WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 22nd May 1907 Died: 11th July 1989 (aged 82) Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking to the Reverend Gerard Kerr Olivier and his wife Agnes. You could say that Olivier had it a lot easier than most of his contemporises when it came to becoming an actor …
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come
Ned Beatty (1937-2021)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 6th July 1937 Died: 13th June 2021 (age 83) Ned Beatty was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Charles and Margaret Beatty. He grew up singing in gospel choirs and Barbershop quartets and attended Transylvania University on a scholarship to sing in their acapella choir – he did not …
Claude Rains (1898-1967)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 10th November 1898 Died: 30th May 1967 (aged 77) William Claude Rains was born to stage actor Frederick William Rains and his wife, Emily. He was one of four, out of twelve, to survive past infancy. He was born in Clapham, London. Because of his father’s profession the …
Bob Hoskins (1942-2014)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 26th October 1942 Died: 29th April 2014 Robert William Hoskins was born to a nursery teacher and bookkeeper in Bury St Edmunds but was raised and educated in London. He left school at the age of 15 with one O-Level and went on to do various jobs, including …
Sir Peter Ustinov (1921-2004)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 16th April 1921 Died: 28th March 2004 (aged 82) Born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov in Belsize Park, London, to Jona Freiherr von Ustinov, a German diplomat and journalist (who worked for MI5 during the German Reich), and Nadezhda Leontievna Benois, an artist and theatrical designer. His heritage …
Albert Finney (1936-2019)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 9th May 1936 Died: 7th February 2019 (aged 82) Albert Finney Jnr (officially) was born in Salford, Lancashire, to Albert and Alice Finney. He was awarded a scholarship to RADA from which he qualified with a RADA Diploma at the age of 20. After RADA he joined the …
Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 25th December 1899 Died: 14th January 1957 (age 57) Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born on Christmas Day 1899 to Belmont Bogart and Maud Humphrey. Paternally he was descended from the first female European Christian child born in New Netherland (now New York and New Jersey) and maternally he …
Cary Grant (1904-1986)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 18th January 1904 Died: 29th November 1986 Born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England, to a tailor’s presser and a seamstress Grant had a somewhat tumultuous early life. His mother taught his song and dance from an early age but as a woman who suffered from depression to struggled …
Janet Leigh (1927-2004)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 6th July 1927 Died: 3rd October 2004 This would be ‘Scream Queen’ was born Jeanette Helen Morrison, a single child raised by parents Helen and Frederick Morrison in Stockton, California. She studied hard and graduated at the age of 15. It was while she was studying music and …
Patrick Swayze (1952-2009)
WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers Born: 18th August 1952 Died: 14th September 2009 (aged 57) Powerhouse of talent, Patrick Wayne Swayze was born to a choreographer and engineer in Houston, Texas, yet his paternal heritage dates back to an Englishman, John Swasey, from Dorset who migrated to New England in the 1600s and it …