Death Anniversary Thread

[diego 1,872]

Elia Kazan died in New York 20 years ago at the age of 94, born in Constantinople, famous for revealing Marlon Brando and James Dean. He is considered one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. The New York Times wrote about him: "one of the most honored and influential directors in the history of Broadway and Hollywood. However, he was also known for harming his own co-workers by denouncing them as communists, causing them to be included in the infamous Hollywood's black list. He has his name on the Walk of Fame, at 6800 Hollywood Boulevard, he has 4 golden globes, a Silver Lion and an honorary golden bear. He was number 18 on the 2003 DeathList, in his third apparition

[Drewsky1211 4,147]

Nguyen Van Thieu died on this day 22 years ago, aged 78.

- Thieu joined the nationalist Viet Minh movement in 1945 to prevent the French from recolonizing Vietnam- he left it in 1946 due to Ho Chi Minh's communist views, allying with the French at Saigon.

- Thieu then joined the Vietnam National Army (founded by the former emperor to fight the Viet Minh), becoming a major by the end of the First Indochina War in 1954. In 1957 and 1960, Thieu would go to the US for military training.

- Thieu effectively became South Vietnam's head of state in 1965 (2 years after the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem), and officially became its president following the 1967 election. He held this position until just before the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, when he resigned as the Viet Cong closed in on Saigon- he blamed US withdrawal from the war and Henry Kissinger signing the Paris Peace Accords for South Vietnam's defeat.

- Following his resignation, Thieu fled to Taiwan, before moving to the UK, where he lived a reclusive life- so much that the British government had no clue on his whereabouts. By the early 1990s, he moved to Foxborough, Massachusetts, where he lived for the rest of his life (probably attending some Patriots games considering where he moved to).

- Thieu and his wife spent their 50th wedding anniversary in Hawaii- during this time 9/11 happened, causing their flight home to be delayed by over a week. He suffered a stroke shortly after returning home and died not long after. He wished to have his ashes scattered in his Vietnamese home town of Phan Rang, but the location of his ashes remains a mystery.

[diego 1,872]

W. H. Auden was born in York and died in Vienna aged 66 50 years ago, he was an Anglo-American poet, considered one of the great authors of the 20th century. Auden's poetry was notable for its technical and stylistic achievements, its engagement with politics, morals, love and religion, and their variety in tone, form and content. Some of his best-known poems are: about love, such as "Funeral Blues"; on social and political themes, such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles"; on psychological and cultural themes, such as "The Age of Anxiety"; and on religious themes, such as "For now" and "Canonical hours".

Gordon Douglas was born in New York and died in Los Angeles 30 years ago at the age of 85. He was a prolific American filmmaker.

Cláudio Cavalcanti was born in Araguari and died in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago at the age of 73. He was a great Brazilian actor and was also a television director, theater producer, writer, translator, singer, voice actor, radio presenter and Brazilian politician.

[The Ashes Urn 1,331]

American cartoonist Charles Addams died on this day 35 years ago, aged 76.

 

[Hell 1,328]

American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein died on this day 26 years ago, aged 73. He became a leading figure in the new art movement. His most expensive piece is Masterpiece, which was sold for $165 million in January 2017. Whaam! and Drowning Girl and Look Mickey proved to be his most influential works. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody. 

 

[John "요한" Sulu 374]

On this day 1 year ago, Panamanian-born baseball player, coach, and manager Héctor López, who played for the Kansas City Athletics form 1955 thru 1959 and then the New York Yankees from 1959 thru 1966, passes away at the age of 93.

[Drewsky1211 4,147]

James Dean died on this day 68 years ago, aged 24.

- Dean attended UCLA for a semester initially majoring in pre-law, but changed it to drama to the chagrin of his father. He dropped out after a semester to pursue a full-time acting career.

- Dean's first TV appearance was in a Pepsi commercial which first aired in December of 1950:

Among the TV shows he appeared in included Kraft Television Theatre, The United States Steel Hour, and General Electric Theater (many early '50s anthology series were named after their sponsors).

- Dean's breakout role was in Elia Kazan's East of Eden, in which he improvised many of his scenes. This earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination, and this was also his only major film to be released in his lifetime.

- Dean would then star in Rebel Without a Cause, one of the defining movies of the 1950s counterculture and featuring his most iconic look- a red jacket and white undershirt (as seen in the above picture).

- Dean's final film was Giant, released in 1956, which got him another posthumous Best Actor nomination.

- Before his death, Dean was scheduled to portray Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me- the role ended up going to Paul Newman afterwards.

- Dean had an interest in racing, and aspired to compete in the Indy 500. While practicing for the Salinas Road Race scheduled to happen the next day- using the Route 466 highway as a track- Dean got into a fatal car crash due to being unable to slow his car down at an intersection (where another car was merging). Ironically enough, Dean had appeared in a PSA about the dangers of speeding:

 

 

[The Ashes Urn 1,331]

American bandleader and tenor saxophonist Freddy Martin died on this day 40 years ago, aged 76.

 

 

 

[diego 1,872]

Rudolf Diesel, born in Paris and died in the English Channel 110 years ago, was a French-German mechanical engineer and inventor of the diesel engine.
On the night of September 29, 1913, he boarded the steamboat SS Dresden, in Antwerp (Belgium), heading to London (United Kingdom).
After negotiating his invention while crossing the English Channel, the inventor disappears under circumstances that have never been clarified
Two weeks later, a boat found a body near the Belgian coast. Clothes and objects were collected and the body was thrown back into the sea, a normal procedure at the time. On October 13, Eugen Diesel recognized these belongings as belonging to his father.

[Hell 1,328]

American attorney and businessman Robert Kardashian died on this day 20 years ago, aged 59. He gained recognition as O. J. Simpson's friend and defense attorney during Simpson's 1995 murder trial. He had four children with his first wife, Kris Kardashian: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob, who appear on their family reality television series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spinoffs.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,147]

Charles Aznavour died on this day 5 years ago, aged 94.

- Aznavour began writing songs in 1944. During that time, World War II was well underway, and Aznavour and his family provided refuge to ethnic Armenians, Jews, and others who were persecuted by the Nazis in Vichy France- his mother was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

- Early in his career, he opened for Edith Piaf, who encouraged him to pursue singing- also acting as his mentor.

- Aznavour would go on to write over 1,200 songs, though among his most successful singles was 1972's ""Tous les visages de l'amour" ("All the Faces of Love")- better known in English as "She", which topped the UK chart for four weeks:

- Aznavour would collaborate with many singers during his life- these ranged from Bing Crosby to Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan to Elton John to Josh Groban.

- Aznavour was also an actor who appeared in dozens of movies, and his final role was voicing Carl in the French dub of Pixar's Up.

- Aznavour would often get into politics, and was friends with Jacques Chirac, whom he gave his support to in the 2002 election. He would also advocate for Armenian citizens (as he was of Armenian ancestry), and was named a National Hero of Armenia in 2004.

- Aznavour first appeared on the DeathList in 1990 (no idea why), before returning in 2014 and for the final time in 2018, where he was the 10th death (of 12) that year.

[The Ashes Urn 1,331]

Polish-American actress Reizl Bozyk died on this day 30 years ago, aged 79.

 

[diego 1,872]

Luísa Todi was born in Setúbal, Nossa Senhora da Anunciada, and died in Lisbon 190 years ago at the age of 80, she was a Portuguese opera singer, sang in several European cities, such as Madrid, London, Naples, Saint Petersburg, Berlin, and several others

Edwin Landseer was born in London and died in the same city 150 years ago at the age of 71. He was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals — particularly horses, dogs and deer. However, Landseer's best-known works are his sculptures: the lions in Trafalgar Square, in London. In 1815, when he was still 13 years old, Landseer had already exhibited his works at the English Royal Academy. He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy at age 24, and five years later, in 1831, he became an academician. In 1850, he was knighted, and despite being elected president of the Royal Academy in 1866, Landseer declined the invitation.

Giuliano Gemma was born in Rome and died in Civitavecchia 10 years ago at the age of 75 in a car accident, he was an actor in spaghetti western films, achieving great success as the hero of films such as Una pistol per Ringo, Un dollaro bucato and I giorni dell'ira . When he acted in films he was still an athlete, and drew attention to his elasticity in scenes. To act in US films, he had to adopt the code name Montgomery Wood

 

[Hell 1,328]

Italian jurist, journalist, and politician Enrico De Nicola died on this day 64 years ago, aged 81. He was the provisional head of state of republican Italy from 1946 to 1948. Afterwards, he became the first president of Italy on 1 January 1948. He was the President of the Senate of the Republic of Italy from 28 April 1951 to 24 June 1952. He was the President of the Chambers of Deputies of Italy from 26 June 1920 to 25 January 1924.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,147]

Rock Hudson died on this day 38 years ago, aged 59.

- Hudson's birth name was Roy Scherer- he took his stage name by combining the Rock of Gibraltar and the Hudson River.

- Hudson debuted in film in 1948's Fighter Squadron- it reportedly took him 38 tries to get his one line in the film correct.

- Hudson's first leading role was in the 1952 movie Scarlet Angel, and him starring opposite Jane Wyman in Magnificent Obsession is considered his breakout role. He soon earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for the 1956 film Giant.

- Hudson was well-known for starring in several films opposite Doris Day- most notably Pillow Talk in 1959. Hudson and Day would become lifelong friends.

- Hudson turned to TV roles due to being unsatisfied with the movie scripts he was offered. His best-known role was as the titular character of McMillan & Wife, which ran from 1971 to 1977.

- Hudson was gay- this was known among his Hollywood friends but was not revealed to the public (due to homophobic stigma at the time, which would've ended his career). Tabloids managed to get this information as early as 1955, and he kept it a secret by revealing embarrassing information about his fellow celebrities.

- Hudson was a heavy drinker and smoker, and he suffered a heart attack in 1981- he continued to smoke even after heart surgery. In 1984, Hudson was diagnosed with HIV- one of his last television appearances was on Doris Day's Best Friends in June of 1985, which fueled speculation about his health:

One of his publicists tried to hide his disease by claiming it was terminal liver cancer, but another one confirmed he had AIDS. He was among the first celebrities to die from the disease.

[The Ashes Urn 1,331]

American actor William Berger died on this day 30 years ago, aged 65.

 

[Hell 1,328]

American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball owner Gene Autry died on this day 25 years ago, aged 91. He gained fame largely by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s. Autry was the owner of a television station and several radio stations in Southern California. He was the founding owner of the California Angels franchise of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1997.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,147]

William Steig died on this day 20 years ago, aged 95.

- Steig became a cartoonist in 1930, making illustrations and editorial cartoons for The New Yorker. Steig made a character called "Poor Pitiful Pearl", which was made into a doll line in 1956:

- Steig made his first children's book in 1968, called Roland, the Minstel Pig (about a lute-playing pig who befriends a fox). His 1969 book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (about a donkey who accidentally turns himself into a rock with said pebble to escape a lion) won the 1970 Caldecott Medal. His career would continue to see success in the '70s and '80s with books like Abel's Island (1976, made into a 1988 TV film starring Tim Curry) and Doctor De Soto (about a mouse dentist- winner of the 1983 National Book Award for Young People's Literature).

- In 1990, Steig made his most famous work... Shrek:

The plot revolved around the titular fire-breathing monster, who rescues an ugly princess from an evil knight. Steven Spielberg bought the film rights in 1991- followed by DreamWorks in 1995, leading to the first film of the now titan of meme culture being released in 2001. Despite Shrek deviating from the book's plot, Steig expressed approval, stating "[Steig's family] went sort of expecting to hate it, thinking, 'What has Hollywood done to it?' But we loved it. We were afraid it would be too sickeningly cute and, instead, Bill just thought they did a wonderful, witty job of it. It's vulgar, it's disgusting — and I love it!"

- Following Steig's death, he would receive a tribute in the credits of Shrek 2 (released the following year):

[The Ashes Urn 1,331]

American medical scientist Florence R. Sabin died on this day 70 years ago, aged 81.

 

[diego 1,872]

Wilson Gray was born in Rio de Janeiro and died in the same city 30 years ago at the age of 69 of a heart attack
Considered one of the best actors in national cinema and the artist who made the most films in Brazil, Gray participated in 150 to 250 feature films.

[Hell 1,328]

American actress Janet Leigh died on this day 19 years ago, aged 77. Leigh appeared in radio programs before her first formal foray into acting, making her film debut in the drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). With MGM, she appeared in many films which spanned a wide variety of genres, which include the crime-drama Act of Violence (1948), the drama Little Women (1949), the comedy Angels in the Outfield (1951), the romance Scaramouche (1952) and the western drama The Naked Spur (1953). She played dramatic roles during the late 1950s, in such films as Safari (1956) and Orson Welles's film noir Touch of Evil (1958). With RKO Radio Pictures she co-starred in the romantic comedy Holiday Affair (1949) with Robert Mitchum.

 

[The Unknown Man 560]

Actor and comedian Ronnie Barker died on this day 18 years ago, aged 76.

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,225]

A year ago today country and western singer Loretta Lynn died aged 90.

[Drewsky1211 4,147]

Norman Wisdom died on this day 13 years ago, aged 95.

- Wisdom ran away from home as a child and was homeless at one point, before joining the military as a cabin boy in 1929.

- Wisdom first discovered his talent for entertaining others when putting on a shadow boxing performance, and would often employ physical comedy in his act (particularly silly walks and faces).

- Wisdom would develop his own character for his comedy routines, which he would also portray in acting- called "The Gump":

The Gump was also often referred to as "Norman Pitkin" in his film series, where he starred opposite Edward Chapman's Mr. Grimsdale- whom Wisdom would often shout the name of for comedic effect.

- Wisdom would win the 1954 BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer to Film for his role in Trouble in Store, and in 1959 was voted the third most popular British actor.

- Wisdom became an unlikely icon in Albania during the Hoxha regime- Hoxha himself compared the character of Norman Pitkin to the proletariat emerging victorious over the bourgeoise (Mr. Grimsdale), and his films were some of the few Western films approved by the communists. Wisdom would visit the country in 1995 and became an honorary citizen, and would appear at an England vs. Albania soccer match in 2001 wearing a jacket combining the two teams' jerseys:

- Among his last roles before his retirement in 2004 included Billy Ingleton in Last of the Summer Wine and Ernie Crabbe in Coronation Street.

- Wisdom debuted on the DeathList in 1997, which led to this angry email being featured in the obit section:

"Sir, I am currently working as a freelance production assistant, on a film that is to star Mr Norman Wisdom, and Sir John Mills. I can reliably inform you that both gentlemen are in fine health; I know them personally. If they were to be made aware of their inclusion on this sickening list of yours, they would be likely to take offence, or worse, be upset. I suggest that you remove their names forthwith and no further reference be made; and that you, whoever you are, find someting more worthwhile to do with your life than indulge in morbid speculation.
SJ Walden." (wonder what they're up to now...)

Needless to say, Wisdom would not return to the list until 2003. He also appeared on the list in 2005, 2006, and from 2008 until his death.

- Wisdom's health declined rapidly when he was diagnosed with dementia in 2007, and would have several strokes during 2010 which hastened his demise. He was the sixth hit of the 2010 list (of the nine that year).

[The Ashes Urn 1,331]

American rhythm and blues singer Varetta Dillard died on this day 30 years ago, aged 60.