FOUND A GRAVE

Jerry Falwell (1933 - 2007)

Jerry Falwell Religious leader, political activist and television evangelist Jerry Falwell was born on August 11, 1933, in Lynchburg, Virginia. Reverend Jerry Falwell was a leading force behind in the political rise of the religious right in the 1980s and the founder of the Moral Majority, a fundamentalist Christian political organization. Raised listening to the […]

Jerry Falwell (1933 - 2007)

Jerry Falwell Falwell and twin brother Gene were born in the Fairview Heights region of Lynchburg, Virginia, the sons of Helen Virginia (Beasley) and Carey Hezekiah Falwell. His father was an entrepreneur and one-time bootlegger who was agnostic. His grandfather was a staunch atheist. Jerry Falwell married the former Macel Pate on April 12, 1958. […]

Jerry Garcia (1942 - 1995)

Jerry Garcia Legendary Singer of the Grateful Dead, Musician, Song Writer, Artist, Cultural Icon. Jose Ramon Garcia emigrated from Spain in 1919 and later married Ruth Marie Clifford, a registered nurse. The Garcia’s had two sons, Clifford “Tiff” and Jerome John which they raised in San Francisco, California. Jerome John was named after composer Jerome […]

Jerry Giesler (1886 - 1962)

Jerry Giesler Giesler garnered attention in the 1920s by defending a woman involved in the infamous “Love in the Loft Case”, but became truly famous by defending theater mogul Alexander Pantages. Errol Flynn relied on him to win acquittal on charges of statutory rape. Other famous clients included actor Robert Mitchum, and director Busby Berkeley. […]

Jerry Nelson (1934 - 2012)

On Sesame Street, Nelson’s longest-running character was Count von Count, the counting vampire who took delight in counting anything he could. Nelson did the voice and puppetry for the Count from 1972 until 2012, and continued to provide the Count’s voice until his death. His other Muppet roles on that program were The Amazing Mumford, […]

Jerry Paris (1925 - 1986)

Actor, Director and Producer. In the early part of his career he appeared in such films as “The Wild One,” “Marty” and “The Caine Mutiny” before landing roles on television programs “The Untouchables,” “Michael Shayne” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. It was on the Dick Van Dyke Show where he became a director and […]

Jerry Quarry (1945 - 1999)

Jerry Quarry Quarry was a durable and smart counter-puncher/action fighter, often noted for his surprising agility in the ring. He had fast hands, an excellent left hook, and punched well with both hands. He also had a remarkable chin, although his major flaw was a tendency to cut easily and the bad luck to box […]

Jerry Reed (1937 - 2008)

Jerry Reed Musician, Songwriter, Actor. Born Jerry Reed Hubbard, he caught the eye of Chet Atkins and was signed by RCA records after a failed attempt with Capitol Records, a stint in the United States Army and another failed attempt with Columbia Records. His time with RCA under Chet Atkins nurtured his session playing skills, […]

Jerry Weintraub (1937 - 2015)

Jerry Weintraub Weintraub’s career as a promoter took a giant step in 1970 when after a lengthy courtship he persuaded Elvis Presley’s manager, Col. Tom Parker, to let him promote Presley concerts. It was at a time when Presley was beginning to do live shows after years of concentrating on movies. The relationship began with […]

Jerry Wolman (1927 - 2013)

Wolman was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a grocer. He worked in the family business into his high school years, when his father had a stroke. Not graduating, Wolman joined the Merchant Marines, returned home, and moved to Washington, D.C. In the 1950s, he began his own construction […]

Jersey Joe Walcott (1914 - 1994)

Jersey Joe Walcott Jersey Joe Walcott, the son of poor immigrants from Barbados who was to slug his way out of poverty and into the record books as the oldest fighter to win the heavyweight championship of the world, died Friday at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, N.J., where he lived. He […]

Jess Willard (1881 - 1968)

Jess Willard On April 5, 1915, in Havana, Cuba, a Kansas farmer named Jess Willard became heavyweight champion of the world by defeating Jack Johnson. Willard, born in Pottawatomie County, began his professional career in 1911 at Sapulpa, Oklahoma, where he lost on a foul. Six weeks later he won over the same fighter at […]

Jesse Lasky (1880 - 1958)

Born in San Francisco, California, Jesse Lasky worked at a variety of jobs but began his entertainment career as a vaudeville performer that led to the motion picture business. In 1911 Lasky was the producer of two Broadway musicals, Hello, Paris and A La Broadway. Presumably this is how Cecil B. DeMille knew him before […]

Jesse Tafero (1946 - 1990)

On the morning of February 20, 1976, Black and Irwin approached a car parked at a rest stop for a routine check. Tafero, his partner Sonia “Sunny” Jacobs, her two children (ages 9 years and 10 months), and Walter Rhodes were found asleep inside. Tafero had previously been in prison and was on probation. Black […]

Jesse White (1917 - 1997)

White was born as Jonah Marcus Weidenfeld in Buffalo, New York, and was reared in Akron, Ohio. He was called “Jesse” as a nickname. He made his first amateur appearance in local stage productions at the age of fifteen. Though aspiring to be an actor, he worked at many different jobs during the 1930s, including […]

Jessica Tandy (1909 - 1994)

The youngest of three siblings, Tandy was born in Geldeston Road in Hackney, London. Her mother, Jessie Helen (née Horspool), was the head of a school for mentally handicapped children, and her father, Harry Tandy, was a travelling salesman for a rope manufacturer. Her father died when Tandy was 12, and her mother subsequently taught […]

Jessie Matthews (1907 - 1981)

Jessie Margaret Matthews was born in a flat behind a butcher’s shop at 94 Berwick Street, Soho, London, in relative poverty, the seventh of sixteen children (of whom eleven survived) of a fruit-and-vegetable seller. She took dancing lessons as a child in a room above the local public house at 22 Berwick Street. She went on […]

Jethro (1920 - 1989)

Jethro Kenneth C. Burns (March 10, 1920 – February 4, 1989) was an American country musician, comedian, and mandolin player. He was better known by his stage name Jethro from his years with Henry D. Haynes as part of the comedic musical duo Homer and Jethro beginning in 1936. Burns was born in Conasauga, Tennessee […]

Jewel Carmen (1897 - 1984)

Born Florence Lavina Quick in Danville, Kentucky, Carmen made her film debut in the 1912 film The Will of Destiny. She went on to appear in Daphne and the Pirate (1916), opposite Lillian Gish and D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916).  In 1917, Carmen contracted with Fox Film Corporation, but finding the deal unsatisfactory opened a […]

Jiah Khan (1988 - 2013)

Jiah Khan Nafisa Rizvi Khan (also known as Jiah Khan, 20 February 1988 – 3 June 2013) was a British American actress, model and singer who appeared in Hindi films. She made her film debut in the 2007 Ram Gopal Verma film Nishabd for which she was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. […]

Jill Balcon (1925 - 2009)

Jill Angela Henriette Balcon (3 January 1925 – 18 July 2009) was an English film and radio actress. Jill Balcon made her film debut in Nicholas Nickleby (1947), though she was best known for her stage, television, and radio work. Balcon was born in Westminster, London, the daughter of Aileen Freda Leatherman (1904–1988) and Michael Balcon. […]

Jill Clayburgh (1944 - 2010)

Jill Clayburgh Clayburgh was born in New York City, the daughter of Julia Louise (née Dorr 1910-1975), an actress and theatrical production secretary for producer David Merrick, and Albert Henry “Bill” Clayburgh, a manufacturing executive. Her paternal grandmother was concert and opera singer Alma Lachenbruch Clayburgh.  Clayburgh’s mother was Protestant and her father came from […]

Jill Esmond (1908 - 1990)

Esmond was born Jill Esmond Moore in London, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore. While her parents toured with theatre companies, Jill Esmond spent her childhood in boarding schools until she decided at the age of 14 to become an actress. She made her stage debut playing Wendy to Gladys […]

Jill Haworth (1945 - 2011)

Haworth was born in Hove, Sussex, to a textile magnate father and a mother who trained as a ballet dancer. She was named Valerie Jill in honour of the day she was born, Victory over Japan Day or V.J. Day. She took ballet lessons at the prestigious Sadler’s Wells Ballet School to escape from an […]

Jill Ireland (1936 - 1990)

Jill Ireland Born in London, Ireland was the daughter of a wine importer. She began acting in the mid-1950s with bit parts in films including Simon and Laura (1955) and Three Men in a Boat (1956).  In 1957, Ireland married actor David McCallum. after the couple met while working on the film Hell Drivers (1957). […]

Jim Backus (1913 - 1989)

James Gilmore Backus was born February 25, 1913, in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Bratenahl, Ohio, a wealthy village surrounded by greater Cleveland. He was the son of Russell Gould Backus, a mechanical engineer, of Lithuanian origin, and Daisy Gilmore (née Taylor) Backus. Backus attended Shaw High School in East Cleveland, Ohio. Backus was expelled […]

Jim Colosimo (1877 - 1920)

Organized Crime Figure. Colosimo was ten years old when he left Italy with his family destined for Chicago. As a teenager he began supplementing his income with thievery, including pickpocketing, and by the time he was 18 he began engaging prostitutes to work for him. Early in his career he took up the Italian practice […]

Jim Croce (1943 - 1973)

Jim Croce  James Joseph “Jim” Croce (/ˈkroʊtʃi/; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles. His singles “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle” were both number one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Early life […]

Jim Eanes (1923 - 1995)

Jim Eanes Homer Robert Eanes Jnr., 6 December 1923, Mountain Valley, Henry County, Virginia, USA, d. 21 November 1995, Martinsville, Virginia, USA. His early musical interest came from his father, a talented banjo player, who ran a local band. When only six months old, he suffered severe burns to his left hand that left the […]

Jim Ed Brown (1934 - 2015)

Jim Ed Brown Jim Ed Brown, a longtime Grand Ole Opry member who had solo and group hits and was a prominent figure on country music television shows, died Thursday. He was 81. Brown died of cancer at Williamson Medical Center in Franklin, Tennessee, according to a news release from Webster Public Relations. He will […]