Gregg Toland

popular name: Art Carney

date_of_death: November 9, 2003

age: 85

cause_of_death: Natural Causes

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Art Carney was an American actor and comedian best known for his role as Ed Norton on the classic television sitcom The Honeymooners. Born on November 4, 1918, in Mount Vernon, New York, Carney began his entertainment career in radio before transitioning to television in the 1950s. His portrayal of Norton, the lovable and quirky sewer worker and best friend to Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden, earned him widespread acclaim and became one of the most iconic characters in television history. The great Jackie Gleason once said that Carney deserved ninety percent of the credit for the success of The Honeymooners. Carney's talents extended beyond comedy; he was also an accomplished dramatic actor. In 1974, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Harry and Tonto, in which he played an elderly man embarking on a cross-country journey with his cat. Throughout his career, Carney appeared in numerous films, television shows, and stage productions, showcasing his remarkable versatility. He continued acting into the 1990s when he passed away on November 9, 2003. Upon his death actor Art Carney was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

popular name: Betty Hutton

date_of_death: March 12, 2007

age: 86

cause_of_death: Colon cancer

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Betty Hutton was an American stage, screen, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer. Unlike other actresses who have been called "blonde bombshells," Hutton had a screen personality that had more to do with energy and humor than sex. Time magazine wrote in 1950: "Betty Hutton, who is not remarkably pretty, by movie standards, nor a remarkably good singer or dancer, has a vividly unique personality in a town that tends to reduce beauty and talent to mass-produced patterns. Watching her in action has some of the fascination of waiting for a wildly sputtering fuse to touch off an alarmingly large firecracker." During her prime she worked with or co-starred with some of the biggest names of the era including Preston Sturges, Fred McMurray, Bob Hope, Fred Astaire, Dorothy Lamour, Eddie Bracken and William Holden. When she dropped out of her contract at Paramount at the top of her game, she never starred in a film again but did well on television, nightclubs and the stage. Her final appearance on screen was on Good Morning America, which led to a 1978 televised reunion with her two daughters.

popular name: Carl Switzer

date_of_death: January 21, 1959

age: 31

cause_of_death: Gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Carl Switzer, the actor who as a child played Alfalfa in the Our Gang comedy film series, was the freckle-faced boy with a warbling singing voice and a cowlick protruding from the top of his head. It was Switzer’s best-known role in his short-lived Hollywood career. Our Gang revolved around a group of ragtag children and their adventures. In addition to Alfalfa, the ensemble of memorable characters included Spanky, Darla, Buckwheat, Froggy, Stymie and Pete the dog. Our Gang was considered groundbreaking in that it featured white and black child actors interacting equally. Switzer played Alfalfa from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s. In 1955, the Our Gang films were turned into a hugely popular TV series called The Little Rascals; however, Switzer never received any royalties from the show. After Our Gang, Switzer found small roles in movies and on television, but his most successful days in Hollywood were behind him. He made money working odd jobs, including stints as a hunting guide and bartender, and had several run-ins with the police. On January 21, 1959, Switzer and a friend went to the Mission Hills home of Moses “Bud” Stiltz, to collect a debt Switzer believed he was owed. A fight broke out, during which Stiltz shot and killed Switzer. A jury later ruled the incident justifiable homicide. Carl was laid to rest at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.