Gregg Toland

popular name: Milton Berle

date_of_death: March 27, 2002

age: 93

cause_of_death: Colon cancer

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Comedian Milton Berle, one of the pioneering legends of television known to a generation of devoted fans as "Uncle Miltie," Berle's career began when he was 5 years old and spanned more than 80 years in stage, film, radio, and television. But it was on television in the 1940s and '50s that Berle made his most lasting mark. "The Texaco Star Theater," featuring Berle and guest stars in what would become legendary comic skits, debuted in 1948 and caught on with the public almost immediately. It became a Tuesday night fixture in homes across America and was credited with helping sell millions of first-time TV sets to a nation just getting acquainted with the new medium. After his twenty years as "Mr. Television" Berle slowly turned into a narcissistic, overbearing attention hog who didn't have neither the knowledge or desire to leave the spotlight with grace. Yet Berle is remembered today less for his jokes, or his comedy, than he is for both being a big d**k and having a big d**k. Berle was notorious for being a joke thief, an attention hog, a scene stealer, and a petty tyrant who took it upon himself to do things like try to “teach” the cast of Saturday Night Live about live television, resulting in one of the most notorious and disastrous episodes in the show’s history. So it comes as no surprise that his legacy has aged badly since his passing.

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: Sid Tomack

date_of_death: November 12, 1962

age: 55

cause_of_death: Heart disease

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Sid Tomark was an American actor who appeared in over 50 mostly B-movies including A Wave, a WAC and a Marine, The Thrill of Brazil, Blind Spot, Blondie's Holiday, For the Love of Rusty, A Double Life, I Love Trouble, My Girl Tisa, Hollow Triumph, Homicide for Three, Force of Evil, Knock on Any Door, Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture, The Crime Doctor's Diary, Make Believe Ballroom, The Doctor and the Girl, Abandoned, Side Street, Love That Brute, The Fuller Brush Girl, Never Trust a Gambler, Joe Palooka in Triple Cross. And if you look closely you can spot him as the bartender in The Babe Ruth Story. In television he is best known as playing Chester A. Riley's friend and neighbor Jim Gillis in the first version of The Life of Riley (starring Jackie Gleason). He played Al, Irma Peterson's deadbeat boyfriend, in My Friend Irma. He also played Knobby Walsh, the fight manager of Joe Palooka, in the syndicated series, The Joe Palooka Story. Upon his death, he was laid to rest at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.