Category Archives: Obituaries

Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and ‘Easy Rider’

    Aug. 10, 1969: Charles Champlin on “Easy Rider.” "Fonda and Hopper, it should by this time go without saying, give immense performances: Hopper as the more traditional 'Hey, man' Rider impatient, self-indulgent, fearful of anything that looks like … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | Comments Off on Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and ‘Easy Rider’

Voices, Gary Coleman, 1968 – 2010

  “Diff’rent Strokes” premieres, Nov. 3, 1978 March 2, 1979: "It's always the same. Three minutes. And me and George Carlin was just gettin' into it," Gary Coleman tells Howard Rosenberg about an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Johnny … Continue reading

Posted in broadcasting, Obituaries, Television | Comments Off on Voices, Gary Coleman, 1968 – 2010

Aly Khan Killed in Car Crash

  May 13, 1960: Prince Aly Khan, former husband of Rita Hayworth, is killed when his Lancia sports car crashes into a Simca at Suresnes, France. Khan, who was driving, was accompanied by French model Bettina (Simone Bodin), who suffered … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | Comments Off on Aly Khan Killed in Car Crash

Voices – Lena Horne, 1917 – 2010

  June 13, 1968: Lena Horne discusses her return to Hollywood after 12 years for “Patch,” which was apparently released as “Death of a Gunfighter.” "I left because I got sick and tired of being a Negro woman leaning against … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | Comments Off on Voices – Lena Horne, 1917 – 2010

British Commandos Rescue Embassy Hostages

  May 6, 1980: Times Pulitzer Prize winner William Tuohy writes that British commandos stormed the Iranian Embassy in London, freeing 19 hostages, killing three terrorists and capturing two others. The attack was ordered after the terrorists, opponents of the … Continue reading

Posted in Obituaries, Politics | Comments Off on British Commandos Rescue Embassy Hostages

Lynn Redgrave and ‘House Calls’

  Sept. 20, 1981: Universal Studios says Lynn Redgrave left “House Calls” over her salary “demands,” The Times says. A transcript of a phone call between her husband/manager John Clark and Universal’s Pete Terranova tells a different story.

Posted in broadcasting, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Alfred Hitchcock Dies

  April 29, 1980: Director Sir Alfred Hitchcock dies in his Bel-Air home at the age of 80. On the jump, former Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski calls Ronald Reagan an "extremist" and backs George Bush as the Republican candidate for … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Obituaries, Politics | Comments Off on Alfred Hitchcock Dies

Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 25, 1960

  Heartsick Mother's Problem One Which Has No Solution       Steve's mother knows she did wrong.  But she wonders, under the circumstances, what would have been right.       "I don't know," she told me from behind her handkerchief, … Continue reading

Posted in Caryl Chessman, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Music, Obituaries, Paul Coates | 3 Comments

World Mourns Mark Twain

  April 23, 1910: “Several of his neighbors who stood close to him in life were permitted today to view the body. Mr. Clemens did much of his work in bed, and in death he still seemed a part of … Continue reading

Posted in books, Obituaries | Comments Off on World Mourns Mark Twain

Mark Twain, 1835 – 1910

  April 22, 1910:  Samuel Langhorne Clemens “recognized his daughter Clara (Mrs. Ossip Gabrilowitsch), spoke a rational word or two and feeling himself unequal to conversation, wrote out in pencil: “ ‘Give me my glasses.’   “These were his last words. … Continue reading

Posted in books, Obituaries | Comments Off on Mark Twain, 1835 – 1910

Mark Twain Near Death

  April 20, 1910: Samuel Clemens "has been perfectly conscious and in possession of all his faculties throughout his illness and, weak though he is, frequent flashes of the characteristic wit that made him a unique figure when in health, … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, books, LAPD, Obituaries | Comments Off on Mark Twain Near Death

Daryl Gates in His Own Words

Photograph by R.L. Oliver / Los Angeles Times March 29, 1978: Sima Gates checks the new badge of her husband, Daryl F. Gates, after he was sworn in as the city's 49th chief of police during ceremonies at the Police … Continue reading

Posted in LAPD, Obituaries | Comments Off on Daryl Gates in His Own Words

Union Officer Recalls Lowering U.S. Flag at Ft. Sumter

April 13, 1910: The Times marks the [Update: 49th — I think a 100-year-old correction is some sort of record] 50th anniversary of the firing on Ft. Sumter by interviewing an officer who was there, Lt. Col. W.H. Hamner, a … Continue reading

Posted in @news, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Mystery Photo

   Los Angeles Times file photo Update: This is vaudeville star Kitty Doner in a 1925 publicity photo. Doner died Aug. 26, 1988, in Los Angeles at the age of 92.  Dec. 23, 1925: Kitty Doner appears as a man … Continue reading

Posted in Mystery Photo, Obituaries, Photography | 24 Comments

End of Watch, Danny Galindo

Photograph by Don Cormier / Los Angeles Times Regular Daily Mirror readers will be familiar with Detective Danny Galindo, who died Tuesday at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. Here he is in 1963, taking the part of Karl Hettinger, center, … Continue reading

Posted in LAPD, Obituaries | Comments Off on End of Watch, Danny Galindo

Voices – Jaime Escalante, 1930 – 2010

   July 21, 1983: Jaime Escalante once worked as a busboy at a Pasadena coffee shop because he didn’t speak English.

Posted in Education, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Voices – June Havoc, 1912 – 2010

Jan. 5, 1981: “This is what I wanted since I was 3,” June Havoc says of her home in Connecticut.

Posted in Film, Obituaries, Stage | Comments Off on Voices – June Havoc, 1912 – 2010

Voices — ‘Howlin Mad’ Smith

March 21, 1960: Jack Smith profiles retired Gen. Holland Smith, who died in 1967 at the age of 84. 

Posted in Jack Smith, Obituaries | Comments Off on Voices — ‘Howlin Mad’ Smith

Movie Star Mystery Photo

  Los Angeles Times file photo Update: This is Anne Nagel in a publicity photo stamped Sept. 17, 1936.   July 8, 1966: Anne Nagel dies of cancer at the age of 50.     Just a reminder on how … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Obituaries, Suicide | 28 Comments

Ron Milner, March 19, 1980

  March 19, 1980: Lawrence Christon reviews Ron Milner’s “Season’s Reasons,” which he calls “a state of the black union address." "Much of the play emphasizes how little American racial attitudes have improved," Christon says.  Milner died in July 16, … Continue reading

Posted in Countdown to Watts, Obituaries, Stage | Comments Off on Ron Milner, March 19, 1980