Cocteau, Jean
Writers and Poets
Age 74
July 5, 1889 - October 11, 1963
Chapelle Saint-Blaise-des-Simples / Milly-la-Forêt / France / Europe
Jean Cocteau was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic whose best known works include the novel Les Enfants Terribles, the stage plays La Voix Humaine, Les Parents Terribles and the fil...
Sargent, Henry N.
Crime and their Victims
Age 23
August 4, 1830 - January 13, 1854
New Boston Cemetery / New Boston / New Hampshire / United States / North America
Sevilla Jones was 17-year-old girl who was shot dead by Henry Sargent one morning as she was walking to school with her younger brother. Henry loved Sevilla, and he believed that she had “given him encouragement.” However, he ...
Houdini, Harry
Other Entertainers
Age 52
March 24, 1974 - October 31, 1926
Machpelah Cemetery / Flushing / New York / USA / North America
Harry Houdini is most often remembered as an escape artist and a magician. He was also an actor, a pioneering aviator, an amateur historian, businessman and performance artist of such great success that his name will live in perpe...
Heidt, Horace
Music
Age 85
May 21, 1901 - December 1, 1986
Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Horace Heidt was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television during the 1930s and 1940s. As le...
Seau, Junior
Sports
Age 43
January 19, 1969 - May 2, 2012
Eternal Hills Memorial Park / Oceanside / California / USA / North America
For 20 seasons—an eternity for a professional football player—there were few better linebackers in the NFL than Junior Seau. Strong, swift, and imbued with an fanatical work ethic, Seau terrorized opposing offenses so much tha...
Levant, Oscar
Artists
Age 65
December 27, 1906 - August 14, 1972
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Oscar Levant was a brilliant composer and pianist who originally studied seriously with Zygmunt Stojowski and later with Arnold Schoenberg. After New York he moved to Los Angeles where he met and befriended George Gershwin. From ...
MacLeod, Gavin
Show Business
Age 90
February 28, 1931 - May 29, 2021
Forest Lawn Cemetery / Cathedral City / California / USA / North America
Gavin MacLeod was an American actor best known for his roles as news writer Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and ship's captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's The Love Boat. MacLeod made his television debut in 1957 on The ...
Memphis Minnie
Music
Age 76
June 3, 1897 - August 6, 1973
New Hope M.B. Church / Walls / Mississippi / USA / North America
She transcended both gender and genre. Her recording career reached from the 1920s heyday of country blues to cutting electric sides in 1950s Chicago studios for the Chess subsidiary Checker. Minnie helped form the roots of electr...
Robeson, Paul
Historical Figure
Age 77
April 9, 1898 - January 23, 1976
Ferncliff Cemetery / Hartsdale / New York / USA / North America
Paul Robeson was an American actor, singer, and activist. Some of his best know work on stage included The Emperor Jones, All God's Chillun Got Wings, and Othello. Robeson best known movies include Show Boat (1936), Sanders of the...
Williams, Big Joe
Music
Age 79
December 17, 1982 - December 17, 1982
Crigler Cemetery / Crawford / Mississippi / USA / North America
As a first generation bluesman, Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams recorded more often, performed longer and lived longer than almost all of his contemporaries. In 1935 Williams recorded his signature song “Baby Please Don’t Go,”...
Shepherd, Elvin
Music
Age 72
May 28, 1923 - June 2, 1995
Forest Lawn Cemetery / Buffalo / New York / USA / North America
Elvin "Shep" Shepherd was a legendary saxophonist whose career spanned half a century. He traveled with such big name bands as Buck Clayton, Bill Doggett, Billy Ekstine, Erskin Hawkins, Lucky Milinder, and Nat Towles. During his s...
Rachell, Yank
Music
Age 94
March 16, 1903 - April 9, 1997
New Crown Cemetery / New Crown Cemetery / Indiana / USA / North America
One of a few pre-war blues artist to continue performing into the 1990s, Yank Rachell was the primary exponent of the blues mandolin.
Teagarden, Jack
Music
Age 58
August 20, 1905 - January 15, 1964
Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Until Jack Teagarden, jazz trombone sounded like "a dying cow in a thunderstorm" according to jazz trombonist Vic Dickerson. Like musical innovators Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker before him Teagarden developed new ideas and a...
Marfeo, Rudy
Crime and their Victims
Age 42
April 13, 1926 - April 20, 1968
St Ann Cemetery / Cranston / Rhode Island / USA / North America
In 1968 local bookmaker Rudolph “Rudy” Marfeo had recently defied New England mob boss Raymond Patriarca by refusing to pay his "tribute money" and publicly disrespecting Ray Patriarca. This was not wise considering Patriarca ...
Inness, George
Artists
Age 69
May 1, 1825 - August 3, 1894
Rosedale Cemetery / Montclair / New Jersey / USA / North America
Often called "the father of American landscape painting", George Inness was a prominent American landscape painter during the late 1800s. Although Inness's style evolved through distinct stages over a prolific career that spanned ...