On This Day

Deaths in Film & TV on February 2

  • 1940 Vsevolod Meyerhold [Karl Kasimir Theodor], Russian theatrical director and actor (Houligan), executed during the Great Purge at 65
  • 1952 Charles de Rochefort, French silent film actor (The Ten Commandments), dies at 72
  • 1956 Charley Grapewin, American actor (The Wizard of Oz, Libeled Lady), dies at 86
  • 1963 Herman Bouber, Dutch actor and playwright (Sailor's Wives), dies at 77
  • 1963 William Gaxton, American actor (Destry, Convoy), dies at 72

Boris KarloffBoris Karloff (1887-1969)

English actor (The Mummy, Frankenstein), dies of pneumonia at 81

Boris Karloff
  • 1970 Lawrence Gray, American actor, dies at 71
  • 1972 Jessie Royce Landis [Medbury], American actress (North by Northwest), dies at 67
  • 1976 Johan Kaart, Dutch actor (My Fair Lady), dies at 78
  • 1978 Wendy Barrie, British-American TV hostess (Wendy Barrie Show), dies at 65
  • 1979 Jim Burke, Australian cricket batsman (24 Tests; record for most innings in a complete career without scoring a duck [44]) and broadcaster (ABC), dies of self inflicted gunshot wounds at 48
  • 1981 Louise Lorraine, actress (Adventures of Tarzan), dies
  • 1990 Joel Fluellen, American actor (Porgy and Bess, Burning Cross, Learning Tree), commits suicide at 82
  • 1992 Bert Parks [Jacobson], American TV host (Miss America), dies of lung cancer at 77
  • 1994 Stephen Barclay, actor (Pride of the Plains), dies at 75
  • 1995 Donald Pleasence, British actor (You Only Live Twice, Escape from New York, Halloween), dies from heart failure at 75

Fred PerryFred Perry (1909-1995)

English tennis player/broadcaster (8 x Grand Slam singles, 6 x Grand Slam doubles titles; Davis Cup 1933, 34, 35, 36), dies of broken ribs at 85

Fred Perry

Gene KellyGene Kelly (1912-1996)

American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and film director (An American in Paris; On The Town; Singin' in the Rain), dies of a stroke at 83

Gene Kelly
  • 1996 Shamus Culhane, American animator (Fleischer Studios, Disney Studios), dies at 87
  • 1997 Sanford Meisner, American actor and teacher, dies at 91
  • 2004 Bernard McEveety, American film director (b. 1924)
  • 2007 Vijay Arora, Indian film and television actor (b. 1944)
  • 2008 Herbert "Barry" Morse, British-Canadian actor (The Fugitive, Space: 1999, Winds of War), dies at 89
  • 2008 Katoucha, Guinean model and activist (b. 1960)
  • 2011 Defne Joy Foster, Turkish actress, presenter and VJ. (b. 1975)
  • 2011 Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926)
  • 2013 John Kerr, American actor (South Pacific, Peyton Place, Pit & Pendulum), dies at 81

Philip Seymour HoffmanPhilip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)

American actor (Capote, Moneyball), dies of a suspected drug overdose at 46

Philip Seymour Hoffman
  • 2015 Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (Rebel Without A Cause), dies at 92
  • 2016 Bob Elliott, American comedian (Bob & Ray, Get a Life), dies at 92
  • 2020 Ivan Král, Czech-American bass player, songwriter, record producer (Patti Smith; Iggy Pop; John Waite), and filmmaker, dies of cancer at 71


Famous People by Cause of Death

Search the largest, most accurate site for today in history.