Gregg Toland

popular name: Ticky Holgado

date_of_death: January 22, 2004

age: 59

cause_of_death: Lung cancer

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Ticky Holgado was a French character actor known for his short stature, distinctive face and heavy Southern accent. Holgado's original vocation was to be a musician. After playing in a band as a teenager, he found work in the French music industry and was eventually employed as a personal secretary by singer Claude François and later by Johnny Hallyday. He became an actor in his mid-thirties and began appearing in small roles, mostly in comedy films. He gradually became a familiar face in French films. In 1991, Holgado appeared in two films that allowed him to gain greater fame, Delicatessen by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, then Une époque formidable..., by Gérard Jugnot, where he played a part written especially for him. During the years that followed, Holgado was very active as a character actor. He was nominated twice to the César Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for Une époque formidable..., then for French Twist (1994). Unfortunately the talented actor had to step back from films while he fought a five-year losing battle with lung cancer. In the end he was featured in over 65 films including international hits "Amelie," "Manon of the Spring," and "Les Miserables."

popular name: Fay Wray

date_of_death: August 8, 2004

age: 96

cause_of_death: In her sleep of natural causes

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Fay Wray was a Canadian born American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the classic 1933 film King Kong. After appearing in minor film roles, Wray gained media attention after being selected as one of the "WAMPAS Baby Stars" in 1926. This led to her being contracted to Paramount Pictures as a teenager, where she made more than a dozen feature films. After leaving Paramount, she signed deals with various film companies, being cast in her first horror film roles, in addition to many other types of roles, including in The Bowery (1933) and Viva Villa (1934), both of which starred Wallace Beery. For RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., Wray starred in the film she is most identified with, King Kong (1933). After the success of King Kong, Wray continued her acting career that spanned nearly six decades where Wray attained international recognition as an actress in horror films and has been dubbed one of the early "scream queens", retiring in 1980.

popular name: Anna Nicole Smith

date_of_death: February 8, 2007

age: 39

cause_of_death: Combined drug intoxication

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Anna Nicole Smith was a stunning, full-figured American model, a terrible actress and television personality. Smith started her career as a Playboy magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the title of 1993 Playmate of the Year. She later modeled for fashion companies including Guess, H&M and Heatherette. In 1993, when she modeled for the Swedish clothing company H&M, this led to her picture being displayed on large billboards in Sweden and Norway. Smith was also featured on the cover of Marie Claire and in GQ magazine. Smith dropped out of high school in 1984, married in 1985 and divorced in 1993. In 1994, her highly publicized second marriage to 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall resulted in speculation that she married him for his money, which she denied. Following Marshall's death in 1995, Smith began a lengthy legal battle over a share of his estate. Her cases reached the Supreme Court of the United States: Marshall v. Marshall on a question of federal jurisdiction and Stern v. Marshall on a question of bankruptcy court authority. Eventually losing her bid to gain control of a portion of billionaire Marshall's $1.6 billion estate, she was saddled with attorney fees that made her bankrupt. In the end, Vickie Lynn Hogan swapped her small-town woes for a ticket to stardom as a Playboy Playmate, Guess Jeans pinup girl and glamorous movie star: a walking, talking billboard for fashion, sex and, later, severe misfortune. Upon her passing, Anna was laid to rest at Lakeview Memorial Gardens in Nassau Bahamas.