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Paul Gilbert was born on 27 December 1918 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966), Cat Ballou (1965) and So This Is Paris (1954). He was married to Barbara Cowan. He died on 13 February 1976 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Of Italian and French ancestry, famed operatic soprano Lily Pons was born Alice Josephine Pons near Cannes, France in 1898. She studied the piano as a child and entered the Paris Conservatoire at age 13. At the onset of World War I in 1914, which interrupted her education, Lili moved to Cannes with her mother and younger sister where she played piano and sang for French troops at special events.

In 1925, Lili's singing skills began to eclipse her piano talents. Encouraged by soprano Dyna Beumer, she also met and later married August Mesritz, a successful publisher, who agreed to fund her singing career. Studying in Paris, she took up intently with opera singer and entrepreneur Alberto de Gorostiaga and French soprano Alice Zeppilli.

Ms. Pons made her professional debut in the difficult title role of "Lakme" in 1928. She continued to sing at Paris opera houses, building up her repertoire with roles as Gilda in "Rigoletto," Violetta in "La Traviata," Olympia in "The Tales of Hoffmann," and Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" would be included in her repertoire. She debuted at the Met in 1931 and was instantly revered for her critically-lauded performance as "Lucia de Lammermoor." She exuded beauty, charm, range and glamour, making her one of the most popular prima donnas of her time. Specializing in French and Italian coloratura parts, she later became a durable figure at the Met, remaining with the company for nearly three decades. She was the first soprano who could reach the high "F", composer Delibes wrote in his opera "Lakme." "The Bell Song" from the aforementioned opera, became her signature piece. Though she possessed a rather small voice, it is rightly stated that Pons could hold a high "D" for nearly a minute.

Lily's international success eventually crossed over into Hollywood movies where plush operettas were all the rage. Pons would star in three vehicle films, the least number compared to her warbling rivals at the time, Jeanette MacDonald, Gladys Swarthout and Grace Moore. After filming her trio of romantic musical comedies -- I Dream Too Much (1935) opposite Henry Fonda; That Girl from Paris (1936) co-starring Jack Oakie and MacDonald's husband Gene Raymond; and Hitting a New High (1937) with Oakie again and John Howard -- she quietly retired from the screen. Lily would be seen once more, in a special guest cameo, with the dramatic musical Carnegie Hall (1947) in which she sang the "The Bell Song" from her signature opera "Lakme." Other classical vocalist cameos included Ezio Pinza, Jan Peerce and Risë Stevens.

In 1938, Lily married Russian-American conductor Andre Kostelanetz and a beautiful collaboration began. For over three decades, they would appear together in concert. During this time, she became one of the highest paid performers in history and recorded for RCA Records. Although the couple divorced in 1958, they continued a professional relationship, appearing together from time to time.

Unlike film, radio was a different matter and Lily remained an enduring favorite. In addition, she entertained troops once again, this time during WWII, touring battlefields in North Africa and Asia. In the 1950's, she made several singing/speaking appearances on TV variety shows, including "The Bob Hope Show," "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Colgate Comedy Show," "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show," "All-Star Revue," "The Eddie Fisher Show" and "Kraft Music Hall." She would also be featured on "Person to Person" with Edward R. Murrow and honored on "This Is Your Life."

Lily took her final opera curtain hall as Lucia di Lammermoor opposite young, rising Plácido Domingo's Edgardo in 1962. She continued sporadically in concert until 1972, and died of pancreatic cancer four years later on February 13, 1976, at age 77. She was buried in a family grave in Cannes.

John Lounsbery was an American animator and animation director from Cincinnati, Ohio. He eventually became one of "Disney's Nine Old Men", a group of senior animators who were in charge of the Walt Disney Animation Studios from c. 1945 to 1977. Lounsbery died in 1976, with his death leading to the dissolution of the group. He was the first of the Nine to die, and also had the shortest lifespan among them.

Lounsbery was born in Ohio, but spend much of his childhood in Colorado. He attended the East Denver High School, then received art lessons at the Art Institute of Denver. He continued his art education in Los Angeles, taking lessons at the ArtCenter College of Design. The College was a private art school established in 1930, and initially only trained visual artists and designers. The curriculum later expanded to include lessons in photography and technical illustrations.

One of Lounsbery's college instructors arranged a job interview for him, as a prospective animator for the Disney studios. Lounsbery was hired in early July 1935. He was put to work as an uncredited assistant animator for the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937).

Lounsbery quickly became one of Disney's "star animators", because he was considered unusually skilled as a draftsman. His first major assignment was animating two of the villains in "Pinocchio" (1940), the conman duo of J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon. He served as one of the main animators in a ballet-themed segment of "Fantasia" (1940), the "Dance of the Hours". He was tasked with animating one of the main dancers of the segment, Ben Ali Gator.

Lounsbery made his debut as a directing animator in the feature film "Song of the South" (1946), an adaptation of the "Uncle Remus" stories of Joel Chandler Harris. His subsequent credits as a directing animator included the feature films "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947)., "Melody Time" (1948), "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949), "Cinderella"" (1950), "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), "Peter Pan" (1953), "Lady and the Tramp" (1955), "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961), "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), "The Jungle Book" (1967), "The Aristocats" (1970), and "Robin Hood" (1973). He was often tasked with animating key supporting characters of these films. His most memorable work as an animator included animating the allied kings Huber and Stefan in "Sleeping Beauty", the villainous tiger Shere Khah in "The Jungle Book", and the heroic fox Robin Hood in "Robin Hood".

Lounsbery co-directed the anthology feature film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977), which was released a year following his death. It was his debut as a director. In the film, he was also the main animator for the depressed donkey Eeyore. At the time of his death in 1976, Lounsbery was working in the upcoming feature film "The Rescuers" (1977). He was one of the three credited directors of the film, though he did live not long enough to complete it.

On February 13, 1976, Lounsbery suffered a sudden heart attack while working. He died shortly after, at the age of 64. He died about a month before his 65th birthday. At the time, most of the other "Nine Old Men" were considering retirement and a new generation of animators were in training. Lounsbery was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Lounsbery was posthumously awarded with a "Winsor McCay Award" in 1986. and was named a "Disney Legend" in 1989. His work is still highly regarded by fans of classic animation, though he is possibly the least famous among "Disney's Nine Old Men". Relatively little is known about Lounsbery's personal life.

Guillermo Bravo Sosa was born on 13 February 1901 in San Miguel, Tlaxcala, Mexico. He was an actor, known for María Magdalena, pecadora de Magdala (1946), Reina de reinas: La Virgen María (1948) and La sombra vengadora vs. La mano negra (1956). He was married to Debora Zitácuaro and Concepcion Estrada. He died on 13 February 1976 in Mexico.

Paul Russo was born on 10 April 1914 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA. He died on 13 February 1976 in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.

Frede was born on 8 November 1914 in Paris, France. She died on 13 February 1976 in Mareil-le-Guyon, Yvelines, France.