Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Died On This Date

July 1
Landon (Orowitz), Michael (Eugene Maurice)
b. October 31, 1936 d. July 1, 1991
Actor, Writer, Producer, Director. Born in Forest Hills, New York, to Eli Maurice Orowitz and Peggy O'Neal Orowitz. The family moved to Collingswood, New Jersey, when he was four. Eli and Peggy did not have the best of marriages and often times they had violent arguments. He experienced a stressful and unhappy childhood. His suffering from nocturnal enuresis (bed wetting) further complicated his life. His mother believed that she could cure this problem with shame. Cause of death: Cancer of the pancreas.
Matthau, Walter
b. October 1, 1920 d. July 1, 2000
Actor. Born Walter John Matthow in New York City to Russian immigrants and grew up on the Lower East Side. Matthau contributed to the family by playing bit parts at a Yiddish theater by age 11 where he was paid fifty cents for each onstage appearances. During WWII he served with the U.S. Army Air Corps where he made Staff Sergeant. In 1948 he made his Broadway debut in "Anne of the Thousand Days." He would make his film debut as the heavy in 1955's "The Kentuckian."
Mitchum, Robert
b. August 6, 1917 d. July 1, 1997
Motion Picture and Television Actor. Born Robert Charles Durman Mitchum, he appeared in more than 125 films during his 55 year run in show business and even had a brief career as a singer. Famous for his tough-guy roles in Film Noirs and Westerns, he could be menacing or charming in his roles and was sometimes both at once. Grew up as a trouble-making, wayward boy, and in the late 1940s, served a brief prison sentence for marijuana possession. In 1943, he appeared in a staggering dozen films. Cause of death: Lung cancer.
Vandross, Luther
b. April 20, 1951 d. July 1, 2005
Singer. He became famous for his soulful, romantic ballads and his many collaborations with such stars as Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson. Beginning his career singing background vocals for Richard Marx and Chaka Khan, he was discovered by David Bowie, who overheard him singing his song "Young Americans," and had him make a recording of the song. His debut solo album "Never Too Much," released in 1981, became a huge success.
Nostradamus (de Nostre Dame) (Michel)
b. December 14, 1503 d. July 1, 1566
Born Michel de Nostradame in St. Remy de Provence, France; the oldest of five brothers. The family had been Jews forced to convert to Catholicism by the Inquisition. He attended the University at Avignon and was graduated from the University of Montpellier after which he practiced as a physician. He was apparently remarkably successful in treating plague victims in the Montpellier area. About 1534 he married and had a son and a daughter.
Brando, Marlon
b. April 3, 1924 d. July 1, 2004
Actor. Motion picture and stage actor who achieved legendary status in his own lifetime. The youngest of three children of alcoholic parents, he was left alone much of the time as a child. He was kicked out of military high school for riding a motorcycle through the halls, worked as a department store elevator operator and quit after four days due to his embarrassment in having to call out the lingerie floor. Prevented from enlisting in World War II due to his 4-F status, he moved to New York. Cause of death: Pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that involves scarring of the lungs.
Wolfman Jack (Robert Weston Smith)
b. January 21, 1938 d. July 1, 1995
Disc Jockey, Actor, Entertainer. Born Robert Weston Smith in Brooklyn, New York. He was first on the airwaves as "Daddy Jules" on Newport News, Virginia station WYOU-AM. He made his mark as a disc jockey from 1958 to 1966, on radio station XERF (1570 AM) in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, just across the river from Del Rio, Texas. The Wolfman's name came from a trend of the 1950's when disc jockeys took nicknames such as Moondog or Hound dog. Cause of death: Heart failure.

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