Gregg Toland

popular name: John Agar

date_of_death: April 7, 2002

age: 81

cause_of_death: Emphysema

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: John Agar was an American film and television actor best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films Sands of Iwo Jima, Fort Apache, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Insecure in his acting ability (with just cause, critics would say) John Agar was often the tall, handsome and static male hero, a secondary male lead to such charismatic actors as John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Kirk Douglas. In his later career he was the star of dozens of B movies such as Tarantula!, The Mole People, The Brain from Planet Arous, Revenge of the Creature, Flesh and the Spur and Hand of Death. Agar's career suffered in the wake of his divorce, but he developed a niche playing leading men in low-budget science fiction, Western, and horror movies in the 1950s and 1960s. John Wayne gave him several supporting roles in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In later years he worked extensively in television before his passing in 2002.

popular name: Danny Kaye

date_of_death: March 3, 1987

age: 76

cause_of_death: Complications of heart failure, internal bleeding, and hepatitis C

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Danny Kaye, the rubbery-faced, gibberish-spouting comedian, was one of the world’s most successful entertainers of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s. Kaye’s silly patter, funny walks and air of innocence and likability propelled him from the Catskill borscht circuit to stardom on the Broadway stage, in New York and London nightclubs and then on to Hollywood, where he became known to countless millions around the world. Kaye starred in 23 films, notably Wonder Man (1945), The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), Hans Christian Andersen (1952), White Christmas (1954), and The Court Jester (1955). Upon his death, he was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

popular name: Katharine Hepburn

date_of_death: June 29, 2003

age: 96

cause_of_death: Cardiac arrest

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Katharine Hepburn was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over six decades. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. Her work was in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer. After a brief lull in her early career, Hepburn continued to be articulate and outspoken, transitioning to more mature roles in films as varied as "Summertime," "Suddenly Last Summer," and, notably, 1962's "Long Day's Journey into Night," considered by many her dramatic high water mark. Hepburn challenged herself in the latter half of her life as she tackled Shakespearean stage productions and a range of literary roles. She found a niche playing mature, independent, and sometimes unmarried women such as in The African Queen (1951), a persona the public embraced. Hepburn received three more Academy Awards for her performances in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). In the 1970s, she began appearing in television films, which later became her focus. She made her final screen appearance at the age of 87. After a period of inactivity and ill health, Hepburn died in 2003 at the age of 96.