Died On This Date - January 21

DeMille, Cecil (Cecil Blount) B.
b. August 12, 1881 d. January 21, 1959
Legendary movie producer and director. Founder of the Mercury Aviation Company.

Weissmuller, Johnny
b. June 2, 1904 d. January 21, 1984
Olympic Champion, World Record Holder, Actor. Because he was foreign born, he gave his birthplace as Windber, Pennsylvania, and his brother, Peter Weissmuller’s birthdate to ensure his eligibility to compete as part of the United States Olympic team, and so he could be issued an American passport. Johnny started swimming at age 9 and made the YMCA swim team in 1916.

Orwell, George (Eric Arthur Blair)
b. June 25, 1903 d. January 21, 1950
Author. He was born in India where his father was civil servant in the opium department. In 1904 he moved with his mother to England where later he attended Eton. His first writings were published in college periodicals. After failing to win a scholarship to University in 1922, George went to Burma to serve in the Indian Imperial Police. After returned to Europe he lived as a tramp and beggar, working low paid jobs. In 1928 he had decided to become a writer.

Mruk, Joseph
b. November 6, 1903 d. January 21, 1995
US Congressman from New York. He graduated from South Park High School in 1920, spent several years working in the jewelry business, and opened his own store in 1926. He served as a district representative on the Buffalo City Council from 1937 to 1941. In 1941 he was elected as an at-large member of the City Council, serving until his resignation in December 1942. In 1942 he was elected to the US House as a Republican, serving from 1943 to 1945.

Louis XVI
b. August 23, 1754 d. January 21, 1793
French Monarch. Succeeded his grandfather, Louis XV, as King of France on May 10, 1774 at the age of 20. He was married to the Austrian archduchess Marie Antionette in 1770. The couple had four children. Louis was a shy, dull man whose character was not suited to providing the leadership needed to control the complex social and political conflicts raging in France.

Switzer, Carl 'Alfalfa'
b. August 7, 1927 d. January 21, 1959
Actor. He is best remembered for his role of ‘Alfalfa’ in the "Our Gang" series of comedies. His trademark off-key singing and straightened stuck-up hair endeared him to a generation of viewers. Born in Paris, Illinois, he was selected to play the role of ‘Alfalfa’ in the "Our Gang" comedies, which began in 1935 with "Beginner's Luck" and ended in 1940 with "The Big Premier."

Wilson, Jackie (Jack Leroy)
b. June 9, 1934 d. January 21, 1984
Singer. Born Jack Leroy Wilson in Detroit, Michigan, the only child of Jack and Eliza Wilson from Columbus, Mississippi. He grew up in Highland Park, Michigan. He started singing at the age of 6. At 12 he joined the "Ever Ready Gospel Singers". They became very popular in Detroit's black churches. Truancy during high school landed him in the Lansing Correctional Institute. While at Lansing he took up boxing.

Lee, Peggy
b. May 26, 1920 d. January 21, 2002
Singer, Songwriter and Actress. Best remembered for songs "Fever," "Lover," "Big Spender," and a host of other songs. Born Norma Dolores Egstrom, her mother died when she was 4, and her father, a railroad station agent, remarried, but later abandoned the new family, leaving Peggy with her stepmother, who physically abused her. Peggy would develop her singing as a means of escape, and at age 14, she began singing at local PTA meetings for 50 cents a night.

Joslyn, Allyn
b. July 21, 1901 d. January 21, 1981
Stage, Motion Picture, and Television Actor. He appeared in many popular films and television shows between the years 1937 and 1966. Among them, "Only Angels Have Wings" (1937), "I Wake Up Screaming" (1941), "Heaven Can Wait" (1943), "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" (1947), and "Titanic" (1953). Classic television series appearances include, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Gunsmoke," "Rawhide," "The Addams Family," and "F-Troop."

Gehringer, Charlie
b. May 11, 1903 d. January 21, 1993
Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player.

Larsen, William
b. November 20, 1927 d. January 21, 1996
Actor. He appeared in the films "JFK" (1991), "Full Moon In Blue Water" (1988), "Five Days From Here" (1979), "Being There" (1979), "Heaven Can Wait" (1978), "Go West, Young Girl" (1978), "The Incredible Hulk" (1977), and "Delta County, U.S.A. (1977). He also appeared in the television show "Remington Steele" (1982-1987).

Woodward, Orator Francis
b. July 26, 1856 d. January 21, 1906
The man who made Jell-O a household name.

Melies, Georges
b. December 8, 1861 d. January 21, 1938
Motion-Picture Pioneer. The cinema's first great artist, he invented the fantasy film and was the father of motion-picture special effects. His most famous film, "A Trip to the Moon" (1902), still delights viewers with its quaint charm and humor, more than a century after it was first shown. Melies' influence on moviemaking around the world has been considerable.

Sheridan, Ann (Clara Lou)
b. February 21, 1915 d. January 21, 1967
Actress. The youngest of five children, the daughter of a Texas auto mechanic and a housewife, Ann Sheridan came to Hollywood as the 18-year-old winner of Paramount’s 1933 “Search for Beauty” contest, and made her film debut in a 1934 film of the same name. She was a college student at North Texas State Teacher’s College, when her sister thought she was beautiful enough to send in a picture of Ann in a bathing suit to Paramount Pictures.

Lundy, Antoine 'TCD'
d. January 21, 1998
R&B singer and part of the 1980s doo wop/hip hop group "Force Md's." It's members included brothers Stevie D and Antoine "TCD" Lundy, their uncle Jesse Lee Daniels, and friends Trisco Pearson and Charles "Mercury" Nelson. The group hooked up with DJ Dr. Rock, billing themselves as Dr. Rock and the MC's.

Lenin, Vladimir
b. April 22, 1870 d. January 21, 1924
Soviet Leader. Lenin's mausoleum was designed by Alexei Shchusev in 1924, during a period in which the strength of the Russian Avant-Garde had not yet been decimated by Stalin's enforced return to heroic realism and conservative classicism. As a result, the founder of the Soviet state is blessed with a resting place that is a rare masterpiece of modern architectural simplicity.

Asboth, Alexander Sandor
b. December 18, 1811 d. January 21, 1868
Civil War Union Brigadier General. One of a number of Hungarians to reach high rank in the Union Army. Served in the Hungarian Army as a Cuirassier (Heavy Cavalry soldier) before allying himself with Revolutionary Louis Kossth, and participated as his Aide-de-Camp in the failed 1848 Revolt to separate the nation from the Imperial powers of Austria. Traveled in exile first to Turkey, then to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen.

Goethals, George Washington
b. June 29, 1858 d. January 21, 1928
United States Army General. He is most remembered as being the Chief Engineer in the construction of the Panama Canal, considered one of the seven modern Wonders of the World. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he attended the City College of New York, then applied for the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating second in the Class of 1880. Selecting the Corps of Engineers as his branch, he served as Assistant Professor of Engineering at West Point from 1885 to 1888.

Shaw, Clifford Huston
b. July 21, 1906 d. January 21, 1998
College football and basketball official whose call in the 1954 Cotton Bowl set a precedent still observed in the NCAA; when Alabama's Tommy Lewis came off the bench to tackle Rice halfback Dickie Moegle, Shaw awarded Rice a touchdown, causing the sport's rules committee to make the procedure a standard at their next meeting; once rated the top referee in the Southwest Conference, Shaw also co-hosted a weekly football highlight show for KARK-TV in Arkansas.