Date of Death between 1948-01-01 and 1948-12-31 (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)
1. Carole Landis
Actress | I Wake Up Screaming
Carole Landis was born on New Year's Day in 1919 in Fairchild, Wisconsin, as Frances Lillian Mary Ridste. Her father, a railroad mechanic, was of Norwegian descent and her mother was Polish. Her father walked out, leaving Carole, her mother and an older brother and sister to fend for themselves.
...
2. C. Aubrey Smith
Actor | Rebecca
Movie roles are sometimes based upon what the audience expects to see. If the role called for the tall stereotypical Englishmen with the stiff upper lip and stern determination, that man would be C. Aubrey Smith, graduate of Cambridge University, a leading Freemason and a test cricketer for England...
3. D.W. Griffith
Director | The Birth of a Nation
David Wark Griffith was born in rural Kentucky to Jacob "Roaring Jake" Griffith, a former Confederate Army colonel and Civil War veteran. Young Griffith grew up with his father's romantic war stories and melodramatic nineteenth-century literature that were to eventually shape his movies. In 1897 ...
4. Warren William
Actor | The Wolf Man
Warren William, the stalwart leading man of pre-Production Code talkies, was born Warren William Krech on December 2, 1894 in Aitkin, Minnesota, the son of a newspaper publisher. William originally planned to become a journalist, but he had a change of heart, and instead went to the American ...
5. Sergei Eisenstein
Director | Aleksandr Nevskiy
The son of an affluent architect, Eisenstein attended the Institute of Civil Engineering in Petrograd as a young man. With the fall of the tsar in 1917, he worked as an engineer for the Red Army. In the following years, Eisenstein joined up with the Moscow Proletkult Theater as a set designer and ...
6. Elissa Landi
Actress | Underground
Elissa Landi was born in Venice, Italy on December 6, 1904. From an early age, she wanted to be an actress and writer. Her acting career started at the Oxford Repertory Company and on London's West End performing with actors such as Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. She played Desdemona in "...
7. Edgar Kennedy
Actor | Duck Soup
Edgar Kennedy, who was born on April 26, 1890, near Monterey, California, hit the road as a young man and traveled across the country, working in a succession of jobs. He became a professional boxer, claiming to have gone 14 rounds against The Manassas Mauler, Jack Dempsey.
In addition to his ...
8. Samuel S. Hinds
Actor | It's a Wonderful Life
Samuel S. Hinds, a Harvard graduate, was a lawyer in Hollywood until the stock market crash of 1929, in which he lost most of his money. Hinds, who had an interest in theater acting, decided to embark on a career in acting, albeit it age 54. The tall, dignified-looking Hinds appeared in over 200 ...
9. James Baskett
Actor | Song of the South
James Baskett was born on February 16, 1904 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA as James Franklin Baskett. He was an actor, known for Song of the South (1946), Revenge of the Zombies (1943) and Policy Man (1938). He was married to Margaret. He died on July 9, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
10. Mary Nolan
Actress | Desert Nights
Blonde and utterly beautiful, Mary Nolan had the requisite figure and prettiness to rise up fast in the Hollywood ranks. Her downfall, however, would be just as fast and not at all pretty.
She was born Mary Imogene Robertson in 1905 and began her show-business career as a teenage model. Showman ...
11. May Whitty
Actress | The Lady Vanishes
Born Mary Whitty on June 19, 1865, to a Liverpool newspaper editor and his wife, she became known as May Whitty to the world. She first stepped on the London stage in 1882. She worked as an understudy at the St. James Theatre and then began playing leading roles when she joined a traveling stock ...
12. Gregg Toland
Cinematographer | Citizen Kane
Born in Illinois in 1904, the only child of Jennie and Frank Toland, Gregg and his mother moved to California several years after his parents divorced in 1910. Through Jennie's work as a housekeeper for several people in the movie business, Gregg may had gotten a $12-a-week job at age 15 as an ...
13. Babe Ruth
Actor | Speedy
Most of Babe Ruth's records have been broken. In 1961, not only did Roger Maris break The Babe's 34-year-old record for most home runs in a season with 61* (2001), but Maris' teammate on the '61 Yankees, pitcher Whitey Ford broke the Babe's 43-year-old record for most scoreless innings pitched in a...
14. Patricia Farr
Actress | Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Patricia Farr was born on January 15, 1913 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941), Tailspin Tommy (1934) and This Gun for Hire (1942). She was previously married to Robert Mayo. She died on February 23, 1948 in Burbank, California, USA.
15. Leo White
Actor | Blood and Sand
Leo White started in comedy on the boards of English music hall in the late 1890's. He accompanied theatrical producer Daniel Frohman (later a partner of Adolph Zukor in Famous Players Lasky) to Hollywood in 1910. From 1914, he appeared in Essanay comedies and filmed the 'Sweedie' series with ...
16. Nora Lane
Actress | The Western Code
Nora Bennett Schilling was born in Chester, Illinois. She grew up and went to school near St. Louis. After modeling for a time, she went to visit a friend in California and was noticed by someone in the film industry. She successfully passed her screen test and began playing small parts in silent ...
17. Billy 'Froggy' Laughlin
Actor | Rover's Big Chance
His mother enrolled him in a dramatic class to overcome his self-consciousness. His gravel voice was exploited by an MGM talent scout. After his test and positive public reaction he was signed to a term contract to Our Gang. His favorite sport was bicycling. After Our Gang was over, Froggy was ...
18. Paul Wegener
Actor | Der Golem
Paul Wegener was born in Arnoldsdorf, West Prussia, part of the German Empire. His birthplace is currently part of Poland, under the name "Jarantowice". Wegener's family included a number of scientists, the most notable being his cousin Alfred Wegener (1880-1930). Alfred is remembered as the ...
19. Louis Lumière
Producer | La Mi-Carême, Char et batailles de confettis
Although no one will ever come up with a definitive answer as to who invented the cinema (probably because no one single person was responsible), Louis Lumière has one of the strongest claims to the title - for it was he (with his brother Auguste) who invented the cinematographe : a machine that ...
20. Hay Petrie
Actor | Great Expectations
Diminutive Scots character actor of quirky personality and gift of gab. As a drama student at St. Andrews, he first performed in productions staged by the university's dramatic society. He served with the Royal Scots during World War I, then forged a career playing comic roles on the Shakespearean ...
21. Charles C. Wilson
Actor | It Happened One Night
Charles C. Wilson was born on July 29, 1894 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for It Happened One Night (1934), Blazing Across the Pecos (1948) and The Return of Jimmy Valentine (1936). He died on January 7, 1948 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
22. Warren Hymer
Actor | Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
Warren Hymer was born on February 25, 1906 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938), The Lady and the Mob (1939) and Up the River (1930). He was previously married to Beau Williams and Virginia Meyer. He died on March 25, 1948 in Los Angeles, ...
23. Mary Eaton
Actress | Glorifying the American Girl
Born in January, 1901, Mary Eaton was one of 'The Seven Little Eatons' famous in the '20s and '30s. In fact, she received the greatest fame of her fellow performing brothers Joseph Eaton and Charles Eaton and sisters Pearl Eaton and Doris Eaton. Sister Evelyn was a stage manager and brother Robert ...
24. R.E. 'Tex' Madsen
Actor | The Sideshow
R.E. 'Tex' Madsen was born on April 19, 1897 in Norfolk, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for The Sideshow (1928), 3-Ring Marriage (1928) and The Mighty Barnum (1934). He died on November 26, 1948 in Norfolk, Nebraska, USA.
25. Willard Robertson
Actor | Doctor X
Lawyer who abandoned his profession to take up the actor's calling - although lawyer and actor are essentially kindred spirits, each deriving his livelihood from the art of pretending. Robertson acted in Hollywood films from 1930 until the year he died, typically portraying men of authority such as...
26. Warner Richmond
Soundtrack | Scarface
Werner Paul Raetzmann was one of seven children born to a German-born father and Wisconsin-born mother. He and one brother decided to change their last name to Richmond. Living in rural Wisconsin, he became an expert horseman as a young man, and this skill would later earn him roles in western ...
27. Cy Schindell
Actor | The Face Behind the Mask
Cy Schindell was born on March 4, 1907 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Face Behind the Mask (1941), Two-Fisted Gentleman (1936) and North of Shanghai (1939). He died on August 24, 1948 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
28. Gustav Diessl
Actor | Die Büchse der Pandora
Gustav Diessl was an Austrian artist, film and stage actor. He studied art, painting and sculpture in Vienna. From 1921 he worked in Berlin as an actor for G.W. Pabst in his silent film, "Abgründe" (1928). In 1929 he played in White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) ("The White Hell of Pitz Palu"). After ...
29. Fred Niblo
Fred Niblo entered films in 1917 after two decades as a touring actor in vaudeville and one-time manager of 'The Four Cohans' (he married Josephine Cohan, the sister of George M. Cohan). He made his film debut with two early Australian silent films in 1916. He worked for Thomas H. Ince from 1917 as ...
30. Eddy Chandler
Actor | The Roaring Twenties
Character actor who made his film debut on the East Coast in October 1911. After serving in WWI, Chandler continued with his film and stage career becoming one of the most prolific (if more often than not uncredited) bit actors in the industry. Also appeared in vaudeville as a comedian and singer; ...
31. Antonin Artaud
Actor | La passion de Jeanne d'Arc
Antonin Artaud was born on September 4, 1896 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He was an actor and writer, known for The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Lucrezia Borgia (1935) and Napoleon (1927). He died on March 4, 1948 in Ivry-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne, France.
32. William Burgess
Actor | The Scarlet Pimpernel
William Burgess was born on August 19, 1867 in Newcomerstown, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Scarlet Pimpernel (1917), Kultur (1918) and The World Changes (1933). He was previously married to Carrie May O'Brien. He died on October 30, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
33. Buster Brodie
Actor | All Aboard
Buster Brodie was born on October 11, 1885 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for All Aboard (1927), Crazy Knights (1944) and Say Ah-h! (1928). He died on April 9, 1948 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
34. Jacques Feyder
Director | La kermesse héroïque
Jacques Feyder was born on July 21, 1885 in Ixelles, Brabant, Belgium. He was a director and writer, known for Carnival in Flanders (1935), Fahrendes Volk (1938) and Pension Mimosas (1935). He was previously married to Françoise Rosay. He died on May 24, 1948 in Rive-de-Prangins, Switzerland.
35. Bert Young
Actor | Glove Slingers
Bert Young was born on January 1, 1897 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Glove Slingers (1939), Hollywood Lights (1932) and Please (1933). He died on January 23, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
36. Brember Wills
Actor | The Old Dark House
Brember Wills was born on March 15, 1883 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Old Dark House (1932), Unfinished Symphony (1934) and What Happened to Harkness? (1934). He died on September 29, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
37. Edwin Maxwell
Actor | Scarface
Edwin Maxwell was born on February 9, 1886 in Dublin, Ireland. He was an actor, known for Scarface (1932), The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and His Girl Friday (1940). He was previously married to Betty Alden. He died on August 13, 1948 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA.
38. King Baggot
Actor | Jim Webb, Senator
St. Louis-born King Baggot traveled to New York City with the express intent of crashing Broadway, but began his film career in nearby Fort Lee, NJ, in 1909. It didn't take long before he graduated from actor to writer and director--at times performing all three functions; in Shadows (1914) he not ...
39. Edythe Chapman
Actress | Bound in Morocco
Edythe Chapman was born in Rochester, New York on October 8, 1863. A stage actress who came upon movies late in life, she nonetheless made 97 motion pictures. She was 51 years old when she played in _Richelieu (1914)_. Edythe was one of the busier actresses in the early silent era appearing in as ...
40. Beryl Wallace
Actress | The Woman of the Town
Voluptuous Beryl Wallace was born in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest of nine children of working class Austrian-Jewish émigrés. With her knockout looks and obvious shapeliness, the "Big Apple" beauty naturally gravitated toward an entertainment career and first turned to dancing. She was only a ...
41. Nigel De Brulier
Actor | Adventures of Captain Marvel
British-born Nigel De Brulier's long career began in silent films, but unlike many performers of that era, he managed to successfully transition into sound films. His authoritarian and somewhat regal bearing was perfect for the many bishops, cardinals, knights and other authority figures he often ...
42. Ray McCarey
Director | You Can't Fool Your Wife
The younger brother of director Leo McCarey, Ray McCarey entered the film business in the mid-'20s as a prop boy, working his way up to assistant director, screenwriter and then director. In the early 1930s he joined Hal Roach Studios, where he directed several Our Gang and Stan Laurel and Oliver ...
43. Zelda Fitzgerald
Self | The Twentieth Century
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald was born in Montgomery, Alabama. She was strikingly beautiful and intelligent, but wild and impatient with learning. In the summer of 1918, shortly after graduating from high school, she met an Army lieutenant and aspiring novelist named F. Scott Fitzgerald at a dance at the ...
44. Frank Cellier
Actor | The 39 Steps
Born Francois Cellier, he was the son of a conductor by the same name. On stage from 1903, Frank was a classically-trained actor who acted in both Shakespearean and modern plays. According to contemporary reviews, he essayed a particularly noteworthy Macbeth in 1923. He was also fond of playing ...
45. Barlowe Borland
Actor | The Hound of the Baskervilles
Barlowe Borland was born on August 6, 1877 in Greenock, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), The Little Minister (1934) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935). He was previously married to Francesca Redding. He died on August 31, 1948 in Woodland Hills, Los ...
46. Eugene Joseff
Eugene Joseff was born on September 25, 1904 in Illinois, USA. He was a costume designer, known for Gone with the Wind (1939), Camille (1936) and Lillian Russell (1940). He was previously married to Joan Joseff. He died on September 18, 1948 in Newhall, California, USA.
47. Walter Soderling
Actor | Death of a Champion
Walter Soderling was born on April 13, 1872 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Death of a Champion (1939), The French Key (1946) and Criminals of the Air (1937). He died on April 10, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
48. Dale Fuller
Actress | Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ
Dale Fuller was born on June 17, 1885 in Santa Ana, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), Twentieth Century (1934) and The Sacred Flame (1929). She died on October 14, 1948 in Pomona, California, USA.
49. Frank J. Coleman
Actor | The Fireman
Frank J. Coleman was born on January 1, 1889 in Newburgh, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fireman (1916), The Cave Girl (1921) and The Immigrant (1917). He died on November 29, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
50. Frank Terry
Writer | The Soft Boiled Yegg
Frank Terry toured Europe and Asia on the legitimate stage professionally known as "Nat Clifford". He came back to America and became a comedy gag man for silent film comedies. He became somewhat notorious for an unfortunate incident that occured on August 24th, 1919 in a movie studio in Downtown ...