Gregg Toland

popular name: Norma Talmadge

date_of_death: December 24, 1957

age: 63

cause_of_death: Pneumonia with substance abuse, arthritis and multiple strokes as contributing factors

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Norma Talmadge was one of the glamours stars of Hollywood's Golden Age of the 1920s. Beginning her stage career at the young age of 14, Norma went on to star in over 200 silent movies, winning the idolatry of millions of fans and earning millions of dollars in the Hollywood film industry's heyday. Upon retirement after the silent movie era came to a close, Norma had risen to stardom under the guidance of her first husband, Joseph M. Schenck, whose success as a film producer paralleled her own glittering career and she was never in want of anything throughout her retirement. Sadly she died, in part, from the long-term addiction to alcohol and substance abuse which caused sever arthritis and multiple strokes.

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.

popular name: Gloria Holden

date_of_death: March 22, 1991

age: 87

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Alluring, dark-haired former model and English leading lady Gloria Holden was active in Hollywood from the late 1930s through the 50s. Holden is best remembered as the title character in "Dracula's Daughter" (1936) and as Paul Muni's wife in the Oscar-winning 1937 film "The Life of Emile Zola." Often cast as a femme fatale, Holden also appeared in "Test Pilot" (1938) opposite Spencer Tracy and Myrna Loy, "This Thing Called Love" (1941) and "The Eddie Duchin Story" (1956). Her performance in "Dracula's Daughter" influenced the writings of horror novelist Anne Rice, and Dracula's Daughter is directly mentioned in Rice's novel The Queen of the Damned. In July 1937, Holden was assigned to play the character of Marian Morgan in The Man Without a Country (1937). The Technicolor short co-starred John Litel and was nominated for a Short Subject (Color) Academy Award. Her film career ended with This Happy Feeling (1958).