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! =