Bruce Cabot (1904-1972) Screen heavy Bruce Cabot started as a bit player, but signing a contract with RKO in the early 1930s solidified his career. His best known role came in the film King Kong (1933; with Fay Wray), and his career continued to be strong throughout the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1950s, however, Cabot found roles hard to come by, so he went to Europe and acted in numerous Italian films including Goliath and the Barbarians (1959; with Steve Reeves. In the 1960s, Cabot enjoyed a resurgeance of his career, which kept going strong until his health deteriorated in the early 1970s. After the release of Cabot's final film Diamonds Are Forever (1971; with Sean Connery), he passed away in May 1972 from cancer at the age of 68. Corinne Calvet (1925-2001) French-born beauty Corinne Calvet began her Hollywood career in the noir thriller Rope of Sand (1949; with Burt Lancaster and Peter Lorre. On the set of that film, she met up and coming actor John Bromfield, and the couple married soon afterward, but but the marriage fizzled in 1954. The following year, Calvet married Jeffrey Stone and slowed her career with the birth of her son. Her marriage to Stone ended in 1960, and Calvet was briefly wed two more times in the 1960s. In the 1970s, she abandoned her acting career to become a therapist, but in the 1980s she had a recurring role on the ABC-TV daytime drama General Hospital in the late 1980s and acted in her final film, the steamy thriller Side Roads (1988; with Jeff Speakman). Calvet passed away in June 2001 at the age of 76 and was survived by her son. Rod Cameron (1910-1983) Canadian-born Rod Cameron got his start in Hollywood as stuntman and bit player in the 1930s. He worked steadily as an actor in small roles the early 1940s when his big break came in the form of the fifteen-chapter serial Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943; with Duncan Renaldo); this serial served as a template for Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and the films that followed it. This serial made Cameron a headliner, and from then on he started in numerous low-budget westerns and action films. His film career was still in high gear when he decided to do television in the 1950s. Leaving westerns behind, he used his talents in TV crime drama series including City Detective (syndicated; 1953-1955) and State Trooper (syndicated; 1956-1959). In 1960, Cameron fueled gossip columns by divorcing his wife and marrying his ex-mother-in-law. His career began to wane afterward and wrapped up with the comedy Love and the Midnight Auto Supply (1978; with Michael Parks and Linda Cristal). Cameron passed away from cancer on December 21, 1983 at age 73 and was survived by his fourth wife and two children. David Carradine (1936-2009) The son of actor John Carradine, David Carradine spent time in the military and went to college before launching an acting career in the early 1960s. After several guest appearances on TV programs, Carradine made his film bow in the western Taggart (1964; with Dan Duryea). In 1966, he was cast as the lead in the ABC western series Shane, but the show was canceled mid-season. Afterward, Carradine began to focus on a film career in such B movies as The Violent Ones (1967; with Fernando Lamas, Aldo Ray, and Lisa Gaye) and The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969; with Robert Mitchum, Tina Louise, and Marie Windsor) before trying his hand at another TV series, the wildly popular ABC western Kung Fu (1972-1975). Much like his father, Carradine made a string of entertaining, low-budget films throughout his career such as Death Race 2000 (1975; with Sylvester Stallone and Mary Woronov), Cannonball! (1976; with Bill McKinney, Robert Carradine, Judy Canova, and Mary Woronov), and Safari 3000 (1982; with Stockard Channing and Christopher Lee). While he worked steadily throughout the years, alcohol problems began to take a toll on his health and career. However, Carradine cleaned up his act and renewed his popularity in Kill Bill, Vols. 1 and 2 (2003; with Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, and Michael Madsen). Sadly, while working on a film in Bangkok, Carradine was found dead in his hotel room on June 3, 2009, at the age of 72. He is survived by his fifth wife, two daughters, a son, and several step-children. Regina Carrol (1943-1992) Carrol was a buxom blond actress and nightclub singer who made movies exclusively for her husband, director Al Adamson's, including Blazing Stewardesses (1974; with Yvonne De Carlo), Blood of Ghastly Horror (1971, with Tommy Kirk), and my personal favorite, Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971; with Anthony Eisley and Lon Chaney Jr.). Along the way in her film career, she picked up the moniker "The Freak-Out Girl." After a decade of acting in Al Adamson's films, she ended her career with the release of Doctor Dracula (1983; with John Carradine). She passed away at age 49 of cancer in St. George, Utah on November 4, 1992. Leo G. Carroll (1886-1972) British-born Leo G. Carroll spent years as a stage actor before moving into films in the 1930s. Moving freely between A and B movies, Carroll enlivened such films as Tower of London (1939; with Boris Karloff) and Rebecca (1940; with Joan Fontaine). In the 1950s, he moved into television as the star of Topper while acting in films such as Tarantula (1955; with John Agar and Mara Corday). Retiring in the late 1960s, Leo G. Carroll died on October 16, 1972, just days before his 86th birthday. Chick Chandler (1905-1988) Born in New York in 1905, Chandler was a veteran character actor who worked steadily from the early 1930s through the early 1970s. He provided solid performances in such 'B' pictures as Leave It to Blondie (1945; with Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton) and Lost Continent (1951; with Hugh Beaumont). He also had supporting roles in 'A' films as well, including The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941; with Bette Davis) and There's No Business Like Show Business (1954; with Marilyn Monroe). He also worked in television, making guest appearances and having a regular role on the series Soldiers of Fortune (1955-1956) and One Happy Family (1961-1962). Chandler retired from the screen at age 65 and passed away in September 1988 at the age of 83. The above photo is from Steel Town. Linda Christian (1923-2011) Mexican-born knockout Linda Christian's early life was nomadic; the actress spent her early days in Europe, Africa, and South America. At the urging of sometime lover Errol Flynn, Christian went to Hollywood, where she was discovered and put under contract to MGM. Her first credited film role cames in the MGM adventure Green Dolphin Street (1947; with Lana Turner and Van Heflin) and RKO's Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948; with Johnny Weissmuller and George Zucco). Just as her career began rolling, Christian met and married screen idol Tyrone Power. Interestingly, the press surrounding her marriage and motherhood improved her career. Throughout the 1950s, she starred in such films as Battle Zone (1952; with John Hodiak), Slaves of Babylon (1953; with Richard Conte), and Thunderstorm (1956; with Carlos Thompson). Yet her career began to suffer with her divorce from Power in 1956. Her ability to speak multiple languages fluently served her well, and by the early 1960s Christian was a star in Europe. Christian was briefly married to actor Edmund Purdom (1962-1963) and continued her acting career into the late 1960s. Sadly, Linda Christian passed away after a battle with colon cancer on July 22, 2011, and was survived by her two daughters with Tyrone Power. Ray Collins (1889-1965) Veteran character actor Ray Collins, born in Sacramento, California, in December 1889, began his acting career as a child on the vaudeville stage. Hollywood had yet to emerge as the capital of filmmaking by the time Collins reached adulthood, so he eventually headed east to New York, where he worked on and off Broadway from the 1920s to the 1940s. Also working as a radio actor, Collins was a part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater. Fittingly, Welles cast him in Citizen Kane, his first feature film role (although he had acted in a number of Warner Bros./Vitaphone shorts produced in New York in the late 1920s and early 1930s). Afterward, Collins left New York for Hollywood, where he found plenty of work in wartime America films, including a surprising number of comedies. But film noir is where Collins fit in best, acting in such films as Leave Her to Heaven (1945; with Cornel Wilde and Gene Tierney), A Double Life (1947; with Ronald Colman and Shelley Winters), and The Racket (1951; with Robert Mitchum and Lizabeth Scott). Collins worked steadily in films until he was cast in the role of Lieutenant Arthur Tragg in the CBS noir series Perry Mason (1957-1966; with Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, and William Hopper). Collins developed emphysema in the early 1960s and was forced to curtail his appearances on the popular television series. He passed away in July 1965 at the age of 75. The photo above is from his last film I'll Give My Life (1960). Elisha Cook Jr. (1903-1995) Elisha Cook began his long career while a teenager, when he did a vaudeville act and later on the Broadway stage. He didn't enter films with earnest until the mid 1930s. Although at this time Cook was more than 30 years old, his diminutive stature got him often cast as a student in 1930s films. Cook's big breakthrough role came in The Maltese Falcon (1941; with Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor), a brilliant performance that allowed him to get better roles. But Cook rarely turned down a script, so he often appeared in both A and B films. Some of his more interesting performances can be seen in The House on Haunted Hill (1958; with Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart), Rosemary's Baby (1968; with Mia Farrow), and Blacula (1972; with William Marshall). Cook chalked up more than 100 films and dozens of TV appearances through the late 1980s. A stroke in 1990 forced him into retirement. He passed away in 1995 at age 92. The left-hand photo is from Electra Glide in Blue (1973; with Robert Blake). Jeanne Crain (1925-2003) Beautiful California native Jeanne Crain studied drama from an early age and entered films at age 18. Upon signing with 20th Century Fox, the studio cast Crain in the best films of her career, including State Fair (1945; with Dana Andrews), Leave Her to Heaven (1945; with Cornel Wilde), and A Letter to Three Wives (1949; with Linda Darnell). In the 1950s, however, Fox cast her in films of lesser quality, so Crain left the studio and eventually landed at Universal-International. Most of Crain's later films were low-budget affairs, such as Daggers of Blood (1962; with John Drew Barrymore) and Hot Rods to Hell (1967; with Dana Andrews). Despite her busy career, Crain somehow managed to raise seven children. She retired from acting in the early 1970s. Sadly, Jeanne Crain passed away in December 2003 at the age of 78. Richard Crenna (1927-2003) A Los Angeles native, Richard Crenna starred in numerous B movies and television shows during his long career in Hollywood. His earliest roles came on radio in the 1940s. While a college student, he landed a role on Eve Arden's radio comedy Our Miss Brooks in 1948, and he stayed with the show when it moved to television in 1952. Some of his early films include Red Skies of Montana (1952; with Jeffrey Hunter) and Over-Exposed (1956; with Cleo Moore). Later, Crenna starred in The Real McCoys for six seasons, and after the show left the air, he starred in several films such as Wait Until Dark (1967) and Marooned (1969; once aired on Mystery Science Theater 3000 as Space Travelers). Crenna's career was strong through his final days. He passed away from cancer in January 2003 at the age of 76. Criswell (1907-1982) Born Jerome Criswell on August 18, 1907 Criswell started his professional career as a journalist and radio personality. He began making outrageous predictions as a gag while on a radio program; soon, however, he became famous for his psychic abilities, appearing on television often from the 1950s through the 1970s. Criswell frequently admitted he had no psychic powers, yet the gag continued. B movie fans will recognize Criswell from Ed Wood's films Plan Nine from Outer Space (1959; with Tor Johnson); Night of the Ghouls (1959; with Tor Johnson and Kenne Duncan); and Orgy of the Dead (1965; with Pat Barrington). Criswell departed on October 4, 1982 at the age of 75 and was survived by his wife, Halo Meadows (1905-1985). Jim Davis (1909-1981) Character actor Jim Davis is known for his many westerns but is best remembered in the role of Jock Ewing on the CBS TV series Dallas. Born in Missouri in August 1909, Davis entered films in the early 1940s. Following World War II, Davis found roles in such films as Gallant Bess (1947; with Marshall Thompson and Hellfire (1949; with Marie Windsor). He didn't headline a picture until the 1950 low-budget film noir release Hi-Jacked. Throughout the 1950s Davis worked steadily in films, but when his career stalled in the 1960s he found lots of work in television. Some of his later films include Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966; with John Lupton and Cal Bolder) and Dracula Vs. Frankenstein (1971; with Anthony Eisley and Lon Chaney Jr.). Following the death of his daughter in 1970, he threw himself into his career, acting in a number of films in the 1970s and landing a plum role on Dallas. Davis died of cancer in April 1981 at the age of 71. Myrna Dell (1924-2011) Los Angeles-born Myrna Dell began her career as a showgirl in New York before trying her luck in films. After a few film appearances, she secured a contract with RKO in 1944. Initially, the studio cast her in comedy short subjects, working her way up to femme fatale in film noir thrillers such as Step by Step (1946; with Lawrence Tierney and Anne Jeffreys) and The Falcon's Adventure (1946; with Tom Conway and Steve Brodie). After ending her contract with RKO, Dell freelanced extensively at other studios and did quite a bit of work on television into the early 1960s. After her marriage to actor Herbert Patterson and the birth of her daughter, Dell grew disinterested in her acting career. She passed away on February 11, 2011, at the age of 86. She was survived by her daughter. Divine (1945-1988) Born Harris Glenn Milstead, Divine starred in director John Waters' underground made-in-Baltimore flicks such as Multiple Maniacs (1970; with Mink Stole), Pink Flamingos (1972; with Edith Massey), and Polyester (1981; with Tab Hunter). In the 1980s, Divine proved himself an accomplished and versatile actor in Lust in the Dust (1985; with Tab Hunter and Lainie Kazan) and Trouble in Mind (1985; with Keith Carradine). Just as he was crossing over into mainstream film and possibly stardom, he passed away in early 1988 at the age of 42. The above photo is from Divine's hilarious 1985 comedy Lust in the Dust. Jeff Donnell (1921-1988) Born Jean Donnell in Maine in 1921, pretty Jeff Donnell was put under contract by Columbia Pictures in 1941, where she acted in a string of B programmers. She was a well-rounded actress, excelling in comedies, dramas, and westerns, although film noir provided her best roles. In 1954, Donnell left Columbia Pictures and took on the role of Alice on The George Gobel Show. But Donnell left the series in 1958, when she married her third husband. The marriage didn't last, and by 1961 Donnell began acting in films again, although on an infrequent basis. Her final role was a long stint on the ABC soap General Hospital beginning in 1979 and lasting until she passed away from heart attack on April 11, 1988 at the age of 66. She was survived by her son and daughter from her first marriage. Married four times, her most famous husband was actor Aldo Ray, whom she married in 1954 and divorced in 1956. Peter Duel (1940-1971) Peter Duel made a few films in the 1960s but is better known for his prolific work in television. Duel starred in the series Gidget (1965-1966) and Love on a Rooftop (1966-1967). His career seemed assured with his third series, Alias Smith and Jones (1971-73), along with co-star Ben Murphy. Inexplicably, Duel took his own life on New Year's Eve 1971 at the age of 31. Dan Duryea (1907-1968) Stage actor Dan Duryea made the transition to films in the 1940s. He excelled at portraying heavies and thugs in film noir and westerns, but occasionally picked up good-guy roles, especially toward the end of his career. His best films include Scarlet Street (1945; with Joan Bennett) and Larceny (1947; with John Payne. Duryea kept working through the late 1960s until his health began to fail, and he passed away on June 7, 1968 at the age of 61. His last film, the sci-fi effort The Bamboo Saucer (1968; with John Ericson) was released a few months after his death. |
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