Date of Death between 1984-01-01 and 1984-12-31 (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)
1. Jackie Coogan
Actor | The Kid
Jackie Coogan was born into a family of vaudevillians; his father was a dancer and his mother had been a child star. On the stage by age 4, Jackie was touring at age 5 with his family in Los Angeles, California.
While performing on the stage, he was spotted by Charles Chaplin, who then and there ...
2. James Mason
Actor | Lolita
James Mason was born in Huddersfield and had a film career spanning over 50 years during which he appeared in over 100 films in England and America but never won an Oscar. Whatever role he played, from the wounded Belfast gunman in Odd Man Out to Rommel in The Desert Fox, his creamy velvet voice ...
3. Diana Dors
Actress | The Long Haul
Diana Dors was born Diana Mary Fluck on October 23, 1931 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. She and her mother both nearly died from the traumatic birth. Because of the trauma, her mother lavished on Diana anything and everything she wanted--clothes, toys and dance lessons were the order of the day. ...
4. Richard Burton
Actor | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Probably best-remembered for his turbulent personal life with Elizabeth Taylor (whom he married twice), Richard Burton was nonetheless also regarded as an often brilliant British actor of the post-WWII period.
Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins in 1925 into a Welsh (Cymraeg)-speaking family in ...
5. William Powell
Actor | The Thin Man
William Powell was on the New York stage by 1912, but it would be ten years before his film career would begin. In 1924 he went to Paramount Pictures, where he was employed for the next seven years. During that time, he played in a number of interesting films, but stardom was elusive. He did ...
6. François Truffaut
Writer | La nuit américaine
French director François Truffaut began to assiduously go to the movies at age seven. He was also a great reader but not a good pupil. He left school at 14 and started working. In 1947, aged 15, he founded a film club and met André Bazin, a French critic, who became his protector. Bazin helped the ...
7. Sam Peckinpah
Writer | The Wild Bunch
"If they move", commands stern-eyed William Holden, "kill 'em". So begins The Wild Bunch (1969), Sam Peckinpah's bloody, high-body-count eulogy to the mythologized Old West. "Pouring new wine into the bottle of the Western, Peckinpah explodes the bottle", observed critic Pauline Kael. That ...
8. Andy Kaufman
Actor | Taxi
Referred to by some as a dadaistic comedian, Andy Kaufman took comedy and performance art to the edges of irrationality and blurred the dividing line between reality and imagination. Born in New York City on January 17, 1949, the first son of Stanley and Janice Kaufman, Andy grew up on New York in ...
9. Richard Deacon
Actor | The Birds
Richard Deacon was the bald, bespectacled character actor most famous for playing television producer Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) from 1961 to 1966. In the first season of that show he also continued to appear on the series he was already appearing on, Leave It to Beaver (1957), ...
10. Walter Pidgeon
Actor | Forbidden Planet
Walter Pidgeon, a handsome, tall and dark-haired man, began his career studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He then did theater, mainly stage musicals. He went to Hollywood in the early 1920s, where he made silent films, including Mannequin (1926) and Sumuru (1927). ...
11. Jon-Erik Hexum
Actor | Voyagers!
In the early 1980s, this ruggedly handsome young American actor of Norwegian parentage was seen as the "next big thing", and then suddenly he was dead from an accident via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The son of Thorleif Hexum (born in Norway) and Gretha Paulsen (born in Minnesota), Jon-Erik ...
12. Peggy Ann Garner
Actress | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Actress Peggy Ann Garner was born Feb. 3, 1932, in Canton, Ohio. Her father was an English-born attorney, William H. Garner, who served as a U.S. Army officer during World War II. Virginia, her determined mother, got Peggy into summer stock and modeling before she was six. Estranged from her ...
13. Richard Basehart
Actor | Moby Dick
Despite many a powerful performance, this actor's actor never quite achieved the stardom he deserved. Ultimately, Richard Basehart became best-known to television audiences as Admiral Harriman Nelson, commander of the glass-nosed nuclear submarine 'S.S.R.N Seaview' in Irwin Allen's Voyage to the ...
14. Peter Lawford
Actor | The Longest Day
Born in London, England and son of a British World War I hero, Lawford had spent most of his childhood in Paris, France and began his acting career at a very young age. His parents were not married when their son was born. As a result of the scandal, The Lawfords fled to America.
As a young child, ...
15. Estelle Winwood
Actress | The Producers
When Estelle saw the girl on a white horse at the circus, she then decided that she wanted to be an actress. And she was from the age of 5, to the disapproval of her father. Her mother had her train with the Liverpool Repertory Company, and Estelle performed in many plays and many roles in the West...
16. Johnny Weissmuller
Actor | Tarzan the Ape Man
Johnny Weissmuller was born as Peter Johann Weißmüller in Freidorf, today a district of the city of Timisoara in Romania, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Weissmuller would later claim to have been born in Windber, Pennsylvania, probably to ensure his eligibility to compete as part of ...
17. John Marley
Actor | Love Story
Veteran character actor John Marley was one of those familiar but nameless faces that television and filmgoers did not take a shine to until the late 1960s, when he had already hit middle age. Quite distinctive with his dour, craggy face, dark bushy brows and upswept silvery hair, John started life...
18. Sue Randall
Actress | Desk Set
Sue Randall was an actress who was born in 1935. Her primary roles were television instead of motion pictures with Desk Set (1957) being her only silver screen appearance. Sue's TV appearances were mostly guest roles in programs such as The Twilight Zone (1959), The Fugitive (1963), Bonanza (1959) ...
19. Ethel Merman
Actress | It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Born in the Astoria section of Queens, New York City, Ethel Merman surely is the pre-eminent star of 'Broadway' musical comedy. Though untrained in singing, she could belt out a song like quite no one else, and was sought after by major songwriters such as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Having ...
20. Edmon Ryan
Actor | Tora! Tora! Tora!
Edmon Ryan was born on June 5, 1905 in Cecilia, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Topaz (1969) and Mystery Street (1950). He was previously married to Anne Sargent. He died on August 4, 1984 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
21. Ned Glass
Actor | Charade
Veteran Polish-born character actor Ned Glass grew up in New York. After working in vaudeville he started acting in small parts on Broadway from the early 1930s. He gained further experience in the capacity of theatrical production supervisor before entering motion pictures in 1937 as an MGM ...
22. Shug Fisher
Actor | Mister Roberts
This country singing-and-playing perennial earned the nickname of "Shug" early in life from his mother, who used to call him "sugar" as an infant. The native Oklahoman was born George Clinton Fisher in 1907, the son of a Scots-Irish father and part Choctaw mother. He learned how to play the ...
23. Oskar Werner
Actor | Jules et Jim
Remote, somewhat morose and, as a result, intriguing, Viennese talent Oskar Werner was born in 1922, not far from the birthplace of "Waltz King" Johann Strauss, and christened Oskar Josef Bschließmayer. His parents divorced when he was fairly young.
While growing up, Oskar found performing in school...
24. Wesley Lau
Actor | The Twilight Zone
Wesley Lau was born on June 18, 1921 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Twilight Zone (1959), The Alamo (1960) and Mission: Impossible (1966). He was previously married to Marie Louise Metcalf and Shirin Devrim. He died on August 30, 1984 in Los Angeles, ...
25. Leonard Rossiter
Actor | 2001: A Space Odyssey
Leonard Rossiter was born on October 21st, 1926 in Liverpool. Unable to afford to go to university, he worked in an insurance office until he was 27, when he joined Preston repertory company and made his professional stage debut in "The Gay Dog". After Preston, he starred in productions at ...
26. Woodrow Parfrey
Actor | Dirty Harry
Parfrey was born Sydney Woodrow Parfrey in New York City, New York, to Hazel (James) and Sidney Parfrey, both Welsh immigrants. One of the most interesting character actors to emerge on American film and television in the 1960s, Parfrey brought a quirky charisma to every role he played, from ...
27. Gary Vinson
Actor | The Roaring 20's
Gary Vinson was born on October 22, 1936 in El Segundo, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Roaring 20's (1960), Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966) and Battlestar Galactica (1978). He was previously married to Lavonne Rose Wuertzer and Paula Jeanne Hill. He died on October 15, ...
28. Sam Jaffe
Actor | The Asphalt Jungle
Originally named Shalom Jaffe, he became known to the world as Sam Jaffe. He was born in New York City, to Heida (Ada) and Barnett Jaffe, who were Russian Jewish immigrants. As a child, he appeared in Yiddish theatre productions with his mother, a prominent regional stage actress. He graduated from...
29. Janet Gaynor
Actress | A Star Is Born
Janet Gaynor was born Laura Gainor on October 6, 1906, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a child, she & her parents moved to San Francisco, California, where she graduated from high school in 1923. She then moved to Los Angeles where she enrolled in a secretarial school. She got a job at a shoe ...
30. Truman Capote
Actor | Murder by Death
Truman Capote was born on September 30, 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Murder by Death (1976), The Innocents (1961) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). He died on August 25, 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
31. Akihiko Hirata
Actor | Gojira
He had an unusual background for an actor: his formal education began in a kindergarten founded by the wartime-era Japanese Imperial Army, and continued in a military academy which was Tokyo's answer to West Point. Upon graduating from Tokyo University (Japan's most prestigious), Hirata confounded ...
32. Flora Robson
Actress | Clash of the Titans
Flora Robson knew she was no beauty, but her wise and sympathetic face would become a familiar - indeed, shining - ornament of the 1930s and '40s silver screen. Though not sure of acting as a career in her early years, she first appeared on stage when 5 years old. She was educated at Palmer's Green...
33. Sunny Johnson
Actress | Flashdance
Sunny Johnson was born on September 21, 1953 in San Bernardino County, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Flashdance (1983), The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981) and Charlie's Angels (1976). She died on June 19, 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
34. Neil Hamilton
Actor | Batman: The Movie
Neil Hamilton's show business career began when he secured a job as a shirt model in magazine ads. He became interested in acting and joined several stock companies. He got his first film role in 1918, but received his big break from D.W. Griffith in The White Rose (1923).
After performing in ...
35. George Mathews
Actor | Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Burly, craggy-faced tough guy actor George Mathews was brought up in Manhattan and educated in Brooklyn. He had an extensive career on stage, which began in the early 1930s, after he failed to get a job with the US Post Office. Instead, he joined the WPA (Works Progress Administration) Theatre ...
36. Walter Burke
Actor | Support Your Local Sheriff!
Highly recognizable Irish-American character actor whose small stature and wizened features made him resemble a leprechaun (a role which he played on more than one occasion). Probably best known as Willie Stark's bodyguard in All the King's Men (1949).
37. Ed Ramey
Actor | Deliverance
Ed Ramey was born on December 22, 1918 in the USA. He was an actor, known for Deliverance (1972). He died on January 28, 1984 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
38. Henry Wilcoxon
Actor | The Ten Commandments
Henry Wilcoxon was given the lead role of Marc Antony in Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra (1934). It would prove to be the beginning of a long relationship with DeMille he would become a familiar DeMille character actor and DeMille's associate producer in the later years of DeMille's career. However, ...
39. Bess Flowers
Actress | The Shadow
Bess Flowers was born on November 23, 1898 in Sherman, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for The Shadow (1937), We Faw Down (1928) and Beginner's Luck (1935). She was previously married to William S. Holman and Cullen Tate. She died on July 28, 1984 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, ...
40. June Duprez
Actress | None But the Lonely Heart
Glamorous June Duprez was born in Teddington, England, during an air raid on May 14, 1918. Her father, Fred Duprez, was an American vaudevillian who found stage and film work in England. She herself picked up an interest in performing and eventually joined the Coventry Repertory Company to gather ...
41. Joseph Losey
Director | The Servant
Belonging to an important family clan in Wisconsin, Joseph Losey studied philosophy but was always interested in theater and thus worked together with Bertolt Brecht. After directing some shorts for MGM, he made his first important film, The Boy with Green Hair (1948), for RKO. While he was filming ...
42. Billy Sands
Actor | Rocky
Billy Sands was born William F. Sands on January 6, 1911 in Bergen, NY, to Dana Alice (Marboys) and John F. Sands. He began his professional acting career in 1946 when he appeared on Broadway with Spencer Tracy in Robert Sherwood's "Rugged Path", but he eventually became a television character ...
43. Jack Wrather
Producer | Lassie
Oil millionaire who bought the rights to "The Lone Ranger". Also produced "Lassie and "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon". He built the Disneyland Hotel, founded Los Angeles' PBS station KCET and turned the Queen Mary and Howard Hughes' experimental airplane, "The Spruce Goose", into tourist attractions in ...
44. Soo Yong
Actress | The Good Earth
Soo Yong was born on October 31, 1903 in Maui, Hawaii, USA. She was an actress, known for The Good Earth (1937), China Seas (1935) and Sayonara (1957). She was previously married to C.K. Huang. She died in October 1984 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
45. Ian Hendry
Actor | Repulsion
Born 13 January 1931 in Ipswich, England, Ian Hendry's career began rather inauspiciously, playing the fall guy for a circus clown. After attending London's Central School of Speech and Drama, things started progressing nicely when he starred as "Dr. Geoffrey Brent" in Police Surgeon (1960). This ...
46. D'Urville Martin
Actor | Rosemary's Baby
D'Urville Martin was a key important, prolific and hugely engaging supporting actor who appeared with pleasing regularity in a handful of delightfully down'n'dirty 70s blaxploitation features. Martin was born on February 11, 1939 in New York City. D'Urville first began acting in the 1960s including...
47. Marjorie Riordan
Actress | Pursuit to Algiers
Marjorie Riordan was "discovered" in Wisconsin in the early 1940s and became a studio contract player at Warner Brothers. During the 1950s she and another Warner Brothers player, Joyce Reynolds, decided that they found acting intellectually unsatisfying and the two of them returned to graduate ...
48. Arnold Ridley
Actor | Dad's Army
Young Arnold Ridley was forced to give up a budding acting career and turn to writing. He hit the jackpot with 'The Ghost Train' which was a great West End success, and has been filmed several times. This was followed by a number of other plays during the 1920s and 1930s. In later life he returned ...
49. Gail Bonney
Actress | Star Trek
Gail Bonney was born on December 15, 1901 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for Star Trek (1966), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) and One Step Beyond (1959). She was previously married to Joseph Solomon. She died on December 7, 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
50. Lucille Benson
Actress | 1941
Lucille Benson was a plump, distinctive, and marvelously quirky character actress with a heavy down-home Southern accent who portrayed an offbeat and enjoyable array of colorful supporting dotty old lady roles in both films and TV shows alike. Benson was born on July 17, 1914 in Scottsboro, Alabama...