Death is the only thing that we can be sure of. As we step into a new year and a new decade, we look back to people who influenced the past years. Last year we lost some phenomenal people from the acting industry. The list includes the most famous film stars who died in the year 2019.
1. Actress Diahann Carroll:
Diahann Carroll was a legendary actress, singer, model, and activist. The film star died on October 4th, 2019, at the age of 84.
Caroll was born as a daughter of John Johnson and Mabel. She completed her education in music and art school in New York City. She has expressed in many of her interviews that her parents were always supportive of her interest in arts. They admitted her to various dancing and singing school.
As soon as she turned 18, Caroll’s career started to rise. On the show chance of a lifetime, Caroll won $1,000 for her rendition of why was I born? Since then, she has worked for numerous roles and appeared in many shows.
However, her career turning role was in Julia, where for the first time, she didn’t play the role of a domestic worker. This was not just a milestone for her but even the black community.
As an African ethnic group person in the acting industry, she was able to inspire people to follow her path. Her life was full of struggles, but she worked hard to earn the respect that she had got. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 but lived to shoot her final role in the movie, The Masked Saint in 2016.
2. Actress Doris Day:
Doris Day was an actress, singer and animal rights activist. The actress lived a long life of 97 years and died on May 13, 2019, after she contracted pneumonia. During her lifetime, she advocated for the rights of animals.
Doris even established a charity foundation with her name, Doris Day animal foundation. She was born into a musical family where her father was a music teacher and a choirmaster.
Although she followed her father’s footsteps and started her career in music, she then later performed numerous roles in movies as well. She was nominated for the Academy Awards for her movie Pillow talk.
She also starred in her show, The Doris Day Show, briefly after she ended her film career in 1968. All the while, she carried her musical career further.
3. Actor Danny Aiello:
The film star Danny Aiello who was born on June 20, 1933, died on December 12, 2019. The actor didn’t have an easy way into the career. When he was just 16, he lied to get into the US Army where he served for the following three years. The financial condition of the family was not very good, so he had to work numerous jobs to take care of his family.
The actor was only able to enter Hollywood during the beginning of the 1970s. The actor slowly made his way to the top. He has since then worked in numerous movies, TV shows and also made his career in singing.
4. John Witherspoon:
John Witherspoon was an American actor and a comedian. He is best known for his role as Willie Jones on Fridays, the series. He has starred in numerous movies such as The Tracy Morgan Show, Black Jesus, and The Five Heartbeats.
The film star who also occasionally worked as a model in his early life died on October 29, 2019, at the age of 77. He has also appeared in several music videos. The actor began his career as a comedian during the 1960s.
The actor has played his role in a number of TV shows as well. His first role on TV was in Barnaby Jones.
5. Suellyn Lyon:
Suellyn Lyon, the American filmstar, died recently on December 26th, 2019. She joined the movie industry as a model when she was just 13. The actress rose to prominence for her legendary role in the movie Lolita. Additionally, she won a Golden Globe Award for the same.
Her other notable appearances are in the movies The Night of the Iguana, 7 Women, and Tony Rome. She was married five times during her lifetime. At the age of 73, she died in West Hollywood due to poor health conditions. She was only 15 when she was awarded for her role in Lolita.
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