ALAN HALE JR. - January 2

The Skipper on Gilligan's Island.
________________________________________

ARTHUR KENNEDY - January 5

Actor in Elmer Gantry.
________________________________________

NORTHERN CALLOWAY - January 9

David on Sesame Street.
________________________________________

DR. LAWRENCE J. PETER - January 12

Writer of The Peter Principle book. His classic modern mantra:
"People rise to the level of their incompetence."
________________________________________

GORDON JACKSON - January 15

Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs.
________________________________________

RUSTY HAMER - January 18

Son on Make Room for Daddy. Suicide.
________________________________________

BARBARA STANWYCK - January 20

Actress.
________________________________________

AVA GARDNER - January 25

Hot actress.
________________________________________

DEL SHANNON - February 8

Singer of Runaway. Suicide.
________________________________________

KEITH HARING - February 16

Artist.
[COD: AIDS.]
________________________________________

MALCOLM FORBES - February 24

Founded Forbes magazine.
Then today he founded himself dead.
________________________________________

JOHNNIE RAY - February 24

(Must've heard about Forbes from the day before.)
Singer/actor in There's No Business Like Show Business.
________________________________________

GARY MERRILL - March 5

Actor. Married to Bette Davis.
________________________________________

RAY GOULDING - March 24

Part of Bob and Ray comedy team. He played Ray.
________________________________________

HALSTON - March 26

One of them fancy dancy dress designer dudes.
________________________________________

SARAH VAUGHAN - April 3

Recorded Sarah Vaughn's Finest Hour.
No relation to Stevie Ray Vaughan.
________________________________________

GRETA GARBO - April 15

Happy Income Tax Day - you're dead!
[Age: 84.]
________________________________________

REV. RALPH ABERNATHY - April 17

Widely-respected civil rights leader.
________________________________________

PAULETTE GODDARD - April 23

Hot actress in The Women, and Modern Times.
________________________________________

ALBERT SALMI - April 23

Actor. Killed wife and then himself - that's right - he pulled a Gig Young two-fer.
________________________________________

DEXTER GORDON - April 25

Excellent horn player who portrayed Dale Turner in Round Midnight.
________________________________________

SERGIO FRANCHI - May 1

Another cool crooner who cashed in on all that
Spaghetti Singer stuff in the late '50s and early '60s.
. Happy May Day - you're dead!
________________________________________

CHARLES FARRELL - May 6

Old school actor.
________________________________________

SUSAN OLIVER - May 10

Hot actress.
________________________________________

SAMMY DAVIS JR. - May 16

Singer/actor/dancer/gambler.
________________________________________

JIM HENSON - May 16

That Muppets guy who would never get a shave.
________________________________________

JILL IRELAND - May 18

Hot actress married to David McCallum then Charles Bronson.
(Unwisely wrote a "Look At Me - I Survived Cancer" book,
which always regains the attention of the Grim Reaper,
who swoops down and finishes the job.)
________________________________________

VIC TAYBACK - May 25

Mel Sharples on the Tv show Alice.
Not so sharp anymore.
________________________________________

JACK GILFORD - June 2

Comedy character actor.
________________________________________

REX HARRISON - June 2

Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady.
________________________________________

INA BALIN - June 20

Hot actress.
________________________________________

IRVING WALLACE - June 29

Writer of the medium-sized Book Of Lists which was interesting,
and a buncha other really big books that weren't.
________________________________________

BILL CULLEN - July 7

TV game show host who was even more
pleasant and affable than he needed to be,
which in the world of game show hosts is
pretty darn amazing.
________________________________________

HOWARD DUFF - July 8

Actor. Married to Ida Lupino.
________________________________________

BERNARD KLIBAN - August 12

Cartoonist. You know, mainly those annoying cat ones
that weren't Garfield or Heathcliff,
which were also both annoying.
________________________________________

PEARL BAILEY - August 17

Singer/actress.
________________________________________

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN - August 27

Pretty fair guitarist.
________________________________________

IRENE DUNNE - September 4

Yep, she's done, alright.
Actress.
________________________________________

LEONARD BERNSTEIN - October 14

Yep, he's burnin', alright.
Music conductor. West Side Story.
________________________________________

JOEL MCCREA - October 20

Mostly acted in Westerns, played Buffalo Bill, was married to Frances Dee.
His son later played that big goofy dude in the Beach Party movie series.
________________________________________

TOM CARVEL - October 21

Carvel Ice Cream founder.
No truth to the rumor that he was once
caught in a freezer trying to seduce Cookie Puss.
________________________________________

XAVIER CUGAT - October 27

Bandleader.
________________________________________

MARY MARTIN - November 3

Star of Peter Pan on stage and TV, and South Pacific on stage.
________________________________________

EVE ARDEN - November 12

Star of Our Miss Brooks and The Mothers In Law.
Had a deadly backhand but an even more lethal comeback line.
________________________________________

ROALD DAHL - November 23

Good writer of spooky stories.
________________________________________

DAVID WHITE - November 27

Larry Tate on Bewitched.
________________________________________

BOB CUMMINGS - December 2

Star of The Bob Cummings show, and My Living Doll with Julie Newmar.
.
________________________________________

JOAN BENNETT - December 7

Actress from lots of '40s films, who in the
1960s also starred in TV's Dark Shadows.
That's right - way before all that Twilight jazz started, kids.
Happy Pearl Harbor Day - you're dead!
________________________________________

= WELL, THAT'S ALL FOR THIS YEAR, FOLKS! BUT STAY TUNED - YOU KNOW THE GRIM REAPER AIN'T DONE WITH THOSE CELEBS YET! MEANWHILE, ON THE UPPER RIGHT YOU CAN ALWAYS CHECK OUT THE LIST OF LATE LAMENTED LAYABOUTS FROM OTHER YEARS! ENJOY! =