Death Anniversary Thread

[MariNisia 4,180]

Norma Shearer, one of the famed Hollywood stars of the 20's and 30's, died of Alzheimer's and bronchial pneumonia at the Motion Picture and Television Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, California on this date in 1983.
She was 80 years old.
Norma Shearer won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in "The Divorcee" (1930).

 

 

Her career started in the silent era and she became a big star, during the 30's and after marrying Irving Thalberg, MGM's production chief at the time, and became the "first lady of MGM".
Shearer gave up acting to live a private life in 1942.
She was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, in the Great Mausoleum, with her first husband, Irving Thalberg.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

Carl Gardner, member of The Coasters, died on this day 10 years ago, aged 83.

 

[MariNisia 4,180]

Benny Goodman, American extraordinary clarinetist responsible for multiple hit singles as a bandleader, died from a heart attack in his home at New York on this date in 1986.
He was 77 years old.
Known as the "King of Swing", his orchestra was one of the first to perform jazz at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall.

 

 

Goodman was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1957.
In 1986 he was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
He continued to play until his death.

A longtime resident of Stamford, Connecticut, Benny Goodman was interred in the Long Ridge Cemetery in Stamford.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American horse trainer, Ben A. Jones, died on this day 60 years ago, aged 78.

 

[MariNisia 4,180]

Henry Mancini, American composer who wrote many legendary film scores, including "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "Charade", "The Pink Panther" or "Touch of Evil", died at his home in Beverly Hills of complications related to pancreatic and liver cancer on this date in 1994.
He was 70 years old.
His music was heard in nearly 250 films during his long career.

 

 

He was nominated for 70 Grammy Awards, winning 20.
Mancini also won 4 Oscars, 1 Golden Globe, 2 Emmy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
He also recorded 85 record albums, whose combined sales topped 30 million copies.
Henry Mancini was buried in the Palm Downtown Cemetery in Las Vegas.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

Marlin Perkins died on this day 35 years ago, aged 81.

 

 

[MariNisia 4,180]

Ella Fitzgerald, the immensely popular American jazz and song vocalist known as "Lady Ella" and the "First Lady of Song", died at her home in Beverly Hills from a stroke on this date in 1996.
She was 79 years old.
During a five-decade career, Fitzgerald won 13 Grammy Awards.
In her lifetime, she recorded 250 albums and some 2000 songs. She sold over 40 million albums.

 

 

"Lady Ella" was virtually bedridden with complications of diabetes.
With her diabetes worsening, Fitzgerald experienced severe circulatory problems, and had to have both legs amputated below the knees. She never fully recovered from the surgery and was rarely able to perform.
Ella Fitzgerald was interred in the Sunset Mission Mausoleum at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American politician Happy Chandler died on this day 30 years ago, aged 92.

 

 

 

[MariNisia 4,180]

Nicholas Ray, American-born film director with such classic films as "In a Lonely Place" (1950), "Johnny Guitar" (1954), "Run for Cover" (1955), "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), "Party Girl" (1958) or "55 Days at Peking" (1963), died of lung cancer in New York after a two-year illness on this date in 1979.
He was 67 years old.
Nicholas Ray's third wife was his "In a Lonely Place" star, Gloria Grahame from 1948 to 1952.
He caught her in bed at their home with Tony, his 13-year-old son from his first marriage. Nine years later, Tony married his former stepmother in Mexico.

 

 

Grahame had two children with him and the union made Tony the stepfather to his half brother Timothy, the child Ray had fathered with Grahame.
The marriage caused a big scandal in Hollywood and Grahame received massive backlash when the public finally learned about her affair with Tony when he was a minor.
Ray's had a severe heart attack during the filming of "55 Days at Peking", bringing his career to a premature end.
Nicholas Ray was interred at Oak Grove Cemetery in Wisconsin.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American newspaper publisher John S. Knight died on this day 40 years ago, aged 86.

 

[MariNisia 4,180]

Actress Cyd Charisse, one of Hollywood's greatest and iconic dancing stars of all times, died after suffering a heart attack in Los Angeles, California on this date in 2008.
She was 86 years old.
Her career spanned seven decades.
Long-legged, seductive and sexy, Cyd Charisse gained fame starring Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in many classic MGM musicals of the 50's.

 

 

Best known for two acclaimed dance sequences, the "Broadway Melody Ballet" from the film "Singin' in the Rain" with Gene Kelly and the "Girl Hunt Ballet" from "The Band Wagon" with Fred Astaire.
In 2006, she was one of the recipients of the American National Medal of the Arts in Washington.
Cyd Charisse was interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California, following a Methodist ceremony.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American singer Kate Smith died on this day 35 years ago, aged 79.

 

 

 

[The Unknown Man 584]

Clarence Clemons blew his sax one final time on this day 10 years ago, aged 69.

[MariNisia 4,180]

Terence Fisher, one of the most prominent British horror film directors of the second half of the 20th century, died after suffering a heart attack in Twickenham, London, England on this date in 1980.
He was 76 years old.
Best known for his work for a number of classic horror films that he made for the company Hammer Films.

His films are characterised by a blend of fairy-tale, myth and sexuality.

 

 

He made British actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee leading horror stars of the era.

His credits include: "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), "The Horror of Dracula" (1958), "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (1958), "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1959), "The Mummy" (1959), "Dracula, Prince of Darkness" (1966) and many more.
Terence Fisher was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American film director Vincent Sherman died on this day 15 years ago, aged 99.

 

[MariNisia 4,180]

Frank Borzage, one of Hollywood's greatest directors of well acted romantic love stories, died of cancer after a long illness in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on this date in 1962.
He was 68 years old.
Borzage had won two Oscar Awards as Best Director.

In 1929, the first year of the Oscars, for "Seventh Heaven", starring Janet Gaynor and the second in 1932 for "Bad Girl".

 

 

He was extremely well liked by his actors and crew who enjoyed the unusually peaceful and intimate atmosphere he created on his sets.

In 1961 Borzage was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Director's Guild of America.
Frank Borzage was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California in the Garden of Everlasting Peace.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American actress Jean Arthur died on this day 30 years ago, aged 90.

 

 

 

[time 8,581]

68 years since Julius & Ethel Rosenberg were executed as spies, at ages 35 & 37 respectively. Interesting article here on their sons campaign to clear Ethel's name, in which I discovered that they were adopted by Abel Meeropol (& his wife Anne), the composer of Deathlist favourite Strange Fruit.

 

[MariNisia 4,180]

Mark Robson, Canadian-born American filmmaker who directed the boxing classics "Champion" (1949) (one of the most celebrated boxing films of its era) and "The Harder They Fall" (1956) (notable also for being the Humphrey Bogart's final film) as well as such commercial blockbusters, died of a heart attack in London after completing his final film "Avalanche Express" on this date in 1978.
He was 64 years old.

 

 

Robson became producer of his own works from the 50's.
"The Bridges At Toko-Ri" (1955) (film with torrential scenes of love between William Holden and Grace Kelly), "Peyton Place" (1957), "The Prize" (1963) (with Paul Newman) and "Valley of the Dolls" (1967) were among his most successful films.
Mark Robson was interred in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

Claydes Charles Smith died on this day 15 years ago, aged 57.

 

[Toast 16,121]

2 minutes ago, The Ashes Urn said:

Claydes Charles Smith died on this day 15 years ago, aged 57.

 

 

No idea at all who that is.  Why don't you put links on your posts?

[MariNisia 4,180]

Leon Uris, American author of historical fiction, nonfiction and screenplays whose works include numerous bestselling novels, died of kidney failure at his Long Island home on Shelter Island on this date in 2003.
He was 78 years old.
His first novel, "Battle Cry", was based on his own experiences in the Marines.

 

 

Uris is the best-selling writer of "A God in Ruins", "Exodus", "QB VII", "Mila 18", "Redemption", "The Angry Hills", "Topaz" and "Trinity", among others.
His best-known novel may be "Exodus", translated into over fifty languages, which was made into a feature film in 1960.
Leon Uris was buried in Quantico National Cemetery in Quantico, Virginia.

[MariNisia 4,180]

18 hours ago, Toast said:

No idea at all who that is.  Why don't you put links on your posts?

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claydes_Charles_Smith

I hope it helps.

Andy Warhol famously coined the phrase "15 minutes of fame" in reference to short-lived publicity.
Fame can be long-lasting for some... but not for all...
Certain actors... authors... musicians... politicians... icons... retain their fame...
While others, renowned in the past, are forgotten...
Yes, It's sad, isn't it?
Your are not the same person you were yesterday or a month ago, you are the person who you are today and what you do today will determine what you will be in the future.
Well, this is the life.
Take care, @Toast.

[time 8,581]

Three civil rights activists, James Chaney (21), Andrew Goodman (20), and Michael Schwerner (24) were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan 57 years ago today; they became known as the Freedom Summer murders.

 

 

 

Following a stop for allegedly speeding, and being held for several hours, they were being escorted to the county border by local law enforcement. Before they crossed the county line, they were stopped, ordered into the deputy's car, driven away and handed over to local KKK members, at which point they were shot  and buried in an earthen dam It is speculated that Goodman was still alive when he was buried.

 

Exactly 41 years later, Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty of 3 counts of manslaughter  for planning the abduction and murders; he was sentenced to 20 years jail for each count, to be served consecutively.

 

The events of the Freedom Summer murders form the basis for the film Mississippi Burning.

[Toast 16,121]

2 hours ago, MariNisia said:

You are not the same person you were yesterday or a month ago

 

I can assure you that I am.