Georgia Engel

popular name: Carl Switzer

date_of_death: January 21, 1959

age: 31

cause_of_death: Gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Carl Switzer, the actor who as a child played Alfalfa in the Our Gang comedy film series, was the freckle-faced boy with a warbling singing voice and a cowlick protruding from the top of his head. It was Switzer’s best-known role in his short-lived Hollywood career. Our Gang revolved around a group of ragtag children and their adventures. In addition to Alfalfa, the ensemble of memorable characters included Spanky, Darla, Buckwheat, Froggy, Stymie and Pete the dog. Our Gang was considered groundbreaking in that it featured white and black child actors interacting equally. Switzer played Alfalfa from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s. In 1955, the Our Gang films were turned into a hugely popular TV series called The Little Rascals; however, Switzer never received any royalties from the show. After Our Gang, Switzer found small roles in movies and on television, but his most successful days in Hollywood were behind him. He made money working odd jobs, including stints as a hunting guide and bartender, and had several run-ins with the police. On January 21, 1959, Switzer and a friend went to the Mission Hills home of Moses “Bud” Stiltz, to collect a debt Switzer believed he was owed. A fight broke out, during which Stiltz shot and killed Switzer. A jury later ruled the incident justifiable homicide. Carl was laid to rest at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

popular name: Al Littieri

date_of_death: October 18, 1975

age: 47

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: If you liked watching films in the 1970s, you'll know who Al Lettieri was, even if you can't put a face to the name. He played Solozzo in The Godfather. (Michael played by Al Pacino shot him dead with the Police Chief in the restaurant). A little later on, he turned up as Steve McQueen's nemesis in The Getaway, pursuing him down through Texas to the Mexican border, seducing the vet's wife and throwing spare ribs around the car in a rage because he didn't 'like this game anymore!' Or maybe you remember him in Mr. Majestyk as a mob hit man opposite watermelon grower played by Charles Bronson. Either way he played the heavy with menacing machismo and style. He was taken too quickly when he suffered a massive heart attack at age 47.

popular name: Margaret Kelly

date_of_death: September 11, 2004

age: 94

cause_of_death: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Margaret Kelly, known as Miss Bluebell, was an Irish dancer who was the founder of the Bluebell Girls dance troupe. At the age of 14, Kelly left school and joined a Scottish dance troupe called the Hot Jocks. Nine months later, she was contracted to the Scala in Berlin by noted producer Alfred Jackson, manager of the Jackson Girls. Kelly remained at the Scala for 5 years. Beginning in 1930, Kelly danced in Paris for the Folies Bergère. In 1932, when she was 22, she created her own troupe there called the Bluebell Girls. Bluebell found her greatest triumph in the Nevada desert when she and Donn Arden brought the Bluebells to the Las Vegas strip. Miss Bluebell caught Vegas fever, and her show exploded into an extravaganza that included live camels, jugglers, Roman gladiators, illusionists, ice skaters, strong men and waterfalls. She sold out the Stardust Hotel and the MGM Grand. In six decades she left a legacy that recruited and trained 14,000 Bluebells, set up troupes over the world, received countless awards including the Legion d’honneur and the Order of the British Empire (OBE), had an audience with the pope, and was the subject of a book and BBC documentary.