Death Anniversary Thread

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American actor John Ritter died on this day 19 years ago, aged 54.

 

 

First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Sovet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country’s Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964 Nikita Khrushchev died on this day 51 years ago, aged 77.

 

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Shows how quickly the internet took over in 2003. John Ritter was still a TV star here with 8 Simple Rules, but confirmation of his death took a week or two to reach the print papers. 

 

By December, Earl Hindman from Home Improvement made the papers a day after his death.

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On this day exactly 10 years ago in 2012 , British tabloid journalist and broadcaster  Derek Jameson died aged 82.

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Northern Irish politician Ian Paisley died on this day 8 years ago, aged 88.

Paisley was a Presbyterian minister who founded the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in 1951, a schism from the Irish Presbyterian Church. Paisley was bigoted against Catholics (the majority Christian sect in Ireland), going so far as to say Pope John XXIII was in Hell after his death in 1963. Paisley was also against the civil rights movement the Catholics started, forming the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee in 1966- volunteers associated with Paisley's group infamously bombed a school where mediation between Catholics and Protestants was to take place.

 

In 1970, Paisley was elected to Parliament as a member of the Protestant Union Party, and in 1979, was elected to the European Parliament- on several occasions, he would continuously interrupt whoever was speaking (one time, it was Margaret Thatcher, another was Jack Lynch) and have to be removed from the room. Paisley would remain a member of the European Parliament until retiring in 2004, and the UK parliament until 2010, also retiring.

 

Paisley made four appearances on the DeathList, in 1989 (15), 1993 (22), 2013 (16), and 2014 (18), in which he was the seventh death out of the ten that year.

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American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash died on this day 19 years ago, aged 71.

 

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Canadian-American character actor John Qualen died on this day 35 years ago, aged 87.

 

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Former Texas governor Ann Richards died on this day 16 years ago, aged 73.

Richards first came to national attention during the 1988 Democratic National Convention, while she was still state treasurer, with a speech criticizing the Reagan administration and Republican presidential nominee George H. W. Bush (also a Texas resident), which utilized humor with quotes such as "after listening to George Bush all these years, I figured you needed to know what a real Texas accent sounds like", and "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels".

 

Richards then ran for governor in 1990 when incumbent Bill Clements declined reelection. Richards won against republican nominee Clayton Williams by a slim margin of 100,000 votes. During her tenure, Richards reformed prisons by establishing a substance abuse rehabilitation program for inmates, successfully revitalized Texas' economy (it grew 2% in 1991 while the rest of the US's shrank), and supported the restriction of semi-automatic rifles and Teflon-covered bullets (AKA "cop-killing bullets"). Richards ran for a second term in 1994, but was defeated by George W. Bush. To this date, she remains the most recent Democrat to have served as governor of Texas.

 

While becoming a university professor after her tenure, Richards would also appear on TV in a Super Bowl commercial for Doritos with fellow defeated governor Mario Cuomo.

 

 

In 2001, Richards voiced herself in the King of the Hill episode "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator".

 

Richards announced she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in March of 2006 and died six months later.

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On this day in 1996 american rapper   Tupac Shakur (2Pac) was shot dead in a drive by homicide in Las Vegas aged 25.

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American film director and producer Mervyn LeRoy died on this day 35 years ago, aged 86.

 

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American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms George Wallace died on this day 24 years ago, aged 79.

 

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On this day 40 years ago  in 1982, Princess Grace of  Monaco , also known as former actress and  legendary Hollywood beauty Grace Kelly,  died as a result of injuries received in a car accident in Monaco aged 52.   Her daughter  Princess Stephanie survived the accident. 

 

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Dante Alighieri died on this day 701 years ago, aged 56.

A member of the Guelph party, and exiled from Florence as a political opponent of the Gherardini noble family, Dante began writing the Divine Comedy in 1308, and completed it in 1320. It is a collection of three books- Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, which can be modernly summarized as a self-insert fanfiction chronicling Dante's adventures through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven- his favorite author, Virgil, is the one who guides him through the first two books, while his dead girlfriend guides him in the third. Inferno is the best known of the three, and has largely inspired modern depictions of Hell (you know, full of fire and whatnot- this is mostly based on the sixth circle, with the burning tombs).

Dante died from malaria in 1321.

 

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Its 37 years since the death of actor, director, painter & poet Julian Beck.

 

He began as a painter but its as founder and director of The Living Theatre that he is most famous/notorious.

 

He founded the theatre with his wife, Judith Malina, in 1947, and was director until his death; the experimental theatre was designed to challenge, as well as entertain audiences, with one production of Jack Gelber's The Connection featuring actors playing junkies circulating amongst the audience begging money for their next fix.

 

Beck's experimental philosophy carried over into real-life, with him and Malina being imprisoned (by her count) 12 times across three continents for acts of civil disobebience, including once in New York for failing to participate in a civil defence drill, and once charged with (later acquitted) indecent exposure for a production of Paradise Now.

 

Later he took some cinematic action roles, the most well-known cinema role (and his last on the big screen) was as Reverend Henry Kane in Poltergeist II with his last role being an episode of Miami Vice, which aired posthumously.

 

Diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1983, he died 2 years later, aged 60. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2004 (as was Malina).

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Czechoslovak politician, statesman, sociologist and philosopher Tomáš Masaryk died on this day 85 years ago, aged 87.

 

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American actor, dancer and singer known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough and comedic characters Patrick Swayze died on this day 13 years ago, aged 57.

 

 

3rd Vice President of the United States from 1801 to 1805 Aaron Burr died on this day 186 years ago, aged 80.

 

 

Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and writer Norm MacDonald died on this day a year ago, aged 61.

 

25th President of the United States from 1897 to 1901 William McKinley 121 years ago, aged 58.

 

 

American film, stage, and television actress Janet Gaynor died on this day 38 years ago, aged 77.

 

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On this day in 2006  Mickey Hargitay, a  Hungarian American actor , model and Mr Universe 1955 died aged  80.

Early in his career before his big breaks he was one of the many scantily dressed  musclemen who was part of  Mae Wests revue act  

He later starred in a number of films mainly in musclemen type roles in films such as  Sex comedy  Promises Promises (1963), Stranger in Sacramento (1965), The Love of Hercules (1960),Lady Frankenstein(1971) and  3 Bullets for Ringo (1966).

 

 

He went on to marry actress and Hollywood  sex symbol  Jayne Mansfield and they had three children together. At one point they divorced  in Spain  but the divorce was declared legally invalid and they  briefly reconciled before splitting again. Jayne appealled the invalid divorce ruling and had it overturned in the American courts. (Pictured below with his wife Jayne Mansfield who co-starred with him in a handful of films) 

Mickey had another child with his first wife acrobat  Mary Birge. 

When his ex wife Jayne died in a car crash in 1967 he petitioned her estate for child supporters as she was the breadwinner out of the two parents. 

He is regarded by some  as playing a key role in bringing bodybuilding up front and into the mainstream. 

He died of multiple myeloma. 

 

 

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On this day fifteen years ago in 2007 ,Scottish rally driver  Colin McRae,  who won the World rally championship in 1995, died in a helicopter crash aged 39.

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King Gustaf VI (Adolf) of Sweden died on this day 49 years ago, aged 90.

Born with the name Oscar, he became king in 1950, after the death of his nonagenarian father Gustaf V. Gustaf was a reformist, and approved a new constitution for Sweden shortly before he died- it hadn't been changed since 1809.

 

Gustaf was known for his interest in science, particularly the fields of archaeology and botany- he participated in several archaeological expeditions, and was especially knowledgeable of rhododendron flowers. Gustaf also had a library of 80,000 books, and read almost all of them. He also loved sports such as tennis and golf, and ran the Swedish Olympic Committee from its founding in 1913 until 1933. Gustaf was considered popular among the general public, though I'm pretty sure his interests weren't why he was well-liked.

 

After Gustaf died a day before the 1973 parliamentary elections, the crown went to his grandson, the current monarch Carl XVI (Gustaf)- his eldest son, Gustaf Adolf, had been killed in a plane crash in 1947.

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three times Prime Minister of France and a dominant figure of French political life in 1929-1932 André Tardieu died on this day 77 years ago, aged 68.

 

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Dutch poet and socialist Herman Gorter died on this day 95 years ago, aged 62.

 

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Sheb Wooley died on this day 19 years ago, aged 82.

 

Wooley started out as an actor- in one of his earliest roles, 1951's Distant Drums, Wooley played the uncredited Private Jessup. Wooley was also a voice extra for the movie, and produced this sound:

This is known as the Wilhelm scream, after the character Private Wilhelm is attacked by an alligator. It is also commonly referred to as the "Stormtrooper scream" after its extensive use in the Star Wars films.

 

From there, Wooley would act in plenty of Westerns. Wooley was also a musician, forming his first band at the age of 15, and in 1958 made his most well-known single, the novelty song "The Purple People Eater", which topped the charts. You may hear this in the coming weeks, as it is a Halloween favorite.

 

The song would later be adapted into a movie in 1988, with the film being Wooley's final acting role in a cameo as the character Harry Skinner. Wooley would be diagnosed with leukemia in 1996, forcing him to retire in 1999, and then die after a seven-year battle.

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On this day exactly one year ago in 2021, american actress and singer Jane Powell  died aged 92.

Her career started as a teenager in the 1940s  and peaked with big MGM films in the 1950s such as Seven brides for Seven brothers (1954) with HowardKeel , Royal Wedding (1951) with Fred Astaire  and Athena (1954) with  with Debbie Reynolds and Vic Damone .

Jane was synonymous with the MGM musical films of this era.

 

 

 

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Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006 Carlo Zeglio Ciampi died on this day 6 years ago, aged 95.

 

 

King James II of England died on this day 321 years ago, aged 67.

 

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King James VII of Scotland died on this day 321 years ago, aged 67.

 

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Its 31 years since the death of British actress Carol White.

 

 

Known as the ‘Battersea Bardot’, her acting career began with a series of uncredited brief appearances in popular films of the late 50s & early 60s, including a couple of ‘Doctor’ film and a couple of minor credited roles, including as a saboteur in Carry On Teacher.

 

She came to greater prominence with her appearance in the BBC Wednesday Play production of Up The Junction, and subsequently the title role in Cathy Come Home which lead to the lead role in Poor Cow.

A move to Hollywood saw her appearing alongside major stars such as John Mills & Dean Martin but was ultimately unsuccessful.

By this time she was heavily abusing drugs and alcohol.

Returning to London, she starred in Steaming, in the West End, but was sacked after persistently turning up late. She also made her final film at this time, 1982’s The Nutcracker.

 

White returned to America, living out the remainder of her life, dying at the age of 48. Some sources claim a drug overdose, while others, chronic liver disease from years of alcohol abuse.