Blackwell, Scrapper
Music
Age 59
February 21, 1903 - October 7, 1962
New Crown Cemetery / Indianapolis / Indiana / USA / North America
Scrapper Blackwell, together with Leroy Carr are arguably the two most underrated blues musicians of the 1920s and 1930s. What is undeniable is the two together created some of the most recorded blues classics including How Long, ...
Jones, Brian
Music
Age 27
February 28, 1942 - July 3, 1969
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire / Cheltenham Cemetery and Crematorium / Europe
Long-time Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman said of Brian Jones, "He formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs. ... he was very influential, very important, and then slo...
Coward, Noël
Show Business
Age 73
December 16, 1899 - March 26, 1973
Firefly Estate, Galina, Jamaica / Galina, St. Mary / Jamaica / North America
A prolific performer, playwright and raconteur, Noël Coward was also a talented songwriter whose acerbic wit (both on and off stage) and sophisticated British persona were recognized worldwide. Coward first appeared onstage at th...
Autry, Gene
Music
Age 91
September 29, 1907 - October 2, 1998
Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Gene Autry, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for mo...
Montand, Yves
Show Business
Age 70
October 13, 1921 - November 9, 1991
Cimetière du Père Lachaise / Paris / France / Europe
Yves Montand was an Italian-French actor and singer who began his career in show business as a music-hall singer and, in 1944, he was discovered by Édith Piaf in Paris and she made him part of her act. He is perhaps best known fo...
Wolf, Howlin'
Music
Age 65
June 10, 1910 - January 10, 1976
Oakridge-Glen Oaks Cemetery / Hillside / Illinois / USA / North America
Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin’ Wolf or Howling Wolf, was one of the most influential musicians of the post–World War II era. His electric blues guitar, backing his powerful, howling voice, helped shape rock and roll....
Thunders, Johnny
Music
Age 38
July 15, 1952 - April 23, 1991
Mount St. Mary's Cemetery / Flushing / New York / USA / North America
One cannot talk about the origins of punk rock without mentioning the New York Dolls and their lead guitarist - Johnny Thunders. This underrated American glam band played an important role in influencing bands as diverse as the Se...
Smith, Bessie
Music
Age 43
April 15, 1894 - September 26, 1937
Montlawn Cemetery / Sharon Hill / Pennsylvania / USA / North America
The first major blues and jazz singer on record and one of the most powerful voices of all time, Bessie Smith rightly earned the title of "The Empress of the Blues." Bessie Smith was a rough, crude, violent womanl who was also the...
Little, Booker Jr.
Music
Age 23
April 2, 1938 - October 5, 1961
New Park Cemetery / Memphis / Tennessee / USA / North America
Booker Little, twenty-three year-old composer, arranger and trumpet player has lately come to demonstrate, in recordings and as the musical director of the Max Roach group, a talent that was taken too early. When he died suddenly ...
Gibson, Althea
Sports
Age 76
August 25, 1927 - September 28, 2003
Rosedale Cemetery / Montclair / New Jersey / USA / North America
Althea Gibson was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title (th...
Ramone, Joey
Music
Age 49
September 18, 1951 - June 5, 2002
New Mount Zion Cemetery / Lyndhurst / New Jersey / USA / North America
Suffering from crippling OCD at times, Joey Ramone was nonetheless an iconic, punk counterculture rock and roll icon as lead singer and songwriter of The Ramones. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy – the original Ramones, all decea...
Cleveland, Frances
Historical Figure
Age 83
July 21, 1864 - October 29, 1947
Princeton Cemetery / Princeton / New Jersey / USA / North America
Frances Cleveland was First Lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897 as the wife of President Grover Cleveland. Becoming First Lady at age 21, she remains the youngest wife of a sitting president.
Torrio, Johnny
Crime and their Victims
Age 75
January 20, 1882 - April 16, 1957
Green-Wood Cemetery / Brooklyn / New York / USA / North America
Johnny Torrio was an Italian-American gangster, known for his cunning and finesse, who became a top crime boss in Chicago after he order the hit on his boss - Big Jim Colosimo. Johnny Torrio helped build the Chicago Outfit in the ...
Mapplethorpe, Robert
Artists
Age 42
November 4, 1946 - March 9, 1989
St. John Cemetery / Middle Village / New York / USA / North America
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits, and still-life images....
Bernhardt, Sarah
Show Business
Age 78
October 23, 1844 - March 26, 1923
Cimetière du Père Lachaise / Paris / France / Europe
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including La Dame Aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas; Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo, Fédora and La ...