Georgia Engel

popular name: Jean-Claude Brialy

date_of_death: May 30, 2007

age: 74

cause_of_death: Cancer

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: For most cinéphiles outside his native France, Jean-Claude Brialy was mainly associated with the Nouvelle Vague, in which he was a principal actor. But at home he went on to become one of the most prominent figures in the arts, prolific in films, on television and in the theatre; a brilliant raconteur with the air of a boulevardier, he was also one of the few French stars to be openly gay. In 1956, Brialy acted in his first role in the short film Le coup du berger (Fool's Mate) by Jacques Rivette. By the late 1950s, he'd become one of the most prolific actors in the French nouvelle vague and a star. He appeared in films of nouvelle vague directors such as Claude Chabrol (Le Beau Serge, 1958; Les Cousins, 1959), Louis Malle (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, 1958; Les Amants, 1958), François Truffaut (Les 400 Coups, 1959), Jean-Luc Godard, (Une femme est une femme, 1961) and Éric Rohmer (Claire's Knee, 1970). Upon his death, he was laid to rest at Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris, France.

popular name: George M. Cohan

date_of_death: November 5, 1942

age: 64

cause_of_death: Abdominal cancer

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: George M. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with family as "The Four Cohans". Over the span of six decades that simple beginning developed into Cohan becoming perhaps the greatest entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer in Broadway history. Over his career Cohan appeared in more than three dozen Broadway musicals, wrote more than 50 shows and published more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including the standards "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway", "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag". In 1959 a $100,000 bronze statue of Cohan was dedicated in Times Square at Broadway and 46th Street in Manhattan. The 8-foot bronze remains the only statue of an actor on Broadway.

popular name: Richard Blackwell

date_of_death: October 19, 2008

age: 86

cause_of_death: Complications from an intestinal infection

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Mr. Blackwell, whose first name was Richard, was a little-known dress designer when he issued his first tongue-in-cheek criticism of Hollywood fashion disasters for 1960 – long before Joan Rivers and others turned such ridicule into a daily affair. He was the creator of the "Ten Worst Dressed Women List", an annual awards presentation he unveiled in January of each year. He published the "Fabulous Fashion Independents" list and an annual Academy Awards fashion review, both of which receive somewhat less media attention. Prior to his Worst Dressed list, Blackwell designer dresses sold for between $800 to $1,000 and were very successful. During the nearly two decade existence of the "House of Blackwell", he was designer to Yvonne De Carlo, Jayne Mansfield, Dorothy Lamour, and Jane Russell. During the 1980s, the emerging drift toward casual wear brought an end to The House of Blackwell. As he pivoted as a fashion critic, overtime Mr. Blackwell's somewhat mean spirited list began to wear thin. His take on Wynonna Judd ("She looks like Hulk Hogan in sequins"), on Martha Stewart ("Dresses like the centerfold for Farmers' Almanac") and the Dixie Chicks ("They look like a trio of truck stop fashion tragedies/ trapped in a typhoon") was losing it's audience appeal over time. Despite the waning audience he continued up until his death at age 86.