Gregg Toland

popular name: Sammy Davis Jr.

date_of_death: May 16, 1990

age: 64

cause_of_death: Complications from throat cancer

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Sammy Davis Jr. overcame prevailing racism to establish himself as an entertainment legend, becoming a successful comedian, actor, dancer and singer. Sammy first appeared on stage at age 2 and made his debut in the film Rufus Jones for President at the age of 6. At age 7 he joined his father and uncle as part of the Will Maston Trio, eventually establishing himself as the star of the act. Later as part of the Rat Pack, with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Davis was known for films like Ocean's 11 and Sergeants 3 along with his hard partying ways.

popular name: Lino Ventura

date_of_death: October 22, 1987

age: 68

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Lino Ventura was France's favorite Italian French actor. Lino was born in Italy but he spent much of his youth raised by his mother in Paris, France. After a first career as a professional wrestler was ended by injury, he was offered a part as a gang boss in the Jacques Becker film Touchez pas au grisbi (1954) and rapidly became one of France's favorite film actors, playing opposite many other great stars such as Bourvil, Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Claude Rich, Bernard Blier, Jacques Brel, Michel Serrault, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and working with other leading directors such as Louis Malle, Claude Sautet, and Claude Miller. Usually portraying a tough man, either a criminal or a cop, he also was featured as a leader of the Resistance in the Jean-Pierre Melville directed Army of Shadows (L'armée des ombres, 1969). In American cinema, some of his most famous roles include the portrait of corrupt police chief Tiger Brown in The Threepenny Opera (1963) and mob boss Vito Genovese in The Valachi Papers (1972). He also played opposite Richard Burton and Lee Remick in The Medusa Touch (1978), Angie Dickinson and Donald Pleasence in Jigsaw (1978) and Rod Steiger and Michael York in Sword of Gideon (1986). Though he never renounced his Italian citizenship, he was voted 23rd in a poll for the 100 greatest Frenchmen.

popular name: Michel Galabru

date_of_death: January 4, 2016

age: 93

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Michel Galabru was a talented French stage and screen character actor and theatre director who appeared in more than 250 films and worked with directors such as Bertrand Blier, Costa-Gavras, Luc Besson (for Subway), and Jean-Luc Godard. After studying at the French National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Paris, France, Galabru began what would become a prolific acting career with minor roles in French films like "La bataille du feu" (1949), "Letters from My Windmill" (1954), and "Riff Raff Girls" (1959). In the 1960s, Galabru began his tenure in a long line of military police officer-themed comedy films by director Jean Girault, the earliest of these entries being "La Gendarme of St. Tropez" (1964), "Gendarme in New York" (1965), "The Gendarme Gets Married" (1968), and "The Gendarme Takes Off" (1970). Showcasing his flair for the dramatic, Galabru starred in the historical crime film "The Judge and the Assassin" (1976), for which he won a Cesar Award for Best Actor. He continued to perform, albeit with less regularity, into the 1990s and 2000s. Among his final films were Katell Quillévéré's "Love Like Poison" (2010) and the Gérard Depardieu-starring comedy "Les invincibles" (2013).