Georgia Engel

popular name: Robin Leach

date_of_death: August 24, 2018

age: 76

cause_of_death: Stroke

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Robin Leach was a TV personality, entertainment reporter, writer and columnist who became a symbol of unapologetic opulence as host of the popular syndicated television show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” in the 1980s and ’90s. With his distinctive, British-accented voice and exuberant, exclamation-point delivery, Mr. Leach was widely recognized and just as widely parodied during the initial run of the show, from 1984 to 1995, and long after. In 1984, Leach launched the syndicated show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," which became his most iconic work. Decades before MTV’s Cribs or E!’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Leach’s show exposed viewers to the lavish homes and favorite destinations of famous people, and helped transform celebrity culture into what it is today. The show lasted until 1995, and made Leach an icon of “champagne wishes and caviar dreams,” as he said in his sign-off every episode. Other television work included reporting for People Tonight, on CNN and Entertainment Tonight and helping start Good Morning Australia, as well as the Food Network. Leach was also a guest at the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania IV, where he read the rules for the championship tournament.

popular name: Isadora Duncan

date_of_death: September 14, 1927

age: 50

cause_of_death: Ligature strangulation

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Known as the Mother of Dance, Isadora Duncan was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in California, she lived and danced in Western Europe, the US and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50 when her scarf became entangled in the wheel and axle of the car in which she was travelling in Nice, France.

popular name: Fred Allen

date_of_death: March 17, 1956

age: 61

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Fred Allen was an American comedian with a talent for ad-lib. His absurdist topically-pointed radio program The Fred Allen Show (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the Golden Age of American radio. After 30 years on the radio, Fred Allen, a 52-year-old comic known for wry jokes, bow ties, and baggy eyes, made the cover of Time magazine. Intellectuals loved Allen, as did his peers in comedy. Radio rival Edgar Bergen acknowledged him as “the greatest living comedian.” Some people would have given the nod to Jack Benny, and Allen might have agreed; the two had been friends for years and were professionally linked by a fake feud they waged on their respective radio shows. But for Allen even to have been in the running with the great Benny shows his high standing at the time. Even though Allen had built up a weekly audience of 20 million listeners, his decline from popularity was swift. By the late 1940s and early 50s, television was well on its way from novelty (172,000 sets in use in 1948) to necessity (17 million sets in 1952). Not just radio networks but movie theaters, nightclubs, and restaurants were losing business to the upstart. Second, there was a problem with Allen's appeal - even he admitted he had a face for radio. Allen spent his final years as a newspaper columnist/humorist and as a memoirist and rented a small New York office to work six hours a day without distractions. He was also a panelist on "What's My Line?" for two years when he suddenly died of a heart attack on streets of New York City. He was laid to rest at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.