Profaci, Joe
Crime and their Victims
Age 64
October 2, 1897 - June 6, 1962
St. John Cemetery / Middle Village / New York / USA / North America
Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci was an Italian-born New York City La Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of the Profaci crime family. Established in 1928, this was the last of the Five Families to be organized. He was the family's boss fo...
Ayres, Lew
Show Business
Age 88
December 28, 1908 - December 30, 1996
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Lew Ayres was an American actor best known for as role as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in nine movies. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Act...
Davies, Marion
Show Business
Age 64
January 3, 1897 - September 22, 1961
Hollywood Forever Cemetery / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
In the Roaring Twenties, Marion Davies was a superstar. By 1923, Davies was the #1 female box office star in Hollywood due to the popularity of "When Knighthood Was in Flower" and "Little Old New York", which were among the bigges...
Agar, John
Show Business
Age 81
January 31, 1921 - April 7, 2002
Riverside National Cemetery / Riverside / California / USA / North America
John Agar was an American film and television actor best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films Sands of Iwo Jima, Fort Apache, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Insecure in his acting ability (with just cause, critics w...
Lancaster, Burt
Show Business
Age 80
November 2, 1913 - October 20, 1994
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
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 ...
Holly, Buddy
Music
Age 22
September 7, 1936 - February 3, 1959
City of Lubbock Cemetery / Lubbock / Texas / USA / North America
Buddy Holly was an American singer-songwriter who was a key figure and pioneer of mid-1950s rock and roll music. Some of his best hits include "That'll Be The Day", "Peggy Sue", "Everyday", and "It's So Easy". He is often regarded...
Dale, Dick
Music
Age 81
May 4, 1937 - March 16, 2019
Hollywood Forever Cemetery / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Dick Dale was an American rock guitarist. He was the pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb. Dale was known as "The King of the Surf Guitar", which was also the title of his se...
Wright, Teresa
Show Business
Age 86
October 27, 1918 - March 6, 2005
Evergreen Cemetery / New Haven / Connecticut / USA / North America
Perhaps one of the greatest actresses you never heard of, Teresa Wright should be remembered for as the only performer to have received Academy Award nominations for her first three films. She was nominated twice for the Academy A...
Garbo, Greta
Show Business
Age 84
September 18, 1905 - April 15, 1990
Skogskyrkogården / Stockholm / Sweden / Europe
Greta Garbo was a Swedish-American actress, renowned for her iconic roles in the silent film and early sound film eras. Born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson in Stockholm, Sweden, she worked as a shop assistant and appeared in a few Swedis...
Big Mama Thornton
Music
Age 57
December 11, 1926 - July 25, 1985
Inglewood Memorial Park / Inglewood / California / USA / North America
Janis Joplin called her one of her inspirations and Living Blues magazine described her as "two hundred pounds of boogaloo." Of course, fans and musicians alike just called her Big Mama Thornton. An aggressive blues shouter, who a...
Lightnin' Hopkins
Music
Age 69
March 15, 1912 - January 30, 1982
Forest Park Cemetery (Lawndale) / Houston / Texas / USA / North America
Sam Lightnin' Hopkins began his blues trail as Blind Lemon Jefferson's guide before spending 30 years on the weekend juke joint circuit. As a soloist who loved to drink, smoke, gamble, fight and chase women, Hopkins had the scars ...
Willie, Boxcar
Music
Age 67
September 1, 1931 - April 12, 1999
Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery / Branson / Missouri / USA / North America
Perhaps the most successful invented character in the history of country music, Boxcar Willie was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang in the "old-time hobo" music style, complete with dirty face, overalls, and...
Ross, Bob
Artists
Age 52
October 29, 1942 - July 4, 1995
Woodlawn Memorial Park and Funeral Home / Gotha / Florida / USA / North America
Bob Ross, with his distinctive hair style and quiet demeanor, was a popular American painter, art instructor, and television host. The painter who gave us “happy little trees” was the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, a...
Dolezal, Frank
Crime and their Victims
Age 51
May 4, 1887 - August 24, 1939
West Park Cemetery / Cleveland / Ohio / USA / North America
A Cleveland, Ohio resident who was suspected and awaiting trial as the Cleveland Torso Serial Killer when he was murdered in prison. His name was cleared almost 70 years after his death.
Southwick, Alfred
The Odd and the Interesting
Age 72
May 18, 1826 - June 11, 1898
Forest Lawn Cemetery / Buffalo / New York / USA / North America
In 1881 Alfred Southwick heard a story about an intoxicated man who touched a live electric generator. Given that the man died so quickly, Southwick concluded that electricity could be used as an alternative to hanging for executi...