TCM Remembers in Chronological Order

1. Woody Strode

An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. He became part of Hollywood lore after meeting director John Ford and becoming a part of the Ford "family," appearing in four Ford motion pictures. Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with ...

Actor - died 31 December 1994

2. George Abbott

Writer | The Pajama Game

Legendary Broadway writer/producer/director George Abbott was born in 1887 in Forestville, New York. His father was mayor of Salamanca, New York, for two terms. In 1898 his family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Abbott attended Kearney Military Academy. The family returned to New York, where Abbott...

Broadway Legend - died 31 January 1995

3. Donald Pleasence

Actor | Halloween II

Balding, quietly-spoken, of slight build and possessed of piercing blue eyes -- often peering out from behind round, steel-rimmed glasses -- Donald Pleasence had the necessary physical attributes which make a great screen villain. In the course of his lengthy career, he relished playing the ...

Actor - died 2 February 1995

4. David Wayne

Actor | The Andromeda Strain

His father was an insurance executive; his mother died when he was four. He attended Western Michigan University then worked as a statistician in Cleveland where he joined a Shakespeare repertory company. Two years later he had a minor role in "The American Way" in New York. He was rejected by the ...

Actor - died 9 February 1995

5. Albert Hackett

Writer | The Thin Man

Albert Hackett was born on February 16, 1900 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Thin Man (1934), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Easter Parade (1948). He was previously married to Gisella (Svetlik) Orkin and Frances Goodrich. He died on March 16, ...

Screenwriter - died 16 March 1995

6. Priscilla Lane

Actress | Arsenic and Old Lace

Priscilla Lane attended the Eagin School of Dramatic Arts in New York before she began touring with her sisters in the Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians Dance Band. She was a popular singer with her sisters and, after 5 years, she was signed to a Hollywood contract with Warner Brothers in 1937. ...

Actress - died 4 April 1995

7. Burl Ives

Actor | The Big Country

Burl Ives was one of six children born to a farming family in Hunt City, Jasper, Illinois, the son of Cordellia "Dellie" (White) and Levi Franklin Ives. He first sang in public for a soldiers' reunion when he was age 4. In high school, he learned the banjo and played fullback, intending to become a...

Actor - died 14 April 1995

8. Alexander Knox

Actor | Wilson

A Presbyterian minister's son, softly-spoken, intellectual-looking Alexander Knox received his education from the University of Western Ontario where he studied English literature. An excellent elocutionist (a member of the university's Hesperian Club) he had his first fling with dramatic acting ...

Actor - died 25 April 1995

9. Ginger Rogers

Actress | Kitty Foyle

Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri on July 16, 1911, the daughter of Lela E. Rogers (née Lela Emogene Owens) and William Eddins McMath. Her mother went to Independence to have Ginger away from her husband. She had a baby earlier in their marriage and he ...

Actress - died 25 April 1995

10. Arthur Lubin

Director | Phantom of the Opera

A graduate of Carnegie Tech, Arthur Lubin entered films as an actor in the 1920s, and after appearing in many films turned to directing in 1934, mainly for Universal. His forte was light comedy, but he helmed many different types of pictures for the studio. Lubin was the director Universal ...

Director - died 12 May 1995

11. Elisha Cook Jr.

Actor | House on Haunted Hill

Although this pint-sized actor started out in films often in innocuous college-student roles in mid-30s rah-rahs, playing alongside the likes of a pretty Gloria Stuart or a young, pre-"Oz" Judy Garland, casting directors would soon enough discover his flair for portraying intense neurotics or ...

Actor - died 18 May 1995

12. Roy Rowland

Director | Meet Me in Las Vegas

Roy Rowland studied law at the University of Southern California, then joined MGM as a script clerk. As if getting that job wasn't enough good luck in the middle of the Depression, he also married the niece of MGM chief Louis B. Mayer.

He sharpened his directing chops at MGM with a series of shorts ...

Director - died 29 June 1995

13. Lana Turner

Actress | Imitation of Life

Lana Turner had an acting ability that belied the "Sweater Girl" image MGM thrust upon her, and even many of her directors admitted that they knew she was capable of greatness (check out The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)). Unfortunately, her private life sometimes overshadowed her professional ...

Actress - died 29 June 1995

14. Eva Gabor

Actress | The Rescuers

Eva Gabor was born on February 11, 1919 in Budapest, Hungary, to Jolie Gabor (née Janka Tilleman) and Vilmos Gabor (born Farkas Miklós Grün), a soldier. Her older siblings were Magda Gabor, an actress, and Zsa Zsa Gabor, an actress and socialite. Her parents were both from Jewish families. She went...

Actress - died 4 July 1995

15. Genevieve Tobin

Actress | Easy to Love

The daughter of a stage entertainer, New York-born actress Genevieve Tobin started treading the boards as a child and appeared in the role of Little Eva in the silent short Uncle Tom's Cabin (1910). Her older brother George Tobin and younger sister Vivian Tobin also became stage and film actors. By...

Actress - died 21 July 1995

16. Miklós Rózsa

Composer | Ben-Hur

A child prodigy, Miklos Rózsa learned to play the violin at the age of five and read music before he was able to read words. In 1926, he began studying at the Leipzig Conservatory where he was considered a brilliant student. He obtained his doctorate in music in 1930. Moving to Paris the following ...

Composer - died 27 July 1995

17. Ida Lupino

Actress | High Sierra

Ida was born in London to a show business family. In 1932, her mother took Ida with her to an audition and Ida got the part her mother wanted. The picture was Her First Affaire (1932). Ida, a bleached blonde, went to Hollywood in 1934 playing small, insignificant parts. Peter Ibbetson (1935) was ...

Actress - died 3 August 1995

18. Grady Sutton

Actor | The Bank Dick

Grady Sutton was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He arrived in California in 1924. He got his first break in Hollywood from director William A. Seiter who used him as an extra in The Mad Whirl (1925) starring May McAvoy. Grady remained a Hollywood staple for the next 55 years.

He specialized in ...

Actor - died 17 September 1995

19. Mary Wickes

Actress | Sister Act

From the grand old school of wisecracking, loud and lanky Mary Wickes had few peers while forging a career as a salty scene-stealer. Her abrupt, tell-it-like-it-is demeanor made her a consistent audience favorite on every medium for over six decades. She was particularly adroit in film parts that ...

Actress - died 22 October 1995

20. Viveca Lindfors

Actress | Stargate

Ms. Lindfors was a Swedish-born actress whose stage and screen career in the U.S. and Sweden spanned more than half a century. She was brought to Hollywood in 1946 by Warner Brothers in the hope that she would be a new Greta Garbo or Ingrid Bergman. She appeared with Ronald Reagan in her first ...

Actress - died 25 October 1995

21. Ralph Blane

Soundtrack | Meet Me in St. Louis

Ralph Blane was born on July 26, 1914 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Jurassic World (2015) and The Godfather (1972). He was previously married to Emajo Stage. He died on November 13, 1995 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA.

Songwriter - died 13 November 1995

22. Dean Martin

Soundtrack | The Dean Martin Show

Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, to Gaetano Alfonso "Guy" Crocetti, an Italian immigrant and barber, and his Ohio-born wife, Angela (Barra) Crocetti. He spoke only Italian until age five. Martin came up the hard way, with such jobs as a boxer ("Kid Crochet"), a steel mill ...

Actor / Singer (my revision) - died 25 December 1995

23. Gene Kelly

Soundtrack | Singin' in the Rain

Eugene Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third son of Harriet Catherine (Curran) and James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was of Irish and German ancestry.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest and most powerful studio in...

Dancer / Actor - died 2 February 1996

24. Audrey Meadows

Actress | The Honeymooners

Audrey Meadows was born in New York City as Audrey Cotter, the youngest of four children. After she was born, her family returned to Wu'chang, China, where they worked as missionaries. Her family returned to the US and settled in New England when Audrey was age 6, and she and sister Jayne Meadows ...

Actress - died 3 February 1996

25. Guy Madison

Actor | The Beast of Hollow Mountain

Handsome American leading man Guy Madison stumbled into a film career and became a television star and hero to the Baby Boom generation. As a young man he worked as a telephone lineman, but entered the Coast Guard at the beginning of the Second World War. While on liberty one weekend in Hollywood, ...

Actor - died 6 February 1996

26. Martin Balsam

Actor | All the President's Men

Martin Henry Balsam was born on November 4, 1919 in the Bronx, New York City, to Lillian (Weinstein) and Albert Balsam, a manufacturer of women's sportswear. He was the first-born child. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant, and his mother was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. ...

Actor - died 13 February 1996

27. Lyle Talbot

Actor | The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

Lyle Talbot, who appeared in over 150 movies from leads in Warner Bros.' "pre-Code" pictures to countless supporting roles, and later enjoyed a steady TV career as a character actor, was born Lysle Henderson on February 8, 1902, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a small town in Nebraska, ...

Actor - died 2 March 1996

28. Whit Bissell

Actor | The Magnificent Seven

Whit Bissell came to Hollywood in the 1940s, and by the time he retired he had appeared in more than 200 movies and scores of TV series. He is best known for playing the evil scientist who turned Michael Landon into a half beast in the 1957 cult classic film I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957). Bissell...

Actor - died 5 March 1996

29. George Burns

Actor | Oh, God!

George Burns was an American actor, comedian, singer, and published author. He formed a comedy duo with his wife Gracie Allen (1895-1964), and typically played the straight man to her zany roles. Following her death, Burns started appearing as a solo performer. He once won an Academy Award for Best...

Comedian - died 9 March 1996

30. Ross Hunter

Producer | Airport

Noted Hollywood producer Ross Hunter served in Army intelligence during World War II. After the war he signed with Columbia Pictures and appeared in a number of forgettable B-movies. He then became a producer and produced more than 60 films. Most of his films tended to be bright confections, many ...

Producer - died 10 March 1996

31. Barbara McLean

Editor | All About Eve

Ms. McLean was a pioneering female film editor for 20th Century Fox. She began her Hollywood career in the 1930s and earned her first film credit for editing The Affairs of Cellini (1934). She joined Fox in 1935 as one of only eight female film editors working in Hollywood in the 1930s. She became ...

Editor - died 28 March 1996

32. Greer Garson

Actress | Pride and Prejudice

Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson was born on September 29, 1904 in London, England, to Nancy Sophia (Greer) and George Garson, a commercial clerk. Of Scottish and Ulster-Scots descent, Garson displayed no early interest in becoming an actress. Educated at the University of London intending to become a ...

Actress - died 6 April 1996

33. Ben Johnson

Actor | The Last Picture Show

Born in Oklahoma, Ben Johnson was a ranch hand and rodeo performer when, in 1940, Howard Hughes hired him to take a load of horses to California. He decided to stick around (the pay was good), and for some years was a stunt man, horse wrangler, and double for such stars as John Wayne, Gary Cooper ...

Actor - died 8 April 1996

34. Lucille Bremer

Actress | Meet Me in St. Louis

Arthur Freed discovered Lucille when she was working in a nightclub doing a specialty dance act, and decided to cast her as Rose Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis, and began building up her career which never really took off despite being put in 3 big musical productions at MGM. When she married, she ...

Actress - died 16 April 1996

35. Saul Bass

Director | Why Man Creates

Saul Bass was born in New York City in 1920 and is a widely acclaimed graphic designer with a career spanning over 40 years. Among his most famous works are the title sequences for such classic films as The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960). Bass used his ...

Graphic Designer - died 25 April 1996

36. Jack Weston

Actor | Dirty Dancing

In a 40-year stage, film, and television career, Weston played sleazy villains to hapless men going through midlife crises to clumsy comics. He was one of the bad guys who victimize a blind Audrey Hepburn in the 1967 cult classic Wait Until Dark (1967) but meets his end at the hands of the number ...

Actor - died 3 May 1996

37. Lash La Rue

Actor | The Dark Power

He looked so much like superstar Humphrey Bogart that character actress Sarah Padden asked if the two were related. LaRue said he didn't think so. After a long pause studying the young actor's face, she asked, "Did your mother ever meet Humphrey Bogart?"

Alfred "Lash" LaRue was born in Louisiana (...

Cowboy Star - died 21 May 1996

38. John Alton

Camera_department | An American in Paris

Starting out in 1924 as a lab technician at MGM, John Alton left there for Paramount to become a cameraman. He traveled to France and then to South America, where he wrote, photographed and directed several Spanish-language films. Returning to Hollywood in 1937, he soon achieved a reputation as one...

Cinematographer - died 2 June 1996

39. Brigitte Helm

Actress | Metropolis

After her role in Metropolis (1927) she made a string of movies in which she almost always had the starring role, easily making the transition to sound films. Her last film was An Ideal Spouse (1935) (An Ideal Spouse) in 1935.

Actress (my revision) - died 11 June 1996

40. Ella Fitzgerald

Soundtrack | Sphere

On Saturday, June 15th, 1996, an era in jazz singing came to an end, with the death of Ella Fitzgerald at her home in California. She was the last of four great female jazz singers (including Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Carmen McRae) who defined one of the most prolific eras in jazz vocal ...

Singer - died 15 June 1996

41. Albert R. Broccoli

Producer | Dr. No

Albert Romolo Broccoli was born in Astoria, Queens (New York City) on April 5th, 1909. His mother and father, Cristina and Giovanni Broccoli, raised young Albert in New York on the family farm. The family was in the vegetable business, and Albert claimed one of his uncles brought the first broccoli...

Producer - died 27 June 1996

42. Pandro S. Berman

Producer | Father of the Bride

Pandro S. Berman was born into the film industry. His father, Harry, was distributor and exhibitor of films. Pandro also had a number of relatives in the film industry. When he started working in the 1920's he started as a script clerk and then rose to film editor. By 1931, the 26 year old Berman ...

Producer - died 13 July 1996

43. Claudette Colbert

Actress | It Happened One Night

One of the brightest film stars to grace the screen was born Emilie Claudette Chauchoin on September 13, 1903, in Saint Mandé, France where her father owned a bakery at 57, rue de la République (now Avenue Général de Gaulle). The family moved to the United States when she was three. As Claudette ...

Actress - died 30 July 1996

44. Joanne Dru

Actress | Red River

The daughter of a West Virginia druggist, Joanne Dru came to New York in 1940. In New York she worked as a model and was cast by Al Jolson as one of the showgirls in his Broadway play "Hold Onto Your Hats." When the show closed in 1941, she married popular singer Dick Haymes and went with him to ...

Actress - died 10 September 1996

45. Juliet Prowse

Actress | Can-Can

Born in India to South African parents, Juliet studied to be a dancer from the age of 4. Attending the Royal Academy of Dance, by the time Juliet was 14, she was deemed too tall to enter the world of ballet. She signed as a chorus dancer with the London Palladium and then pursued a career as a ...

Dancer - died 14 September 1996

46. Gene Nelson

Actor | Oklahoma!

Gene Nelson was barely a teen when he saw the Fred Astaire movie Flying Down to Rio (1933), which would change his life. It was then that he decided he would be a dancer. After graduating from high school, Nelson joined the Sonja Henie Ice Show and toured for 3 years before joining the Army in ...

Dancer / Actor - died 16 September 1996

47. Annabella

Actress | Le million

At age 16, Annabella was chosen by Abel Gance to appear in Napoleon (1927). In the 30s, she became a star of French movies. She made movies in numerous other countries, before being called to Hollywood in 1938, where she met and married Tyrone Power. She remained in the USA until 1947. Then she ...

Actress - died 18 September 1996

48. Dorothy Lamour

Actress | Creepshow 2

In addition to being Miss New Orleans in 1931, Dorothy Lamour worked as a Chicago elevator operator; band vocalist for her first husband, band leader Herbie Kaye; and radio performer. In 1936 she donned her soon-to-be-famous sarong for her debut at Paramount, The Jungle Princess (1936), and ...

Actress - died 22 September 1996

49. Laura La Plante

Actress | God's Gift to Women

Laura La Plante was 15 years old when she entered films as a Christie Comedy Bathing Beauty. By 1921, she had played a number of roles including a Tom Mix Western called The Big Town Round-Up (1921) for Fox and The Old Swimmin' Hole (1921) for First National. Laura, now 17, next signed with ...

Actress - died 14 October 1996

50. Irving Caesar

Soundtrack | Entrapment

Composer, songwriter ("Swanee", "Tea for Two", "Crazy Rhythm", "Just a Gigolo"), author and publisher, educated at Chautauqua Mountain Institute and City College of New York. He was a stenographer aboard the Henry Ford Peace Ship during World War I. He joined ASCAP in 1920 and was a director ...

Songwriter - died 18 December 1996

51. Ronald Howard

Actor | Come September

The British actor Ronald Howard was born in Norwood, London, England, in 1918. He and his younger sister Leslie Ruth Howard were raised by their mother Ruth Evelyn Martin and their father, the renowned actor Leslie Howard. After college, Howard became a newspaper reporter for a while but decided to...

Actor - died 19 December 1996

52. Marcello Mastroianni

Actor | La dolce vita

Marcello Mastroianni was born in Fontana Liri, Italy in 1924, but soon his family moved to Turin and then Rome. During WW2 he was sent to a German prison camp, but he managed to escape and hide in Venice. He debuted in films as an extra in Marionette (1939), then started working for the Italian ...

Actor - died 19 December 1996

53. Jack Nance

Actor | Eraserhead

Born in Boston of Irish ancestry and raised in Dallas, Jack Nance traveled throughout the country doing children's theater. For eight years, he performed with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Later, he became involved with avant-garde theater. He first met David Lynch in the ...

Actor (my revision) - died 30 December 1996

54. Jesse White

Actor | It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

Lovable, laid-back Jesse White made acting seem fun and easy. He was born Jesse Marc Weidenfeld in Buffalo, New York, and was raised in Akron, Ohio. He made his first amateur appearance on the local stage at age 15. Before breaking into professional theater in the 1940s, he held many different jobs...

Actor - died 9 January 1997

55. Sheldon Leonard

Producer | Make Room for Daddy

Sheldon Leonard was born in New York City's lower Manhattan, the son of Jewish parents. He studied acting at Syracuse University and, after graduating, landed a job on Wall Street. Following the Wall Street crash of 1929, he found himself unemployed and resolved to become a professional actor on ...

Actor - died 10 January 1997

56. Diana Lewis

Actress | It's a Gift

Diana Lewis was born on September 18, 1919 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Her parents were vaudeville performers. The family moved to Hollywood and Diana, her sister Maxine, and her brother J.C. all went into show business. Diana made her film debut in the comedy It's a Gift (1934). At the age of ...

Actress - died 18 January 1997

57. Polly Ann Young

Actress | Port of Hate

Polly Ann Young was born on October 25, 1908 in Denver, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for Port of Hate (1939), Turnabout (1940) and The Man from Utah (1934). She was previously married to Carter Hermann. She died on January 21, 1997 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Actress - died 21 January 1997

58. Marjorie Reynolds

Actress | The Time of Their Lives

Bright, vivacious Marjorie Reynolds (née Marjorie Goodspeed) was born in Idaho on August 12, 1917 to a doctor and homemaker, and raised in Los Angeles.

Making her film debut at age 6, she "retired" after only a few years in favor of a normal education. She returned in the mid-30s, as a teenager this...

Actress - died 1 February 1997

59. Don Porter

Actor | Night Monster

Don Porter was born on September 24, 1912 in Miami, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Night Monster (1942), She-Wolf of London (1946) and Danger Woman (1946). He was previously married to Peggy Converse. He died on February 11, 1997 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, ...

Actor - died 11 February 1997

60. Fred Zinnemann

Director | A Man for All Seasons

Initially grew up wanting to be a violinist, but while at the University of Vienna decided to study law. While doing so, he became increasingly interested in American film and decided that was what he wanted to do. He became involved in European filmaking for a short time before going to America to...

Director - died 14 March 1997

61. Jean Louis

Costume_designer | From Here to Eternity

This Hollywood costume designer is best known for his creation of the strapless black gown worn by Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946). He also designed the gowns worn by Loretta Young during her swirling entrances in her "Loretta Young Show" on TV during the 50's and 60's. (Decades later, he and Miss ...

Costume Designer - died 20 April 1997

62. Pat Paulsen

Actor | The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Pat Paulsen was a comedian specializing in satire who thrived on television in the late 1960s. The highlight of his career came in the watershed year 1968 when - emulating Gracie Allen''s quixotic 1940 Presidential bid as the Surprise Party candidate - he launched his own campaign for the U.S. ...

Comedian - died 24 April 1997

63. Gabriel Figueroa

Cinematographer | La perla

Gabriel Figueroa was born on April 24, 1907 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for The Pearl (1947), Maria Candelaria (1944) and The Young and the Damned (1950). He died on April 27, 1997 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.

Cinematographer - died 27 April 1997

64. Sydney Guilaroff

Make_up_department | North by Northwest

Sydney Guilaroff was born on November 2, 1907 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for North by Northwest (1959), An American in Paris (1951) and The Time Machine (1960). He died on May 28, 1997 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Hair Stylist - died 28 May 1997

65. Richard Jaeckel

Actor | Starman

Stocky tough-guy character actor Richard Jaeckel was one of Hollywood's most prolific supporting stars. Born in Long Island, New York, on October 10, 1926, Jaeckel's family moved to Los Angeles when he was still in his teens. After graduation from Hollywood High School, Jaeckel was discovered by a ...

Actor - died 14 June 1997

66. Rosina Lawrence

Actress | Way Out West

This gorgeous green-eyed blonde was born in Canada to British parents and spent her early childhood attending schools in Canada, England, Boston and Los Angeles (where her father worked as a stage carpenter and set designer). She studied ballet for four years and tap dancing for another at the ...

Actress - died 23 June 1997

67. Brian Keith

Actor | The Parent Trap

Son of character actor Robert Keith and stage actress Helena Shipman. He grew up on the road with his parents while they toured in plays. First appeared at age 3 in film Pied Piper Malone (1924) with his father. Began acting in radio programs and on stage before World War II. Joined the Marines and ...

Actor - died 24 June 1997

68. Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Producer | Le monde du silence

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910, in Saint-André-de-Cubzac (Gironde) in France. He entered the naval academy in 1930, was graduated and became a gunnery officer. Then, while he was training to be a pilot, a serious car accident ended his aviation career. In order to rehabilitate his ...

Director - died 25 June 1997

69. William Hickey

Actor | National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Son of Edward & Nora Hickey. Best known as the ancient Mafia don in Prizzi's Honor (1985), Hickey had a long, distinguished career in film, television, and the stage. Began career as a child actor on the variety stage. Made Broadway debut as walk-on in George Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan" (1951 ...

Actor (my revision) - died 29 June 1997

70. Robert Mitchum

Actor | Out of the Past

Robert Mitchum was an underrated American leading man of enormous ability, who sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Ann Harriet (Gunderson), a Norwegian immigrant, and James Thomas Mitchum, a shipyard/railroad worker. His father died in a ...

Actor - died 1 July 1997

71. James Stewart

Actor | Anatomy of a Murder

James Maitland Stewart was born on May 20, 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth Ruth (Johnson) and Alexander Maitland Stewart, who owned a hardware store. He was of Scottish, Ulster-Scots, and some English descent. Stewart was educated at a local prep school, Mercersburg Academy, where he ...

Actor - died 2 July 1997

72. Sally Blane

Actress | Forbidden Company

Although this lovely, light brown-haired leading lady would wind up better known as one of Loretta Young's two elder acting sisters, Sally Blane nevertheless enjoyed a lively albeit modest "B" film career during the late 1920s and 1930s. The resemblance to her "A"-level sister was very strong -- ...

Actress - died 27 August 1997

73. Burgess Meredith

Actor | Clash of the Titans

One of the truly great and gifted performers of the century, who often suffered lesser roles, Burgess Meredith was born in 1907 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was educated in Amherst College in Massachusetts, before joining Eva Le Gallienne's Student Repertory stage company in 1929. By 1934 he was a star ...

Actor - died 9 September 1997

74. Red Skelton

Writer | The Red Skelton Show

The son of a former circus clown turned grocer and a cleaning woman, Red Skelton was introduced to show business at the age of seven by Ed Wynn, at a vaudeville show in Vincennes. At age 10, he left home to travel with a medicine show through the Midwest, and joined the vaudeville circuit at age 15....

Comedian - died 17 September 1997

75. Dorothy Kingsley

Writer | Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

The daughter of silent-screen star Alma Hanlon and Broadway writer/press agent Walter Kingsley, Dorothy Kingsley began her career as an uncredited gag writer for the Bob Hope Radio Show and, later, the Edgar Bergen Radio Show. Producer Arthur Freed put her under contract to MGM; her first ...

Screenwriter - died 26 September 1997

76. David Gill

Producer | American Masters

David Gill was born on June 9, 1928 in Territory of New Guinea [now Papua New Guinea]. He was a producer and director, known for American Masters (1985), Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987) and Unknown Chaplin (1983). He was previously married to Pauline Wadsworth. He died on September 28, ...

Film Historian - died 28 September 1997

77. Samuel Fuller

Writer | Shock Corridor

At age 17, Samuel Fuller was the youngest reporter ever to be in charge of the events section of the New York Journal. After having participated in the European battle theater in World War II, he directed some minor action productions for which he mostly wrote the scripts himself and which he also ...

Director - died 30 October 1997

78. Saul Chaplin

Music_department | West Side Story

Composer, songwriter ("Bei Mir Bist Du Schon," "Until the Real Thing Comes Along," "Anniversary Song"), pianist, conductor, arranger, author and producer, educated at the NYU School of Commerce. As a young man, he joined an orchestra as pianist, and Sammy Cahn was in that orchestra as a violinist. ...

Music Arranger - died 15 November 1997

79. Stubby Kaye

Actor | Guys and Dolls

Sunny, lovable tenor Stubby Kaye with his butterball frame kept his real name a secret for his entire career. He was born Bernard Katzin in New York and started off in the world of entertainment in 1939 after winning a radio contest. Touring as a comedian in vaudeville for over a decade, he also ...

Actor - died 14 December 1997

80. Toshirô Mifune

Actor | Yôjinbô

Toshiro Mifune achieved more worldwide fame than any other Japanese actor of his century. He was born in Tsingtao, China, to Japanese parents and grew up in Dalian. He did not set foot in Japan until he was 21. His father was an importer and a commercial photographer, and young Toshiro worked in ...

Actor (my revision) - died 24 December 1997

81. Mae Questel

Actress | National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Her Orthodox Jewish family were totally averse to her having an entertainment career. Her parents and grandparents forced her to leave the Theatre Guild school (New York) while still a teenager and had their wills drawn up accordingly so as to discourage this career choice.

Studied drama at Columbia...

Voice Talent / Actress - died 4 January 1998

82. Hal Baylor

Actor | Big Jim McLain

Hal Baylor was born on December 10, 1918 in San Antonio, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Big Jim McLain (1952), Emergency! (1972) and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). He died on January 5, 1998 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Actor - died 5 January 1998

83. J.T. Walsh

Actor | Breakdown

J.T. Walsh was born on September 28, 1943 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Breakdown (1997), Sling Blade (1996) and A Few Good Men (1992). He was previously married to Susan West. He died on February 27, 1998 in La Mesa, California, USA.

Actor - died 27 February 1998

84. Donald Woods

Actor | The Case of the Stuttering Bishop

Donald Woods, a prolific cinema and television character actor whose career spanned 75 films and 150 TV programs over 40 years, was born Ralph L. Zink on December 2, 1906, in Brandon, Manitoba. (He legally changed his name to Donald Woods in 1945.) His family eventually departed Canada for ...

Actor - died 5 March 1998

85. Lloyd Bridges

Actor | Hot Shots! Part Deux

The star of many land and underwater adventures, Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was born on January 15, 1913 in San Leandro, California, to Harriet Evelyn (Brown) and Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Sr., who owned a movie theater and also worked in the hotel business. He grew up in various Northern California ...

Actor - died 10 March 1998

86. Helen Westcott

Actress | Adventures of Don Juan

Born January 1, 1928, to acting parents, Helen Westcott's show biz career began at the ripe old age of 4 when she performed on stage with her vaudevillian mother who played piano and drums. Her father was handsome Warner Bros. actor Gordon Westcott who appeared in second leads opposite a number of ...

Actress - died 17 March 1998

87. Gene Evans

Actor | Ace in the Hole

Gene Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona, on July 11, 1922, and was raised in Colton, California. He served in the Army during World War II as a combat engineer, and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for bravery in action. He began his acting career there, performing in a theatrical ...

Actor - died 1 April 1998

88. Charles Lang

Cinematographer | Sabrina

One of the outstanding cinematographers of Hollywood's Golden Age, Lang spent most of his career at Paramount (1929-1952), where he contributed to the studio's well-earned reputation for visual style. Lang was educated at Lincoln High School in L.A., then proceeded to the University of Southern ...

Cinematographer - died 3 April 1998

89. Gene Raymond

Actor | Smartest Girl in Town

Gene Raymond was born on August 13, 1908, in New York City as Raymond Guion. He was a child performer and a Broadway veteran by the age of 12. Blond, husky, and handsome, he enjoyed his greatest popularity in the 1930s and early 1940s. His big break came in Personal Maid (1931). He was soon cast in...

Actor - died 3 May 1998

90. Alice Faye

Soundtrack | Hello Frisco, Hello

As A&E's Biography put it, "She rose from the mean streets of New York's Hell's Kitchen to become the most famous singing actress in the world. When the pressures of fame became too much, she had the courage to leave Hollywood on her own terms". Alice Faye was born Alice Jeanne Leppert in NYC on ...

Actress - died 9 May 1998

91. Tom D'Andrea

Actor | Dark Passage

Three sons: Thomas, Jim D'Andrea & Mick D'Andrea.

Grandchildren include: Tom's - Rick D'Andrea, Elizabeth D'Andrea-Schusterman & Jim's- April , Justin & Allison D'Andrea . Mick D'Andrea passed away in 1996 of cancer. Great Grandchildren: Sarah Hipp and Anabella D'Andrea Great Great Grandchildren: ...

Actor - died 14 May 1998

92. Frank Sinatra

Actor | The Manchurian Candidate

Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants Natalina Della (Garaventa), from Northern Italy, and Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra, a Sicilian boxer, fireman, and bar owner. Growing up on the gritty streets of Hoboken made Sinatra determined to work hard to get ahead. ...

Actor - died 14 May 1998

93. Douglas Fowley

Actor | Singin' in the Rain

He was born in the Bronx, New York. As a young man, he moved to Los Angeles and studied at Los Angeles City College. He served in the Navy during World War II. Fowley played everything from cowboys to gangsters, appearing alongside stars like Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly ...

Actor - died 21 May 1998

94. John Derek

Actor | The Ten Commandments

John Derek was born on August 12, 1926 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Ten Commandments (1956), Ghosts Can't Do It (1989) and Bolero (1984). He was previously married to Bo Derek, Linda Evans, Ursula Andress and Pati Behrs. He died on May 22, ...

Actor - died 22 May 1998

95. Josephine Hutchinson

Actress | North by Northwest

As a child she studied at Seattle's Cornish School. Still in her early twenties, after several years of stock work in New York, she joined Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theater where she won critical praise for her title role in "Alice in Wonderland." She came to Hollywood in 1934 under ...

Actress - died 4 June 1998

96. Jeanette Nolan

Actress | The Big Heat

Born in 1911, Jeanette Nolan began her acting career in the Pasadena Community Playhouse. While still a student at Los Angeles City College, she made her radio debut in 1932, aged 20, in "Omar Khayyam", the first transcontinental broadcast from station KHJ. Her film debut was probably also her best...

Actress - died 5 June 1998

97. Maureen O'Sullivan

Actress | The Thin Man

Of Irish, English, and Scottish descent, Maureen Paula O'Sullivan was born on May 17, 1911 in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland. Her father was Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in the Connaught Rangers, and his wife, the former Mary Fraser (or Frazer). She was educated at Catholic schools in ...

Actress - died 23 June 1998

98. Kay Thompson

Actress | Funny Face

Sleek, effervescent, gregarious and indefatigable only begins to describe the indescribable Kay Thompson -- a one-of-a-kind author, pianist, actress, comedienne, singer, composer, coach, dancer, choreographer, clothing designer, and arguably one of entertainment's most unique and charismatic ...

Actress / Vocal Arranger - died 2 July 1998

99. Roy Rogers

Actor | Bells of Rosarita

Roy Rogers (born Leonard Slye) moved to California in 1930, aged 18. He played in such musical groups as The Hollywood Hillbillies, Rocky Mountaineers, Texas Outlaws, and his own group, the International Cowboys. In 1934 he formed a group with Bob Nolan called Sons of the Pioneers. While in that ...

Actor - died 6 July 1998

100. Robert Young

Actor | Father Knows Best

Quiet, soft-spoken Robert grew up in California and had some stage experience with the Pasadena Playhouse before entering films in 1931. His movie career consisted of playing characters who were charming, good-looking--and bland. In fact, his screen image was such that he usually never got the girl...

Actor - died 21 July 1998