Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Actors Who Died on April 21

  • 1924 Eleanora Duse, Italian actress (La Gioconda, La Locandiera), dies at 64
  • 1952 Leslie Banks, English actor (Henry V, 21 Days, Eye Witness), dies at 61
  • 1956 Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (The Scoundrel), dies at 60
  • 1971 Edmund Lowe, American actor (Black Sheep, Good Sam, Dillinger, Hot Pepper), dies at 81

Merian C. Cooper (1893-1973)

American film director and producer (King Kong) and aviator (Kościuszko Squadron, Director-Pan American Airways), dies of cancer at 79

  • 1973 Ursula Jeans, British actress (Cavalcade, Over the Moon, I Lived With You), dies of cancer at 66
  • 1982 Joe Sawyer [Sauers], Canadian actor (Adventures of Rin Tin Tin - "Sgt. Biff O'Hara"), dies of liver cancer at 75
  • 1983 Walter Slezak, Austrian-American stage and screen actor (Bedtime for Bonzo; Lifeboat; The Inspector General), commits suicide at 80
  • 1988 I. A. L. Diamond, Hollywood screenwriter (1960 Acad Award-Apartment), dies at 67
  • 1989 James Kirkwood, American actor, author and playwright (A Chorus Line, P. S. Your Cat Is Dead!), dies of cancer at 64
  • 1998 Peter Lind Hayes, American comedian and singer (Peter Lind Hayes Show), dies at 82
  • 1999 Charles "Buddy" Rogers, American film actor (Wings), singer, and dance bandleader, dies at 94
  • 2014 Arlene McQuade, American stage, radio and screen actress (The Goldbergs - "Rosalie"), dies of complications from Parkinson's disease at 77
  • 2018 Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazilian movie director (Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês, Vidas Secas), dies at 89
  • 2018 Verne Troyer, American actor (Mini-Me in Austin Powers movies), dies at 49
  • 2019 Ken Kercheval, American actor (Cliff Barnes-Dallas), dies at 83
  • 2024 Alex Hassilev, Russian-American folk singer, guitarist, banjo player (The Limeliters), actor, and record producer, dis of cancer at 91