he switched to trombone. In 1923, he enrolled in the ...

20. Guy Rétoré

Actor | Mourir pour Copernic

Guy Rétoré was born on April 7, 1924 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for Mourir pour Copernic (1975), Special Section (1975) and Us Two (1979). He died on December 15, 2018 in Sologne, France.

21. Heinz Wolff

Self | The Adventure Game

Heinz Wolff was born on April 29, 1928 in Berlin, Germany. He was married to Joan Stephenson. He died on December 15, 2017 in the UK.

22. Jean Rollin

Director | La nuit des traquées

Jean Rollin was born on November 3, 1938 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He was a director and writer, known for The Night of the Hunted (1980). He was married to Simone Rollin. He died on December 15, 2010 in Paris, France.

23. Jerry Chesnut

Soundtrack | Truck Stop Women

Jerry Chesnut was born on May 3, 1931 in Harlan County, Kentucky, USA. He was a composer, known for Truck Stop Women (1974), Feeling Minnesota (1996) and Indian Summer (1972). He died on December 15, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

24. Joan Fontaine

Actress | Suspicion

Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland on October 22, 1917, in Tokyo, Japan, in what was known as the International Settlement, to British parents, Lilian Augusta (Ruse), a former actress, and Walter Augustus de Havilland, an English professor and patent attorney. Her paternal grandfather's family was ...

25. John Berg

Actor | Star Trek: Nemesis

John was born in Wichita Falls, Texas on April 5, 1949 to parents Dr. Owen C. Berg and Evelyn van Emden Berg. John graduated from Wichita Falls High School in 1967. John attended the University of Chicago, Tulane University and the school of life.

During his life, John had a diverse career path - ...

26. John Critchinson

Actor | Screen One

John Critchinson was born on December 24, 1934 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Screen One (1985). He died on December 15, 2017.

27. John Zaremba

Actor | 20 Million Miles to Earth

John Zaremba was born on October 22, 1908 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and The Time Tunnel (1966). He was married to Elinor Deck Suter. He died on December 15, 1986 in Newport Beach, California, USA.

28. Jose Gonzales-Gonzales

Actor | The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

Jose Gonzales-Gonzales was born on December 7, 1922 in San Antonio, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991), Kronos (1957) and Mermaids of Tiburon (1962). He was married to Ventura Gonzalez-Gonzalez. He died on December 15, 2000 in Los Angeles, ...

29. Julio Vivar

Actor | El club de Anteojito y Antifaz

Julio Vivar was born on October 15, 1930 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for El club de Anteojito y Antifaz (1964), El show de Anteojito y Antifaz (1968) and El tango del millón (1973). He died on December 15, 2005 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

30. Kjell Grede

Director | Hip hip hurra!

Kjell Grede was born on August 12, 1936 in Bromma, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was a director and writer, known for Hip hip hurra! (1987), God afton, herr Wallenberg (1990) and Hugo and Josephine (1967). He was married to Anita Grede and Bibi Andersson. He died on December 15, 2017 in ...

31. Lennard Pearce

Actor | Only Fools and Horses

Lennard Pearce was born on February 9, 1915 in Paddington, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Only Fools and Horses (1981), Only Fools and Horses: Christmas Trees (1982) and Only Fools and Horses: Licensed to Drill (1984). He died on December 15, 1984 in Archway, London, England, UK.

32. Michiru Shimada

Writer | Yonimo kimyô na monogatari

Michiru Shimada was born on May 19, 1959 in Tokyo, Japan. She was a writer, known for Tales of the Bizarre (1990), Urusei yatsura (1981) and The Aurora (2000). She died on December 15, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan.

33. Monique Leyrac

Actress | Les lumières de ma ville

Monique Leyrac was born on February 26, 1928 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. She was an actress and writer, known for Les lumières de ma ville (1950), Anne-Marie (1954) and Act of the Heart (1970). She was married to Jean Dalmain. She died on December 15, 2019 in Cowansville, Quebec, Canada.

34. Neil Peter Jampolis

Art_director | Forever Plaid

Neil Peter Jampolis was born on March 14, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an art director and production designer, known for Forever Plaid (2008), The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006) and Jackie Mason: The World According to Me (1988). He was married to Jane Reisman Jampolis. He died on ...

35. Nicky Henson

Actor | Syriana

Nicky Henson was born in London, the son of Harriet Martha (Collins) and comedian Leslie Henson. He trained as a stage manager at RADA and made his theatrical debut in 1963, thereafter alternating between stage and screen. Henson was a member of the Young Vic Company from its inception in 1970 and ...

36. Paul Harvey

Actor | Spellbound

Paul Harvey was born on September 10, 1882 in Sandwich, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Spellbound (1945), Calamity Jane (1953) and Algiers (1938). He was married to Merle Stanton and Ottye Henrietta Cramer (actress). He died on December 15, 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

37. Ralph Koltai

Production_designer | Theatre Night

Ralph Koltai was born on July 31, 1924 in Berlin, Germany. He was a production designer and set decorator, known for Theatre Night (1985), Tempo (1961) and Music on 2 (1965). He was married to Annena Stubbs and Jane Alexander. He died on December 15, 2018 in Châtellerault, Vienne, France.

38. Shep Houghton

Actor | Dragnet

Born George Shephard Houghton on June 4, 1914, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Shep is the youngest of two sons born to George Henry Houghton and Mabell Viola Shephard. Far from being born into show business, his father was an insurance company representative who moved his family to Hollywood for business...

39. Véra Clouzot

Actress | Les diaboliques

Véra Gibson-Amado, known professionally as Véra Clouzot, was a Brazilian-French actress.

In 1941, Véra met French actor Léo Lapara, a member of the theater company of Louis Jouvet, who toured in Brazil during World War II. Vera married the actor, taking part in the company's South American tour that...

40. W. Somerset Maugham

Writer | Quartet

Popular British novelist, playwright, short-story writer and the highest-paid author in the world in the 1930s, Somerset Maugham graduated in 1897 from St. Thomas' Medical School and qualified as a doctor, but abandoned medicine after the success of his first novels and plays. During World War I he...

41. Walt Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Flora Disney (née Call) and Elias Disney, a Canadian-born farmer and businessperson. He had Irish, German, and English ancestry. Walt moved with his parents to Kansas City at age seven, where he spent the majority of ...