Given name: Irving Lahrheim; born in New York, NY. Legendary comedian of stage and screen. Bigger than life - too big to fit on the screen, some say. His over-the-top antics just seemed to be too much at times in the more intimate space of film. But, he was a gifted comedian, and he found immortality as The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, 1939.

Given name: Frank Paul Lo Vecchio; born in Chicago, Illinois. One of the most popular vocalists of the 1950s. Started out in the church choir; first sang professionally at the age of 15. Hoagy Carmichael attended one of Frankie's concerts, and it was he who got Frankie his first big recording break, even funding the session.

Given name: Hedwig Kiesler; born in Austria. Began her film career in Europe before WWII. Beautiful, talented, and one very remarkable person! Not only was she a major movie star, but she helped out during WWII by designing countermeasures systems. Credited with the invention of the spread-spectrum modulation technique. Famous quote: "Any girl can be glamorous: all you have to do is stand still and look stupid."

Operatic singer / actor originally from Argentina, in Hollywood from 1950. Married to Arlene Dahl, father of Lorenzo Lamas.

Given name: Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; born in New Orleans, Louisiana. As with most vocalists of the era, Dorothy Lamour began as a big band vocalist before moving into pictures. She signed with Paramount Studios in 1936. At Paramount, she played in light comedies and musical comedies. But Paramount loaned her to 20th Century-Fox occasionally, where she would get to sink her teeth into some dramatic roles. And, of course, who can forget the famous trio of Hope, Crosby and Lamour in the "Road" movies?

Given name: Burton Stephen Lancaster; born in New York, NY. Started out working in the circus as a boy, then landed a small part on Broadway, where he came to the attention of an agent that introduced him to the world of movies. He did well from the beginning and rose to stardom quickly, typically playing tough men in hard circumstances.

Given name: Elizabeth Sullivan; born in London, England. Delighful, talented and versatile actress / singer / comedienne of stage and screen. She was great fun to watch, and ran the gamut from maids to queens to monsters - creating a new persona for each character. Began her career in London and moved to Hollywood around 1940. Married to Charles Laughton.

Given name: Frances Ridste; born in Wisconsin. Teenage beauty contest winner; moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s and played bit parts at Warner Bros. Landed a contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1941, where she was given second lead parts in some good productions. She rose in popularity, but never really attained stardom. Fox let her go in 1946, and after that and a series of bad marriages, she committed suicide in 1948. A great loss to the moviegoing public!

Given name: Frances Langford; born in Florida. Singer / actress / comedienne; started on Rudy Vallee radio show in the 1930s and appeared in numerous musicals in the 1930s through the 1950s. Also costarred in "The Bickersons" radio show with Don Ameche.

Given name: Angela Lansbury; born in London, England. A true living legend still going strong! Her latest appearance was as Jessica Fletcher in "America's Top Sleuths" (TV, 2006).

Miss Lansbury studied acting as a child (her mother is actress Moyna MacGill), and moved to Hollywood just before WWII broke out. She landed a contract at MGM, and her first film was Gaslight. She played Nancy Oliver and won an Academy Award nomination for her efforts. Between then and now she has played in scores of movies including such hits as National Velvet (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), The Harvey Girls (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962), receiving another Oscar nomination. And then there was The Pirates of Penzance (1983).

On Broadway she won four Tony Awards for her work in "Mame," "Dear World," "Gypsy" and "Sweeney Todd." And, of course, she's been on television, turning in one of her best roles in the series "Murder, She Wrote." And, if that weren't enough, she voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Dowager Empress Marie in Don Bluth's Anastasia (1997). I just hope she's up for another sixty years!

Given name: Joyce Wassmansdoff; born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Strikingly beautiful actress / model on screen and television. Died of cancer in 1972.

Given name: Alfredo Cocozza; born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Legendary operatic tenor rivaling the great Caruso. Mario grew up in Philadelphia working in his family's grocery store. But he had a voice, and when he auditioned for conductor Serge Koussevitzky in 1942, he was immediately signed up for a concert tour. After serving in the Army during WWII, Mario landed a contract with MGM.

MGM teamed him with soprano Kathryn Grayson for his debut film, and Mario's career was off and running. And he enjoyed enormous popularity during the 1950s. But, after only five movies at MGM, Mario and studio boss Louis B. Mayer were no longer seeing eye-to-eye, and Mario left the studio. He made a few more films at various studios, then died unexpectedly under mysterious circumstances in 1959. But he has a following of devoted fans to this day. Many say he was the greatest tenor of all time.

America's favorite dog! Lassie was actually a series of dogs, and they were all male! The first Lassie film, MGM's Lassie Come Home, costarring Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor, was based on the book by Eric Knight. This first Lassie was played by a male collie named Pal. Lassie's popularity kept the story living in books, comics, radio, television and films into the 1990s, and we may not have seen the last of her, yet!

Owner and trainer: Rudd Weatherwax  (1907 - 1985)

Given name: Charles Laughton; born in Yorkshire, England. Truly a legendary actor of immense talent. Following service in WWI, Laughton enrolled in Britain's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his stage debut in London in 1926. Married Elsa Lanchester in 1929. Moved to Hollywood in 1931. He played in a series of literary film interpretations, comedies and even several musical comedies. His portrayals of his characters were as versatile as one can imagine - especially surprising given Laughton's distinctive build and face. His films ranged from the lofty Mutiny on the Bounty to the light and breezy The Canterville Ghost. In It Started with Eve he danced the Conga with Deanna Durbin. He played Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. One of his last films captures one of his most brilliant performances as an eccentric barrister in Witness for the Prosecution. If you want to see acting as it was meant to be... don't miss Charles Laughton!

Given name: Arthur Stanley Jefferson; born in England. Primarily remembered today for his work as the smaller half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy, working with Oliver Hardy in many films. But he was a renowned actor / writer / director / producer on his own. Appeared in nearly 200 films.

Given name: Peter Lawford; born in London, England; raised in London and Paris, France. Actor, mostly in light comedies and dramas. Began acting as a child, moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s, and signed with MGM in the early 1940s. Lawford may not have been a brilliant actor, but probably only because he didn't take his craft seriously. He was always good, he was always fun, and he certainly had his share of shining moments. Perhaps his best scene ever is "The French Lesson" with June Allyson in Good News, 1947. He continued making films until his death in 1984.

Given name: Rose Louise Hovick; born in Seattle, Washington. Mother Rose was a typical obsessed stage mother type. She divorced her husband and took Louise and her sister June (later to become actress June Havoc) on the road to play vaudeville. They put together a good act and were actually making some decent money. But vaudeville was dying, so Rose moved Louise into burlesque. Louise perfected a form of strip-tease that was all bark and no bite, so to speak. It was more tantalizing than revealing. The audiences loved it. She made it into a socially acceptable fine art. Then she decided to go into movies. She appeared in a fair number of movies, but generally with small parts. But, if she accomplished little else, she certainly became a household name.

Louise was portrayed by Natalie Wood in the biopic Gypsy; June was portrayed by Ann Jillian, and Rosalind Russell played the part of Rose.

Given name: Michele Dusick; born in Los Angeles, California. Singer / actress on stage, screen and television.

Given name: Norma Egstrom; born in Jamestown, North Dakota. Singer / songwriter. Began on radio. With Benny Goodman for several years early in her career. Married Dave Barbour, Goodman's guitarist, with whom she would compose and record. Signed with Capitol Records in the mid-1940s; with Decca and other labels in the 1950s. Moved into rock and roll early on. Peggy Lee was one of the major recording artists of the 1950s and 1960s.

Given name: Ruta Kilmonis; born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Actress / dancer. Shown here with Matt Mattox in a publicity photo for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 1954.

Popular opera singer, mostly on stage and radio. Born in Germany.

Given name: Jeanette Morrison; born in Merced, California. Beautiful, wonderful actress. Once married to Tony Curtis; mother of Jamie Lee Curtis. Immortalized as the girl in the shower in the legendary Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho.

Born in Massachusetts, John Lemmon attended prep schools and studied drama at Harvard before entering the Navy. After his hitch was up he worked radio, television and stage. His first movie was with Judy Holliday in Phffft!, 1954. The public liked him, and his film career was off and running. Perhaps his best remembered films are The Odd Couple with Walter Matthau, and more lately Grumpy Old Men and sequels. And then there's The Apartment; Bell, Book and Candle; It Should Happen to You; Mr. Roberts... Well, take your pick. Lemmon was one of a kind, and will be sorely missed.

Given name: John Winston Lennon. Singer / composer born in Liverpool, England. Member of legendary rock group The Beatles.

Pictured clockwise from top left: John, Paul, Ringo and George on the "Let It Be" album, 1970.

Given name: Joan Agnes Theresa Brodel; born in Detroit, Michigan. One of my favorites! When just a child, Joan worked as a model and on-stage in an act with her brothers and sisters. Started in bit parts in films in the late 1930s finally signing with Warner Bros., where she became one of the major stars of the 1940s. But a contract battle with the studio ended her tenure there around 1946, after which she worked free-agent for another ten years or so before retiring to raise a family. Since then she has continued to appear occasionally on television.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Concert pianist, composer, actor with a very cynical outlook and a very dry sense of humor.

See also: Composers: Oscar Levant

Born in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Actress in films from the mid-1930s. Was beginning rise to stardom when she retired after marrying actor William Powell. They were married in 1940, and remained married until Powell's death in 1984. Shown here with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in Andy Hardy Meets Debutante.

NOTE: There is more than one Diana Lewis!

Born Joseph Levitch in Newark, New Jersey, Jerry Lewis was one of the most popular comedians of all time during the 1940s through the 1960s. Early on he teamed with Dean Martin (1946-1956) and made a series of screwball comedies. The team was top box office, and they were fondly referred to as Martin and Lewis. Lewis is also well-known for his annual telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Father of Gary Lewis of Gary Lewis and The Playboys fame, who had a big hit with the song "This Diamond Ring" (1965).