FOUND A GRAVE

Barry Commoner (1917 - 2012)

Commoner was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 28, 1917, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia. He received his bachelor’s degree in zoology from Columbia University in 1937 and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University in 1938 and 1941, respectively.  After serving as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during […]

Barry Evans (1943 - 1997)

Born in Guildford, Surrey, and abandoned as a baby, Evans was educated at the orphanage boarding schools run by the Shaftesbury Homes, first at Fortescue House School in Twickenham and then at Bisley Boys’ School in Bisley, Surrey. His acting ability was recognised at an early age and he often played the leading roles in […]

Barry Morse (1918 - 2008)

Born to a Cockney family, Morse was a 15-year-old school dropout and errand boy when he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He performed the role of the Lion in Androcles and the Lion and as a result came to know George Bernard Shaw, a patron of the academy. His first […]

Barry Nelson (1918 - 2007)

Nelson was born Haakon Robert Nielsen in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Norwegian immigrants, Betsy (née Christophersen) and Trygve Nielsen but moved to America when he was 8 years old on July 1 1926 (His year of birth has been reported variously, but his 1943 Army enlistment record and his 1993 voter registration records […]

Barry Sadler (1940 - 1989)

Barry Sadler Singer, United States Army Soldier. Born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, he was introduced to music at a young age when he spent some time at a logging camp. In 1958, he enlisted into the United States Air Force as a radar specialist, but discharged one year later to begin touring and playing music. […]

Barry Sullivan (1912 - 1994)

Born in New York City, Sullivan was a law student at New York University and Temple University. He fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football. During the later Depression years, Sullivan was told that because of his 6 ft 3 in (1.9 m) stature and rugged good looks he could “make money” simply […]

Barry White (1944 - 2003)

Barry White Say the name Barry White and you’d be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a huge, cross-sectional following. He was at home appearing on Soul Train, guesting with a full band on The Today Show, and appearing in cartoon form in various episodes of […]

Barton Yarborough (1900 - 1951)

William Barton Yarborough (October 2, 1900 – December 19, 1951) was an American actor who worked extensively in radio drama.  He was born in Goldthwaite, Texas. As a youth, Yarborough ran away from home, attracted by the vaudeville stages, and he first worked in radio during the 1920s. He attended college at the University of […]

Basil Paterson (1926 - 2014)

Paterson was born in Harlem on April 27, 1926, the son of Leonard James and Evangeline Alicia (Rondon) Paterson. His father was born on the island of Carriacou in the Grenadines and arrived in the United States aboard the S.S. Vestris on May 16, 1917 in New York City. His mother was born in Kingston, […]

Bea Benaderet (1906 - 1968)

Bea Benaderet Was an actress whose career spanned four decades but was probably best known for her comedic performances in “Petticoat Junction,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “The Flintstones.” Benaderet was born April 4, 1906, in New York and made her professional debut in a children’s production of “The Beggar’s Opera” in San Francisco when she […]

Bea Arthur (1922 - 2009)

Bea Arthur Actress. A versatile performer, she earned both Tony and Emmy Awards in a stage and television career that spanned 60 years. Born Bernice Frankel, she was raised in New York City, moved with her family to Maryland at 11, and received a degree in medical technology from now-defunct Blackstone College in Virginia. During […]

Beah Richards (1920 - 2000)

She was born Beulah Elizabeth Richardson in Vicksburg, Mississippi; her mother was a seamstress and PTA advocate and her father was a Baptist minister. In 1948, she graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans and two years later moved to New York City. Her career started to take off in 1955 when she portrayed an […]

Beatrice Reading (1933 - 1991)

Beatrice Reading was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. Her performing career started at the age of 3, when she was talent-spotted by Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. She appeared in the all-black revue The Jazz Train, in Paris in the spring of 1955 and at the Piccadilly Theatre in London. In this show she had notable success playing the […]

Beatrice Straight (1914 - 2001)

Born in Old Westbury, New York, Straight was the daughter of Dorothy Payne Whitney, of the Whitney family, and Willard Dickerman Straight, an investment banker, diplomat, and career U.S. Army officer. Her maternal grandfather was political leader and financier William Collins Whitney. She was four years old when her father died in France of influenza […]

Beau Kazer (1951 - 2014)

Beau Kazer (May 22, 1951 – December 30, 2014) was a Canadian actor who worked primarily on television. He was best known for his recurring role as Brock Reynolds on the American soap opera The Young and the Restless.  Kazer studied drama at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. After graduation, Kazer landed his first […]

Bella Darvi (1928 - 1971)

Bella Darvi was born Bajla Węgier to Jewish parents Chajm Węgier, a baker, and his wife, Chaja (née Zygelbaum). She had three brothers, Robert, Jacques, and Jean-Isidore, and a sister, Sura. Robert died in a concentration camp. Jailed by the Nazis during World War II, she was released in 1943. She married a businessman, Alban Cavalcade, […]

Belle Bennett (1891 - 1932)

Actress. She starred in the silent films “Stella Dallas” (1925), “The Battle of the Sexes” (1928), and “The Iron Mask” (1929). Her career virtually ended with talkies and she died in poverty, after a long battle with cancer.

Ben Alexander (1911 - 1969)

Ben Alexander was born in Goldfield, Nevada and raised in California, Alexander made his screen debut at age of five in Every Pearl a Tear. He went on to portray Lillian Gish’s young brother in D.W. Griffith’s Hearts of the World. After a number of silent films, he retired from screen work but came back […]

Ben Blue (1901 - 1975)

Born to a Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec, Blue emigrated to Baltimore, Maryland at the age of nine, where he won a contest for the best impersonation of Charlie Chaplin. At the age of fifteen he was in a touring company and later became a stage manager and assistant general manager. He became a dance […]

Ben E King (1938 - 2015)

Ben E King Ben E. King, the smooth, soulful baritone who led the Drifters on “There Goes My Baby,” “Save the Last Dance for Me” and other hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and as a solo artist recorded the classic singles “Spanish Harlem” and “Stand by Me,” died on Thursday in Hackensack, […]

Ben Gazzara (1930 - 2012)

Ben Gazzara Gazzara was born in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina (née Cusumano) and Antonio Gazzarra, a laborer and carpenter. Both Gazzara’s parents were of Sicilian origin, Angelina from Castrofilippo and Antonio from Canicattì, both in the province of Agrigento. Gazzara grew up in New York’s Kips Bay neighborhood; he lived […]

Ben Lessy (1902 - 1992)

Ben Lessy (April 29, 1902 – October 30, 1992) was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor. He was born in New York City, New York. Lessy was known for a nightclub act done with Patti Moore, the long-time wife of his best friend and agent, Sammy Lewis. They were regulars at Los Angeles nightclubs […]

Ben Lyon (1901 - 1979)

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Lyon entered films in 1918 after a successful appearance on Broadway opposite Jeanne Eagels. He attracted attention in the highly successful film Flaming Youth (1923), and steadily developed into a leading man. He was most successfully paired with some of the leading actresses of the silent era including Pola Negri, Gloria […]

Ben Powers (1950 - 2015)

Ben Powers Comedian, actor, composer and artist, Alton ‘Ben” Powers, best known for his role as Thelma Evans’ husband, and football player, Keith Anderson, in the 1970’s hit series “Good Times” has died. Ben, also played “Moochie” on the CBS-TV hit “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” starring with Stacey Keach. Ben made numerous TV guest appearances […]

Benjamin Baker (1840 - 1907)

He was born in Keyford, which is now part of Frome, Somerset in 1840, educated at Cheltenham Grammar School and, at the age of 16, became an apprentice at Messrs Price and Fox at the Neath Abbey Iron Works. After his apprenticeship he spent two years as an assistant to Mr. W.H. Wilson. Later, he […]

Benjamin Hooks (1925 - 2010)

Benjamin Hooks was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Growing up on South Lauderdale and Vance, he was the fifth of seven children born to Robert B. and Bessie White Hooks. His father was a photographer and owned a photography studio with his brother Henry, known at the time as Hooks Brothers, and the family was fairly […]

Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (1870 - 1938)

Cardozo was born in New York City, the son of Rebecca Washington (née Nathan) and Albert Jacob Cardozo. Both Cardozo’s maternal grandparents, Sara Seixas and Isaac Mendes Seixas Nathan, and his paternal grandparents, Ellen Hart and Michael H. Cardozo, were Sephardi Jews of the Portuguese Jewish community, affiliated with Manhattan’s Congregation Shearith Israel; their families […]

Benjamin Robbins Curtis (1809 - 1874)

Benjamin Curtis was born November 4, 1809 in Watertown, Massachusetts, the son of Lois Ribbins and Benjamin Curtis, the captain of a merchant vessel. Young Curtis attended common school in Newton and beginning in 1825 Harvard College, where he won an essay writing contest in his junior year. He graduated in 1829, a member of […]

Benjamin T. Babbitt (1809 - 1889)

Benjamin Babbitt was born in Westmoreland, New York on May 1, 1809. His parents were Betsey (Holman) Babbitt, and Nathaniel Babbitt, a blacksmith, tavern owner and ensign in the militia of Oneida County, New York. As a child, he attended public school and worked on the family farm. He “possessed a most ingenious and inquiring […]

Benny Leonard (1896 - 1947)

Benny Leonard He was the Lightweight Boxing Champion of the World from 1917 to 1925. Considered one of the greatest lightweight boxers in the history of the sport, he was feted as possessing superb boxing skills as well as potent punching power. He fought over two hundred times and suffered only four knockouts; three early […]