My Life , My Blog

  Stella Stevens, born Estelle Eggleston (October 1, 1938 – February 17, 2023) She began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), The Nutty Professor (1963), The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), The Silencers (1966), Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Stevens also appeared in numerous television series, miniseries, and movies, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960, 1988), Bonanza (1960), The Love Boat (1977, 1983), Hart to Hart (1979), Newhart (1983), Murder, She Wrote (1985), Magnum, P.I. (1986), Highlander: The Series (1995), and Twenty Good Years (2006). In 1960, she won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. In addition, Stevens appeared in three Playboy pictorials, and was Playmate of the Month for January 1960. Stevens also appeared in several stage productions, including a touring production of an all-female version of Neil Si...

Julie Adams, born Betty May Adams (October 17, 1926 – February 3, 2019) Adams was an actress, primarily in television. She starred in a number of films in the 1950s, including Bend of the River and Creature from the Black Lagoon. She was also known for her roles as Paula Denning on Capitol and as Eve Simpson on Murder, She Wrote. In 1946, at the age of 19, she was crowned "Miss Little Rock" and then moved to Hollywood, California to pursue her acting career. Her first movie role was a minor part in Red, Hot and Blue (1949), followed by a leading role in the Lippert western The Dalton Gang (1949). Adams was featured as the bathing beauty Kay Lawrence in the science-fiction film Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). Adams co-starred in 1950s films opposite some of Hollywood's top leading men, including with James Stewart in 1952's Bend of the River, with Rock Hudson in The Lawless Breed (1953) and One Desire (1955), with Tyrone Power in The Mississippi Gambler (1953), ...

  Beverley Owen (May 13, 1937 – February 21, 2019) She was a television actress, best known for having played the original role of Marilyn Munster on the sitcom The Munsters before the role was taken over by Pat Priest. In 1956, Owen appeared in her first TV role in As the World Turns. Owen appeared on the shows The Doctors, Kraft Mystery Theatre, The Virginian, Wagon Train, and Another World, and in the feature film Bullet for a Badman, starring Audie Murphy, after which she got the role of Marilyn Munster on The Munsters. Owen left The Munsters after 13 episodes to marry Sesame Street writer and producer Jon Stone. They were married for eight years, and had two children. After her divorce in 1974 she continued to pursue her studies in early American history and earned a master's degree in 1989. In 1972, she played Dr. Paula McCrea for nine months in the soap opera Another World. Owen's daughter Polly confirmed that the actress died of ovarian cancer on February 21, 2019, at t...

  Thomas Morgan Woodward (September 16, 1925 – February 22, 2019) Woodward was an actor who is best known for his recurring role as Marvin "Punk" Anderson on the television soap opera Dallas and for his portrayal of Boss Godfrey, the sunglasses-wearing "man with no eyes", in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. On another television series, Gunsmoke, he can be seen in 19 episodes, the most guest appearances of any actor on that long-running Western. He served in the Korean War as a lieutenant in special services . His acting debut came in the 1956 film "The Great Locomotive Chase". Besides "Cool Hand Luke", he went on to appear in other such films as "Gunpoint" (1966), "Firecreek" (1968), "The Sword of Ali Baba" (1968), "Final Chapter: Walking Tall" (1977), "Battle Beyond the Stars" (1980), and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (1985). He also made his television debut in 1956 on the series "Z...

  Diana Serra Cary, born Peggy-Jean Montgomery, known as Baby Peggy (October 29, 1918 – February 24, 2020) She was a child film actress, vaudevillian, author and silent film historian. Baby Peggy was one of the three major American child stars of the Hollywood silent film era along with Jackie Coogan and Baby Marie. Between 1921 and 1923, she made over 150 short films for the Century Film Corporation. In 1922, she received over 1.2 million fan letters and by 1924, she had been dubbed The Million Dollar Baby for her $1.5 million annual salary ($22 million in 2018). Despite her childhood fame and wealth, she found herself poor and working as an extra by the 1930's. Eventually, after years of emotional struggle and ridicule from Hollywood insiders and the media, Cary made peace with her Baby Peggy past. Having an interest in both writing and history since her youth, Montgomery found a second career as an author and silent film historian in her later years under the name Diana Serra Ca...

  Nathaniel Taylor (March 31, 1938- February 27, 2019) Taylor was a television actor, best known for his recurring role as Rollo Lawson in the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son, a role he later reprised on its short-lived 1980-1981 spin-off Sanford. He later played the first version of Jim-Jam with Redd Foxx on the 1986 series The Redd Foxx Show. Later, he played Rerun's (Fred Berry) brother-in-law Ike in the sitcom What's Happening!!. Taylor also appeared in the films Trouble Man (1972), Willie Dynamite (1974), and Passing Through (1977). Taylor was married twice, and had seven children. According to his friend, entertainer/promoter Alonzo Williams, Taylor suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized on Saturday, and died at UCLA Medical Center on February 27th, 2019, age 80. He is interred at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.  

  Gerald Norman Springer (February 13, 1944 – April 27, 2023) Born in London, England, during World War II to refugees escaping the Holocaust, Springer was raised in Queens, New York City. He attended Northwestern University School of Law, qualified as a lawyer, and first became actively involved in politics working for the campaign of Robert Kennedy in 1968. A Cincinnati City Council member, Springer served as the 56th Mayor of Cincinnati from 1977 to 1978. He then worked as a local news anchor in Cincinnati where he won several Regional Emmy Awards for commentary. Springer was best known for hosting the tabloid talk show Jerry Springer from 1991 to 2018. He also debuted the Jerry Springer Podcast in 2015. From 2007 to 2008, he hosted America's Got Talent, and from 2019 until 2022, Springer hosted the courtroom show Judge Jerry. Springer appeared in an episode of Married... with Children as the host of a talk show called The Masculine Feminist, in which he advocated for women gett...

  Doris Day, born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff (April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) After she began her career as a big band singer in 1939, her popularity increased with her first hit recording "Sentimental Journey" (1945). After leaving Les Brown & His Band of Renown to embark on a solo career, she recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967, which made her one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the 20th century. Day's film career began during the latter part of the Classical Hollywood Film era with the 1948 film Romance on the High Seas, and its success sparked her twenty-year career as a motion picture actress. She starred in a series of successful films, including musicals, comedies, and dramas. She played the title role in Calamity Jane (1953), and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) with James Stewart. Her most successful films were the ones she made co-starring Rock Hudson and James Garner, such as Pillow Talk (1959) and Move...

Gavin MacLeod, born Allan George See (February 28, 1931 – May 29, 2021) MacLeod's career began in films in 1957. In 1965, he played opposite Peter Mann in The Sword of Ali Baba. He went on to play alongside Anthony Franciosa in A Man Called Gannon (1968), with Christopher George in The Thousand Plane Raid, and opposite Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, and Carroll O'Connor in Kelly's Heroes (1970). MacLeod achieved continuing television success co-starring opposite Ernest Borgnine on McHale's Navy (1962–1964) as Joseph "Happy" Haines, and on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) as Murray Slaughter. He also starred on ABC's The Love Boat (1977–1986), in which he was cast as Merrill Stubing, the ship’s captain. MacLeod and his second wife were hosts on the Trinity Broadcasting Network for 17 years, primarily hosting a show about marriage called Back on Course. In the 2000s MacLeod guested on several TV series, including "Oz", “The King of Queens,” “J...

  Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE (July 20, 1938 – September 10, 2020) She played Emma Peel in the TV series The Avengers (1965–68); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969); and Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones (2013–17). She also enjoyed a career in theatre, including playing the title role in Medea, both in London and New York, for which she won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She was made a CBE in 1988 and a Dame in 1994 for services to drama. Rigg made her professional stage debut in 1957 in The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959. She made her Broadway debut in the 1971 production of Abelard & Heloise. Her film roles include Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968); Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper (1981); and Arlena Marshall in Evil Under the Sun (1982). She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC miniseries Mother Love (1989), and an Emmy Awa...

  Anthony Dominick Benedetto, known professionally as Tony Bennett (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023) Bennett amassed many accolades throughout his career, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He was named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree, and was the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York. Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as a U.S. Army infantryman in the European Theater. Afterward, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records and had his first number-one popular song with "Because of You" in 1951. Several popular tracks such as "Rags to Riches" followed in early 1953. He then refined his approach to encompass jazz singing. He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, ...

  John Saxon, born Carmine Orrico (August 5, 1935-July 25, 2020) He was an actor and martial artist who has worked on more than 200 projects during a span of 60 years. Saxon is known for his work in westerns and horror movies, often playing police officers and detectives. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Saxon studied acting with Stella Adler before beginning his career as a contract actor for Universal Pictures, playing in such movies as Rock, Pretty Baby (1956) and Portrait in Black (1961). During the 1970's and 1980's, he would establish himself as a character actor, frequently portraying law enforcement officials in horror movies such as Black Christmas (1974), Dario Argento's Tenebrae (1982), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). In addition to his roles in horror movies, Saxon co-starred with Bruce Lee in the martial arts movie Enter the Dragon (1973), and has supporting roles in the westerns Death of a Gunfighter (1969) and Joe Kidd (1972), as well as the adven...

  Janis Paige, born Donna Mae Tjaden (September 16, 1922 – June 2, 2024) With a career spanning nearly 60 years, she was one of the last surviving stars from Hollywood's Golden Age. Born in Tacoma, Washington, Paige began singing in local amateur shows at the age of five. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, where she became a singer at the Hollywood Canteen during World War II, as well as posing as a pin-up model. This led to a film contract with Warner Bros., although she later left the studio to pursue live theatre work. She continued to alternate between film and theatre work for much of her career. Beginning in the mid-1950s, she also made numerous television appearances, as well as starring in her own sitcom It's Always Jan. Paige appeared on Broadway, and she was a huge hit in a 1951 comedy-mystery play Remains to Be Seen. She also toured successfully as a cabaret singer. Stardom came in 1954 with her role as Babe in the Broadway musical The Pajama Game. After si...

  Patricia Eva "Bonnie" Pointer (July 11, 1950 - June 8, 2020) She was a singer, most notable for being a member of the Grammy Award–winning vocal group. Bonnie and youngest sister June began singing together as teenagers and in 1969 the duo had co-founded The Pointers (otherwise known as The Pair). After Anita joined the duo that same year, they changed their name to The Pointer Sisters and recorded several singles for Atlantic Records between 1971 and 1972. In December 1972, they recruited oldest sister Ruth and released their debut album as The Pointer Sisters in 1973. Their self-titled debut yielded the hit "Yes We Can Can". Between 1973 and 1977, the Pointers donned 1940s fashions and sang in a style reminiscent of The Andrews Sisters; they also melded the sounds of R&B, funk, rock and roll, gospel, country and soul. In 1977, Bonnie left the group to begin a solo career. In 1978, Bonnie signed with Motown and in the same year, Bonnie released "Heaven M...

  Dabney Wharton Coleman (January 3, 1932 – May 16, 2024) Coleman was an actor with roles in well over 60 films and television programs to his credit. He trained with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City from 1958 to 1960. His best known films include 9 to 5 (1980), On Golden Pond (1981), Tootsie (1982), WarGames (1983), Cloak & Dagger (1984), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), You've Got Mail (1998), Inspector Gadget (1999), Recess: School's Out (2001), Moonlight Mile (2002), and Rules Don't Apply (2016). Coleman's television roles included the title characters of Buffalo Bill (1983–1984) and The Slap Maxwell Story (1987–1988), as well as Burton Fallin on The Guardian (2001–2004), the voice of Principal Peter Prickly on Recess (1997–2001), and Louis "The Commodore" Kaestner on Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011). He won one Primetime Emmy Award from six nominations and one Golden Glo...

  Mary Farrah Leni Fawcett (February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) Fawcett began her career in 1968 in commercials and guest roles on television. During the 1970s, she appeared in numerous television series, including recurring roles on Harry O (1974–76), and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974–78) with then husband, film and television star Lee Majors. She rose to international fame when she posed for her iconic red swimsuit poster and starred as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of Charlie's Angels. In 1983, Fawcett received positive reviews for her performance in the Off-Broadway play Extremities. She was subsequently cast in the 1986 film version and received a Golden Globe nomination. She received two Emmy Award nominations for her roles in TV movies, as a battered wife in the 1984 film The Burning Bed and as real-life murderer Diane Downs in the 1989 film Small Sacrifices. Her 1980s work in TV movies also earned her four additional Golden Globe nominations. In 1996...

Tupac Amaru Shakur, born Lesane Parish Crooks (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996) Shakur, also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, is considered to be one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time. Shakur is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. His lyrical content has been noted for addressing social injustice, political issues, and the marginalization of other African-Americans, but he was also synonymous with gangsta rap and violent lyrics. With the release of his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, he became a central figure in West Coast hip hop for his conscious rap and political rap lyrics. Shakur achieved further critical and commercial success with his follow-up albums. His Diamond certified album All Eyez on Me (1996), the first double-length album in hip-hop history, abandoned his introspective lyrics for volatile gangsta rap. In addition to his music career, Shakur also found considerable success ...

  Katherine Marie Helmond (July 5, 1929 – February 23, 2019) Over her five decades of television acting, she is known for her starring role as Jessica Tate on the sitcom Soap (1977–1981) and her co-starring role as Mona Robinson on Who's the Boss? (1984–1992). She also played Doris Sherman on Coach and Lois Whelan, the mother of Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. She picked up Emmy nominations for her role as Mona Robinson in Who's the Boss and as Lois Whelan in Everybody Loves Raymond. She has also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety shows. Helmond has had many supporting roles in films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976) and Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985). She also voiced Lizzie in the three Cars films by Disney/Pixar. She was married twice, her second marriage was from 1962 until her death. Katherine Helmond died February 23, 2019 of Alzheimer’s complications at her home in Los Angeles. She was 89.

  James Edmund Caan (March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) While studying at Hofstra University, Caan became intrigued by acting and was interviewed for, accepted to, and enrolled in New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where he studied for five years. One of his instructors was Sanford Meisner. "I just fell in love with acting", Caan later recalled. "Of course all my improvs ended in violence." After early roles in Howard Hawks's El Dorado (1966), Robert Altman's Countdown (1967) and Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People (1969), he came to prominence playing his signature role of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972), following which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised the role of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974) with a cameo appearance at the end. In addition, Caan had significant roles in films such as Brian's Song (1971),...

  Ennio Morricone, OMRI (November 10, 1928 – July 6, 2020) Morricone composed over 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as over 100 classical works. His score to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) is considered one of the most influential soundtracks in history and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. His filmography includes over 70 award-winning films, all Sergio Leone's films since A Fistful of Dollars, all Giuseppe Tornatore's films since Cinema Paradiso, The Battle of Algiers, Dario Argento's Animal Trilogy, 1900, Exorcist II, Days of Heaven, several major films in French cinema, in particular the comedy trilogy La Cage aux Folles I, II, III and Le Professionnel, as well as The Thing, Once Upon A Time In America, The Mission, The Untouchables, Mission to Mars, Bugsy, Disclosure, In the Line of Fire, Bulworth, Ripley's Game and The Hateful Eight. Throughout his career, he composed music for artists such as Paul Anka, Mina, Milva, Zucchero and Andre...