Archive for Actors

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Doris Roberts

Posted in Westwood Memorial Park with tags , on February 8, 2019 by Cade

November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016

Doris May Green was a stage, film and television actress whose biggest fame came from playing Marie Barone on the long-running sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Over the course of her career, Roberts (having adopted her stepfather’s surname) earned 5 Emmys and a Screen Actors Guild award to go along with numerous other nominations. Prior to Raymond, she appeared in recurring roles on Remington Steele and St. Elsewhere and guest starred on dozens of other shows. She also appeared in more than 30 films including 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. She was a tireless advocate for animal rights and childhood AIDS causes. At the age of 90, Doris died in her sleep following a stroke. Continue reading →

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David White

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , on January 22, 2019 by Cade

April 4, 1916 – November 27, 1990

David White appeared in dozens of television programs throughout the 1950’s (Peter Gunn, Father Knows Best), 1960’s (The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone), 1970’s (The Love Boat, The Rockford Files)  and the 1980’s (Cagney & Lacey, Remington Steele).  He appeared in classic films like The Apartment and Brewster’s Millions. But, smack in the middle of his career, he played the role for which he is most widely recognized: Larry Tate – the boss of Darrin Stephens – on all 8 seasons of the sitcom Bewitched.  He worked steadily on the large and small screens and on stage for nearly 40 years. Continue reading →

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Margaret Hamilton

Posted in Cremated with tags , , on January 14, 2019 by Cade

December 9, 1902 – May 16, 1985

Movie stars play leading roles. Actors play characters. The success of an actor generally hinges upon his or her ability to play a wide-range of characters well. Good characters. Funny characters. Eccentric characters. Evil characters. These characters often differ vastly from the person portraying them. Character actor Margaret Hamilton’s defining role could not have been more different than her real-life nature. In order for her parents to let her pursue acting professionally, Hamilton had to attend college first. She studied teaching – a passion she carried with her throughout her life – and then jumped into acting. She made a number of movies in Hollywood in the 1930s, but it was a 1939 film that would cement her in film history. Continue reading →

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Marion Davies

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , on December 20, 2018 by Cade

January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961

Marion Cecilia Elizabeth Brooklyn Douras was born in…well…Brooklyn. From an early age, young Marion wanted to perform. She found herself on the Broadway stage in chorus roles and eventually landed a coveted spot as a Ziegfeld girl. A jump to the screen was inevitably next. Her looks and comedic talent led to a budding career in the silent comedies and other top films of the day. As talented and successful as she was, history most remembers Davies for her relationship to powerful newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was enamored – some would say obsessed – with Davies. He bankrolled many of her films and dictated much of what she was able to do. He specifically preferred her in elaborate historical dramas and kept her away from her more natural lighter, comedic roles. It wasn’t all bad for Davies, though. She got to play hostess to extravagant parties at Hearst’s mansions and enjoyed numerous box office hits. And, by most accounts, they truly loved each other. Continue reading →

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Douglas Fairbanks

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , , on December 13, 2018 by Cade

May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939

Douglas Fairbanks was the original “King of Hollywood.” A silent-era deity on screen, he starred in more than 40 successful and popular silent films and was one of the founding fathers of what we know Hollywood to be today. Fairbanks made a career of playing adventuresome heroes like Zorro and Robin Hood. He did his own, increasingly-complicated and dangerous stunts and was one of the top-earning actors in the world at the time. Off-screen, he became half of the first “Hollywood Royalty” power couple when he married his second wife, actress Mary Pickford. Along with Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and director D.W. Griffith, Fairbanks started United Artists to help these massive stars control their own interests instead of relying on studios. He and Pickford also created the Motion Picture Fund to help struggling artists make ends meet. He served as the first president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and hosted the very first Oscars ceremony. Continue reading →

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Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , on December 12, 2018 by Cade

December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000

Being the son of a Hollywood legend is a great way to get your start in the movie business. Being a decent actor is a great way to have a long and successful career making movies. Fortunately for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., he was both. As a very young man, he struggled to make a name for himself for a while before breaking out opposite Edward G. Robinson in 1931’s Little Caesar and in 1939’s Gunga Din. He went on to work in films in both Hollywood and in England leading up to World War II. During the war, Fairbanks was commissioned as a reserve officer and became a decorated Captain in the Navy for creating the Beach Jumpers special deception unit. Continue reading →

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Robert Loggia

Posted in Westwood Memorial Park with tags , on December 4, 2018 by Cade

January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015

For nearly 60 years, Salvatore “Robert” Loggia entertained film audiences with his gruff but lovable persona. The son of Italian immigrants appeared in dozens of movies including Prizzi’s Honor, An Officer and a Gentleman, Necessary Roughness, Big, Scarface, Independence Day and Jagged Edge, the latter of which led to an Oscar nomination for Supporting Actor. He appeared in commercials and television shows (like The Sopranos, naturally) and also directed episodes of hit shows like Hart to Hart and Magnum P.I. Away from the screen, Loggia was heavily involved in humanitarian work and was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2010. That same year, Loggia was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. He continued working regardless and died at home in 2015. Continue reading →

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Tyrone Power

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , , on November 30, 2018 by Cade

May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958

Following in the footsteps of silent-era swashbuckler, Douglas Fairbanks and contemporaries like Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power Jr. was one of the biggest box office draws of the 1930s and ’40s. Coming from a long line of performers, Power worked with his own father from an early age to study acting. While the senior and junior Powers prepared for a play in 1931, his father suffered a heart attack and died. From that moment on Power dedicated his life to being an actor. His good looks and deft swordwork made him a marketable and successful matinee idol. Continue reading →

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Dick Van Patten

Posted in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills with tags , on November 28, 2018 by Cade

December 9, 1928 – June 23, 2015

Whether you remember Dick Van Patten as the infinitely-understanding father in the hit TV show Eight is Enough, from his many appearances in Mel Brooks’ comedies like Spaceballs, High Anxiety and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, or from any number of his scores of other screen credits, his was a face (and persona) not soon forgotten. Richard Vincent Van Patten grew up in New York. He appeared on stage from an early age and made no hesitation to transition to Hollywood. His 60+ year career found him appearing on dozens of hit TV shows and films. His most iconic role, that of Tom Bradford on the 1977-1981 NBC dramedy Eight is Enough, taught audiences everything they would need to know about the man behind the role. Continue reading →

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Darla Hood

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , , , , on November 26, 2018 by Cade

November 8, 1931 – June 13, 1979

By the ripe old age of 10, Darla Hood had already appeared in more than 45 of the classic Hal Roach Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts. After that, everything else was gravy. Originally from Oklahoma, Darla was discovered in New York by a Roach associate and was immediately shipped off to L.A. where she appeared in her first Our Gang short at just 4 years old. Ostensibly the only girl in the “classic lineup,” Darla often played the “love interest” of one or more of the other Rascals, including – perhaps most famously – Carl Switzer‘s Alfalfa. When she walked away from the series in 1941, Hood went on to find success as a recording artist and singer. Continue reading →

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