Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolfo Colombo

 Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolfo Colombo, known as Russ Columbo (January 14, 1908 – September 2, 1934)

Columbo was a baritone, songwriter, violinist and actor. He is famous for romantic ballads such as his signature tune "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love" and his own compositions "Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words." By 1928, at the age of 20, Columbo began to participate in motion pictures, including a Vitaphone short in which Columbo appeared as a member of Gus Arnheim and His Orchestra. Eventually, he did obtain some feature work in front of the camera, but he slowed down his activities in cinema to pursue other interests. At the time of his death, Columbo had just completed work on the film Wake Up and Dream; he was on his way to stardom when his life was cut short. On Sunday, September 2, 1934, Columbo was shot under peculiar circumstances by his longtime friend, photographer Lansing Brown, while Columbo was visiting him at home. Brown had a collection of firearms and the two men were examining various pieces. According to Brown, he was fooling around with one of the guns. It was of a dueling design and works with a cap and trigger. He was pulling back the trigger and clicking it time after time. Brown had a match in his hand and when he clicked, apparently the match caught in between the hammer and the firing pin. There was an explosion. Russ slid to the side of his chair. Surgeons at Good Samaritan Hospital made an unsuccessful attempt to remove the ball from Columbo's brain; he died less than six hours after the shooting. Columbo's death was ruled an accident. At the time, he was dating Carole Lombard, who later called him the love of her life. He is interred at Forest Lawn-Glendale.