Date of Death between 1975-01-01 and 1975-12-31 (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)
1. Mark Frechette
Actor | Zabriskie Point
Mark Frechette, a high school dropout of Quebecois ancestry from Fairfield, Connecticut, made his acting debut in Michelangelo Antonioni's controversial Zabriskie Point (1970). As Antonioni toured the U.S., experiencing cultural clash firsthand and shooting background footage, a talent scout saw ...
2. Pier Paolo Pasolini
Writer | Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma
Pier Paolo Pasolini achieved fame and notoriety long before he entered the film industry. A published poet at 19, he had already written numerous novels and essays before his first screenplay in 1954. His first film Accattone (1961) was based on his own novel and its violent depiction of the life ...
3. Susan Hayward
Actress | With a Song in My Heart
Susan Hayward was born Edythe Marrener in Brooklyn, New York, on June 30, 1917. Her father was a transportation worker, and Susan lived a fairly comfortable life as a child, but the precocious little redhead had no idea of the life that awaited her. She attended public school in Brooklyn, where she...
4. Richard Conte
Actor | The Godfather
Richard Conte was born Nicholas Richard Conte on March 24, 1910, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of an Italian-American barber. He held a variety of jobs before becoming a professional actor, including truck driver, Wall Street clerk and singing waiter at a Connecticut resort. The gig as a ...
5. Rod Serling
Writer | The Twilight Zone
John Phillips is the name used by longtime television and film writer Rod Serling when he asked that his real name be removed as the writer of the pilot episode of the series "The New People" in 1969. While Serling's name remained as series developer, he was sufficiently annoyed with ABC- TV's ...
6. Fredric March
Actor | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Fredric March began a career in banking but in 1920 found himself cast as an extra in films being produced in New York. He starred on the Broadway stage first in 1926 and would return there between screen appearances later on. He won plaudits (and an Academy Award nomination) for his send-up of ...
7. Moe Howard
Actor | If a Body Meets a Body
Moe Howard, the "Boss Stooge" and brother of Stooges Curly Howard and Shemp Howard, began his acting career in 1909 by playing bit roles in silent Vitagraph films. At 17 he joined a troupe working on a showboat and also appeared in several two-reel comedy shorts. In 1922 he, brother Shemp and Larry...
8. Al Lettieri
Actor | The Godfather
Menacing looking Italian American actor who developed into the quintessential on-screen hoodlum via several strong roles in key crime films of the early 1970s. Lettieri played the villain against some of Hollywood's biggest screen names including chasing Steve McQueen in The Getaway (1972), ...
9. Barbara Colby
Actress | Mary Tyler Moore
At age 36, actress Barbara Colby was on the brink of TV-character stardom when the native New Yorker was senselessly shot and killed one evening on the streets of Los Angeles. The tall, toothy, husky-voiced, frizzy-haired actress equipped with a keen, Brooklyn-tough sensibility and dead-on comedy ...
10. John McGiver
Actor | Breakfast at Tiffany's
John Irwin McGiver came to acting relatively late in life. He held B.A. and Master's degrees in English from Fordham, Columbia and Catholic Universities and spent his early years teaching drama and speech at Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx. He had an early flirtation with the acting ...
11. James Robertson Justice
Actor | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
James Robertson Justice was always a noticeable presence in a film with his large stature, bushy beard and booming voice. A Ph.D., a journalist, a naturalist, an expert falconer, a racing car driver, JRJ was certainly a man of many talents.
He entered the film industry quite late in life (37) after ...
12. Kay Johnson
Actress | Madam Satan
The personification of class and cultivation on the movie screen, comely actress Kay Johnson forsook a prominent stage and film career in order to play wife to actor John Cromwell and mother to their two children. Still and all, the elegant actress, reminiscent in looks and style to that of Irene ...
13. Roy Roberts
Actor | Chinatown
Veteran character player Roy Roberts proudly claimed over 900 performances in a 40-year career. He might not have been known necessarily by name, but the face was distinct and obviously familiar. The prototype of the steely executive, the no-nonsense mayor, the assured banker, the stentorian leader...
14. Hank Patterson
Actor | Green Acres
Hank Patterson was born in Springville, Alabama to Green and Mary Newton Patterson. Hank's great-grandfather, James Pearson, was an original settler of St. Clair County, AL as was his mother's great-grandfather, Thomas Newton. Between 1894 & 1897, the family left AL to live in Taylor, Texas, where ...
15. William Hartnell
Actor | Carry on Sergeant
William Hartnell was born on 8 January 1908, just south of St. Pancras railway station in London. In press materials in the 1940s he claimed that his father was a farmer and later a stockbroker; it turns out that he had actually been born out of wedlock, as his biography "Who's There?" states.
At ...
16. Mary Ure
Actress | Where Eagles Dare
An enchantingly beautiful, luminous blonde, Mary Ure was born in Glasgow on February 18th, 1933. Her first film was Zoltan Korda's Storm Over the Nile (1955), a misfiring remake of The Four Feathers (1939). Next was Windom's Way (1957) - a tale of rubber plantation strikes and marital strife, but ...
17. George Stevens
Director | Giant
George Stevens, a filmmaker known as a meticulous craftsman with a brilliant eye for composition and a sensitive touch with actors, is one of the great American filmmakers, ranking with John Ford, William Wyler and Howard Hawks as a creator of classic Hollywood cinema, bringing to the screen ...
18. Michèle Girardon
Actress | Hatari!
This stunning, fragile starlet was born Henriette Michèle Leone Girardon in Lyon in August 1938. Having completed her acting studies at the local conservatoire she won a competition as "the most photogenic girl in France" by the age of twenty. Photo shoots followed and a minor career as a model ...
19. Marjorie Main
Actress | Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm
Her father was a minister, and when she joined a local stock company as a youngster she changed her name to avoid embarrassing her family. She worked in vaudeville and debuted on Broadway in 1916. Her film debut was in A House Divided (1931). She repeated her stage role in Dead End (1937) as Baby ...
20. Robert Strauss
Actor | Stalag 17
Burly American character actor with a deep gravelly voice who was equally adept at comedy and drama. The son of a theatrical costume designer, Strauss worked as a salesman and also as a singing waiter and busboy before finding success in the stage version of "Detective Story" on Broadway. He ...
21. Larry Fine
Actor | Disorder in the Court
Larry began performing as a violinist at a young age. During his teenage years, he earned his living as a singer and boxer. At 18, Larry began working vaudeville with "The Haney Sisters and Fine" and in 1925, he joined Ted Healy and Moe Howard in the act that would eventually become The Three ...
22. Joseph Calleia
Actor | Touch of Evil
His full name was Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja - but he was better known as Joseph or Joe Calleia, one of Hollywood's most recognized bad guys. But Calleia's roots and talents ran much deeper than character actor. He was Maltese, born on that barren but historically important ...
23. Philip Dorn
Actor | I Remember Mama
A former matinee idol in Holland and Germany, he fled to America before WWII and portrayed anti-Nazi patriots and continental romancers in Hollywood. Forced to retire after suffering an injury while on stage in Holland 1955, he lived out the rest of his life in relative seclusion. Dogged by ill ...
24. Josephine Baker
Soundtrack | Zouzou
Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, MO, in 1906 to Carrie McDonald, a laundress, and Eddie Carson, a musician. Her early life hinted at her future career. She first danced for the public on the streets of St. Louis for nickels and dimes. Later she became a chorus girl on...
25. William Lundigan
Actor | Follow Me Quietly
The athletic William Lundigan stood 6' 2" and weighed 170 pounds. He played football, basketball and tennis at Syracuse (NY) University. He was discovered by Charles R. Rogers, head of production at Universal Studios. Rogers happened to tune into radio station WFBL in Syracuse. He was so intrigued ...
26. John Dierkes
Actor | Shane
Tall and gaunt American character actor prominent in a number of classic American films. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended Brown University and subsequently went to work as an economist for the United States Department of State. In 1941, he joined the American Red Cross and served in Great ...
27. Bernard Herrmann
Soundtrack | Taxi Driver
The man behind the low woodwinds that open Citizen Kane (1941), the shrieking violins of Psycho (1960), and the plaintive saxophone of Taxi Driver (1976) was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at the age of 13 and ...
28. Ozzie Nelson
Actor | The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
This preeminent sitcom dad of the 50s had already started things off studying law when he decided to put together a dance band in the 20s on the sly. The band was so successful that he never looked back -- his love for entertaining completely took over. The New Jersey-born performer made a living ...
29. Cyril Delevanti
Actor | Soylent Green
Seasoned London-born character actor, who had a lengthy career in American films and on television. The son of an Anglo-Italian music professor, Cyril also had a secondary career in Hollywood as a respected drama coach, engaged by Douglas Fairbanks, James Craig, and others. He appears to have ...
30. Arthur Treacher
Actor | Mary Poppins
Born Arthur Veary Treacher in Brighton, East Sussex, England, he was the son of a lawyer. He established a stage career after returning from World War I, and by 1928, he had come to America as part of a musical-comedy revue called Great Temptations. When his film career began in the early 1930s, ...
31. Larry Parks
Actor | The Jolson Story
When amiable Columbia Pictures actor Larry Parks was entrusted the role of entertainer Al Jolson in the biopic The Jolson Story (1946), his career finally hit the big time. Within a few years, however, his bright new world crumbled courtesy of the House Un-American Activities Committee after the ...
32. Larry Blyden
Actor | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Genial, dark-haired, often bespectacled Ivan Lawrence Blieden (pronounced Blee-den), better known as actor Larry Blyden, was born in Houston, Texas, the son of a lawyer. He developed an early interest in acting, appearing in various theater productions as a teen but never entertained the notion of ...
33. Henry Calvin
Actor | Zorro
Henry Calvin was born on May 25, 1918 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Zorro (1957), Babes in Toyland (1961) and The Yeomen of the Guard (1957). He died on October 6, 1975 in Dallas, Texas, USA.
34. John Gregson
Actor | The Holly and the Ivy
A former telephone engineer who dabbled in amateur dramatics, John Gregson served aboard a minesweeper with the Royal Navy during World War II. After demobilisation, he joined the Liverpool Old Vic, making his stage debut in 'The Knight of the Burning Pestle'. Freshly married, he moved to London ...
35. Ian Hunter
Actor | The Adventures of Robin Hood
Ian Hunter was born in the Kenilworth area of Cape Town, South Africa where he spent his childhood. In his teen years he and his parents returned to the family origins in England to live. Sometime between that arrival and the early years of World War I, Hunter began exploring acting. But in 1917 - ...
36. Barbara Brown
Actress | Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm
Barbara Brown was born on October 18, 1901 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1951), You Were Never Lovelier (1942) and Janie Gets Married (1946). She was previously married to William Hinshaw. She died on July 7, 1975 in Los Angeles, ...
37. William A. Wellman
Director | A Star Is Born
William Wellman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter-director of the original A Star Is Born (1937), was called "Wild Bill" during his World War I service as an aviator, a nickname that persisted in Hollywood due to his larger-than-life personality and lifestyle.
A leap-year baby born in 1896 on the 29th...
38. Pamela Brown
Actress | Cleopatra
Pamela Brown trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Her first appearance was as "Juliet" in "Romeo and Juliet" at Stratford-on-Avon in 1936. She followed this with a variety of roles for the Old Vic Company in London. She appeared on Broadway in the 1947 production of "The Importance ...
39. Richard Wattis
Actor | Hobson's Choice
A balding, bespectacled, bird-like British comic actor, Richard Wattis was an invaluable asset to any UK comedy film or TV programme for nearly thirty years. Much associated with the Eric Sykes TV series for the latter part of his career. He was often seen in officious roles, such as snooty shop ...
40. Mary Philips
Actress | Leave Her to Heaven
Brunette, convent-educated Mary Philips was an accomplished actress on the New York stage by the time she met the actor Humphrey Bogart in 1924 and became his 'speakeasy touring companion'. While both encouraged each other's prodigious affinity for alcohol, Mary proved beneficial in getting Bogie ...
41. Sheila Ryan
Actress | Deadline for Murder
Sheila Ryan was born on June 8, 1921 in Topeka, Kansas, USA. She was an actress, known for Deadline for Murder (1946), The Lone Wolf in Mexico (1947) and Great Guns (1941). She was previously married to Pat Buttram, Edward Norris and Allan Lane. She died on November 4, 1975 in Woodland Hills, Los ...
42. Jenny Lee Arness
Actress | Gunsmoke
Jenny Lee Arness was born on May 23, 1950 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Gunsmoke (1955). She died on May 12, 1975 in Malibu, California, USA.
43. Frank Sully
Actor | The Grapes of Wrath
Frank Sully was born on June 17, 1908 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Escape to Glory (1940) and Sleepytime Gal (1942). He was previously married to Mary Kathleen McKee. He died on December 17, 1975 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
44. Evelyn Brent
Actress | The Silver Horde
Petite, sultry leading lady of the 1920's and 30's who was born and schooled in Tampa, Florida, until the age of ten when she lost her mother. She moved to New York with her dad and started modelling while still in her teens. Her original intention was to go into the teaching profession. Instead, ...
45. Michel Simon
Actor | Le quai des brumes
The son of a sausage-maker, Michel Simon was conscripted into the Swiss Army at the start of World War I, but was thrown out through a combination of tuberculosis and general insubordination. He was variously a boxer, photographer, general handyman and right-wing anarchist, finally becoming a stage...
46. Moyna MacGill
Actress | The Picture of Dorian Gray
Moyna MacGill was born on December 10, 1895 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. She was an actress, known for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), The Twilight Zone (1959) and Miriam Rozella (1924). She was previously married to Edgar Isaac Lansbury and Reginald Denham. She died on ...
47. George Marshall
Director | How the West Was Won
George Marshall was a versatile American director who came to Hollywood to visit his mother and "have a bit of fun". Expelled from Chicago University in 1912, he was an unsettled young man, drifting from job to job, variously employed as a mechanic, newspaper reporter and lumberjack with a logging ...
48. Jean Ames
Actress | All Through the Night
Jean Ames was born on August 24, 1919 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for All Through the Night (1942), The Male Animal (1942) and Larceny, Inc (1942). She was previously married to Vince Evans. She died in 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
49. Jonathan Peck
Jonathan Peck was born on July 20, 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Big Country (1958). He died on June 26, 1975 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.
50. Howard Wendell
Actor | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Howard Wendell was born on January 25, 1908 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Big Heat (1953) and Zorro (1957). He was previously married to Harriet Duane Morley. He died on August 11, 1975 in Oregon City, Oregon, USA.