FOUND A GRAVE

Abe Vigoda (1921 - 2016)

Abe Vigoda was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Lena (née Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father was a tailor who had two other sons: Hy and Bill. The latter was a comic book artist who drew for the Archie comics franchise and others in the 1940s. Abe Vigoda began […]

Jean Marais (1913 - 1998)

A native of Cherbourg, France, Marais was a son of Alfred Emmanuel Victor Paul Villain-Marais and his wife, the former Aline Marie Louise Vassord. Marais starred in several movies directed by Jean Cocteau, for a time his lover and a lifelong friend, most famously Beauty and the Beast (1946) and Orphée (1949). Marais played over 100 […]

Tom Villard (1953 - 1994)

Villard was born in Waipahu, Hawaii and grew up in Spencerport, New York, the son of Diane Ruth (MacNaughton), a teacher of the emotionally handicapped, and Ronald Louis Villard, a photochemical engineer. He attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, before moving to New York City to attend the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and […]

Ignacio Coronel Villarreal (1954 - 2010)

Ignacio Coronel was responsible for moving multi-ton quantities of cocaine via fishing vessels from Colombia to Mexico and on to the United States state of Texas and Arizona during the early 2000s. His influence and operations penetrated throughout the United States, Mexico, and several other European, Central American, and South American countries. In Mexico, he […]

James Villiers (1933 - 1998)

James Michael Hyde Villiers (29 September 1933 – 18 January 1998) was an English character actor and a familiar face on British television. He was particularly memorable for his plummy voice and ripe articulation. Born in London and educated at Wellington College, Berkshire and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, ‘Gentleman Jim’ Villiers (pronounced Villers) was […]

Vincent Alo (1904 - 2001)

Organized Crime Figure. Born in Harlem, New York, Alo started working on Wall Street at age 14. As a young man, Alo was convicted of armed robbery and sent to state prison (either at Sing Sing or Dannemora state prisons).  In 1926, Alo became a made man, or full member, of Giuseppe Masseria‘s powerful New York […]

Rich Vogler (1950 - 1990)

Vogler was the National Alliance of Midget Auto Racing (NAMAR) midget champion in 1973. He won the midget car track championships at the Indianapolis Speedrome in 1984 and 1985. He won the Fireman Nationals midget car race at Angell Park Speedway in 1985. Vogler became the first driver to win the USAC Sprint Car and […]

Nedra Volz (1908 - 2003)

Born in Montrose, Iowa, she began her career in the family tent show, and appeared in vaudeville as a toddler (called “Baby Nedra”). In the early 1930s, Volz was featured vocalist with Cato’s Vagabonds, a Des Moines, Iowa, big band that briefly enjoyed national popularity. Cato never made records, but Nedra managed to appear on […]

Stephen Vrabel (1956 - 2004)

Vrabel and Susan Clemente were an unmarried couple living together with their daughter, Lisa Clemente, in a Struthers, Ohio apartment that the family rented from Susan’s sister and brother-in-law. On March 3, 1989, Vrabel went into the Miller Rod and Gun Store in Youngstown to purchase a gun. He selected a gun but when asked […]

Bill Vukovich (1918 - 1955)

Before he began Indy racing, Vukovich drove midget cars for the Edelbrock dirt track racing team. He raced on the West Coast of the United States in the URA, and won the series’ 1945 and 1946 midget car championships. Vukovich won the 1948 Turkey Night Grand Prix at Gilmore Stadium, and six of the last […]

Bill Waddington (1916 - 2000)

Waddington was born at Oldham on 10 June 1916, the son of a builder. He played the ukulele and became a member of a group called the Blue Pencils, recruited to entertain forces during the Second World War.  After the war “Waddy” became a comedian, often appearing on the same bill as Jill Summers, who […]

Ernestine Wade (1906 - 1983)

Actress. In the 1940s, she went to Hollywood, got a job as a secretary, later auditioned for music opportunities and was cast to do voice-overs in the animated Disney film “Song of the South” (1946). She is best remembered for her role as ‘Sapphire Stevens’ on the comedy “Amos ‘n’ Andy” radio show and later […]

Robert Wadlow (1918 - 1914)

Robert Wadlow Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940) also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, is the tallest person in history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. The Alton and Illinois monikers reflect the fact that he was born and grew up in Alton, Illinois. Wadlow reached […]

Charles Wagenheim (1896 - 1979)

Actor who appeared in more than one hundred films and on televison. His film credits include Suddenly, with Frank Sinatra, The Diary of Anne Frank, Hello Dolly, and Missouri Breaks, which would be his last. He was a regular on the TV series Gunsmoke from 1966 to 1975, as the rancher Mr Halligan. He was […]

William Wagner (1883 - 1964)

American stage and motion picture actor of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Appeared with Tyrone Power and Madeleine Carroll in the 1936 Oscar-nominated drama “Lloyd’s of London.”

Wende Wagner (1941 - 1997)

Born to a career U.S. Navy officer and swimming and diving coach father (John H. Wagner) and a mother (Rudy Arnold Wagner) who was a champion skier, Wagner lived in nearly all the Continental United States with her family’s various naval postings. While living in Coronado, California, with her family, Billy Wilder then filming Some […]

Helen Wagner (1918 - 2010)

Wagner played the soap opera’s matriarch, Nancy Hughes, from its debut on April 2, 1956, until her death. She is acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest run in a single role on television. In fact, Wagner spoke the show’s very first line, “good morning, dear,” and would go on to […]

Porter Wagoner (1927 - 2007)

Porter Wagoner Porter Wagoner, a country singer who mixed rhinestone suits, a towering cotton-candy pompadour and cornball jokes with direct, simple songs over a career best known for his partnership with Dolly Parton, died Sunday in Nashville. He was 80 and lived in Nashville. He had been hospitalized with lung cancer, the Grand Ole Opry […]

Ralph Waite (1928 - 2014)

Ralph Waite Ralph Waite (June 22, 1928 – February 13, 2014) was an American actor, voice artist, and political activist, best known for his role as John Walton, Sr. on The Waltons, which he occasionally directed. In addition, Waite appeared in many guest roles on numerous television series, most recently in a recurring role in […]

Jimmy Wakely (1914 - 1982)

Jimmy Wakely Singer. Born James Clarence Wakely in Mineola, Arkansas, he was a country music entertainer and one of the last vocalists to make it in movies as a singing cowboy. In 1937, he formed The Bell Boys, a country Western singing group which toured and evolved into the Jimmy Wakely Trio and was featured […]

Jimmy Wakely (1914 - 1982)

Singer. Born James Clarence Wakely in Mineola, Arkansas, he was a country music entertainer and one of the last vocalists to make it in movies as a singing cowboy. In 1937, he formed The Bell Boys, a country Western singing group which toured and evolved into the Jimmy Wakely Trio and was featured on CBS […]

Garry Walberg (1921 - 2012)

Actor. Best remembered for playing ‘Lieutenant Frank Monahan’ during the entire run of the TV series “Quincy, M.E.” (1976 to 1983). The Buffalo, New York native launched what was to become an extensive body of television credits beginning with an episode from the series “Mister Peepers” (1952). He experienced his first recurring part as Police […]

Anton Walbrook (1896 - 1967)

Actor. Born in Austria, he started performing in German film serials in the 1920s and early 1930s, before settling in the United Kingdom. He made his American film debut in the RKO Pictures’ “The Soldier and His Lady” (1937), followed by “Sixty Glorious Years” (1938). His other film credits included “Gaslight” (1939), “49th Parallel” (1941), […]

Raymond Walburn (1887 - 1969)

Actor in 91 films including “Mr Deeds Goes to Town,” “Craig’s Wife,” “Thin Ice,” “Murder in Greenwich Village,” “Dixie” and “State of the Union.”

Marie Walcamp (1894 - 1936)

Actress. She made her big-screen debut in “The Werewolf”(1913), and by the 1920s she played in some 100 films. She is best remembered as ‘Mrs William Carlo’ in “Where Are My Children?(1916). She committed suicide from an overdose of medication.

Gustl Waldau (1871 - 1958)

Actor. Real name Gustav Freiherr von Rummel. One of Germany’s leading stage performers. After military service and a stint as a journalist, he made his acting debut in 1897 at the Kölner Stadttheater, the beginning of a 60-year career. He also appeared in over 100 films, including “Little Dorrit” (1934), “Yvette” (1938), “Munchausen” (as Casanova, […]

Kim Walker (1968 - 2001)

Actress. Known for her supporting roles, she was an up and coming young actress in Hollywood before retiring from the business in the late 1990’s. As a teen she landed a few guest roles in series such as “Matlock” and “Highway to Heaven” before moving on to supporting roles in feature films such as “Say […]

Paul Walker (1973 - 2013)

Paul Walker Walker was born in Glendale, California, and was the son of Cheryl (née Crabtree), a fashion model, and Paul William Walker III, a sewer contractor and a fighter who was a two-time Golden Gloves champion, His ancestry was mostly English, with a smaller amount of German. His paternal grandfather, a professional boxer, had […]

Cindy Walker (1918 - 2006)

Cindy Walker was born on July 20, 1918 on her grandparents’ farm near Mart near Mexia east of Waco, Texas, the daughter of a cotton-broker. Her maternal-grandfather F.L. Eiland was a noted composer of hymns and her mother was a fine pianist. From childhood Cindy Walker was fond of poetry and wrote habitually. As a teenager, inspired by newspaper accounts of […]

June Walker (1900 - 1966)

She appeared on Broadway in such plays as Green Grow the Lilacs, The Farmer Takes a Wife, and Twelfth Night. She was the first actress to portray the character of Lorelei Lee, in the 1926 Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She played Linda Loman to Thomas Mitchell’s Willy in the 1949 touring company of […]