Gregg Toland

popular name: Bess Houdini

date_of_death: February 11, 1943

age: 67

cause_of_death: Heart Attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Wilhelmina Beatrice “Bess” Rahner was born to German immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, in 1876. Her life changed while performing at Coney Island with “The Floral Sisters” act, catching the eye of Theo Houdini. However, Bess fell in love and ended up marrying Harry Houdini, Theo’s older brother, on June 22, 1894 (just three weeks after their first meeting). They started working together as ‘The Houdinis,’ with Harry as ‘The Handcuff King’ and Bess as his assistant, occasionally performing their signature trick: Metamorphosis. Bess enjoyed collecting dolls, caring for their pets, and designing costumes for Harry’s shows. They didn’t have children due to Bess’s medical condition. Harry Houdini died on October 31, 1926 from a ruptured appendix caused by peritonitis. He was punched in the abdomen by Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead on October 22, which may have contributed to the rupture. Houdini had severe abdominal pain, but he didn’t seek immediate medical help and continued performing for the next few days in great pain, leading to his death. Long after Houdini’s death Bess continued to hold séances in an attempt to communicate with her deceased husband, honoring a pact they made while he was alive. Despite persistent attempts, she never successfully contacted him and eventually called off. Upon her death, she was laid to rest at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

popular name: Burt Lancaster

date_of_death: October 20, 1994

age: 80

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Burt Lancaster was a failed circus performer when in 1945 (according to the sort of Hollywood legend of which one should probably believe only half) he chanced to share an elevator ride with a theatrical producer who assumed that someone so rugged, virile and good-looking could only be an actor and who consequently invited him to audition for a leading role in a Broadway play, The Sound of Hunting. By virtue of his performance, he was almost at once cast opposite Ava Gardner in Robert Siodmak's The Killers (1946), a tight, atmospheric, low-budget thriller that established Lancaster's reputation in Hollywood. Lancaster's career spanned 45 years and encompassed more than 70 movies, 1 Academy Award and a ranking of #19 in The American Film Institute list of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.

popular name: Bill Goodwin

date_of_death: May 9, 1958

age: 47

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Bill Goodwin was for many years the announcer and a recurring character of the Burns and Allen radio program, and subsequently The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show on television from 1950–1951. In 1945, Goodwin was the "featured comedian" as a regular on The Frank Sinatra Show and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. In 1947, he had his own program, The Bill Goodwin Show, a situation comedy, also known as Leave It to Bill. He was also the announcer for the Blondie radio program.