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French biathlete Emmanuelle Claret died of leukemia at age 44. http://www.lequipe.fr/Biathlon/Actualites/Deces-d-emmanuelle-claret/370248

Three days after his 54th birthday, Lex Barker died of a heart attack while walking down the street in New York on May 11, 1973. Happy 40th Anniversary!

Hollywood icon Joan Crawford, born as Lucille Fay LeSueur, died in 1977 aged 72 or 73.

On the 9th of May 1976, German journalist Ulrike Meinhof committed suicide in her prison cell where she was detained since June 1972. She was a founding member of the RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion, not Royal Air Force!!), a German left-wing militant group. The RAF described itself as a communist and anti-imperialist urban guerilla group engaged in armed resistance against what they deemed to be a fascist state.

19 years ago George Peppard died at age 65.

Iconic and tragic diva Dalida committed suicide on May 3, 1987 at age 54. She was a singer and actress who performed and recorded in more than 10 languages including: French, Arabic, Italian, Greek, German, English, Japanese, Hebrew, Dutch and Spanish. One of her best known songs is probably “Am Tag als der Regen kam” (German version of “The day the rains came”), which was a No.1 hit in Germany for 10 weeks in the summer of 1959.

Pauline von Mallinckrodt (June 3, 1817 – 30 April 1881) was the German foundress of the Sisters of Christian Charity. The Kindergarten I was in had a tiny relic of one of her bones (from the thigh or maybe the pelvic, can’t remember). As a child I was fascinated by that tiny piece of bone in a framework on the wall in the little chapel next to the Kindergarten... oh those memories...

Never heard of both Billy Grahams before, so I took Superstar B.G. because of one of my favourite songs by The Carpenters called "Superstar"

American blues singer, songwriter and pianist Leroy Carr died of nephritis on April 29, 1935. He was 30 years old.

Evelyn Künneke, Queen of the German sub-culture and last survivor of the so-called “Lili Marleen generation”, died on the 28th of April 2001 (79, lung cancer).

The “Mother of Barbie”, Ruth Handler, died on April 27, 2002, aged 85.

Austrian actress Maria Schell, who also had international success (playing with Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Gary Cooper and Marcello Mastroianni), died on April 26, 2005 aged 79. Academy Award winner Maximilian Schell was her brother.

This is really interesting!! Do you know more auditions? I only know this one from Wikipedia/Betty White: “White was originally offered the role of Blanche in The Golden Girls, and Rue McClanahan was offered the role of Rose (the two characters being similar to roles they had played in Mary Tyler Moore and Maude, respectively). Jay Sandrich, the director of the pilot, suggested that since they had played similar roles in the past, they should switch roles, Rue McClanahan later said in a documentary on the series.”

She was the second Golden Girl who passed away: Beatrice Arthur, 13.05.1922-25.04.2009, our beloved Dorothy Zbornak.

On 24th of April 1986 Wallis Duchess of Windsor died aged 89. She has had many other names like Bessie Wallis Warfield, Wallis Spencer and best known: Wallis Simpson.

British actor Sir John Mills died on April 23, 2005 aged 97.

Oh, so sad... I touch myself is such a 90s classic! I still got that as a vinyl single...

Deep Throat-star Linda Lovelace died on April 22, 2002 age 53. She was born as Linda Susan Boreman on January 10, 1949. After her porn career she became famous for being an anti-porn activist.

Another accidental death: Sandy Denny, singer of folk rock band Fairport Convention, fell down the stairs in late March 1978 and got her head injured. About two weeks later she collapsed and fell into a coma – and died on April 21, 1978. Her death was ruled to be the result of a traumatic mid-brain haemorrhage and blunt force trauma to her head. She was 31.

Steve Marriott, singer and guitarist of The Small Faces and Humble Pie, died in 1991. Cause of death: Smoke inhalation. He was 44 years old.

Today British naturalist Charles Darwin died - but in 1882. He is regarded for his substantial contributions to the theory of evolution as one of the most important scientists.

Theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955 at the age of 76. His formula E = mc² is the world’s most famous equation.

Rockabilly singer Eddie Cochran died after a road accident 53 years ago (age 21). His best known song is “Summertime Blues”.

45 years ago American actress Fay Bainter died at the age of 74 in 1968. In 1938 she became the first performer nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Actress for "White Banners" and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for "Jezebel", winning for the latter.

Probably mentioned a hundred times before: Greta Garbo died in 1990.