1967, Deaths: French Film Actress Martine Carol, Dead

6 February 1967, French actress Martine Carol died of a heart attack in Monte Carlo, she was 46. Carol was found dead in her room at the Hotel de Paris by her husband, British businessman Mike Eland. The actress was invited by producer Gino del Duca to attend the premiere of the film “Arrivederci Baby”, starring Tony Curtis and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Born on 16 May 1920 as Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, (France), she followed acting lessons by René Simon. In 1940 she made her stage début in "Phedre" as Maryse Arley and in 1941 she appeared, although uncredited, in her first film: "Le dernier des six". In 1943 she did attract attention in the film “La ferme aux loups” with her acting and photogenic beauty. As one of the most beautiful women in film, she was frequently cast as an elegant blonde seductress. During the late 1940s and early 1950s she was the female top actress of the French cinema. At the time she was considered as the French version of Marilyn Monroe.

Martine Carol with Antonio Vilar in "Le désir et l'amour" (1951)

Martine Carol with Christian-Jaque ("Adorables créatures", 1952)

In 1947 she had an affair with Georges Marchal, her first great love. However Marchal prefered actress Dany Robin. The love affair ended disastrously as Carol attempted suicide on the 10the of April 1947 by throwing herself into the Seine River at the Alma bridge. She was saved by a taxi driver. In 1951 she married the American actor Stephen Crane, the previously Lana Turner's husband. The same year she scored her first huge success with the film "Caroline chérie", an adaption of the Cécil Saint-Laurent novels.

Martine Carol with Véra Norman in "Un caprice de Caroline chérie" (1953)

Martine Carol with Bernard Blier in "Secrets d'alcôve" (1954)

She continued with an array of costumed dramas such as "Adorables créatures" (1952), "Lucrèce Borgia" (1953), "Madame du Barry" (1954) and "Nana" (1955), all directed by her second husband French filmmaker Christian-Jacque, whom she married in 1954. She divorced him in 1959 due to professional conflicts and long separations.

Martine Carol with Raf Vallone in "La spiaggia" (1954)

Martine Carol with Anton Walbrook in "Lola Montès" (1955)

In 1955 she played the title role in Max Ophüls's "Lola Montès", portraying a circus performer. By the mid 50s, Brigitte Bardot had replaced Martine Carole on the goddess pedestal and her career went into decline. Depressed, Martine turned reclusive while her third marriage to French doctor Andre Rouveix also ended by 1962. She made her last film "Hell Is Empty" in 1963 but it was not released until 1967. Her last marriage to fourth husband Mike Eland, an English businessman, seemed hopeful, but on February 6, 1967, Martine died of cardiac arrest at age 46. Initially she was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. But after the violation of her grave she was reburied in the Grand Jas Cemetery of Cannes. 

Martine Carol with Sean Connery in "Action of the Tiger" (1957)

Martine Carol with Jeff Chandler in "Ten Seconds to Hell" (1959)

Martine Carol with Jean Gabin in "Le cave se rebiffe" (1961)

1970, Deaths: American singer Tammi Terrell dies aged 24

On March 16th 1970, American Motown artist Tammi Terrell died, she was only 24 years old. Tammi Terrell was born as Thomasina Winifred Montgomery on April 29, 1945. She was the older of 2 children born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Montgomery and Jennie Graham. She lived with her parents at 1327 W. York Street, where her father operated a barber shop.

After graduating from Germantown High School, Thomasina entered the University of Pennsylvania and majored in psychology for two years, but left college to enter the music business. She recorded two solo singles for the Scepter/Wand label as Tammy Montgomery. Both singles released in 1961, "If You See Bill", and "Voice of Experience", failed to chart. Afterwards she performed in 1962 at the Rip Tide in Wildwood, New York, with Steve Gibson and the Redcaps. In 1963 she performed with James Brown and released the single "I Cried". Next she signed with Checker Records' label, releasing one single, "If I Would Marry You".

Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

In 1965 she signed with Motown Records. During this period she changed her name from Tammi Montgomery to the more "catchy" Tammi Terrell, scoring a couple of Top 30 singles in 1966: "I Can't Believe You Love Me" and "Come on and See Me".

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye

In 1967 she met Marvin Gaye and they recorded duets including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love". That fall while they sang "Your Precious Love" onstage at Ogden Hall at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, she collapsed into Marvin's arms. She was promptly hospitalised and was later diagnosed with brain cancer. Terrell would undergo eight separate operations over the next three years for cancer; suffering from memory loss and blindness, she became too sick to sing. Tammi Terrell was buried in Mount Lawn Cemetery in Philadelphia. Marvin Gaye was devastated by her death. He took a long hiatus from live performances...

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: "Ain't no Mountain High Enough" (1967)
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: "Your Precious Love" (1969)

1966, Deaths: Claudette Frady Orbison (25) dies in a motorcycle accident

On 6 June, 1966, Claudette Frady Oribison, wife of the popular American singer Roy Orbison, dies in motorcycle accident in Old Hickory, Tennessee, USA. Claudette Frady was born on September 5 1941 in Odessa, Texas, USA. In 1957 Claudette Frady marries Roy Orbison. Orbison wrote and sold the song "Claudette", about his wife Frady, in 1958 to The Everly Brothers and it appeared on the B-side of their smash hit "All I Have to Do Is Dream".

In 1963 Claudette began having an affair with the contractor who built the Orbison home in Hendersonville, Tennessee , while her husband was touring in Britain. Their friends and relatives attributed it to her youth and that she was unable to withstand being alone and bored. In the same year Roy Orbison was writing with his songwriting partner Bill Dees at his house when he told Dees to get started writing by playing anything that came to mind. Orbison's wife Claudette came in and said she was going to go into town to buy something. Orbison asked if she needed any money, and Dees cracked, "Pretty woman never needs any money." Inspired, Orbison started singing, "Pretty woman walking down the street." Forty minutes later, "Oh, Pretty Woman" was completed. The single sold over seven million copies.

Claudette and Roy Oribison

In November 1964 Claudette and Roy divorced over her infidelities, though they remarried in August 1965. Claudette and Roy shared a love for motorcycles. Claudette grew up around them and Roy claimed Elvis Presley had introduced him to motorcycles.

Roy and Claudette Orbison

On 6 June, 1966, Claudette and Roy were setting off on a motorcycle holiday when a truck driver pulled out in front of her bike. She died in his arms an hour later, at just 25 years old. Roy was devastated to lose his beautiful wife. The tragic lyrics and haunting melody of 'Too Soon To Know', which reached number three in the British charts just two months later, still tug at the heartstrings four decades on.

Two songs dedicated to Claudette Frady-Oribison:

"Claudette" perfomed by The Everly Brothers, written by Roy Orbison (1958)


"Claudette" written en sung by Roy Orbison


"Oh, Pretty Woman" written en sung by Roy Orbison (1963)

1975, Deaths: Scottish actress Mary Ure dies at 42

Scottish actress Mary Ure, aged 42, died on 3 April 1975, shortly after the opening night of her new play "The Exorcism". That night she appeared on the London stage with Honor Blackman and Brian Blessed in the Don Taylor play. Mary Ure died from an accidental overdose from a combination of alcohol and barbiturates. She was found by her husband Robert Shaw in their Curzon Street, London, home.

Mary Ure was born in Glasgow as Eileen Mary Ure on 18 February 1933. She was the daughter of civil engineer Colin McGregor Ure and history teacher Edith Swinburne. Mary was educated at the city’s Laurel Bank School and the independent Mount School in York.

Mary Ure as Mary Burroughs in "Storm Over the Nile" (1955)

Mary Ure and writer Arthur Miller rehearsing for "View From a Bridge" (theatre, 1956)

Mary Ure as Lee Windom in "Windom's Way" (1957)

During the Festival of Britain in 1951 there was a nationwide search for an actress to appear as Mary in the York Mystery Plays. Mary’s headmistress urged her to try her luck and she was chosen for the part at the age of sixteen. E.M. Browne, the producer, was so impressed by her talent that he advised her to study in London at the Central School of Speech and Drama, where she enrolled for a teaching course. Shortly afterwards Ure began performing on the London stage and quickly developed a reputation for her abilities as a dramatic actress.

John Osborne and Mary Ure circa 1957

Her first 
stage appearance was in "Simon and Laura" in 1954 at the Opera House,
Manchester, and she made her London debut as Amanda in the Jean Anouilh play "Time Remembered" (1954) at the Lyric Theatre. While playing Alison Porter in John Osborne's 1956 play "Look Back in Anger", Mary began a relationship with the married playwright, and after he obtained a divorce they married in 1957. The following year she earned a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway production of "Look Back in Anger". In 1959 she starred with Richard Burton and Claire Bloom in the film version, and according to Burton they had an affair. That same year she also had a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon Avon, starring as Desdemona in Othello with Paul Robeson, Albert Finney, Diana Rigg and Vanessa Redgrave.

Richard Burton and Mary Ure in 'Look Back in Anger" (1959)

In 1959 her marriage to Osborne was falling apart and she began an affair with actor Robert Shaw while they co-starred in "The Changeling" at London's Royal Court Theatre. She became pregnant, and gave birth to a son, naming him Colin Murray Osborne despite his physical resemblance to Shaw. After her divorce with Osborne, she married Robert Shaw on April 13 1963 and he legally adopted Colin, who then became Colin Murray Shaw. Later, the couple had three more children.

Vivien Leigh and Mary Ure in "Dual of Angels" (theatre, 1960)

In 1960 she played Clara Dawes in the film "Sons and Lovers" as Clara Dawes, and was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Mary Ure with Dean Stockwell in "Sons and Lovers" (1960)

In 1963, after an absence of three years, she returned to the big screen in the science fiction drama "The Mind Benders" with Dirk Bogarde. In 1968, she made her only blockbuster, "Where Eagles Dare", with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. Her last film was "A Reflection of Fear" (1973) co-starring her husband.

Mary Ure as Mary Ellison in "Where Eagles Dare"

Mary Ure with husband Robert Shaw in "A Reflection of Fear" (1972)

Mary Ure was buried at London Road Cemetery in Coventry.

1960, Deaths: Eddie Cochran

American rock'n'roll star Eddie Cochran dies, at the age of 21, in the afternoon of Easter Sunday 17 April 1960 at the St. Martin's Hospital in Bath. His death came as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash just outside Chippenham, on Saturday, April 16, 1960, at about 11.50 p.m.

At the end of a successful UK tour Eddie Cochran together with his girlfriend songwriter Sharon Sheeley, Gene Vincent and their tour-manager Pat Thompkins were heading to London from Bristol in a Ford Consul taxi driven by George Martin. The driver lost control on a bend at Rowden Hill in Chippenham and spun backwards into a concrete lamp post. Cochran, who was seated in the center of the back seat, threw himself over his fiancée Sharon Sheeley, to shield her, and was thrown out of the car when the door flew open. The driver and Pat Thompkins were able to walk away from the wreckage uninjured. Sharon Sheeley and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash, Vincent sustaining lasting injuries to an already permanently damaged leg that would shorten his career and affect him for the rest of his life. The taxi driver, George Martin, was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years.

The wrecked Ford Consul

Born as Edward Raymond Cochran on 3 October 1938 in Albert Lea, Minnesota, Eddie moved with his family to Bell Gardens, California in 1953. From an early age on he was involved with music, playing in the school band and teaching himself to play the guitar. In 1955 he formed a duet with the guitarist Hank Cochran but they split the following year. Cochran began a song-writing career with Jerry Capehart. In July 1956, Eddie Cochran's first solo single “Skinny Jim” was released. His first success came with the song "Twenty Flight Rock" in the film “The Girl Can't Help It” with Jayne Mansfield. In 1957 Cochran starred in his second film “Untamed Youth” with his first hit "Sittin' in the Balcony".

Eddie Cochran, age 7

Eddie Cochran, age 15

Eddie Cochran with guitarist Hank Cochran as "The Cochran Brothers"

In 1958 he scored with the influential song "Summertime Blues", written together with Jerry Capehart. Cochran's brief career included only a few more hits, such as "C'mon, Everybody", "Somethin' Else", "Teenage Heaven", and "Three Steps to Heaven." Eddie Cochran remained popular in the UK throughout the 1960s and scored posthumous hits such as "My Way", "Weekend" and "Nervous Breakdown".

Sharon Sheeley and Eddie Cochran

Eddie Cochran

Eddie Cochran's body was flown home and his remains were buried on April 25, 1960, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California.

"Cherished Memories" ITV documentary (2001)


Arena: "Three Steps to Heaven" BBC documentary (1982)

1972, Deaths: British actress Janet Munro dies at 38

British actress Janet Munro, aged 38, died on 6 December 1972 after becoming ill while having tea with er two children in her flat in Kentish Town, London. The children's nannie, Elizabeth McGuiness, tried to reanimate her but she died on the way to hospital. Munro died from a heart attack caused by chronic ischaemic heart disease.

Janet Munro was born as Janet Neilson Horsburgh on 28 September 1934 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Munro was the daughter of the Scottish comedian Alex Munro and his wife, Phyllis Robertshaw. Janet’s mother, Phyllis died when she was eight and she was raised by Lilias, Alex Munro’s second wife.

Janet Munro as Anne Pilgrim in "The Trollenberg Terror" (1958)

Janet Munro as Katie O'Gill in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" (1959)

Janet Munro with Sean Connery in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" (1959)

After a brief career in the theatre she was spotted and given her first film role as Effie the waitress in "Small Hotel"(1957), followed by "The Trollenberg Terror" (1957) and a starring role with Andrew Ray in "The Young and the Guilty" (1958). In 1959 she signed a five-picture deal with Walt Disney, with lively performances in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" (1959), "Third Man on the Mountain" (1959) and "Swiss Family Robinson" (1960). After her Disney contract she was given more dramatic roles in "Day The Earth Caught Fire" (1961), "Life for Ruth" (1962) and "Bitter Harvest" (1963). In 1958 Munro was voted "TV actress of the year" and in 1960 she won a Golden Globe as "Most Promising Newcomer - Female" together with Tuesday Weld, Angie Dickinson and Stella Stevens.

Janet Munro as Lizbeth Hempel in "Third Man on the Mountain" (1959)

Janet Munro as Amanda in "Tommy the Toreador" (1959)

Janet Munro with James MacArthur in "Swiss Family Robinson" (1960)

Janet Munro married twice. In January 1956 she married Tony Wright, the marriage ended three years later in 1959. In 1963 she married former Avengers star Ian Hendry. The couple had two children Sally Hendry and Corrie Hendry. From 1964 to 1968 Munro retired from acting to raise her two children. Ian and Janet divorced in 1971.

Janet Munro with husband Ian Hendry and baby Sally (1964)

Janet Munro with daughter Sally and husband Ian Hendry (1966)

Janet Munro with husband Ian Hendry and daughters Sally and Corrie (1971)

Two failed marriages, two miscarriages, alcoholism, assorted medical problems, and depression… Munro collapsed and subsequently died on December 6th 1972 at the age of 38. She was cremated and interred at the Golders Green Crematorium.

Janet Munro as Jeannie Craig in "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" (1961)

Janet Munro with Patrick McGoohan in "Life for Ruth" (1962)

Janet Munro as Jennie Jones in "Bitter Harvest" (1963)

1967, Deaths: British actress Vivien Leigh dies at 53

Vivien Leigh, the greatest beauty of her time, died on 8 July 1967 at her home in Eaton Square, Belgravia, London at the age of 53. The actress was under treatment for a recurrence of tuberculosis which she had incurred in 1944.

Vivien Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley at Darjeeling in the then Bengal Presidency of British India in 1913. At the age of six she went to the Convent of the Sacred Heart in southwest London. She was removed from the school by her father, who took her travelling through Europe and she was educated in schools in the areas they travelled. In 1931 she returned to Britain and was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In the same year she meets Herbert Leigh Holman, a barrister 13 years her senior and they wed on 20 December 1932. On 12 October 1933 in London, she gave birth to a daughter, Suzanne.

Vivien Leigh, age two, with her mother Gertrude Mary France in 1915

Vivien Leigh age three, first stage performance

Herbert Leigh Holman and Vivien Leigh at their wedding in 1932

Vivien Leigh with her daughter Suzanne in 1935

Her film debut was in "Things are Looking Up" (1935). She took Vivien Leigh (her husbands middle name) as her professional name and made her first West End appearance in Ashley Dukes's "Mask of Virtue" (1935). she was an overnight success and was quickly signed up by Alexander Korda for the film "Fire Over England" in which she played opposite Laurence Olivier. They appeared together again in 1937 in the Old Vic production of "Hamlet" at Elsinore, Denmark.

Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in "Fire Over England" (1937)

Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in Elsinore, Denmark (1937)

Vivien Leigh in "Fire Over England" (1937)

In 1938 she was introduced to producer David O. Selznick for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in the planned film version of Margaret Mitchell's novel "Gone with the Wind". Other candidates for the role were Paulette Goddard, Jean Arthur and Joan Bennett. The film appeared a year later, in December 1939, and won her an Academy Award. On 31 August 1940, after her divorce with Leigh Holman, she married Laurence Olivier in Santa Barbara, California, in a ceremony attended only by their witnesses, Katharine Hepburn and Garson Kanin.

Vivien Leigh signing her "Gone with the Wind" contract (1938)

Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in "Gone with the Wind" (1939)

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind" (1939)

An international career was open to her, but after a two more Hollywood films with her husband, the Oliviers returned to wartime Britain. During her tour, performing for troops, through North Africa in 1943 she became ill with a persistent cough and fevers. In 1944 she was diagnosed as having tuberculosis in her left lung. While filming "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945) she discovered she was pregnant, but she suffered a miscarriage. She fell into depression and several breakdowns related to bipolar disorder. Her husband Laurence Olivier came to recognise the symptoms of an impending episode as several days of hyperactivity followed by a period of depression and an explosive breakdown, after which she would have no memory of the event.

Vivien Leigh in "That Hamilton Woman" (1941)

Vivien Leigh in "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945)

Vivien Leigh in "Anna Karenina"(1948)

In 1948 she joined her husband in the Old Vic Theatre, and they embarked on a six-month tour of Australia and New Zealand. The success of the tour encouraged the Oliviers to make their first West End appearance together. After that Leigh was cast in the role of Blanche DuBois in the West End stage production of Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire". After the stage production she was engaged for the film version with Marlon Brando in 1951 which won her a second Academy Award for Best Actress, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best British Actress, and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.

Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951)

Vivien Leigh and Jack Merivale in the play "Lady of the Camellias" (1961)

Vivien Leigh and Lee Marvin in "Ship of Fools" (1966)

In 1958 Leigh began a relationship with the actor Jack Merivale. Merivale knew Leigh's medical condition and assured Olivier he would care for her. In 1960 Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier divorced. Since then, most of her appearances had been abroad. Her last film was "Ship of Fools" (1966).

Vivien Leigh (right) with her mother (left), her daughter Suzanne (middle) and her grandson

Vivien Leigh, final studio portret (1967)

In May 1967 she suffered a recurrence of tuberculosis, following several weeks of rest, she seemed to recover. On the evening of 7 July 1967, Merivale went away to perform in a play when he returned home around midnight he found her asleep. After thirty minutes he returned to the bedroom and discovered her body on the floor. In an attempt to walk to the bathroom her lungs had filled with liquid and she collapsed. Vivien Leigh was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium and her ashes were scattered on the lake at her home, Tickerage Mill, near Blackboys, East Sussex, England. A memorial service was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields, with a final tribute read by John Gielgud.

Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh