CAUSE: Aged 55, he died in Hollywood, California, from a heart attack while filming That Lady In Ermine (1948), which was finished by Otto Preminger.
Arthur Lucan
(ARTHUR TOWLE)
Born September 16, 1885
Died May 17, 1954
Old Mother Riley. Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, Towle began in show business in 1900 when he left school. A regular in music halls, in 1913 he married Kathleen ‘Kitty’ McShane (b. Dublin, May 19, 1898, d. London, March 24, 1964) – she was 15, he 26. They developed the act of Old Mother Riley and her daughter and successfully made it last 40 years, transferring it to 15 cheaply made and highly profitable films (1937–1952). The films were Old Mother Riley (1937), Old Mother Riley In Paris (1938), Old Mother Riley, MP (1939), Old Mother Riley Joins Up (1939), Old Mother Riley In Society (1940), Old Mother Riley In Business (1940), Old Mother Riley’s Ghosts (1941), Old Mother Riley’s Circus (1941), Old Mother Riley Overseas (1943), Old Mother Riley Detective (1943), Old Mother Riley At Home (1945), Old Mother Riley’s New Venture (1949), Old Mother Riley, Headmistress (1950), Old Mother Riley’s Jungle Treasure (1951) and Mother Riley Meets The Vampire (1952). Old Mother Riley relied on malapropisms, comical situations and facial expressions for his comedy. By 1951 after a series of fierce rows, the couple had separated and Kitty did not appear in Arthur’s last film, though he supported her financially.
CAUSE: He collapsed from a heart attack just before going on stage in Hull and died. He was 68.
Bela Lugosi
(BÉLA FERENC DEZSö BLASKó)
Born October 20, 1882
Died August 16, 1956
The horror star for whom it all went horribly wrong. The son of a baker-turned-banker, Lugosi was born in Lugos, Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj, Rumania), hence his name. Following his father’s death he left school to work in an ironworks. Deciding to chance his arm at acting he changed his name to Bela Lugossy, which gave him an aristocratic air. In 1911 he altered the spelling to the less pretentious Lugosi, by which name he became world famous. The handsome 6́ 1˝ actor became a favourite and matinee idol but his career was interrupted by World War I. Commissioned as a lieutenant, he was wounded three times and, finally discharged in 1916, went back to his first love. The following year on June 25, he married Ilona Szmik. That same year he began making films including A Régiséggyüjtö (1917), A Leopárd (1917), Az Ezredes (1917), Álarcosbál (1918), Nászdal (1918) as Bertram, Küzdelem A Létért (1918), Casanova (1918) and 99 (1918). In March 1919 Hungary was hit by revolution and Lugosi was at the forefront, leading the actors’ union and claiming oppression of the profession by producers. That summer the insurrection was suppressed and Lugosi had to flee for his life. His wife refused to follow him into exile and they were divorced. He moved to Vienna and Germany, where he appeared in teutonic films. In December 1921 he moved to New York to appear in a touring play but it was financially unsuccessful and he resumed his movie career with The Silent Command (1923) as Hisston. In 1922 he had married Ilona von Montagh but both soon realised they had made a mistake and they divorced. Lugosi made the occasional film but devoted most of his time to Broadway. In 1927 he opened in an English play about a Transylvanian vampire. Dracula played on the Great White Way for over a year and was eventually made into a film (1931), with Lugosi in the title role. He was to the manner born. In the summer of 1929 he had married Beatrice Woodruff and again that ended in a quick divorce. Following the success of Dracula, Lugosi was cast as Frankenstein’s monster but refused to play the role for fear of getting typecast. (As it turned out, it was already too late for him to avoid that.) The part went to Boris Karloff and made his name. Lugosi played the mad scientist Doctor Mirakle in Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932), which flopped. On January 31, 1933, he married his secretary Lillian Arch, by whom he had one son. With a wife to support and by now realising on which side his bread was buttered, Lugosi was cast in a variety of horror and thriller roles including Chandu The Magician (1932) as Roxor, White Zombie (1932) as Murder Legendre, The Death Kiss (1932) as Joseph Steiner, Night Of Terror (1933) as Degar, Island Of Lost Souls (1933) as Sayer Of The Law, The Devil’s In Love (1933), The Black Cat (1934) as Dr Vitus Verdegast, The Return Of Chandu as Frank Chandler (Chandu The Magician), Murder By Television as Arthur Perry, Mark Of The Vampire (1935) as Count Mora, Chandu On The Magic Island (1935) as Frank Chandler (Chandu), The Mysterious Mr Wong (1935) as Mr Wong, The Raven (1935) as the insane Dr Richard Vollin, The Phantom Creeps (1939) as Dr Alex Zorka, Son Of Frankenstein (1939) as Ygor, The Wolf Man (1941) as Bela, The Ghost Of Frankenstein (1942) as Ygor, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943) as Frankenstein’s Monster, The Return Of The Vampire (1944) as Armand Tesla, Zombies On Broadway (1945) as Dr Paul Renault and The Body Snatcher (1945) as Joseph. In 1945, when the industry halted production of films about mad scientists, Lugosi found regular work difficult to come by. He also became addicted to drugs, taken at first to ease his sciatica. First, he took morphine, then Demarol and the heroin substitute Methadone. He began to parody his own image in films such as Scared To Death (1947) as Professor Leonide, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) as Dracula, Mother Riley Meets The Vampire (1952) as Von Housen, for which he was paid $4,000, and Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) as Dr Zabor. During the Forties and Fifties he toured America with a horror act and was jeered and laughed at by the audience mainly made up of teenagers. He would even sign autographs while lying in a coffin. In 1953 his marriage collapsed and his wife was granted a divorce on July 17. In April 1955 he was committed as a hopeless drug addict but was only incarcerated for four months in a bid to wean him off narcotics. Released back into the community and buoyed by the fan mail he had received he tried to kick-start his career but could only land the part of Casimir, a deaf mute, in The Black Sleep (1956). On August 25, 1955, he married again. The fifth Mrs Lugosi was Hope Lininger. The world’s worst film director, Ed Wood, Jr, cast Lugosi in the now notorious Plan 9 From Outer Space (1958), generally regarded as the worst film of all time. Horror writer Stephen King wasn’t amused by the film. He wrote: “There’s nothing funny about watching Bela Lugosi (actually, a stand-in was used for most shots) wracked with pain, a morphine monkey on his back, creeping around a southern California development with his Dracula cape pulled up over his nose.” Lugosi himself once said: “I guess I’m pretty much of a lone wolf. I don’t say I don’t like people at all but, to tell you the truth, I only like [them when] I have a chance to look deep into their hearts and their minds.”
CAUSE: Bela Lugosi died aged 73 at his home, 5620 Harold Way, Los Angeles, at 6.45pm of a coronary occlusion with myocardial fibrosis – in other words a heart attack. On August 18, 1956, he was buried in Grave 1, Tier 120 of the ‘Grotto’ of Holy Cross Cemetery & Mausoleum, 5835 West Slauson Avenue, Culver City, California 90230. At his request he was buried in his Dracula cape.
Keye Luke
Born June 18, 1904
Died January 12, 1991
‘Number One Son’. To generations of movie-goers, 5́ 6˝ Keye Luke was the leading Oriental actor working in Hollywood in a career lasting almost 60 years. For someone who spent so much of his life before camera it is strange that the first mystery about Luke concerns his place of birth. For many years it was believed he was born in Canton, China, but now evidence has come to light that seems to suggest he was actually born in New York City. He was raised in Seattle, Washington, where he attended the University of Washington, and joined the film industry as an artist designing movie posters. He also worked as a technical adviser on all things Oriental. Like many behind the scenes he itched to get in front of the camera and his chance came in 1934 when he made his début in The Painted Veil. From then on, it seemed that whenever a Chinese character was written into a film or television show the call went out for Keye Luke. His innumerable films included: Shanghai (1935), Oil For The Lamps Of China (1935), Mad Love (1935) as Dr Wong, King Of Burlesque (1935) as Wong and, the first time he portrayed Charl
ie Chan’s number one son, Charlie Chan In Paris (1935). It was a role he was to reprise many times in films such as Charlie Chan In Shanghai (1935), Charlie Chan At The Race Track (1936), Charlie Chan At The Circus (1936), Charlie Chan On Broadway (1937), Charlie Chan At Monte Carlo (1937), Charlie Chan At The Opera (1937), Charlie Chan At The Olympics (1937), Mr Moto’s Gamble (1938), The Feathered Serpent (1948), The Sky Dragon (1949) and, finally, ‘winning promotion’, The Amazing Chan And The Chan Clan, a CBS cartoon series that lasted from September 9, 1972, until September 1, 1974, where he finally voiced Charlie Chan. He also played Kato in The Green Hornet (1939) and The Green Hornet Strikes Again (1940) and reprised the part on television 50 years later. He was Dr Kildare’s rival Dr Lee Wong How in Dr Gillespie’s New Assistant (1942), Dr Gillespie’s Criminal Case (1943), Three Men In White (1944), Between Two Women (1944) and Dark Delusion (1947). Other films included: Disputed Passage (1939) as Andrew Abbott, Torchy Blane In Chinatown (1939), Barricade (1939) as Ling, Sued For Libel (1940) as Chang, No, No, Nanette (1940), Phantom Of Chinatown (1940) as James Lee Wong, They Met In Bombay (1941) as Chen Ling, No Hands On The Clock (1941), Mr And Mrs North (1941) as Kumi, Burma Convoy (1941) as Lin Taiyen, Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941) as Clancy, Yank On The Burma Road (1942) as Kim How, A Tragedy At Midnight (1942) as Ah Foo, Spy Ship (1942) as Hiru, North To The Klondike (1942) as Wellington Wong, The Falcon’s Brother (1942) as Jerry, Destination Unknown (1942), Invisible Agent (1942), Somewhere I’ll Find You (1942) as Thomas Chang, Across The Pacific (1942), Let’s Go Collegiate (1942) as Buck Wing, Mexican Spitfire’s Elephant as Lao Lee, Journey For Margaret (1942), Salute To The Marines as ‘Flashy’ Logaz, Adventures Of Smilin’ Jack (1943) as Captain Wing, Dragon Seed (1944), Andy Hardy’s Blonde Trouble (1944) as Dr Lee, Secret Agent X-9 (1945) as Ah Fong, First Yank Into Tokyo (1945) as Haan-Soo, Lost City Of The Jungle (1946) as Tal Shan, Tokyo Rose (1946) as Charlie Otani, Waterfront At Midnight (1948) as Loy, Sleep, My Love (1948) as Jimmie, Young Man With A Horn (1950) as Ramundo, Fair Wind To Java (1953) as Pidada, Hell’s Half Acre (1954) as Chief Dan, The Bamboo Prison (1954) as Li Ching, World For Ransom (1954) as Wong, Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing (1955), Around The World In 80 Days (1956), Yangtse Incident (1957) as Captain Kuo Tai, Project X (1968) as Sen Chiu, Nobody’s Perfect (1968), The Chairman (1969) as Professor Soong Li, The Hawaiians (1970) as Foo Sen, Enter The Dragon (1973), Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), The Amsterdam Kill (1977) as Chung Wei, Just You And Me, Kid (1979) as Doctor Device, Gremlins (1984) as Grandfather, A Fine Mess (1986) as Ishimine, Dead Heat (1988) as Mr Thule, The Mighty Quinn (1989) as Dr Raj, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) as Mr Wing and Alice (1990) as Dr Yang. He appeared on Broadway and was also much in demand on television. He played Thomas Wong on the NBC comedy drama series Kentucky Jones from September 19, 1964, until September 11, 1965. He was amateur crime fighter Dr Fong on the ABC detective show Harry-O in 1976. He portrayed the Kralahome (Prime Minister) frequently arguing with Mrs Anna on the short-lived CBS comedy Anna And The King from September 17, 1972, until New Year’s Eve of the same year. However, his best-known television role was as the kindly Shaolin priest Master Po on the ABC western Kung Fu from October 14, 1972, until June 28, 1975. He wore white contact lenses (Po was blind) and a rather large amount of make-up to hide the fact that he still had a relatively young-looking face. He reprised that part in the television film Kung Fu: The Movie (1986).
CAUSE: He died following a stoke in Whittier, California, aged 86.
Paul Lynde
Born June 13, 1926
Died January 10, 1982
Camp Square. Paul Lynde was celebrated for his vocal talents (his was the voice in many cartoons) and for his outrageous campness on TV shows such as Hollywood Squares where he occupied the middle square. He died before it was in vogue to out gay celebrities. Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Paul Edward Lynde was one of six children and the middle of four boys of a butcher. He was taken by his mother to see Ben Hur (1926) and from then on never wanted to be do anything other than be in show business. When he told his father his dream, he recalled, “My dad hit the roof and I hit the road, simultaneously.” He graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and became a stand-up comedian at the Number One Fifth Avenue nightclub in New York. In 1948 he began a two-year residency with The Perry Como Show. He made his film début in New Faces (1954) as himself and went on to appear in Son Of Flubber (1963) as a sports commentator, Bye Bye Birdie (1963) as Harry McAfee, Under The Yum Yum Tree (1963) as Murphy, For Those Who Think Young (1964) as Uncle Sid, Send Me No Flowers as Mr Akins, Beach Blanket Bingo as Bullets, The Glass Bottom Boat as Homer Cripps, How Sweet It Is! (1968) as the Purser, Rabbit Test (1978) as Dr. Roger Vidal and The Villain (1979) as Nervous Elk. On television he was Uncle Arthur in Bewitched (1965–July 1, 1972) and headlined in his own The Paul Lynde Show (1972) and a sitcom called Temperatures Rising. It ran for 46 episodes between September 12, 1972 and August 29, 1974. He was the voice of Mildew Wolf in The Cattanooga Cats (September 6, 1969–September 5, 1971) and Sylvester Sneekly, a.k.a. The Hooded Claw in The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (September 13, 1969–September 5, 1971).
CAUSE: Paul Lynde’s death has never been satisfactorily explained. He was found drowned in his swimming pool in Beverly Hills, California, either as a result of a heart attack or under the influence of alcohol. He had been in ill-health for over a year with an illness thought to be cancer. The coroner who examined his body said that Lynde had the heart of an 88-year old man. He was buried in Amity Cemetery in Amity, Ohio.
M
Jeanette MacDonald
Born June 18, 1903
Died January 14, 1965
‘The Iron Butterfly’. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 5́ 4˝ Jeanette Anna MacDonald began her performing career appearing in Broadway musicals. Her film début came in The Love Parade (1929) as Queen Louise appearing opposite Maurice Chevalier. He commented, “I never thought she had much of a sense of humour. When we worked together she always objected to anyone telling a risqué story.” They reprised their partnership three more times in One Hour With You (1932), in which MacDonald played Colette Bertier, Love Me Tonight (1932) in which she played Princess Jeanette and The Merry Widow (1934). However, it was her films made alongside Nelson Eddy that won hearts the world over. Their first (of eight films they would make together) was Naughty Marietta (1935) as Princess Marie de Namours de la Bonfain. Others were Rose Marie as Marie de Flor, Maytime as Marcia Morney/Miss Morrison, The Girl Of The Golden West as Mary Robbins, Sweethearts as Gwen Marlowe, New Moon as Marianne de Beaumanoir, Bitter Sweet (1940) as Sarah Millick, later Sari Linden, and I Married An Angel (1942) as Anna Zador/Briggitta. Like Eddy she performed with other partners and her duettists included Alan Jones (father of singer Jack) and her husband actor Gene Raymond, whom she married on June 16, 1937, at the Wilshire Boulevard Church in Los Angeles. Following The Sun Comes Up (1949) in which she played Helen Lorfield Winter, she retired from acting and concentrated her energies on singing.
CAUSE: She died of a heart attack in Houston, Texas, aged 61. She was interred in the Freedom Mausoleum on Arlington Road of Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks.
Fred MacMurray
Born August 30, 1908
Died November 5, 1991
Prodigious performer. Born in Kankakee, Illinois, 6́ 3˝ Frederick Martin MacMurray, the son of a concert violinist, quickly rose to become one of Hollywood’s best-known and favourite comic leading men. He began as a singer and a saxophonist with a big band before making his film début in Girls Gone Wild (1929). He signed for Paramount in 1935 and also appeared in Tiger Rose (1929), Car 99 (1935) as Ross Martin, Hands Across The Table (1935) as Theodore Drew III, The Bride Comes Home (1935) as Cyrus Anderson, The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine (1936) as Jack Hale, Thirteen Hours By Air (1936) as Jack Gordon, True Confession (1937) as Kenneth Bartlett, Champagne Waltz (1937) as Buzzy Bellew, Cocoanut Grove (1938) as Johnny Prentice, Remember The Night (1940) as John S
argent, Dive Bomber (1941) as Commander Joe Blake, Double Indemnity (1944) as murderer Walter Neff, The Egg & I (1947) as Bob MacDonald, The Caine Mutiny (1954) as Lieutenant Tom Keefer, There’s Always Tomorrow (1956) as Clifford Groves, Face Of A Fugitive (1959) as Jim Larsen and The Apartment (1960) as J.D. Sheldrake. Although undoubtedly leading material he was rarely cast in big budget productions but he didn’t seem to mind and turned to television when his career began to falter. The series My Three Sons revived his film career and he appeared in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) as Professor Ned Brainard, Son Of Flubber (1963) as Professor Ned Brainard, Follow Me Boys! (1966) as Lemuel Siddons and Charley And The Angel (1973) as Charley Appleby. The horror film about bees The Swarm (1978), in which he played the part of Clarence, marked his last cinematic appearance. He was married twice. His first wife was dancer Lillian Lamont (b. 1908) whom he married on June 20, 1936. They adopted two children: Susan (b. 1941) and Robert (b. 1944). Lillian died in Santa Monica on June 22, 1953. A year later, on June 28, 1954, he married June Haver. They adopted twin daughters, Kathryn Marie and Laurie Ann, on December 4, 1956. He was the visual inspiration for the superhero Captain Marvel.
CAUSE: He died of pneumonia aged 83 in Santa Monica, California. He was buried in the Mausoleum, D 1, Room 7, of Holy Cross Cemetery, 5835 West Slauson Avenue, Culver City, California 90230.
Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries Page 116
