Gregg Toland

popular name: Tony Randall

date_of_death: May 17, 2004

age: 84

cause_of_death: Pneumonia following coronary bypass surgery

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Tony Randall (1920–2004) was an American actor best known for his work in television, film, and theater. He began his career on Broadway in the 1940s and gradually established himself as a versatile character actor, appearing in films such as Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Pillow Talk, and The Mating Game. His most famous role came in television, where he played the fussy, intellectual Felix Unger on The Odd Couple (1970–1975), earning widespread acclaim and several Emmy nominations. Randall continued acting on stage and screen for decades, including a notable role as the voice of the narrator in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

popular name: Audie Murphy

date_of_death: May 28, 1971

age: 45

cause_of_death: Plane crash

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: He wanted to join the Marines, but he was too short. The paratroopers wouldn't have him, either. Reluctantly, he settled on the infantry, and ultimately became one of the most decorated heroes of World War II. He was Audie Murphy, the baby-faced Texas farm boy who became an American legend. Dropping out of school in the fifth grade to earn money picking cotton, he was 16 years old when his mother died and watched as his siblings as they were doled out to an orphanage or to relatives. Seeking an escape from this difficult life, Murphy enlisted in the Army in 1942 — falsifying his birth certificate so that he appeared to be 18, one year older than he actually was. By the end of World War II, Murphy had become one of the nation's most-decorated soldiers, earning an unparalleled 28 medals (including three from France and one from Belgium). Murphy had been wounded three times during the war. In May 1945, when victory was declared in Europe, he had still not reached his 21st birthday. In 1949 Audie Murphy published his acclaimed autobiography, To Hell and Back, then spent the next 21 years in Hollywood, most famously portraying himself in the movie of the same name. Mostly he played Westerns. Despite a steady stream of income, Murphy's horseracing addiction led to financial difficulties, though he refused to appear in commercials for alcohol and cigarettes, thinking it a bad influence on children. Upon his death, he was laid to death with honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.

popular name: Jacques Chazot

date_of_death: July 12, 1993

age: 64

cause_of_death: Throat Cancer

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Mr. Chazot began his career in earnest as a star dancer at the Opera Comique in Paris from 1956 to 1963 and choreographed or produced many ballets. His wit made him a popular guest on television talk shows. He was also known for his satirical writing about Parisian high society, symbolized by a fictional young snob named Marie-Chantal. He was a perennial figure in that society, and he used to say, "People love me because when I enter a room I create the effect of a sudden shower of rainbow confetti." In short, Chazot was a professional dandy, his slender figure shown off to its best advantage in a Saint-Laurent purple velvet dinner jacket. He preferred the weightless nourishment of his butterfly mind to the stupefying richness of French haute cuisine. He had been known to enter famous restaurants and order a glass of water (but with a sprig of fresh mint) and a post-prandial cigar. Like Ronald Firbank, he could dine appreciatively on a single green pea. He was a close friend of the writer Francoise Sagan, whom he reportedly almost married in 1964, despite his avowed homosexuality, and was often seen in the company of people like Maria Callas, Princess Grace and Marie-Helene de Rothschild. Upon his death he was interred at Cimetirie de Monthyon in France.