EMPEROR HIROHITO - January 6

Made in Japan
62 year reign, until the sun finally came out.
(Age: 87.)
________________________________________

BILL TERRY - January 9

Great new York Yankees baseball player.
(Age: 90.)
________________________________________

JOE SPINELL - January 13

Actor in Maniac, Star Crash, and Strike Force.
(Age: 51.)
________________________________________

ROMO VINCENT - January 16

Actor in Naked Jungle.
(Age: 51.)
________________________________________

TREY WILSON - January 16

(Same day as Romo Vincent.)
Actor in Bull Durham, Twins, Raising Arizona.
(Age: 40. C.O.D.: Brain hemorrhage.)
________________________________________

BEATRICE LILLIE - January 20

Actress in Thoroughly Modern Millie.
(Age: 94.)
________________________________________

CARL FURILLO - January 21

(Day after Beatrice Lillie.)
Brooklyn Dodgers great.
(Age: 67.)
________________________________________

SALVADOR DALI - January 23

The scion of surrealism.
(Painting by Dragomir Minkov.)
(Age: 85.)
________________________________________

JACK DOUGLAS - January 31

Writer of humorous books including
My Brother Was An Only Child.
(Age: 80.)
________________________________________

JOHN CASSAVETES - February 2

Director and actor in Rosemary's Baby.
(Age: 59.)
________________________________________

GEORGE O'HANLON - February 11

Actor/director (Bop Girl, Zamba), and voice
of George Jetson on The Jetsons TV series.
(Age: 71.)
________________________________________

LEFTY GOMEZ - February 17

New York Yankees pitching great.
(Age: 80.)
________________________________________

MAURICE EVANS - March 12

Actor (Bewitched, MacBeth).
(Age: 87.)
________________________________________

MILTON FROME - March 21

Actor (Family Jewels).
(Age: 87.)
________________________________________

ABBIE HOFFMAN - April 12

Yippie peace activist of the 1960s.
(Age: 52.)
________________________________________

SUGAR RAY ROBINSON - April 12

(Same day as Abbie Hoffman.)
Heavyweight boxing champ.
(Age: 67.)
________________________________________

DAPHNE DU MAURIER - April 19

British writer (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn).
(Age: 82.)
________________________________________

HUEY NEWTON - April 22

Civil rights activist and co-founder of the Black Panther party.
(Age: 47.)
________________________________________

GEORGE COULOURIS - April 25

Actor (Papillon, Runaway Bus).
(Age: 85.)
________________________________________

LUCILLE BALL - April 26

(Day after George Coulouris.)
Comedienne (I Love Lucy).
(Age: 78.)
________________________________________

SERGIO LEONE - April 30

Italian director (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly).
(Age: 60.)
________________________________________

GUY WILLIAMS - May 6

Actor (Zorro, Lost in Space).
(Age: 78.)
________________________________________

ANTON DIFFRING - May 20

Actor (Zeppelin, Fahrenheit 451).
(Age: 70.)
________________________________________

GILDA RADNER - May 20

(Same day as Anton Diffring.)
Comedienne (SNL, Haunted Honeymoon).
(Age: 42. COD: Cancer.)
________________________________________

VICTOR FRENCH - June 15

Actor on Highway To Heaven,
and played Agent #44 on Get Smart.
(Age: 54. COD: Cancer.)
________________________________________

JOHN MATUSEK - June 17

NFL star (Oakland Raiders).
(Age: 38. COD: Steroids.)
________________________________________

I.F. STONE - June 18

(Day after John Matusek.)
Newspaper investigative journalist.
(Age: 81.)
________________________________________

HY GARDNER - June 19

(Day after I.F. Stone.)
Newspaper feature columnist.
(Age: 80.)
________________________________________

JACK BEUTEL - June 27

Actor (The Outlaw).
________________________________________

FRANKLIN SCHAFFNER - July 2

Film director.
(Age: 69.)
________________________________________

JIM BACKUS - July 3

(Day after Franklin Schaffner.)
Actor (Magoo, Gilligan's Island).
(Age: 76.)
________________________________________

MEL BLANC - July 10

By far the greatest cartoon voice artist of all time.
(Age: 81.)
________________________________________

LAURENCE OLIVIER - July 11

(Day after Mel Blanc.)
By far the greatest actor of all time.
(Hamlet, Wuthering Heights.)
(Age: 82.)
________________________________________

REBECCA SCHAEFFER - July 18

Actress (My Sister Sam).
(Age: 21. COD: Shot by crazy fan.)
________________________________________

RALPH MEEKER - August 5

Actor (Kiss Me Deadly, Gentle Giant).
(Age: 68.)
________________________________________

AMANDA BLAKE - August 16

Actress (Gunsmoke).
(Age: 58.)
________________________________________

IRVING STONE - August 26

Novelist (Love is Eternal, Lust for Life).
________________________________________

IRVING BERLIN - September 22

Composer (God Bless America).
Certainly not a good year to be
named "Irving," "Stone" or both.
(Age: 101.)
________________________________________

GRAHAM CHAPMAN - October 4

Comedian (Monty Python).
(Age: 48. COD: Cancer.)
________________________________________

JAY WARD - October 12

American cartoonist and TV animator (Rocky And Bullwinkle).
(Age: 69. COD: Kidney cancer.)
________________________________________

MICHAEL CARMINE - October 14

Actor (Batteries Not Included).
(Age: 30.)
________________________________________

CORNEL WILDE - October 16

Actor (Saadia, Comic, Beach Red, Gargoyles).
(Age: 74.)
________________________________________

ANTHONY QUAYLE - October 20

Actor (Moses, Operation Crossbow).
(Age: 76.)
________________________________________

MARY MCCARTHY - October 25

Author (The Group).
(Age: 77.)
________________________________________

BARRY SADLER - November 5

Singer of the pro-Vietnam song The Green Berets.
(Not related to the same-named John Wayne film.)
(Age: 49.)
________________________________________

LYNN BARI - November 20

Actress (Shock, Nocturne, 6 Gun Law).
(Age: 71.)
________________________________________

C.C. BECK - November 22

American cartoonist, and creator
of the Captain Marvel universe.
(Age: 79.)
________________________________________

FRANCES BAVIER - December 6

Actress (Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show).
(Age: 86.)
________________________________________

SAMMY FAIN - December 6

(Same day as Frances Beauvier.)
Composer.
(Age: 87.)
________________________________________

JOHN PAYNE - December 6

(Same day as Frances Beauvier and Sammy Fain.)
Actor (Miracle On 34th St., and The Razor's Edge).
(Age: 77.)
________________________________________

JOCK MAHONEY - December 14

Actor (Dallas, Cow Town, Range Rider).
(Also the stepdad of Sally Field.)
(Age: 70.)
________________________________________

SILVANA MANGANO - December 16

Italian actress (Death In Venice).
(Age: 59.)
________________________________________

LEE VAN CLEEF - December 16

(Same day as Silvano Mangano.)
Actor (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly).
(Age: 64.)
________________________________________

SAMUEL BECKETT - December 22

Irish/French writer (Molloy, Nobel 1969).
(Age: 83.)
________________________________________

BILLY MARTIN - December 25

New York Yankees manager.
Merry Christmas - you're dead!
(Age: 61. COD: Car crash.)
________________________________________

LENORE LEMMON - December 30

Former fiancee of Superman TV star George Reeves.
Happy day before New Year's Eve - you're dead!
(Age: 66.)
________________________________________

= 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! =