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

Actors Who Died in 1989

  • Jan 8 Kenneth McMillan, American actor (Malone, Concrete Beat), dies of liver disease at 56
  • Jan 13 Joe Spinell, actor (Maniac, Star Crash, Strike Force), dies at 51
  • Jan 16 Pierre Boileau, French screenwriter (Vertigo), dies at 82
  • Jan 16 Romo Vincent, actor (Naked Jungle), dies
  • Jan 16 Trey Wilson, actor (Bull Durham, Twins, Raising Arizona), dies
  • Jan 19 Norma Varden, English-American actress (Loose in London), dies at 90
  • Jan 20 Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (b. 1938)
  • Jan 20 Beatrice Lillie, actress (Thoroughly Modern Millie), dies at 94
  • Jan 27 Bayani Casimiro, Filipino dancer and actor [Okey Ka Fairy Ko!], dies at 70
  • Jan 31 Jack Douglas, English comedian (My Brother Was an Only Child), dies at 80
  • Feb 3 John Cassavetes, Greek-American actor, film director, and screenwriter (Dirty Dozen, Rosemary's Baby), dies at 59
  • Feb 5 Joe Raposa, American composer and songwriter (Sesame Street), dies at 51
  • Feb 6 Andre Cayatte, French filmmaker, dies at 80
  • Feb 11 George O'Hanlon, American actor (Life of Riley - "Calvin"' Joe McDoakes shorts), voice actor (The Jetsons - "George Jetson"), and screenwriter, dies after a stroke at 76
  • Feb 22 Joan Woodbury, American actress (Super Sleuth, Northwest Trail), dies at 73
  • Feb 27 Joseph "Joe" Silver, American actor (Lenny, Mr I Magination), dies of liver cancer at 66
  • Mar 1 Josephine van Gasteren, Dutch actress and director (Bluejackets, De kleine zielen), dies at 71
  • Mar 6 Harry Andrews, English actor (Equus, Helen of Troy, Hill), dies at 77
  • Mar 11 William Challee, American stage and screen actor (Desperate; Five Easy Pieces; Moonchild), dies at 84
  • Mar 12 Maurice Evans, British actor (Planet of the Apes; Bewitched), dies at 87
  • Mar 17 Merritt Butrick, American actor (Shy People, Square Pegs), dies of AIDS at 29
  • Mar 20 Alan Gifford [John Lennox], American actor (Time Lock, 2001: A Space Odyssey), dies at 78
  • Mar 21 Milton Frome, actor (Family Jewels), dies
  • Mar 27 May Allison, American actress (Youth for Salem Men of Steel), dies of respiratory failure at 98
  • Mar 29 Bernard Blier, French character actor (Les Miserables; Women & War), dies at 73
  • Apr 3 Norman Wooland, German actor (Ivanhoe, Quo Vadis, Hamlet), dies at 79
  • Apr 7 Alberto Morin, Puerto Rican actor (Two Mules for Sister Sara; Rio Grande), dies at 86
  • Apr 12 Gerald Flood, British actor (Doctor Who, Patton), dies of a heart attack at 61
  • Apr 15 Charles Vanel, French actor and director (Wages of Fear), dies at 96
  • Apr 17 Charles Lampkin, American character actor (Frank’s Place - "Tiger Shepin"; Roots: The Next Generation), spoken word artist, musician, and educator, dies at 76 [1]
  • Apr 20 H.B. "Toby" Halicki, American filmmaker, stunt driver, and actor (Gone In 60 Seconds), killed by felled telephone pole while filming a stunt at 48
  • Apr 21 James Kirkwood, American actor, author and playwright (A Chorus Line, P. S. Your Cat Is Dead!), dies of cancer at 64
  • Apr 25 George Coulouris, British actor (Runaway Bus), dies at 85

Lucille Ball (1911-1989)

Apr 26 American comedienne and actress (I Love Lucy; Mame), dies of a heart attack at 77

  • Apr 30 Guy Williams [Armando Joseph Catalano], American actor (Zorro, Lost in Space), dies of a brain aneurysm at 65
  • May 1 Douglass Watson, American actor (Satan Murders, Another World), dies at 68
  • May 1 Marion Mack, actress (General), dies
  • May 3 Muriel Ostriche, American silent film actress dies at 92
  • May 15 Johnny Green, American singer (Body and Soul) and film score composer who won 5 Academy Awards, dies at 80
  • May 19 Anton Diffring [Alfred Pollack], German character actor (Assignment Vienna), dies of cancer at 72
  • May 19 Robert Webber, American actor (12 Angry Men, Moonlighting, 79 Park Avenue), dies of Lou Gehrig's disease at 64
  • May 20 Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (SNL, 1975-80; Haunted Honeymoon), dies of ovarian cancer at 42
  • May 27 Jack Starrett, director/actor (Chase, Nightwish, 1st Blood), dies
  • May 31 Terry Drinkwater, American CBS news correspondent, dies at 53 of cancer
  • Jun 9 Rashid Behbudov, Azerbaijani singer and actor, dies of kidney disease at 73
  • Jun 10 Richard Quine, American actor and director (How to Murder Your Wife, Clay Pigeon), commits suicide at 68
  • Jun 13 Fran Allison, American actress (Kukla, Fran & Ollie), dies at 81
  • Jun 15 Ray McAnally, Irish actor (The Mission, My Left Foot, Empire State, Sicilian), dies of a heart attack at 63
  • Jun 15 Victor French, American actor (Get Smart -"44"; Highway to Heaven), dies at 54
  • Jun 17 John Matuszak, American NFL defensive end, 1973-82 (Oakland Raiders and 3 other teams), and actor (Caveman; The Goonies), dies of an accidental propoxyphene overdose at 38
  • Jun 21 Simon van Collem, Dutch journalist and TV host (Amsterdamned), dies at 70
  • Jun 27 Jack Beutel, actor (The Outlaw), dies
  • Jul 1 William Ching, actor (Moonlighter, Terror in Haunted House), dies
  • Jul 2 Franklin Schaffner, American film director (b. 1920)
  • Jul 3 James "Jim" Backus, American actor (Mr Magoo, Rebel Without a Cause, Gilligan's Island), dies of pneumonia at 76
  • Jul 4 Jack Haig [John Cecil Coppin], English actor ('Allo, Allo!), dies of stomach cancer at 76
  • Jul 4 Vic Perrin, American actor (Mission: Impossible), dies at 73
  • Jul 5 Ernesto Halffter, Spanish classical and film score composer (Rapsodia portuguesa; is Don Quixote de la Mancha), and conductor, dies at 84
  • Jul 10 Mel Blanc, American radio comedien and voice actor, best known for his Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons (Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd & Porky Pig), dies at 81
  • Jul 10 Thomas "Tommy" Trinder, British radio comedian and actor (Save a Little Sunshine, Phoenix), dies at 80

Laurence Olivier (1907-1989)

Jul 11 English stage and screen acting great (Hamlet, Rebecca), dies at 82

  • Jul 18 Rebecca Schaeffer, American actress (Patti-My Sister Sam), is shot by a fan at 21
  • Jul 19 Carl-Heinz Schroth, German director and actor (Strafverteidiger), dies at 87
  • Jul 20 Mary Treen (née Summers), American character actress (It's a Wonderful Life; Kitty Foyle; The Joey Bishop Show), dies of cancer at 82
  • Jul 24 Ernest Morrison [Sunshine Sammy Morrison], American child actor (Our Gang, East Side Kids), dies at 76
  • Jul 28 Jeff Richards [Richard Mansfield Taylor], American actor (Don't Go Near the Water), dies of acute respiratory failure at 64
  • Aug 11 John Meillon, Australian actor (Wild Duck, Crocodile Dundee), dies of cirrhosis at 55
  • Aug 16 Amanda Blake [Beverly Louise Neill], American actress (Gunsmoke), dies at 60
  • Aug 17 Harry Corbett, English puppeteer (Sooty), TV presenter and magician, dies at 71
  • Aug 22 Johannes "Jan" Teulings, Dutch actor (Lentelied, The Three Wishes), dies of natural causes at 84
  • Aug 30 Joe De Santis, American actor, dies at 80
  • Sep 4 Georges Simenon, Belgian born writer and director (Maigret detective novels), dies at 86
  • Sep 9 Tim Hovey, American child actor (Slim Carter, Man Afraid), dies of a drug overdose at 44
  • Sep 19 Guido de Moor, Dutch actor (Flanagan, Because of the Cats), dies at 52
  • Sep 22 Jan Teulings, Dutch actor and director (Dorp aan de Rivier), dies at 84
  • Sep 28 John Gart, Russian-American orchestra leader, composer (Robert Montgomery Presents), and actor (Paul Winchell Show), dies at 84
  • Oct 4 Graham Chapman, British comedian and screenwriter (Monty Python; Life of Brian), dies of cancer at 48

Bette Davis (1908-1989)

Oct 6 American actress (Of Human Bondage; Jezebel; All About Eve), dies of breast cancer at 81

  • Oct 11 Paul Shenar, actor (Deadly Force, Dream Lover), dies at 53
  • Oct 12 Carmen Cavallaro, American actor and pianist (Hollywood Canteen, Diamond Horseshoe), dies from prostate cancer at 76
  • Oct 13 Cesare Zavattini, Italian screenwriter (Ladri di Biciclette), dies at 87
  • Oct 14 Michael Carmine, American actor (Batteries Not Included; Leviathan; Long Time Companion), dies of AIDS at 30
  • Oct 16 Cornel Wilde [Kornel Lajos Weisz], Hungarian-American actor (Sword of Lancelot, High Sierra, 5th Musketeer), dies at 74
  • Oct 20 Anthony Quayle, British actor (Anne of 1000 Days, Lawrence of Arabia), dies from liver cancer at 76
  • Oct 21 Jean Image, Hungarian-born French animator (b. 1910)
  • Oct 22 Roland Winters [Winternitz], American actor (Mama; The Smothers Brothers; Jet Pilot; Meet Millie), dies at 84
  • Oct 23 Armida, Mexican-American stage, vaudeville and film actress (b. 1911)
  • Oct 28 Henry Hall, British bandleader (BBC Dance Orchestra), dies at 91
  • Nov 6 Yusaku Matsuda, Japanese actor (Detective Story), dies of cancer at 40
  • Nov 17 Billy Lee, actor (Sons of Legion, Biscuit Eater), dies
  • Nov 20 Lynn Bari [Margaret Schuyler Fisher], American actress (Shock, Nocturne, 6 Gun Law), dies from a heart attack at 71
  • Nov 24 Guus Weitzel, Dutch radio personality and actor, dies at 85
  • Nov 25 Frank M Thomas, actor (Behind the Headlines, M'Liss), dies
  • Dec 6 Frances Bavier, American Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actress (The Andy Griffith Show & Mayberry, RFD - "Aunt Bee"), dies of congestive heart failure at 86
  • Dec 6 John Payne, American actor (The Restless Gun, Miracle on 34th Street), dies aged 77
  • Dec 7 William 'Haystacks' Calhoun, American professional wrestler, dies at 55
  • Dec 14 Jock Mahoney [Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney], American actor and stuntman (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury), dies of a stroke at 70
  • Dec 15 Arnold Moss, American actor (Loves of Carmen, Kim, Quebec, Viva Zapata), dies at 79
  • Dec 15 Edward Underdown, British actor (Beat the Devil, Thunderball), dies at 81
  • Dec 16 Aileen Pringle, actress (Age of Consent, Convicted, Night Parade), dies
  • Dec 16 Lee Van Cleef, American actor (Good, Bad & Ugly), dies at 64
  • Dec 16 Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (Death in Venice, Barabbas), dies at 59
  • Dec 20 Audrey Christie, American actress (Splendor in the Grass, Fair Exchange), dies at 77
  • Dec 23 Peter Bennett, British actor (Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Adventures of Robin Hood), dies at 72
  • Dec 26 Peggy Thorpe-Bates, actress (Alcatraz Island), dies
  • Dec 30 Madoline Thomas, actress (Girl in the Canal), dies