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

Actors Who Died on October 3

  • 1890 Andries Andre, Dutch actor and husband of Geertruida Meeuwissen (Trumpeter-Major), dies at 36
  • 1929 Jeanne Eagels, American actress and former Ziegfeld Girl (Rain, Under False Colors), dies of a drug overdose at 39
  • 1954 Herbert Prior, British actor (Caught Short, Slave of Desire), dies at 87
  • 1959 William Bishop, American stage and screen actor (Black Eagle; Adventures in Silverado; It's a Great Life), dies of cancer at 41
  • 1965 Zachary Scott, American actor (Spotlight Playhouse, Mildred Pierce), dies from a malignant brain tumor at 51
  • 1967 Pinto Colvig, American animation voice actor (Goofy, Pluto), dies at 75
  • 1971 Leah Baird, American actress and screenwriter (Jungle Bride), dies of anemia at 88
  • 1979 Claudia Jennings [Mary Ellen Chestrerton], American actress and Playboy playmate (Nov, 1969, Playmate of the Year 1970), dies in car crash at 29
  • 1982 Vivien Merchant [Ada Thompson], British actress (Alfie; The Homecoming; The Offence), dies from alcoholism at 53
  • 1983 John K. M. McCaffery, American TV host (One Minute Please), dies at 69
  • 1985 Charles Collingwood, American news commentator (Chronicles), dies at 68
  • 1985 Maurice Copeland, American actor (Ralph-Those Young Charmings), dies at 74
  • 1991 Max Cantor, American actor and journalist, dies of a drug overdose at 32
  • 1994 Dennis Wolfberg, American comedian (Quantum Leap), dies from cancer at 48
  • 1994 Dub Taylor [Walter Clarence Taylor Jr], American character actor (Gunsmoke), dies from a heart attack at 87
  • 1994 Heinz Rühmann, German actor and director (Der Hauptmann von Köpenick), dies at 92
  • 1994 Virginia Dale, American actress and dancer (Holiday Inn), dies at about 77
  • 1998 Roddy McDowall, British actor (Planet of Apes, Cleopatra, Lord Love a Duck), dies at 70
  • 2002 Bruce Paltrow, American television and film producer (b. 1943)
  • 2003 Florence Stanley, American actress (b. 1924)

Janet Leigh (1927-2004)

American actress (Psycho), dies at 77

  • 2004 John Cerutti, American baseball pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays) and broadcaster (Rogers Sportsnet), dies of ventricular arrhythmia at 44
  • 2005 Ronnie Barker, English comedian (The Two Ronnies, Porridge), dies at 76
  • 2021 Cynthia Harris, American stage and screen actress (Edward & Mrs. Simpson; Mad About You - "Sylvia"), dies at 87
  • 2022 Charles Fuller, American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (A Soldier's Play; Zooman and the Sign; The Brownsville Raid), and screenwriter (A Soldier's Story; A Gathering of Old Men), dies at 83 [1]