Jim Backus b. 1913 d. 1989 (pneumonia)
Actor - Thurston Howell, III on Gilligan's Island

Pearl Bailey b. 1918. d. 1990
Singer

George Balanchine b. 1904 d. 1983
Choreographer - New York City Ballet

James Baldwin b. 1924 d. 1987 (cancer)
Writer - Go Tell It On The Mountain

Lucille Ball b. 1911 d. 1989 (ruptured aorta after heart surgery)
Actress - The one and only

Florence Ballard b. 1943 d. 1976
Singer - The Supremes

Hank Ballard b. 1936 d. March 2, 2003 (throat cancer)
Singer - original artist for The Twist

Martin Balsam b. 1919 d. 1996
Actor - Murray Klein on All in the Family

Anne Bancroft b. 1931 d. June 6, 2005 (cancer)
Actress - Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate; Anne Sullivan in the Miracle Worker

Barbaro d. January 29, 2007 (euthanized)
Kentucky Derby winner injured at Preakness

Christiaan Barnard b.1923 d. September 2, 2001
Heart transplant surgeon

Syd Barrett b. 1946 d. July 7, 2006 (complications of diabetes)
Musician - Founder of Pink Floyd

Gene Barry b. 1919 d. 2009 (heart failure)
Actor- had numerous series incl. Bat Masterson and Burkes Law

Jack Barry b. 1918 d. 1984 (heart attack)
Hosted Twenty One

Richard Basehart b. 1914 d. 1984 (stroke)
Actor - Adm. Harriman Nelson on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

William "Count" Basie b. 1904 d. 1984
Musician

Alan Bates b. 1934 d. December 27, 2003 (cancer)
Actor - Zorba the Greek, Gosford Park

Anne Baxter b. 1923 d. 1986 (stroke)
Actress - Eve Harrington in All about Eve

Hugh Beaumont b. 1909 d. 1982 (heart attack)
Actor - Ward Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver

Samuel Beckett b. 1906 d. 1989
Novelist/playwright - Waiting for Godot

Geoffrey Beene b. 1927 d. September 28 (complications of pneumonia)
Fashion designer known for sportwear and comfort

Noah L. Beery, Jr. b. 1913 d. 1994 (complications of brain surgery)
Actor - Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford on The Rockford Files

Menachem Begin b. 1913 d. 1992
Israeli Prime Minister signed Camp David accord in 1978

Barbara Bel Geddes b. 1922 d. August 8, 2005 (lung cancer)
Actress - Miss Ellie on Dallas

1922 d. William J. Bell b. 1927 d. April 29, 2005
Producer/writer/creator - Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful

Ralph Bellamy b. 1904 d. 1991(respiratory Infection)
Actor - FDR in Winds of War

Saul Bellow b. 1915 d. April 5, 2005
Nobel Prize winning author - Humboldt's Gift, The Adventures of Augie March

John A. Belushi b. 1949. d. 1982 (drugs)
Actor/comedian - SNL, Blues Brothers

Peter Benchley - b. 1940 d. February 12, 2006 ( idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis)
Author - Jaws

Paul Benedict b. 1938 d. 2008 (actor)

Estelle Bennett b. 1941 d. February 11, 2009 (colon cancer)
Singer - the girl group The Ronettes

Jack Benny b. 1894 d. 1974 (pancreatic cancer)
Actor/comedian - The Jack Benny Show

Obie Benson b. 1937 d. July 2, 2005 (lung cancer)
Singer - The Four Tops

Lloyd Bentsen b. 1921 d. May 23, 2006
Secretary of the Treasury (under Clinton) and U.S. Senator from Texas 1971-1993

John Berardino b. May 1, 1917 d. May 19, 1996 (cancer)
Actor - Dr. Steve Hardy on General Hospital

Stan Berenstain b. 1923 d. November 26, 2005
Co-creator of the Berenstain Bears

Ingmar Bergman b. 1918 d. July 30, 2007
Famed Swedish director - The Seventh Seal

Ingrid Bergman b. 1915 d. 1982 (breast cancer)
Actress - Ilsa Lund Laszlo in Casablanca, mother of Isabella Rosellini

Milton Berle b. 1908 d. March 27, 2002 (colon cancer)
Comedian - Texaco Star Theatre; called Uncle Miltie.

Elmer Bernstein b. 1922 d. August 18, 2004
Film Composer - Magnificent 7, Great Escape, True Grit

Leonard Bernstein b. 1918 d. 1990 (heart attack)
Composer/conductor - West Side Story

Fred Berry b. 1951 d. October 21, 2003 (consequences of stroke)
Actor - Fred "Rerun" Stubbs in What's Happening

Jan Berry b. 1941 d. March 26,2004 (lingering effects of brain damage from a 1966 car crash)
Singer - half of Jan and Dean, Deadman's Curve

Pierre Berton b. 1920 d. 2004 (heart failure)
Author - The National Dream and The Last Spike

Bibi Besch b. 1940 d. 1996 (cancer)
Actress - Dr. Marcus in Star Trek: Wrath of Khan

Ted Bessell b. 1935 d. 1996 (aortic aneurysm)
Actor - Donald Holinger in That Girl

Carl Betz b. 1921 d. 1978 (cancer)
Actor - Dr. Alex Stone on The Donna Reed Show

Richard Biggs b.1960 d. May 22, 2004 (stroke)
Actor - Dr. Stephen Franlin on Babylon 5

Whit Bissell b. 1909. d. 1996 (Parkinson's Disease)
Character Actor

Norman Bird b. 1924 d. April 22, 2005 (cancer)
British character actor

Bill Bixby b. 1934. d. 1993 (cancer)
Actor - Dr. David Banner on the Incredible Hulk

Joey Bishop b. 1918 d. October 17, 2007
Actor, comedian - last surviving member of the Rat Pack

Harry A. Blackmun b. 1908 d. 1999
U. S. Supreme Court Justice

Otis Blackwell b. 1932 d. May 6,2002 (heart attack)
Songwriter - Don't Be Cruel, All Shook Up, Return to Sender, Great Balls of Fire

Richard Blackwell b. 1922 d. Oct. 19, 2008 (unknown causes) fashion critic, famous for his "Worst Dressed" List

Betsy Blair b.1925 d. 2009 (cancer)
Actress - nominated for an Oscar for the movie "Marty"

Amanda Blake b. 1927 d. 1989 (AIDS, infected by husband)
Actress - Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke

Dan Blocker b. 1928 d. 1972 (pulmonary embolisim)
Actor - Hoss on Bonanza

Joan Blondell b. 1906 d. 1979 (leukemia)
Actress - Lottie Hatfield on Here Comes the Brides

Larry Blyden b. 1925 d. 1975 (car crash)
Host of What's My Line

Humphrey Bogart b. 1899 d. 1957 (cancer)
Actor - Casablanca, Maltese Falcon

Ray Bolger b. 1904 d. 1987
Actor - Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz

Erma Bombeck b. 1927 d. 1996 (kidney failure)
Newspaper columnist/humorist

Ward Bond b. 1903 d. 1960 (heart attack)
Actor - Major Seth Adams in Wagon Train

Sonny Bono b. 1935 d. 1998 (skiing accident)
Congressman/Actor/Singer

Sorrell Booke b. 1930 d. 1994 (colon cancer)
Actor - Boss Hogg in Dukes of Hazzard

Richard Boone b. 1917 d. 1981 (throat cancer)
Actor - Paladin on Have Gun, Will Travel also Hec Ramsey

Shirley Booth b. 1907 d. 1992
Actress - Hazel

Victor Borge b. 1909 d. December 23, 2000 (heart failure)
Actor/musician - The Clown Prince of Denmark

Tommy Boyce b. 1939 d. 1994 (suicide)
Singer / Songwriter - wrote most of the hits for the Monkees (Boyce and Hart)

Jimmy Boyd b. 1939 d. 2009 (cancer)
Singer/actor - recorded the original "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"

Stephen Boyd b. 1928 d. 1977 (heart attack)
Actor - Messala in Ben Hur

William Boyd b. 1895 d. 1972 (heart failure complicated by Parkinsons Disease)
Actor - Hopalong Cassidy

Charles Boyer b. 1899 d. 1978 (suicide - overdosed on seconal)
Actor - Victor Velasco in Barefoot in the Park

Gregory "Pappy" Boyington b. 1912 d. 1988
WWII Ace - Baa Baa Black Sheep was about him

Peter Boyle b. 1935 d. December 12, 2006. (multiple myeloma and heart disease)
Actor - Frank Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond

(Ed Bradley b. 1941 d. November 9,2006 (leukemia)
Journalist - longtime correspondent for 60 Minutes

Omar Bradley b. 1893 d. 1981
5 Star US Army General

Tom Bradley b. 1917 d. 1998 (heart attack)
Mayor of Los Angeles

Pat Brady b. 1914 d. 1972 (car accident)
Actor - Sidekick to Roy Rogers

Neville Brand b. 1920 d. 1992 (emphysema)
Actor and WWII hero - Reese Bennett on Laredo

Jonathan Brandis b. 1976 d. November 12, 2003 (suicide by hanging)
Actor - Lucas Wolenczak on SeaQuest DSV

Christian Brando b. 1958 d. January 26, 2008 (pneumonia)
Son of actor Marlon Brando


Marlon Brando b. 1924 d. July 1, 2004 (pulmonary fibrosis)
Actor - Oscars for On the Waterfront and Godfather

Laura Branigan b. 1957 d. August 26, 2004 (brain aneurysm)
Composer/singer - Gloria, Power of Love, Solitaire
Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum b. 1909 d. 1987
Actor - Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo

Scott Brazil b. 1955 d. April 17, 2006 (ALS - Lou Gherig's Disease)
Producer/director (The Shield and Hill Street Blues)

Rossano Brazzi b. Sep 18, 1919 d. Dec 24, 1994 (infection)
Actor/singer - Emile de Becque in movie South Pacific

Walter Brennan b. 1894 d. 1974 (emphysema)
Actor - Grandpa Amos McCoy on The Real McCoys

William Joseph Brennan, Jr. b. 1906 d. 1997
U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Teresa Brewer b. d. October 17, 2007 (neuromuscular disease)
Singer - Music! Music! Music!

Lloyd Bridges b 1913 d. 1998
Actor - Mike Nelson on Sea Hunt, father of Beau, Jeff and Cindy

Richard Bright b. 1937 d. February 18, 2006 (run over by a bus)

Paul Brinegar b.1917 d. 1995
Actor - Wishbone on Rawhide

David Brinkley b. 1920 d. June 11, 2003 (complications from a fall)
Journalist - At NBC, the Huntley Brinkley Report and at ABC, This Week with David Brinkley

Albert "Cubby" Broccoli b. 1909 d. 1996
Producer - James Bond Films

Charles Bronson b. 1921 d. August 30, 2003 (pneumonia)
Actor - Magnificent Seven, Dirty Dozen and the Great Escape

Edmund G. "Pat" Brown b. 1905 d. 1996 (heart attack)
Former Governor of California, and the father of Jerry Brown

James Brown b. 1933 d. December 25, 2006 (congestive heart failure)
Godfather of Soul - "I Got You (I Feel Good)"

James Brown b. 1920 d. 1992 (lung cancer)
Actor - Lt. Rip Masters on Rin Tin Tin

Lenny Bruce b. 1925 d. 1966 (drugs)
Comedian

Les Brown b. 1912 d. January 4, 2001 (lung cancer)
Composer/bandleader

Yul Brynner b. 1920 d. 1985 (lung cancer)
Actor - The King and I

Edgar Buchanan b. 1903 d. 1979
Actor - Uncle Joe on Petticoat Junction

Navy Cmdr. Lloyd "Pete" Bucher b. 1927 d. January 28, 2004
Commander of spy ship USS Pueblo

Art Buchwald b. 1925 d. January 17, 2007 (kidney failure)
Columnist for the Washington Post

William F. Buckley b. 1925 d. February 27, 2008
Author and conservative commentator

William Bundy b. 1917 d. 2000 (heart failure)
Advisor to JFK and LBJ - big supporter of war in Vietnam

Warren Earl Burger b. 1907 d. 1995 (heart failure)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Billie Burke b. 1884 d. 1970
Actress - The Good Witch in Wizard of Oz

Paul Burke b. 1926 d. 2009 (lukemia)
actor - Twelve O'Clock High and Naked City

George Burns b. January 20, 1896 d. March 9, 1996
Actor/Comedian - Straight man to wife Gracie Allen

Raymond Burr b. 1917 d. 1993 (liver cancer)
Actor - Perry Mason, Ironside

Richard Burton b. 1925 d. 1984 (brain hemorrhage)
Actor - King Arthur of Camelot

Pat Buttram b. 1915 d. 1994 (kidney failure)
Actor/comedian - Mister Eustace Charleton Haney on Green Acres

Spring Byington b. 1893 d. 1971(cancer)
Actress - Lily Ruskin on December Bride

Sen. Robert Byrd b. 1933 d. 2010 (natural causes)
Democratic Senator from W Virginia, was the longest serving U.S. Senator