Georgia Engel

popular name: Joanne Siegel

date_of_death: February 12, 2011

age: 93

cause_of_death: Natural Causes

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Joanne Siegel was an American model, who in the 1930s worked with Superman artist Joe Shuster as the model for Lois Lane, Superman's love interest. She later married Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel and sued for restoration of her husband's authorship copyright in the Superman character. In 2008 a federal judge restored Siegel's co-authorship share of the original Superman copyrights. Unfortunately a ruling by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that cements the studio's control over the lucrative superhero character. The decision drew on precedent established that a 2001 agreement between the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and Warner Bros was indeed binding and that a district judge in a 2008 case had "erred" in granting the Siegel heirs partial copyright.

popular name: Simone Signoret

date_of_death: September 30, 1985

age: 64

cause_of_death: Pancreatic cancer

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Legendary French actress Simone Signoret had a five-decade career of more than sixty films; her unassailable talent in creating not only memorable but iconic female characters. From 1950 to 1955 Signoret created the roles with which she is most identified in the early stage of her career, a moody, sensual, scintillating presence that made her first a national and then an international symbol: La Ronde (Max Ophuls, 1950), Thérèse Raquin (Marcel Carné, 1953), Diabolique (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955), and Casque d’Ôr (Jacques Becker, 1952). The latter film not only established Signoret as an actress of range and complexity, but also galvanized her career as a first-rate star; it remained her favorite rôle, along with Room at the Top (Jack Clayton, 1958, for which she received an Oscar). Room at the Top marked the next phase of Signoret’s career and truly launched her on the international scene; she was honored as Best Actress by both British and American film academies and by the Cannes Film Festival. During her illustrious career she received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Golden Globe Awards. Upon her death, she was laid to rest at Cimetière du Père Lachaise in Paris, France.

popular name: Burt Reynolds

date_of_death: September 6, 2018

age: 82

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Burt Reynolds was an American actor and director, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. The wryly appealing Hollywood heartthrob carried on a long love affair with moviegoers even though his performances were often more memorable than the films that contained them. A self-mocking charmer with laugh-crinkled dark eyes, a rakish mustache and a hairy chest that he often bared onscreen, Mr. Reynolds did not always win the respect of critics. But for many years he was ranked among the top 10 movie draws worldwide, and from 1978 through 1982 he ruled the box office as few, if any, stars had done before. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as Gunsmoke (1962–1965), Hawk (1966) and Dan August (1970–1971). Although Reynolds had leading roles in such films as Navajo Joe (1966) and 100 Rifles (1969), his breakthrough role was as Lewis Medlock in Deliverance (1972). Reynolds played the leading role – often a lovable rogue – in a number of subsequent box office hits, such as White Lightning (1973), The Longest Yard (1974), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Semi-Tough (1977), The End (1978), Hooper (1978), Starting Over (1979), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), Sharky's Machine (1981), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), and Cannonball Run II (1984), several of which he directed himself. He was nominated twice for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Looking back in 2015, Mr. Reynolds expressed regret over the roles he didn’t get and the chances he didn’t take. It was not until he was almost 40, he wrote ruefully, that he decided he “wanted to be respected as an actor and began to think I might be good if I really worked at it.” His best performance, he added, might well be “still ahead of me.” “I may not be the best actor in the world,” he concluded, “but I’m the best Burt Reynolds in the world.”