Gregg Toland

popular name: Fred Astaire

date_of_death: June 22, 1987

age: 88

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Fred Astaire was an American dancer, singer, actor and choreographer whose style, elegance and graceful approach to movement made him the most acclaimed dancer in motion picture history. Born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, he began performing as a child with his sister Adele in vaudeville before transitioning to Broadway. Following Adele's retirement, Astaire moved to Hollywood, where he formed a legendary on-screen partnership with Ginger Rogers. Together, they starred in a string of iconic musicals in the 1930s, such as Top Hat, Swing Time, and Shall We Dance, showcasing his elegant, seemingly effortless dance style. Over his career, Astaire appeared in over 30 musical films and continued performing into the 1980s. Known for his innovation in dance choreography and integration of dance into storytelling, he left a profound impact on the genre. Fred Astaire can be found resting at Oakwood Memorial Park and Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.

popular name: Cecil B. DeMille

date_of_death: January 21, 1959

age: 77

cause_of_death: Heart failure due to a series of heart attacks

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Considered the founding father of the American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history he was also one of the founders of Paramount Pictures. As a director, producer, writer and actor. Cecil B. DeMille was the original aristocrat of Hollywood. And when it was all over, the grand total of Cecil B. DeMille’s box-office grosses, when adjusted for inflation, comes to $30 billion.

popular name: Françoise Dorléac

date_of_death: June 26, 1967

age: 25

cause_of_death: Single car crash

claim_to_fame: Show Business

best_know_for: Françoise Dorléac was a beloved French actress whose father was Maurice Dorleac, a stage and screen actor and her mother, Renee Deneuve, re-voiced Hollywood movies (including Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz). However most American's would know her as the older sister of Catherine Deneuve. Francoise Dorleac made her first stage appearance at age 10 and debuted on film in a short, Mesonges, in 1957. Supporting herself as a model for Dior, she studied acting at the Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique. From 1960 – 1967 she appeared in 16 films including Philippe de Broca’s That Man from Rio (1964) co-starring Jean-Paul BelmondoIn Europe, Francois Truffaut’s The Soft Skin (1964) and Roger Vadim’s remake of La Ronde (1964) with Jane Fonda and Anna Karina. At the time Francoise was so popular she would be likened to Garbo and Dietrich. In the U.S. Look magazine would feature a June 1965 spread on "The Sister Stars of France," spotlighting 'sweet' Catherine and 'soignee' Francoise. In the final years of her very short life, Françoise Dorléac co-starred in the films "Billion Dollar Brain", "Genghis Khan" with Omar Sharif and James Mason, and "Where the Spies Are", a spy spoof with David Niven. Decades after her passing, a reporter would ask Catherine Deneuve what the low point of her life so far had been. She would pause and softly speak of the death of Françoise. She remembered her sister as a fine actress, a beautiful woman and "my closest friend."