Categories: Writers/Editors
George Axelrod, an author of successful plays and movies, died Saturday in Los Angeles. Cause of death was heart failure. He was 81.
Axelrod wrote the play and script for “The Seven Year Itch.” After three years on Broadway, the movie version starring Marilyn Monroe became a box office hit. Axelrod also penned the screenplays for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “The Manchurian Candidate.”
Categories: Actors
Actor William Marshall, who performed for more than 40 years on Broadway, on television and in movies, died on June 11 from a heart attack. He was 78.
Marshall was best known as the title character in the cult horror film, “Blacula” (1972) and its sequel, “Scream, Blacula, Scream!” (1973).
His last role was as a riverboat poker player in the 1994 film “Maverick,” starring Mel Gibson.
Categories: Musicians
Harold Ashby, who died on June 13 at the age of 78, was one of the last surviving members of Duke Ellington’s orchestra. He played tenor saxophone in its ranks from 1968 until 1975.
Ashby later played with Sy Oliver’s band at the Rainbow Room in New York and did a short tour with Benny Goodman.
Categories: Extraordinary People
Italy’s oldest man died at the age of 112 on Friday.
Giovanni Frau was a farmer in Orroli, Sardinia. He attributed his longevity to homegrown food.
“He farmed all of his food. The bread he ate was his bread; the wine, from his vineyard,” said Raffaele Moi, Frau’s grandson.
Sardinia has the world’s highest ratio of residents over the age of 100, according to Guinness World Records.
Categories: Misc.
Louisiana Purchase O’Leary Wampler, whose birth in a tent during preparations for the 1904 World’s Fair gave her the unwieldy name, died Wednesday of pneumonia-related complications. She was 100.
The World’s Fair Baby, as she was known, was the only child of a fairgrounds construction worker, and her name came from the official title: the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.