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: Sharon Tate

date_of_death: August 9, 1969

age: 26

cause_of_death: Multiple stab wounds in chest and back

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: A talented actress and model during the 1960s, Sharon Tate played small television roles before appearing in feature films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover girl. Receiving positive reviews for her comedic and dramatic acting performances, Tate was hailed as one of Hollywood's most promising newcomers before she and four others were brutally murdered as part of the two-day murder spree by the Manson Family.

popular name: Dorothy Kilgallen

date_of_death: November 8, 1965

age: 52

cause_of_death: Accidental overdose of barbituits and alcohol

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Called by famed attorney F. Lee Bailey “A very bright and very good reporter of criminal cases, the best there was,” “One of the greatest women writers in the world,” by Ernest Hemingway, and by the New York Post, “The most powerful female voice in America,” Dorothy Kilgallen was a What’s My Line? television star, radio personality, celebrated journalist, revered investigative reporter and author. After spending two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she started her career shortly before her 18th birthday as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal. In 1938, she began her newspaper column "The Voice of Broadway", which was eventually syndicated to more than 140 papers. In 1950, she became a regular panelist on the television game show What's My Line?, continuing in the role until her death. Kilgallen's columns featured mostly show-business news and gossip, but also ventured into other topics, such as politics and organized crime. She wrote front-page articles for multiple newspapers on the Sam Sheppard trial and, years later, events related to the John F. Kennedy assassination, such as testimony by Jack Ruby. As Kilgallen neared the end of her JFK assassination investigation, her body was discovered in her townhouse bedroom with the official cause of death a drug overdose combined with alcohol consumption: “Circumstances Undetermined.” The simple grave of Dorothy Kilgallen can be found at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.