Georgia Engel

popular name: John Cassavetes

date_of_death: February 3, 1989

age: 59

cause_of_death: Cirrhosis of the liver

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Primarily known as an actor early in his career, John Cassavetes would later be regarded by some as one of the most daring and influential filmmakers of the 20th Century and contributed as an artist who shaped the current definition of independent films. Tired of being under the control of the studio system, Cassavetes created a system of his own - one in which he would act in major productions like "The Dirty Dozen" (1967) and "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) in order to fund independent endeavors of his own. Over the course of the next 15 years Cassavetes wrote, directed and occasionally performed in such thought-provoking works as "Faces" (1968), "Husbands" (1970), "Minnie and Moskowitz" (1971), "A Woman Under the Influence" (1974) and "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976). Sadly his talent and life drowned in a sea of alcohol abuse.

popular name: Arthur Lake

date_of_death: January 9, 1987

age: 81

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Arthur Lake portrayed the comic strip character Dagwood Bumstead and called for help with a high-pitched ''Blonnndie!'' in more than two dozen films throughout the 1940s. Lake was best known as the bumbling husband of Blondie, played by Penny Singleton, in the series of movies that ran from 1939 to 1950. The first picture cost a mere $85,000 and grossed more than $9 million. Arthur Lake was also a frequent guest at publisher William Randolph Hearts estate San Simeon where he met and subsequently married Patricia Van Cleeve. The parentage of Patricia is unclear, but at the time of her death, she is reported to have claimed to be the daughter of Davies and Hearst.

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.