Dead at 43

Natalie Wood was an American actress of Russian and Ukrainian descent. She started her career as a child actress and eventually transitioned into teenage roles, young adult roles, and middle-aged roles. She drowned off Catalina Island on November 29, 1981 at age 43.

Wood was born July 20, 1938 in San Francisco to Russian immigrant parents: housewife Maria Gurdin (née Zoudilova; transliterated as Zoodiloff on legal records), known by multiple aliases including Mary, Marie and Musia, and second husband Nick Gurdin (née Zacharenko), a janitor and prop builder. Nicholas was born in Primorsky Krai, son of a chocolate-factory worker. Maria was born in Barnaul, southern Siberia to a wealthy industrialist. Natalie's maternal grandfather owned soap and candle factories.

Wood's parents had to migrate due to the Russian Civil War. Her paternal grandfather joined the anti-Bolshevik civilian forces early in the war and was killed in a street fight between Red and White Russian soldiers. This convinced the Zacharenkos to migrate to Shanghai, China, where they had relatives. Wood's paternal grandmother remarried in 1927 and moved the family to Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1933 they resettled along the U.S. West Coast. Nicholas met Wood's mother, four years his senior, while she was still married to Alexander Tatuloff, an Armenian mechanic she divorced in 1936.

Mary Tatuloff, Wood's mother, had unfulfilled ambitions of becoming a ballet dancer. She grew up in the Chinese city of Harbin and had married Alexander there in 1925. The Tatuloffs had one daughter, Ovsanna, before coming to America in 1930. After marrying Nicholas Zacharenko in 1938, five months before Wood's birth, Mary (now calling herself Marie) transferred her dream of stardom onto her second child. Marie frequently took a young Wood with her to the cinema, where she could study the films of Hollywood child stars.

Wood's parents changed the family name to Gurdin upon obtaining U.S. citizenship, and her pseudonymous mother finally settled on a permanent first name: Maria. In 1942 they bought a house in Santa Rosa, where young Natalie was noticed by members of a crew during a film shoot. She got to audition for roles as an actress, and the family moved to Los Angeles to help seek out roles for her. RKO Radio Pictures' executives William Goetz and David Lewis chose the stage name Wood for her, in reference to director Sam Wood. Natalie's younger sister Svetlana Gurdin would eventually follow an acting career as well, under the stage name Lana Wood.

Wood made her film debut in Happy Land (1943). She was only five years old, and her scene as the "Little Girl Who Drops Ice Cream Cone" lasted 15 seconds. Wood somehow attracted the interest of film director Irving Pichel who remained in contact with her family. She had few job offers over the following two years, but Pichel helped her get a screen test for a more substantial role in the romance film Tomorrow Is Forever (1946). Wood passed through an audition and won the role of Margaret Ludwig, a post-World War II German orphan. At the time, Wood was unable to "cry on cue" for a key scene, so her mother tore a butterfly to pieces in front of her, giving her a reason to cry for the scene.

Wood started appearing regularly in films following this role and soon received a contract with 20th Century Fox. Her first major role was that of Susan Walker in the Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street (1947), which was a commercial and critical hit. Wood got her first taste of fame, and afterwards Macy's invited her to appear in the store's annual Thanksgiving Day parade. Following her early success, Wood receive many more film offers. She typically appeared in family films, cast as the daughter of such stars as Fred MacMurray, Margaret Sullivan, James Stewart, Joan Blondell, and Bette Davis. Wood found herself in high demand and appeared in over twenty films as a child actress.

The California laws of the era required that until reaching adulthood, child actors had to spend at least three hours per day in the classroom. Wood received her primary education on the studio lots, receiving three hours of school lessons whenever she was working on a film. She was reportedly a "straight A student." Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was quite impressed by Wood's intellect. After school hours ended, Wood would hurry to the set to film her scenes.

While Wood acquired the services of agents, her early career was micromanaged by her mother. An older Wood gained her first major television role in the short-lived sitcom The Pride of the Family (1953). At the age of 16, she found more success with the role of Judy in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). She played the role of a teenage girl who wears makeup and dresses up in racy clothes to attract the attention of a father who typically ignores her. The film's success helped Wood make the transition from child actress to an ingenue. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Her next significant film was The Searchers (1956), a western in which she played the role of abduction victim Debbie Edwards, niece of John Wayne's character. The film was a commercial and critical hit, and has since become regarded as a masterpiece. Also in 1956, Wood graduated from Van Nuys High School. She signed a contract with Warner Brothers, where she was kept busy with several new films. To her disappointment, she was typically cast as the girlfriend of the protagonist and received roles of little depth. For a while, WB had her paired with teen heartthrob Tab Hunter. The studio was hoping that the pairing would serve as a box-office draw, but this did not work out. One of Wood's only serious roles from this period was the title character in Marjorie Morningstar (1958), as a young Jewish girl whose efforts to create her own identity and career path clash with the expectations of her family. The film was a critical success, and fit well with other films exploring the restlessness of youth in the '50s.

Wood's first major box office flop was the biographical film All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960), examining the rags to riches story of jazz musician Chet Baker without actually using his name. The film's box office earnings barely covered the production costs, and MGM recorded a loss of $1,108,000. For the first time. Wood's appeal to the audience was in doubt. With her career in decline following this failure, Wood was seen as "washed up" by many in the film community. But director Elia Kazan gave her the chance to audition for the role of the sexually-repressed Wilma Dean Loomis in his upcoming film Splendor in the Grass (1961). Kazan cast Wood as the female lead, because he found in her (in his words): a "true-blue quality with a wanton side that is held down by social pressure." Kazan is credited for producing Wood's most powerful moment as an actress. The film was a critical success, with Wood nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Wood's next important film was West Side Story (1961), where she played Maria, a restless Puerto Rican girl. Wood was once again called to represent the restlessness of youth, this time in a story involving youth gangs and juvenile delinquents. The film was a great commercial success with about $44 million gross, the highest-grossing film of 1961. It was also critically acclaimed, and is still regarded as one of the best films of Wood's career. Her next film was Gypsy (1962), playing the role of burlesque entertainer and stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Film historians credit the film as an even better role for Wood than that of Maria, with witty dialogue, a greater emotional range, and complex characterization. The film was the eighth highest-grossing release of 1962, and was well-received critically.

Wood's next significant role was that of Macy's salesclerk Angie Rossini in Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). In the film, Angie has a one-night-stand with musician Rocky Papasano, played by Steve McQueen, finds herself pregnant and desperately seeks an abortion. The film under-performed at the box office but was critically well-received. Wood received her third (and last) nomination for an Academy Award. At age 25, Wood was tied with Teresa Wright as the youngest person to score three Oscar nominations. Wood held that designation until 2013, when Jennifer Lawrence achieved her third nomination at age 23.

Wood continued her successful film career until 1966, but her health status was not as successful. She was suffering emotionally and had sought professional therapy. She paid Warner Bros. $175,000 to cancel her contract and was able to retire for a while. She also fired her entire support team: agents, managers, publicist, accountant, and attorneys. She took a three-year hiatus from acting.

Wood made her comeback in the comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) with the themes of sexual liberation and wife swapping. It was a box office hit. Wood decided to gamble her $750,000 fee on a percentage of the gross, earning a million dollars in profits. She chose not to capitalize on the film's success, however, and did not take another acting job for five years.

In 1970, Wood was married to the screenwriter Richard Gregson and was expecting her first child, Natasha Gregson Wagner. She went into semi-retirement to be a stay-at-home mom, appearing in only four more theatrical films before her death. These films were the mystery comedy Peeper (1975), the science fiction film Meteor (1979), the comedy The Last Married Couple in America (1980), and the posthumously-released science fiction film Brainstorm (1983).

In the late '70s, Wood found success in television roles, appearing in several made-for-TV movies and the mini-series From Here to Eternity (1979). Her project received high ratings, and she had plans to make her theatrical debut in a 1982 production of Anastasia.

On November 28, 1981, Wood joined her last husband Robert Wagner, their married friend Christopher Walken, and captain Dennis Davern on a weekend boat trip to Catalina Island. Conspicuously absent from the group was Christopher's wife, casting director Georgianne Walken. The four of them were on board the Wagners' yacht "Splendour." Earwitness Marilyn Wayne heard cries for help around 11:05 P.M. and a "man's voice slurred, and in aggravated tone, say something to the effect of, 'Oh, hold on, we're coming to get you,' and not long after, the cries for help subsided." On the morning of November 29, Wood's corpse was recovered 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) away from the boat, near small Valiant-brand inflatable dinghy beached nearby. The toxicology report revealed her blood alcohol level was at .14, over the legal limit of .10. Wood was buried on December 2 at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Nine days later, the LACSD officially closed the case.

Chadwick Boseman was an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of T'Challa / Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2016 to 2019, particularly in Black Panther (2018), and for his starring roles as several pioneering Americans, Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), James Brown in Get on Up (2014), and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017). He also had choice parts in The Express (2008), Draft Day (2014), and Message from the King (2016). Born in Anderson, South Carolina, he attended Howard University and studied at the Oxford Mid-Summer Program for acting, before moving to Los Angeles in 2008 to pursue his craft on the big screen. He died in 2020, after a four year bout with colon cancer, during which time he had starred in several of the biggest movies ever made.

Amanda Peterson was born on July 8, in Greeley, Colorado. With a natural beauty, powerful charm and a strong personality this talented and truly gifted actress began her career in film industry at age 9, with the feature film Annie (1982), directed by Academy Award-winner John Huston. To participate in "Annie", she had to persuade her mother and then compete in a casting which included more than 8000 girls. She is the youngest of three children, she has a sister, Ann-Marie Peterson, and a brother, Rev. Jim Peterson. Her mother, Sylvia Peterson, is a full-time mother and housewife and her father, James Peterson, is a doctor. Starting in 1981, Amanda had guest starring roles in television series such as Father Murphy (1981), Silver Spoons (1982) and Boone (1983). In 1985, she played alongside with Oscar nominee River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke, a four-time Oscar nominee, in Joe Dante fantasy-fable Explorers (1985). At 14 years of age this precocious young actress, had already participated in over 50 television commercials, three television series and four movies. She was also an active member of the Greeley Saddle Club, and horse riding was one of her passions since childhood. She met her greatest international success in 1987 with the comedy movie Can't Buy Me Love (1987), directed by Steve Rash. Amanda received critical praise worldwide and demonstrated that her skills were maturing into older roles. In 1987, in Chile, Amanda acted with her elder sister, Ann-Marie Peterson, Jsu Garcia and Xander Berkeley in the post-apocalyptic movie The Lawless Land (1988), directed by Jon Hess and produced by Academy Award-winner Roger Corman. In 1988, for her outstanding acting in the Emmy Award-winning television series A Year in the Life (1986), Amanda Peterson won the Young Artist Award in the category of Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Drama Series. These awards are often referred to as the Young Oscars. A year later she acted opposite Roy Scheider, two-time Oscar nominee, in the profound and moving drama Listen to Me (1989), directed by Oscar nominee Douglas Day Stewart. She also drew praise for is her performance in the excellent thriller Fatal Charm (1990), directed by Fritz Kiersch. In 1994, after participating in the memorable contemporary drama film Windrunner (1994), she decided to leave the entertainment industry. Amanda's work involves several genres, from western to romance, science fiction to thrillers, and from dramas to comedies.

Amanda found admirers on a global scale, with her delightful work. With her strong presence and dedication, she demonstrated a gift for portraying emotion and vulnerability, while immersing herself in here roles, while bringing here unique personality, an attribute that only the best actors have. In a Perfect World Amanda would have delivered many more quality character interpretations, whether in film or on television. With her movies she achieved immortality in the hearts of all who witnessed her work since her childhood. As Leonard Maltin, the most respected and recognized historian and film critic in America, once said - "Amanda Peterson is excellent". There is no doubt about that. After all, Amanda Peterson is one of the most talented and beautiful actress of her time and considered by many a legend. On July 3, 2015, Amanda Peterson died at her home in Greeley, Colorado, at the age 43 from an accidental morphine overdose.

Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big-hearted buffoon earned him classic appearances in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career handed him some dry spells, but he always rebounded.

Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in 1950, Candy was the son of Evangeline (Aker) and Sidney James Candy. His mother was of Ukrainian and Polish ancestry. Candy found his passion for drama while attending a community college. In 1971 he made his TV debut in an episode of Police Surgeon (1971) co-starring Sharon Farrell, John Hamelin, and Nick Mancuso. Candy then found a number of bit parts in other Canadian television shows and also in such small films as Tunnel Vision (1976) and Find the Lady (1976). However, his big success came at the age of twenty-seven, when he became part of the comedy group "Second City" in Toronto. Alongside such soon-to-be Canadian stars as Catherine O'Hara (one of Candy's lifelong friends), Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Harold Ramis, Candy was also part of the television show the group inspired. SCTV (1976) earned Candy a reputation for his quirky humor and his uncanny imitations of others.

After the television series, Candy appeared alongside fellow Canadian Dan Aykroyd in the Steven Spielberg flop 1941 (1979). However, other jobs followed and Candy landed a role, once again with Aykroyd, in the successful classic The Blues Brothers (1980). Candy played a parole officer who is part of the chase after Jake and Elwood Blues. The film was a hit and Candy followed up accordingly.

Candy acted in the smash hit Stripes (1981) where he played a dopey, overweight recruit affectionately nicknamed 'Ox'. After the success of Stripes (1981), Candy returned to the Second City with the other former stars, in SCTV Network (1981). Candy also hosted Saturday Night Live before landing himself a role in the Ron Howard film Splash (1984), a romantic comedy about a mermaid who washes ashore and learns to live like a human. Candy played a sleazy womanizing brother to the character played by Tom Hanks. The film was a bigger success than even Stripes (1981), and a number of people have said that Splash (1984) was his breakout role.

He took a second billing in the comedic film Brewster's Millions (1985) where a man must spend thirty million in order to inherit three hundred million from his deceased relative. Candy played the man's best friend, who accidentally gets in the way as much as helping out. Candy continued making films tirelessly, including the film Armed and Dangerous (1986) in which he and Eugene Levy play characters who become security guards.

1987 was an especially good year to Candy, giving him two classic roles: Barf the Mawg in the Mel Brooks comedy Spaceballs (1987) and the bumbling salesman Del Griffith alongside Steve Martin's uptight character in the John Hughes film Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). The latter film is a golden classic and is one of Candy's greatest films. He followed up immediately with The Great Outdoors (1988), once again alongside Dan Aykroyd. Candy landed another classic role in the film Uncle Buck (1989) which was about a bumbling uncle who must look after his brother's three children.

Although he was in the smash hit Home Alone (1990), Candy's career fell into a slump, turning out unsuccessful films in the early 1990s. This caused him to change his strategy by taking more serious roles. The first of these serious roles was the corrupt lawyer Dean Andrews in the Oliver Stone film JFK (1991). The film was a big success, and Candy moved on from this victory to make the film Cool Runnings (1993) about the first Jamaican bobsled team.

Candy was well known for his size, six feet two and weighing around 300 pounds. However, he was very sensitive about the subject, and in the 1990s tried to lose weight and quit smoking. He was aware that heart attacks were in his family history: both his father and his grandfather had died of them, and Candy wanted to prevent that happening to him as best he could.

In the mid-1990s Candy filmed the Michael Moore comedy Canadian Bacon (1995), then went to Mexico to film the western spoof Wagons East (1994). There, he had a heart attack and passed away in March 1994. Canadian Bacon (1995) was released a year after his death and is his last film.

Candy was loved by thousands of people who loved his classic antics in Splash (1984) and The Great Outdoors (1988). He was well-known for his roles in Stripes (1981) and Uncle Buck (1989), and never forgot his Canadian background.

Scott Eric Weinger (pronounced wine-gur) was born in New York, New York, on October 5, 1975, to Babs Weinger, a teacher, and Elliott Weinger, an orthopedic surgeon. The eldest of four children, Scott has two brothers and one sister. He spent the majority of his formative years in southern Florida, then moved with his family to Los Angeles when his career began to take off.

Scott first became interested in acting in the third grade, when an actor gave a presentation for Career Day. He relentlessly pestered his parents to get him an agent until they finally realized that the young tyke was serious about becoming an actor. His first gig was a national commercial for Ideal Toys.

In fall 1994, Scott left the LA scene to fulfill yet another dream--attending Harvard University. Taking leave of the TV series Full House (1987) didn't suggest he was leaving the business altogether. He continued as the voice of Aladdin (1992) in the Saturday morning TV series, completed two more full length Aladdin videos, and made a final appearance on "Full House," all while maintaining excellent grades at school. As if all of that didn't keep the ambitious lad busy enough, he also held a part-time job as a youth correspondent for Good Morning America (1975).

Scott majored in English and minored in French literature while at Harvard, and he graduated magna cum laude in June of 1998. In his first online interview after returning to Los Angeles, he still seemed to be undecided about what his plans were, which were narrowed down to writing, directing, acting, and news correspondence.

Since his return to Hollywood, he has starred in a horror flick, Shredder (2001); produced an award winning film short called The Cricket Player (2002); and provided his voice for the English-language dub of Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (2001), Disney/Square Co.'s video game Kingdom Hearts (2002), "Mickey's Philharmagic," and "The Search for Mickey Mouse"!

Scott considers himself to be a writer, primarily, and an actor, secondarily. He received his first writing credit on the WB television show Like Family (2003), which is described as a "multi-ethnic crossover comedy about two very different families coming together under one roof." Recently, he received a credit as a co-writer for another WB sitcom, What I Like About You (2002)

A slender, striking, red-haired, freckle-faced American leading lady, Mary Elizabeth Hartman was born in Boardman, Ohio on December 23, 1943, as the middle of three children born to building contractor Bill C. Hartman (May 7, 1914, Ohio - October 26, 1964, Youngstown, Ohio) and housewife Claire Mullaly (October 13, 1918, Youngstown, Ohio - October 28, 1997, Youngstown, Ohio). Hartman had an older sister named Janet and a younger brother named William. Hartman grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and appeared in the play "A Clearing in the Woods" in the Youngstown Playhouse.

After graduating from Boardman High School in 1959, Hartman took a job at a Brooks Brothers store in Cleveland, and then attended Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh in 1961, where she met her future husband Gill Dennis two years later. While in summer school in 1963, Hartman participated in "Bus Stop" with Ann B. Davis, who suggested that Hartman try Broadway. In 1964, Hartman left for New York, where she starred in the play "Everybody Out, the Castle is Sinking". While in New York, she landed the role of Selina D'Arcy, a blind, abused, uneducated white girl who falls in love with a compassionate black man played by Sidney Poitier in the racially charged drama "A Patch of Blue (1965)". For this role, she was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Golden Globe award. A week after she finished that film, Hartman began six months on location in New York as an upperclass collegiate in "The Group (1966)". Hartman married Dennis in 1968.

Other roles followed, such as a go-go dancer in Francis Ford Coppola's film "You're a Big Boy Now (1966)", a lonely, unmarried, handicapped woman in "The Fixer (1968)", a nurse who tends to Clint Eastwood in "The Beguiled (1971), "Intermission (1973)" and Pauline Pusser, the wife of sheriff Buford Pusser in "Walking Tall (1973)". Hartman also appeared in a television pilot of "Willow B: Women in Prison (1980)" (aka "Cages" ) and made numerous television appearances. She appeared in more plays, such as "Our Town" in 1969, also appearing in "The Glass Menagerie", "The Madwoman of Chaillot", "Bus Stop" and "Beckett". She also completed a road tour of the play, "Morning's at Seven".

Hartman's life was plagued by acute depression and insecurity; Hartman spent a year at the Institute of Living in Hartford in 1978. After her role as Mrs. Brisby in "The Secret of NIMH (1982)", Hartman retired from acting, and divorced her husband in 1984. Hartman was also frequently a patient at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, where her sister Janet took care of her.

On June 10, 1987, Hartman called her doctor and told him that she had been feeling despondent. Just before noon that same day, Hartman committed suicide by throwing herself out of her fifth-floor studio flat window at the King Edward Apartments in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Oakland. She was 43 years old.

Born John Curtis Estes on August 8, 1944, in rural Pickaway County, Ohio, the youngest of four children, porn legend John Holmes was raised by a religious fanatic mother named Mary and an abusive alcoholic stepfather named Harold Bowman. He was a bible student, but at the age of 16 dropped out of school, left home and enlisted for a hitch in the US Army, where he was stationed in West Germany for three years. After his discharge he moved to Los Angeles in 1964 where he married a young nurse, and worked odd jobs such as taxi driver, door-to-door salesman, postal clerk, temp worker, coffee vat attendant, ambulance driver and forklift driver.

In the late 1960s he gravitated to the underground porno industry. One story was that a female neighbor was making porno loops and advised Holmes he could make good money. Unfortunately, his first check bounced and, after that, he always insisted on payment in cash. Another story is that in 1967 Holmes was frequenting a men's card playing club in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena when a photographer for an underground magazine noticed his large "member" while standing next to him at a restroom urinal and gave Holmes his business card, telling him he could get plenty of work in still photo magazines. By 1969, with the advent of X-rated porn films, Holmes moved into the movie business. His tall, slim build, curly light brown hair, a light mustache and bright blue eyes made him an instantly recognizable star. John was not lacking for work, bringing not only a professional attitude but also his legendary endowment (12-5/8" long, according to a Screw Magazine interview, while other stories put it at 13-1/2" long). His enormously long penis got him starring roles in over 2,000 loops, stag films and adult features in a career that spanned nearly 20 years (with a peak of a $3,000-a-day salary). His lucrative off-screen penis-for-hire business took him around the world.

His most famous character is probably Johnny Wadd, a lusty, always-on-the-make private detective he played in several crude porno films like Tell Them Johnny Wadd Is Here (1976), The Jade Pussycat (1977), China Cat (1978), Liquid Lips (1976) and Blonde Fire (1978), the last of which is considered the best of the so-called "Wadd films". Better still were the big-budgeted pictures that co-starred some of the adult film industry's top leading ladies, including Marilyn Chambers, Seka, Annette Haven and even a young--and underage--Traci Lords.

In the late 1970s Holmes developed a serious drug habit to cocaine (both snorting and freebasing), which prevented him from performing in the on-screen sex he was famous for, resulting in his dropping out of the adult-film business. By late 1980 he was broke, most of the huge amounts of money he made having gone to feed his drug addiction. He was reduced to making money by robbing people's houses and stealing cars, as well as delivering drugs for the local gangsters. The lowest point in his life was when he was implicated in four grisly, drug-related murders on July 1, 1981. He was allegedly present at the drug-related torture and murders at a house in the hills above Hollywood of William Deverell, Ronald Launius, Joy Miller and Barbara Richardson--a group suspected by many in the drug underworld of specializing in ripping off drug dealers--by a gang of killers sent by a powerful local gangster named Eddie Nash. A fifth victim, (Susan Launius, Ronald Launius' estranged wife), barely survived the attack and had no memory of the event. The bloody crime made lurid headlines throughout Southern California and became known as The Wonderland Murders, after the street in the wooded Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles where the killings took place. Holmes was implicated in the crime but refused to tell police what he knew and went on the run for nearly six months with his teenage mistress, Dawn Schiller, before he was arrested while hiding out in Florida and returned to Los Angeles. The L.A. authorities, angered by Holmes' refusal to cooperate with the investigation, charged him with committing all four murders. After a three-week, public trial, Holmes was acquitted on June 26, 1982. Although found not guilty of the murders, he remained in jail on previous burglary and contempt-of-court charges until his release in November 1982. The true nature and details of the Laurel Canyon murders remains unsolved to this day.

After his release from prison, Holmes tried to clean up his act and continue his porno career with a new generation of porno stars. His cocaine addiction continued off-and-on, and although work in the porno business was still plentiful, it was no longer as lucrative as it had been, given the explosion in the use of cheaply made videotapes that saturated the market. In addition, Holmes was no longer the powerhouse star that he had once been. He was diagnosed with AIDS late in 1985 but continued working--without telling producers or his co-stars--until 1986, when his increasingly gaunt and frail physical appearance sent up "red flags" in the industry and he could no longer find work.

During the last five months of his life, John Holmes received treatment and stayed at the local VA (Veterans Administration) Hospital on Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles from November 1987 to his death on March 13, 1988 from AIDS-related complications at age 43, with his second wife at his side, former porn star Misty Dawn. Holmes once estimated he'd had sex with over 14,000 women (on and off screen), and was truly a porn legend. His life was the basis for the film Boogie Nights (1997), and he was portrayed by Val Kilmer in Wonderland (2003), about the infamous murders, but the conflicting truths about his life, as always, was stranger than fiction.

Romy Schneider was born on 23 September 1938 in Vienna, Austria into a family of actors. Making her film debut at the age of 15, her breakthrough came two years later in the very popular trilogy Sissi (1955). Her mother, supervising her daughter's career, immediately approved Romy's participation in Christine (1958), the remake of Max Ophüls's Playing at Love (1933), where Magda Schneider once starred herself. During the shooting, she fell in love with her co-star Alain Delon and eventually moved with him to Paris. At that time, she started her international career collaborating with famous directors such as Luchino Visconti and Orson Welles. After Delon had broken up with her in 1964, she married Harry Meyen shortly after. Although she gave birth to a boy, David-Christopher, their relationship was difficult, so they divorced in 1975. Being unsatisfied with her personal life, she turned to alcohol and drugs, but her cinematic career -especially in France- remained intact. She was the first actress, receiving the new created César Award as "Best Actress" for her role in That Most Important Thing: Love (1975). Three years later, she was awarded again for A Simple Story (1978). After a short marriage to her former secretary Daniel Biasini, being the father of her daughter Sarah Biasini, she suffered the hardest blow of her life when her son was impaled on a fence in 1981. She never managed to recover from this loss and died on 29 May 1982 in Paris. Although it was suggested she committed suicide caused by an overdose of sleeping pills, she was declared to have died from cardiac arrest.

Daemion Barry was born on 20 November 1960 in London, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Friday on My Mind (1992), Signs and Wonders (1995) and The War Behind the Wire (2000). He died on 28 July 2004 in the UK.

Jennifer Ann Henry was born on 31 October 1973 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. She was a cinematographer and actress, known for The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) and Joy Ride (2001). She died on 20 February 2017 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Egon Aagaard was born on 25 July 1941 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor and composer, known for Wild Flowers (1997), Da Svante forsvandt (1975) and Næste stop paradis (1980). He died on 19 August 1984.