Gone too soon

1. Sharon Tate

Actress | Valley of the Dolls

Sharon's early life was one of constant moving as her father served in the military. When she lived in Italy, she was voted "Homecoming Queen" of her high school. After being an extra in a few Italian films, Sharon headed to Hollywood where she would again start as an extra. Her first big break ...

2. Marilyn Monroe

Actress | Some Like It Hot

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, comedienne, singer, and model. Monroe is of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh descent. She became one of the world's most enduring iconic figures and is remembered both for her winsome embodiment of the Hollywood sex symbol and her tragic personal and ...

3. Robert F. Kennedy

Writer | The Missiles of October

Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-68), US politician, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the third son of Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy and wife Rose Kennedy. He studied at Harvard and at the University of Virginia University Law School, served at sea (1944-46) in World War II, was admitted to the bar...

4. John F. Kennedy

Writer | Profiles in Courage

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Rose Kennedy (née Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald) and Joseph P. Kennedy. John was named after his maternal grandfather, John "HoneyFitz" Fitzgerald, the mayor of Boston. John was very ill as a child and was given the last ...

5. 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...

6. James Dean

Actor | East of Eden

James Byron Dean was born February 8, 1931 in Marion, Indiana, to Mildred Marie (Wilson) and Winton A. Dean, a farmer turned dental technician. His mother died when Dean was nine, and he was subsequently raised on a farm by his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. After grade school, he moved to ...

7. Bruce Lee

Actor | Jing wu men

Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream North American and ...

8. Jimi Hendrix

Soundtrack | Woodstock

Widely regarded as the greatest and most influential guitarist in rock history, Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, to African-American parents Lucille (Jeter) and James Allen Hendrix. His mother named him John Allen Hendrix and raised him alone while his father, Al ...

9. John Kennedy Jr.

Actor | A Matter of Degrees

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. was born on November 25, 1960, in Washington, DC, to John Fitzgerald Kennedy (President-to-be John F. Kennedy) and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy (Jacqueline Kennedy). Three weeks before his birth, his father was elected President of the United States, and the nation ...

10. Jacqueline Kennedy

Self | A Tour of the White House

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New York, to Janet Norton (Lee) and John Vernou "Blackjack" Bouvier III, a stockbroker. Her sister Caroline Lee (aka Lee Radziwill) was born four years after her. Her mother was of Irish descent and her father had French, English, ...

11. Tupac Shakur

Actor | Juice

Born in New York City, Tupac grew up primarily in Harlem. In 1984, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he became good friends with Jada Pinkett Smith. His family moved again in 1988 to Oakland, California. His first breakthrough in music came in 1991 as a member of the group Digital ...

12. The Notorious B.I.G.

Soundtrack | Fast X

Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, was born on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Jamaican parents, Voletta Wallace, a pre-school teacher, and Selwyn George Latore, a welder and small-time politician. He was raised in the poor Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. ...

13. Jim Morrison

Soundtrack | Army of the Dead

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American poet, singer, and songwriter from Florida. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band "The Doors" (1965-1973), and has been cited as "one of the most influential frontmen in rock history". Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all...

14. Ritchie Valens

Soundtrack | La Bamba

Ritchie, the 'California Kid' was from a family of poverty stricken fruit pickers and was the first rock star to originate from the West Coast and one of the innovators of 'Latino rock. In an eight month career he scored three hits with 'Come On Let's Go', 'Donna' and 'La Bamba' before being killed...

15. Bob Marley

Soundtrack | I Am Legend

Bob Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in Nine Miles, Saint Ann, Jamaica, to Norval Marley and Cedella Booker. His father was a Jamaican of English descent. His mother was a black teenager. The couple were married in 1944 but Norval left for Kingston immediately after. Norval died in 1957, seeing...

16. Buddy Holly

Soundtrack | Big Fish

Charles Hardin Holley, known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born in Lubbock, Texas, to a musical family during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his siblings. His ...

17. Heath Ledger

Actor | Brokeback Mountain

When hunky, twenty-year-old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of little depth. He spent several years trying desperately to sway this image, but this was a double-edged sword. His work comprised ...

18. River Phoenix

Actor | My Own Private Idaho

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 ...

19. Brittany Murphy

Actress | Clueless

Brittany Murphy was born Brittany Anne Bertolotti on November 10, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia, to Sharon Kathleen Murphy and Angelo Joseph Bertolotti. Her father's ancestry is Italian, and her mother is of Irish and Slovak descent. Her father moved the family back to Edison, New Jersey as a native New...

20. Elvis Presley

Soundtrack | Girls! Girls! Girls!

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Presley (née Gladys Love Smith) and Vernon Presley (Vernon Elvis Presley). He had a twin brother who was stillborn. In 1948, Elvis and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he attended Humes High School. ...

21. Kurt Cobain

Soundtrack | The Batman

Kurt Cobain was born on February 20 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. Kurt and his family lived in Hoquiam for the first few months of his life then later moved back to Aberdeen, where he had a happy childhood until his parents divorced. The divorce left Kurt's outlook on the world forever scarred. He...

22. Gary Coleman

Actor | Diff'rent Strokes

Without a doubt Gary Coleman was THE child TV star of the late 1970s and early 1980s. A refreshingly confident little tyke with sparkling dark, saucer-like eyes and an ingratiating, take-on-anyone burst of personality, the boy charmed the pants right off of TV viewers the minute he was glimpsed in ...

23. 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, ...

24. Brad Renfro

Actor | The Client

Brad Renfro was born on July 25, 1982 in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Angela Denise McCrory and Mark Renfro, a factory worker. He was discovered at age 10 by director Joel Schumacher and was cast in the motion picture The Client (1994), which starred Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Although this ...

25. Brandon Lee

Actor | The Crow

Born on February 1, 1965 to Bruce Lee (Martial Arts idol) and Linda Lee Cadwell. Brother to Shannon Lee. In 1970-71, they moved to Hong Kong, where Brandon lived until age eight, becoming fluent in Cantonese. By the time he was able to walk, he was already involved in learning about martial arts ...

26. Martin Luther King

Soundtrack | Freedom Writers

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the son of Alberta Christine (Williams), a schoolteacher, and Martin Luther King Sr. a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. For Martin the civil rights movement began one summer in 1935 when he was six ...

27. Jayne Mansfield

Actress | The Girl Can't Help It

One of the leading sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, film actress Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, the only child of Vera J. (nee Palmer; later Peers) and Herbert W. Palmer. Her parents were well-to-do, with her father a successful attorney ...

28. Prince

Soundtrack | Under the Cherry Moon

Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer and social worker, and John L. Nelson, a lyricist and pianist. His father's stage name was "Prince Rogers". His parents were both from African-American families from Louisiana. They separated during his youth, ...

29. Vanity

Actress | Action Jackson

Vanity was a glamorous Canadian model and lead singer of the all-girl group "Vanity 6." She specialized in playing sultry female characters often in trouble with the law.

Vanity was born Denise Katherine Matthews in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Helga Senyk and James Levia Matthews...

30. Amy Winehouse

Soundtrack | Amy

Amy Jade Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983 in Enfield, London, England and raised in Southgate, London, England to Janis Holly Collins (née Seaton), a pharmacist & Mitchell "Mitch" Winehouse, a window panel installer and taxi driver. Her family shared her love of theater and music. Amy was ...

31. Robin Williams

Actor | Mrs. Doubtfire

Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford ...

32. Sal Mineo

Actor | Exodus

Salvatore (Sal) Mineo Jr. was born to Josephine and Sal Sr. (a casket maker), who emigrated to the U.S. from Sicily. His siblings were Michael, Victor and Sarina. Sal was thrown out of parochial school and, by age eight, was a member of a street gang in a tough Bronx neighborhood. His mother ...

33. Freddie Prinze

Actor | Chico and the Man

Freddie Prinze was born Frederick Karl Pruetzel in New York City, New York, to a Puerto Rican mother, Aurea Elena Ruiz, and a German immigrant father, Edward Karl Pruetzel. Freddie grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City. As a chubby child, he was often bullied, but was quite ...

34. Christina Grimmie

Soundtrack | The Matchbreaker

Christina Grimmie was an American actress, singer, song writer, and YouTube sensation. Grimmie is known as 'zeldaxlove64' on YouTube. Grimmie gained recognition after posting covers of popular songs on YouTube. She also placed 2nd Runner up on The Voice. On June 10, 2016, Grimmie was shot three ...

35. Chris Farley

Actor | Tommy Boy

Christopher Crosby Farley was born on February 15, 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Mary Anne (Crosby) and Thomas Farley, who owned an oil company. Among his siblings are actors Kevin P. Farley and John Farley. He was of Irish heritage. Farley studied theatre and communications on Marquette ...

36. Natalie Wood

Actress | Rebel Without a Cause

Natalie Wood was an American actress of Russian and Ukrainian descent. She started her career as a child actress and eventually transitioned into teenage roles, young adult roles, and middle-aged roles. She drowned off Catalina Island on November 29, 1981 at age 43.

Wood was born July 20, 1938 in ...

37. Rebecca Schaeffer

Actress | Radio Days

Rebecca began modeling at the age of 16, going off to New York on her own to begin her career. Four months later, she found herself in Japan, modeling. Eventually, she landed a co-starring role on My Sister Sam (1986), for which she is now best known. In 1989 she also became a spokesperson for ...

38. Amanda Peterson

Actress | Can't Buy Me Love

Amanda Peterson was born on July 8, in Greeley, Colorado. With a natural beauty, powerful charm and a strong personality this talented and truly gifted actress began her career in film industry at age 9, with the feature film Annie (1982), directed by Academy Award-winner John Huston. To ...

39. Abigail Folger

Abigail Folger was born on August 11, 1943 in San Francisco, California, USA. She died on August 9, 1969 in Bel Air, California, USA.

40. Anthony Bourdain

Producer | Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

Anthony Bourdain was born in New York City, to Gladys (Sacksman), an NYT staff editor, and Pierre Bourdain, a Columbia Records executive. He attended The Englewood School for Boys in New Jersey and Vassar College (for two years), and was a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. He began his...

41. Heather O'Rourke

Actress | Poltergeist

Heather Michele O'Rourke was born on December 27, 1975 in Santee, San Diego, California, to Kathleen, a seamstress, and Michael O'Rourke, a construction worker. She had German, Danish, English, and Irish ancestry.

Heather entered American cinematic pop-culture before first grade. She was sitting ...

42. Dana Plato

Actress | Diff'rent Strokes

Dana Michelle Plato was born in Maywood, California, on Saturday, November 7, 1964. Her first excursion into the film world occurred when she was 11 in the television film Beyond the Bermuda Triangle (1975). Dana never made an impact on the TV screen until she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond ...

43. Michelle Thomas

Actress | The Young and the Restless

Michelle Thomas was born in Boston but raised in New York and New Jersey. She attended the Montclair School of Arts and the Broadway Dance Center. She is survived by her mother, Phynjuar Thomas (a stage actress and acting coach); her brother, David Thomas; her grandfather, Cecil G. Saunders, Sr.; ...

44. Jay Sebring

Make_up_department | Operation C.I.A.

Jay Sebring was born on October 10, 1933 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for Operation C.I.A. (1965), Come Blow Your Horn (1963) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). He was married to Cami Sebring. He died on August 9, 1969 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.

45. The Big Bopper

Soundtrack | True Romance

The Big Bopper (real name: Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. ) was an American singer, songwriter, and disc jockey from Texas. His best known song compositions were" Chantilly Lace" (featuring a flirtatious phone conversation) and "White Lightning" (a rockabilly hit). Richardson was killed in an airplane ...

46. 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 ...

47. Jenni Rivera

Actress | Filly Brown

Dolores Janney "Jenni" Rivera was a Mexican-American actress, singer-songwriter, T.V. producer, spokesperson, philanthropist & entrepreneur known for her work within the banda and norteña music genres. She began recording in 1992, and her recordings often have themes of social issues, infidelity & ...

48. John Ritter

Actor | Sling Blade

Jonathan Southworth Ritter was born in Burbank, California, on September 17, 1948. He was the son of legendary country singer/actor Tex Ritter (born Woodward Maurice Ritter) and his wife, actress Dorothy Fay (née Dorothy Fay Southworth). The couple married in 1941 and had their first child, Tom ...

49. Princess Diana

Self | Charles & Diana: Never Meant to Be

Princess Diana was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry. Diana's activism and glamour made her an international icon and earned her an enduring popularity.

Diana was born into the British nobility ...

50. Grace Kelly

Actress | Dial M for Murder

On November 12, 1929, Grace Patricia Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to wealthy parents. Her girlhood was uneventful for the most part, but one of the things she desired was to become an actress which she had decided on at an early age. After her high school graduation in 1947, Grace ...

51. Davy Jones

Actor | The Monkees

Davy Jones left home to become a jockey. While he was an apprentice, he was encouraged to go into acting and got a role in a production of "Peter Pan". From there, he played on Coronation Street (1960) and The Pickwick Papers (1952) before landing the role of "The Artful Dodger" in "Oliver!". This ...

52. 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 ...

53. Peg Entwistle

Actress | Thirteen Women

Peg Entwistle was born on February 5, 1908 in Port Talbot, Wales at the home of her maternal grandparents, John and Caroline Stevenson because Caroline was to act as midwife. Peg's mother was Emily Stevenson Entwistle and her father was actor/ stage manager Robert Symes Entwistle (1872-1922). They ...

54. Lorena Rojas

Actress | Corazones rotos

Lorena Rojas was born on February 10, 1971 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Corazones rotos (2001), El Cuerpo del Deseo (2005) and La quebradita (1994). She was married to Patrick Shaas. She died on February 16, 2015 in Miami, Florida, USA.

55. Corey Haim

Actor | The Lost Boys

Corey Haim was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Judy Haim, an Israeli-born data processor, and Bernie Haim, a clothing sales representative. He has a sister, Carol, and a half-brother, Daniel. His family is Jewish. He was raised mostly in Willowdale.

Corey appeared in 26 episodes of the early 1980s ...

56. Paul Walker

Actor | The Fast and the Furious

Paul William Walker IV was born in Glendale, California. He grew up together with his brothers, Caleb and Cody, and sisters, Ashlie and Amie. Their parents, Paul William Walker III, a sewer contractor, and Cheryl (Crabtree) Walker, a model, separated around September 2004. His grandfather, William ...

57. Gia Carangi

Actress | Blondie: Atomic

Gia Carangi was born on January 29, 1960 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Blondie: Atomic (1980). She died on November 18, 1986 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

58. Bernie Mac

Actor | The Bernie Mac Show

Bernard Jeffrey McCollough was born in 1957 in Chicago, the son of Mary McCullough and Jeffery Harrison. He grew up in the city, in a rougher neighborhood than most others, with a large family living under one roof. This situation provided him with a great insight into his comedy, as his family, ...

59. Peter Tosh

Soundtrack | Savages

Peter Tosh was born on October 19, 1944 in Grange Hill, Jamaica. He was an actor and composer, known for Savages (2012), Pineapple Express (2008) and Lords of Dogtown (2005). He died on September 11, 1987 in Kingston, Jamaica.

60. Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes

Soundtrack | Captain Marvel

Controversial, flamboyant, and spontaneous are probably the best words to describe Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Born in Philadelphia, and raised throughout the world as the daughter of a U.S. Army serviceman, Lisa Lopes became one of the most important trendsetters in the 1990s music scene. After ...

61. Michael Hutchence

Soundtrack | Donnie Darko

Michael Hutchence is one of the greatest singers and performers in Australia's history, with a career that spanned 20 years. Born to Kelland Hutchence and Patricia Hutchence (a film and television make-up artist), Michael was the second of three children. He grew up in Hong Kong, USA, and Australia...

62. Mindy McCready

Soundtrack | Switchback

Mindy McCready was born on November 30, 1975 in Fort Meyers, Florida, USA. She was an actress, known for Switchback (1997) and Mindy McCready: Ten Thousand Angels (1996). She died on February 17, 2013 in Heber Springs, Arkansas, USA.

63. Nicole Brown Simpson

Self | Infamous Crime Scenes: OJ

Nicole Brown Simpson was born on May 19, 1959 in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. She was an actress, known for Infamous Crime Scenes: OJ. She was married to O.J. Simpson. She died on June 12, 1994 in Brentwood, California, USA.

64. Ron Goldman

Self | Studs

Ronald Lyle Goldman was born to Sharon and Fred Goldman on July 2nd, 1968. He grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He had a younger sister named Kim Goldman. When Ron was six, his parents divorced, and his father was granted custody. This led to a very distant relationship between Ron and Kim, and ...

65. Len Bias

Self | 1986 NBA Draft

Considered by many to be one of the greatest college basketball players of the modern era. During the 1985 and 1986 seasons, this unheralded Northwestern High School (Hyattsville, MD) product asserted himself into the forward spot at the University of Maryland. His highlight-reel performances, ...

66. Sheng Fu

Actor | Jue dai shuang jiao

Born Chang Fu-Sheng to a wealthy family on October 20th, 1954, in Hong Kong. His English adopted name was Alexander. He was the ninth of 11 siblings. He was considered his father's favorite. Unlike the rest of his family, he showed little interest in academic and had no desire to try his hand in ...

67. Tammi Terrell

Soundtrack | Guardians of the Galaxy

Tammi Terrell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA as Thomasina Winifred Montgomery. She is best known for singing duets with Marvin Gaye in the 1960s, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." She was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the height of her popularity and after unsuccessful ...

68. Alexis Arquette

Actress | Pulp Fiction

Alexis Arquette (born Robert Arquette) (death: September 11, 2016) was an American actress. Arquette was born in Los Angeles, the fourth of five children of Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (Nowak), a Jewish actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, ...

69. 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 ...

70. Jack Cassidy

Actor | The Eiger Sanction

Actor. Jack Cassidy, by his own design, defied mere definition from the day he was born in Richmond Hills, New York in 1927 until his tragic death in 1976. An actor, singer, writer, designer - the consummate showman and irrefutable creative entity - his life never followed a simple path nor did it ...

71. Albert Dekker

Actor | The Wild Bunch

A stage actor from 1927, Albert Dekker was an established Broadway star when he made his film debut ten years later. Tall and with rugged good looks, he often played aggressive character roles, a prime example being his double-crossing gang leader in the classic The Killers (1946). From 1944-46 he ...

72. Carole Lombard

Actress | My Man Godfrey

Carole Lombard was born Jane Alice Peters in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on October 6, 1908. Her parents divorced in 1916 and her mother took the family on a trip out West. While there they decided to settle down in the Los Angeles area. After being spotted playing baseball in the street with the ...

73. 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, ...

74. 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 ...

75. Steve McQueen

Actor | The Great Escape

He was the ultra-cool male film star of the 1960s, and rose from a troubled youth spent in reform schools to being the world's most popular actor. Over 40 years after his untimely death from mesothelioma in 1980, Steve McQueen is still considered hip and cool, and he endures as an icon of popular ...

76. Karen Carpenter

Soundtrack | Paul Williams: Still Alive

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen Carpenter moved with her family to Downey, California, in 1963. Karen's older brother, Richard Carpenter, decided to put together an instrumental trio with him on the piano, Karen on the drums and their friend Wes Jacobs on the bass and tuba. In a battle of the...

77. Jim Croce

Soundtrack | Django Unchained

Jim Croce was born on Sunday, January 10th, 1943 in a working-class section of Philadelphia, in an Italian-American family. While a teenager, he began playing the accordion, and then learning to play an acoustic guitar when he was 18. After a short stint in the U.S. Army, where he supposedly met ...

78. Harry Chapin

Soundtrack | Cotton Patch Gospel

A singer/songwriter and activist for many charitable causes, especially in the realm of ending world hunger, Harry Chapin never let the often lukewarm reviews of his music-making abilities faze him and as a result of his strong folksy persona, the fans he made stuck by him throughout his career and...

79. Sam Cooke

Soundtrack | Innerspace

Sam Cooke was born January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He was one of eight children of Charles Cook Sr., a Baptist minister. When Sam sang as a little boy in church, everyone made note that his voice had "something special". He sang in church and in local gospel choirs until a group called...

80. Otis Redding

Soundtrack | Top Gun

Otis Redding was born on September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia, USA. He was a music artist and composer, known for Top Gun (1986), Hamburger Hill (1987) and Road House (1989). He was married to Zelma Redding. He died on December 10, 1967 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

81. George Reeves

Actor | Adventures of Superman

George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, to Helen Roberta (Lescher) and Donald C. Brewer. He was of German, English, and Scottish descent. Following his parents' divorce and his mother's remarriage to Frank J. Bessolo, Reeves was raised in Pasadena, California, and educated ...

82. Christopher Reeve

Actor | Superman

Christopher D'Olier Reeve was born September 25, 1952, in New York City, to journalist Barbara Johnson (née Barbara Pitney Lamb) and writer/professor F.D. Reeve (Franklin D'Olier Reeve). He came from an upper-class family; his paternal grandfather was CEO of Prudential Financial, and one of his ...

83. Dorothy Dandridge

Actress | Carmen Jones

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruby Dandridge (née Ruby Jean Butler), an entertainer, and Cyril H. Dandridge, a cabinet maker and minister. Under the prodding of her mother, Dorothy and her sister Vivian Dandridge began performing publicly, usually in ...

84. Jonathan Melvoin

Art_department | Mulholland Dr.

Jonathan Melvoin was born on December 6, 1961. He was an actor, known for Mulholland Drive (2001), Drag Me to Hell (2009) and Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003). He died on July 11, 1996 in New York City, New York, USA.

85. Bob Crane

Actor | Hogan's Heroes

Bob Crane was born in Waterbury, CT, the youngest of two sons. In school he was known for being a class clown and an intense music lover. His favorites were jazz and big band. Bob's specialty was the drums. After graduating from Stamford High School in 1946, he turned his attention to his love for ...

86. 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...

87. Dorothy Stratten

Actress | Galaxina

Dorothy Stratten's story was brief, glorious and tragic. She was born Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten on February 28, 1960 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She grew up in a rough neighborhood in Vancouver, but kept out of trouble and went through the motions of school. While not a beauty as a child...

88. 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 ...

89. Rock Hudson

Actor | Giant

Rock Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr. in Winnetka, Illinois, to Katherine (Wood), a telephone operator, and Roy Harold Scherer, an auto mechanic. He was of German, Swiss-German, English, and Irish descent. His parents divorced when he was eight years old. He failed to obtain parts in school ...

90. Cory Monteith

Actor | Glee

Cory Monteith was born on May 11, 1982 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada as Cory Allan Michael Monteith. He was an actor, known for playing the singing jock Finn on the American TV show Glee (2009) and films such as Monte Carlo (2011), and Final Destination 3 (2006). He died on July 13, 2013 in Vancouver...

91. Jonathan Brandis

Actor | The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter

Born in Danbury, Connecticut, USA, to Greg and Mary, Jonathan Brandis began his career at age 5, acting in several television commercials. He also appeared in small parts in several films and TV shows before his first starring role in the 1990 film The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990). ...

92. Rudolph Valentino

Actor | The Eagle

Hollywood's original Latin Lover, a term that was invented for Rudolph Valentino by Hollywood moguls. Alla Nazimova's friend Natacha Rambova (nee Winifred Hudnut) became romantically involved with Rudy and they lived together in her bungalow from 1921 (during the filming of Camille) until they ...

93. Sid Vicious

Soundtrack | The Astronaut's Wife

Along with fellow Sex Pistol member, Johnny Rotten, lanky, sneering, pock faced Sid epitomised the punk movement born in the mid 1970s in working class England. Sid Vicious (real name John Beverly) wasn't an original member of the Pistols, but rather joined the band after original bassist, Glen ...

94. Marvin Gaye

Soundtrack | High Fidelity

Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. (known professionally as Marvin Gaye; April 2, 1939 - April 1, 1984) was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, earning him the nicknames ...

95. Dimebag Darrell

Soundtrack | Triple Frontier

Dimebag Darrell was born on August 20, 1966 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Triple Frontier (2019), The Big Short (2015) and Lethal Weapon (2016). He died on December 8, 2004 in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

96. Jam Master Jay

Soundtrack | Die Hard

Jam Master Jay was born on January 21, 1965 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Die Hard (1988), The Bounty Hunter (2010) and Friday Night Lights (2004). He was married to Terri Corley. He died on October 30, 2002 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA.

97. Anton Yelchin

Actor | Star Trek

Anton Yelchin was an American actor, known for playing Bobby in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), Chekov in the Star Trek (2009) reboot, Charlie Brewster in the Fright Night (2011) remake, and Jacob in Like Crazy (2011).

He was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, USSR, to a Jewish family. His ...

98. Andrew Koenig

Actor | InAlienable

Andrew Koenig was born on August 17, 1968 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for InAlienable (2007), Batman: Dead End (2003) and Growing Pains (1985). He died on February 14, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

99. Shannon Hoon

Soundtrack | Without a Paddle

Shannon Hoon was born on September 26, 1967 in Lafayette, Indiana, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Without a Paddle (2004), Private Parts (1997) and Remember the Daze (2007). He was married to Lisa Crouse. He died on October 21, 1995 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

100. Scott Weiland

Soundtrack | Tank Girl

Scott Weiland was born on October 27, 1967 in Santa Cruz, California, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Tank Girl (1995), Battleship (2012) and Hulk (2003). He was married to Jamie Wachtel, Mary Forsberg and Janina Castenada. He died on December 3, 2015 in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.