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Lovely, demure actress Nobu McCarthy, born Nobu Atsumi in Ottawa Canada, was raised in Japan and studied ballet. A modeling career eventually led to her winning the "Miss Tokyo" beauty title. She married a US serviceman and returned to the States in 1955. Discovered by a talent agent, she made a gentle, touching impression in such films as The Geisha Boy (1958) alongside a slapstick Jerry Lewis, the comedy Wake Me When It's Over (1960) with Dick Shawn and Ernie Kovacs, and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) starring Steve McQueen and Natalie Wood. She also graced episodic TV with a number of guest spots. Most appreciated as an unassuming girl-next-door type, she more or less shied away from her career following a painful divorce, but returned to acting in 1971 as a member of the East West Players, a small L.A.-based theater group. She eventually became their artistic director from 1989 to 1993. She died at age 67 in 2002 of an aneurysm while on film location in Brazil for the movie Gaijin: Ama-me Como Sou (2005).

This cool and classy green-eyed blonde had several more strings to her bow than your average 30's starlet. She was born Helen Johnson in New York City on August 1 1906. Schooled in New York, she completed a fine arts course at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs and afterwards continued her studies for another two years in Paris. Returning home, she became a fashion stylist for R. H. Macy's department store and subsequently worked as a commercial artist in an advertising agency. Thus endowed with both looks and intellect, she made her way to California, set up home base in the Hollywood Hills and began acting in films by 1929. Within a year -- still billed as Helen Johnson -- she had received leads in the musical comedy Children of Pleasure (1930), the crime drama Soldiers and Women (1930) and Working Girls (1931), a 'women's picture' directed by Dorothy Arzner. In 1931, she was voted a WAMPAS Baby Star and adopted the stage name Judith Wood. Unfortunately, her year was marred by a traffic accident which resulted in a lengthy recuperation and absence from the screen.

In late 1932, Judith appeared on stage in the original Broadway production of "Dinner at Eight", playing the part of Kitty Packard, a much coveted role which went to Jean Harlow in the film version a year later. She had another motion picture lead as a blackmailing ex-con in The Crime Doctor (1934) and then, suddenly, her career was unaccountably at an end. Judith herself later suggested in an interview that her many affairs (among others, with stars William Powell and Robert Montgomery) may have had a bearing on her declining fortunes, quoted as saying "my entire life has been a near miss". Sometime in the late 30's, she married the son of "Beau Geste" author Percival Christopher Wren. After divorcing him, she had several more failed attempts to break back into films, eventually secured work as a radio actress and, finally, as a costume designer, working on "everything from operas to porno films". At least, she had the fortune to be blessed with a long life, passing away at the ripe old age of 95 in Los Angeles.

Silvia Derbez was born on 8 March 1932 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Lazos de amor (1995), El rey de México (1956) and Cruz de amor (1970). She died on 6 April 2002 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.

Elisabeth Josepha ("Zsoka") Grandjean, was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary on July 18, 1909. She was one of five children born to Joseph Grandjean and Josephine (Scheda) Grandjean. Her three brothers were named Joseph, Istvan, and Bela. Her younger sister's name is Ilona ("Lonci").

Zsoka was educated in the schools of Budapest and developed an interest in playing the piano (she would always have a grand piano in her home). Music became a life-long interest of hers, along with painting and literature, and she later encouraged her sons to appreciate the arts.

She met aspiring film maker Julius Gyorgy Marczincsak while they attended dance school in the late 1920s. They fell in love and were married in 1930.

Because of a troubled economy in Hungary, she and George moved to Berlin, Germany, which, during the Weimar Republic before the Nazi era, was a center of innovative film making.

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, and defined those who were foreign-born as suspicious and placed them on "watch lists", Zsoka and George left for Prague and then on to Paris where they received an invitation from Philips Radio of the Netherlands to move to Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. (Sometime around 1935, George started using George Pal in the Puppetoon screen credits for Director and Producer, and used Pal also, instead of Marczincsak, on legal documents). It was in Eindhoven that their first son, David Pal, was born and where her husband produced his first Puppetoon films.

In 1939 the Pals were granted a visa to emigrate to America, which they did in early 1940.

She, George, and David settled in Beverly Hills, California, where George began his illustrious film career, and where their second son, Péter Pál, was born in 1941.

In the years that followed, she watched her husband move from producing Puppetoon animations to full-scale, feature-length movies of amazing ingenuity and imagination, until his death on May 2, 1980.

At one point, in the early 1950s, she reminded George of his interest in magic (his grandfather had been a stage magician) and asked him if he would like to do a film on magicians. Two years later, Houdini (1953) was released.

She appeared in The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1986) by Arnold Leibovit, and received a thank you credit in Time Machine: The Journey Back (1993), a special feature on the 1993 DVD release of The Time Machine (1960).

She was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's Foreign Film Committee, which promoted the showing of films made by world artists, and a member of the Los Angeles County Museum. She remained devoted to family (children and grandchildren) and the decor of her home until her death on April 6, 2002.

Born Thierry Christian Charles Franc in the picturesque countryside of Laval (Mayenne, Pays-de-la-Loire), France on 28 May 1940, Thierry Pathé was a Franco-American Producer, Director, Cinematographer, and Educator.

Grandson of the legendary French filmmaker, studio executive, and recording mogul Charles Morand Pathé, founder of Pathé Frères along with his brothers Émile, Théophile, and Jacques in 1896, he moved to the United States with his family at the age of 2, eventually becoming a naturalized U.S. Citizen and adopting the last name of his grandfather as an adult.

As a young man, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he was trained as a cinematographer. Like his grandfather, Thierry loved the film camera; his grandfather had, indeed, been extremely innovative with early camera technology, designing both studio and hand-held film cameras which greatly improved upon the patents which Pathé Frères had acquired from the Lumière brothers in 1902. After completing his military service, he began his civilian career as cinematographer on the set of the classic television series Batman (1966).

Pathé made his professional entrée into the world of feature filmmaking as special effects supervisor, laboratory supervisor, and technical supervisor for the Spanish film El Colleccionista de Cadaveres (Cauldron of Blood, also known in English as Blind Man's Bluff) (1970), produced by Robert D. Weinbach and Edward Mann, and written and directed by Edward Mann. The film starred the legendary Boris Karloff as the eccentric, blind sculptor Franz Badulescu, and Viveca Lindfors in the role of Tania Badulescu, the artist's psychopathic wife. It was one of the last horror films of Boris Karloff's iconic career.

Pathé later produced the American cult hicksploitation film Hooch (1977) for Edward Mann, who wrote and directed the film. Featuring Gil Gerard as shine-runnin' "Eddie Joe Rodgers" and Danny Aiello as carpetbaggin' mobster "Tony" seeking a cut of the profits, Hooch inspired the popular, and controversial, American television series Dukes of Hazzard (1979), which aired for seven seasons on CBS and served as inspiration for the coining of the pop fashion term "Daisy Dukes".

Encouraged by the cinematic tradition within his own family, as well as by Edward Mann's mastery of both the pen and the craft of film production, he wrote a number of screenplays which were sadly never produced, and produced and/or directed a number of films which were sadly never released (among them, "Toot Suite"). Thus, a significant portion of his work is not yet known to the public. Several years prior to his death, he was cinematographer for Growing Down in Brooklyn (2000), a semi-autobiographical film recounting the tragic spiral of 4 young Italian-American men from Midwood, Brooklyn, starring Anthony Caso, Amy Hargreaves, Donnie Keshawarz, Tina Louise, and Vincent Pastore.

Well-loved by generations of NYU filmmaking students, both within the School of Professional Studies and the Tisch School of the Arts, Thierry Pathé's work demonstrates a love for his native France and for culture and community across the American landscape which became his home, as well as a love for addressing the concerns of young people and young adults coming of age, all of which was simultaneously manifest in his parallel career as an Educator.

In an interview with France 3 (then FR3) while visiting Chevry-Cossigny (Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France), France in May 1992 for an exhibition celebrating Charles Pathé's life as a film industry pioneer, Thierry admired that his grandfather "was not afraid to face a challenge, to try new things, to continue when other people stopped", qualities celebrated and embraced by filmmakers from generation to generation. On this occasion, he also visited the house where his ingenious grandfather was born - then the home of the Mayor of Chevry-Cossigny - for the very first time.

Thierry Pathé died of cancer in New York City on 6 April 2002, at the age of 61, leaving behind one son, a half-sister, and hundreds, if not thousands, of former students with whom he shared his love for the Seventh Art, a number of whom have gone on to master their craft at the highest level, including Oscar winners Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Angelina Jolie, and Joel and Ethan Coen, and Oscar nominee Susan Seidelman.

(Published 25 March 2020)

Maxine Chevalier was born on 23 March 1914 in Taylor, Texas, USA. She was an actress. She died on 6 April 2002 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Martin Sperr was born on 10 September 1944 in Steinberg, Dingolfing, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor and writer, known for Hunting Scenes from Bavaria (1969), Parsifal (1982) and Mathias Kneissl (1971). He died on 6 April 2002 in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany.

Bob Shedd was born on 20 July 1920 in the USA. Bob was married to Beverly Shedd. Bob died on 6 April 2002 in Lewiston, Idaho, USA.

Shigeo Yamada was born on 26 October 1931 in Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Empire of Japan [now Japan]. He died on 6 April 2002 in Tokyo, Japan.

Slavka Slavova was a famous Bulgarian actress. He was born in Berlin , where her parents have worked. She graduated from high school in Varna . She had a higher musical and theatrical education. She graduated from the Music Academy in Sofia in the class of Professor Luba Prokopova and Professor Pancho Vladigerov. Then she graduated from Drama School in Sofia - in the class of Rrofessor Krusty Mirsky . Her theater debut was in 1947 with the role of Agnes in "School for Women" by Moliere . She played dozens of roles in the National Theatre , Youth Theatre, "Theater 199", Theater "Tears and Laughter". She played in the plays by Sophocles , Shakespeare , Oscar Wilde , Anton Chekhov , Bertolt Brecht , Edward Albee , Peyo Yavorov , Valeri Petrov . In 1957, she starred in the film in the role of Stanka Hunchback in the film "Earth" by Elin Pelin, directed by Zahari Zhandov . For six decades devoted on the stage the actress has been played many roles, which remain in the history of Bulgarian theater. One such role is that of Mila in "At the foot of Vitosha". The show was played with great success and has 250 performances, which for those years is a sign of huge success. Her roles of Sonya in "Uncle Vanya" and Masha in "The Seagull" by Chekhov are also part of the images that were engraved in the minds of people who were able to see them with your eyes. The most memorable role in which the actress is embodied is that of Gital Mosca in "Two of the Cradle "where her partnership with Apostle Karamitev remains unforgettable. The actress died on April 6, 2002 after a heart attack , which occurs after a performance at the " Theater 199 ". In 2005, "Theatre 199" announces the annual competition for chamber play on the name of the actress.

Petru Dumitriu was born on 8 May 1926 in Buzias, Romania. He was a writer and producer, known for In Our Village (1951), Bijuterii de familie (1958) and Un été inoubliable (1994). He died on 6 April 2002 in Metz, Moselle, France.