Murdered
by christopherbkk | created - 19 Aug 2011 | updated - 27 Nov 2014 | Public
1. Sharon Tate
Actress | Valley of the Dolls
Sharon's early life was one of constant moving as her father served in the military. When she lived in Italy, she was voted "Homecoming Queen" of her high school. After being an extra in a few Italian films, Sharon headed to Hollywood where she would again start as an extra. Her first big break ...
2. Ramon Novarro
Actor | Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ
Ramon Novarro was born José Ramón Gil Samaniego on February 6, 1899 in Durango, Mexico, to Leonor (Gavilan) and Dr. Mariano N. Samaniego Siqueiros, a prosperous dentist. Ramon and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1913, as refugees from the Mexican Revolution. After stints as a ballet dancer, ...
3. Sal Mineo
Actor | Exodus
Salvatore (Sal) Mineo Jr. was born to Josephine and Sal Sr. (a casket maker), who emigrated to the U.S. from Sicily. His siblings were Michael, Victor and Sarina. Sal was thrown out of parochial school and, by age eight, was a member of a street gang in a tough Bronx neighborhood. His mother ...
4. Haing S. Ngor
Actor | The Killing Fields
Haing S. Ngor was a native of Cambodia. Before the war, he was a physician & medical officer in the Cambodian army. He became a captive of the Khmer Rouge. He was imprisoned & tortured. In order to escape execution, he denied being a doctor or having an education. He moved to the U.S. as a refugee ...
5. John Lennon
Actor | A Hard Day's Night
John Winston (later Ono) Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman. He was raised by his mother's older sister Mimi Smith. In the mid-1950s, he formed his first band, The Quarrymen (after Quarry Bank High School, ...
6. Rebecca Schaeffer
Actress | Radio Days
Rebecca began modeling at the age of 16, going off to New York on her own to begin her career. Four months later, she found herself in Japan, modeling. Eventually, she landed a co-starring role on My Sister Sam (1986), for which she is now best known. In 1989 she also became a spokesperson for ...
7. Dominique Dunne
Actress | Poltergeist
Dominique Dunne was born in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of Ellen Beatriz Griffin Dunne and Dominick Dunne, a producer, actor, and writer. Actor Griffin Dunne is her brother. After her parents' divorce, she moved first to New York, and then to Beverly Hills. Upon graduation from high ...
8. Judith Barsi
Actress | The Land Before Time
The only child of Jozsef Barsi and Maria Benko, Judith Eva Barsi beat 10,000-to-1 odds when she was discovered at a San Fernando Valley skating rink at age 5 1/2 in 1983 and mistaken for a three-year-old. Her first commercial was for Donald Duck Orange Juice and she went on to appear in anywhere ...
9. Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer
Actor | Second Childhood
Carl Switzer was an American child actor, singer, dog breeder, and hunting guide from Paris, Illinois. He became famous for portraying Alfalfa in the film series "Our Gang" during the 1930s. His character was one of the most memorable characters ever portrayed in the series. Later in his career, ...
10. Bob Crane
Actor | Hogan's Heroes
Bob Crane was born in Waterbury, CT, the youngest of two sons. In school he was known for being a class clown and an intense music lover. His favorites were jazz and big band. Bob's specialty was the drums. After graduating from Stamford High School in 1946, he turned his attention to his love for ...
11. Marvin Gaye
Soundtrack | High Fidelity
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. (known professionally as Marvin Gaye; April 2, 1939 - April 1, 1984) was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, earning him the nicknames ...
12. Phil Hartman
Actor | NewsRadio
Phil Hartman was born Philip Edward Hartmann on September 24, 1948, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. His surname was originally "Hartmann", but he later dropped the second "n". He was one of eight children of Doris Marguerite (Wardell) and Rupert Loebig Hartmann, a salesman. He was of German, Irish, ...
13. Dian Fossey
Writer | Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey
Dian Fossey was born on January 16, 1932 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was a director and writer, known for Gorillas in the Mist (1988), The World About Us (1967) and The American Sportsman (1965). She died on December 26, 1985 in Karisoke, Rwanda.
14. Dorothy Stratten
Actress | Galaxina
Dorothy Stratten's story was brief, glorious and tragic. She was born Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten on February 28, 1960 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She grew up in a rough neighborhood in Vancouver, but kept out of trouble and went through the motions of school. While not a beauty as a child...
15. William Desmond Taylor
Director | Happiness of Three Women
Born in Carlow, Ireland. Came to USA c. 1890. Worked as stage actor, engineer, antique dealer, gold miner. Entered silent film industry as actor in 1912; most noted film as actor was Captain Alvarez (1914) for Vitagraph. Directed first film for Balboa Films in 1914. Subsequently directed for ...
16. Gianni Versace
Costume_designer | Judge Dredd
Gianni Versace was born on December 2, 1946 in Reggio di Calabria, Italy. He was a costume designer and production designer, known for Judge Dredd (1995), Showgirls (1995) and The Leading Man (1996). He died on July 15, 1997 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
17. Pearl Eaton
Pearl Eaton was a member of the famous Eaton family, according to her sister Doris Eaton (later Doris Eaton Travis) she was a talented dancer and choreographer who appeared in numerous Broadway shows, as well as New York nightclubs. She worked for the great theatre producer Florenz Ziegfeld on ...
18. Tupac Shakur
Actor | Juice
Born in New York City, Tupac grew up primarily in Harlem. In 1984, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he became good friends with Jada Pinkett Smith. His family moved again in 1988 to Oakland, California. His first breakthrough in music came in 1991 as a member of the group Digital ...
19. Marie Trintignant
Actress | Colette, une femme libre
Marie Trintignant died tragically on the 1st of August, 2003 from a cerebral edema in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris, France, following a violent fight with her boyfriend, Bertrand Cantat, lead singer in the French rock band, Noir Désir. She was just finishing filming a TV movie about Colette, ...
20. Paul Bern
Writer | The Beloved Rogue
Paul Bern is undoubtedly more famous today for being found shot to death in his bathroom barely 2 months after his marriage to proto-sex symbol Jean Harlow in 1932. Born in Hamburg, Germany as Paul Levy, he came to the United States with his family as a child. His mother died by drowning in the ...
21. Adrienne Shelly
Actress | Waitress
The late Adrienne Shelly was born in Queens, New York, to Elaine Langbaum and Sheldon Levine. After graduating Jericho High School in Jericho, New York, she enrolled at Boston University and majored in film production. She dropped out after her junior year and moved to Manhattan, where she made a ...
22. Jay Sebring
Make_up_department | Operation C.I.A.
Jay Sebring was born on October 10, 1933 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for Operation C.I.A. (1965), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) and Come Blow Your Horn (1963). He was married to Cami Sebring. He died on August 9, 1969 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
23. Barbara Colby
Actress | Mary Tyler Moore
At age 36, actress Barbara Colby was on the brink of TV-character stardom when the native New Yorker was senselessly shot and killed one evening on the streets of Los Angeles. The tall, toothy, husky-voiced, frizzy-haired actress equipped with a keen, Brooklyn-tough sensibility and dead-on comedy ...
24. Nicole Brown Simpson
Self | Infamous Crime Scenes: OJ
Nicole Brown Simpson was born on May 19, 1959 in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. She was an actress, known for Infamous Crime Scenes: OJ. She was married to O.J. Simpson. She died on June 12, 1994 in Brentwood, California, USA.
25. The Notorious B.I.G.
Soundtrack | Fast X
Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, was born on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Jamaican parents, Voletta Wallace, a pre-school teacher, and Selwyn George Latore, a welder and small-time politician. He was raised in the poor Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. ...
26. Sam Cooke
Soundtrack | Innerspace
Sam Cooke was born January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He was one of eight children of Charles Cook Sr., a Baptist minister. When Sam sang as a little boy in church, everyone made note that his voice had "something special". He sang in church and in local gospel choirs until a group called...
27. Tara Correa-McMullen
Actress | Rebound
Tara Correa-McMullen was born on May 24, 1989 in Westminster, Vermont, USA. She was an actress, known for Rebound (2005), Judging Amy (1999) and Zoey 101 (2005). She died on October 21, 2005 in Inglewood, California, USA.
28. Gemma McCluskie
Actress | EastEnders
Gemma McCluskie was born on February 5, 1983 in Shoreditch, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for EastEnders (1985) and No Sweat (1997). She died on March 1, 2012 in Bethnal Green, London, England, UK.
29. Christa Helm
Actress | Let's Go for Broke
Christa Helm was born on November 10, 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for Let's Go for Broke (1974), Wonder Woman (1975) and Legacy of Satan (1974). She was married to Gary Clements. She died on February 12, 1977 in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
30. Carolyn Mitchell
Actress | Dragstrip Riot
Carolyn Mitchell was born Barbara Ann Thomason on January 25, 1937 in Phoenix, Arizona, to Don and Helen Thomason. While attending Emerson Elementary School in Phoenix, she became known as the prettiest girl in Phoenix. Her family moved to Inglewood, California in 1951, a part of Los Angeles, a ...
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