27 Hilarious Knit Sweaters From the 1960s and 1970s
45 Beautiful Photos of Lovely Women From the 1950s and 1960s
61 Vintage Photos of Life in Los Angeles during the 1930s
Los Angeles, often spoken and written as its initialism, L.A., is the largest city in California. With a 2020 population of 3,898,747, it is the second-largest city in the United States, after New York City, and the third-largest city in North America, after Mexico City and New York City. Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic and cultural diversity, Hollywood entertainment industry, and its sprawling metropolitan area.
Los Angeles lies in a basin in Southern California, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, with mountains as high as 10,000 feet (3,000 m), and deserts. The city, which covers about 469 square miles (1,210 km2), is the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States. The Los Angeles metropolitan area (MSA) is home to a population of 13.1 million, making it the second-largest metropolitan area in the nation after that of New York. Greater Los Angeles includes metro Los Angeles as well as the Inland Empire and Ventura County. It is the second most populous U.S. combined statistical area, also after New York, with a 2015 estimate of 18.7 million people.
Home to the Chumash and Tongva, the area that became Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542. The city was founded on September 4, 1781, under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve, on the village of Yaanga. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and thus became part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood. The discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The city was further expanded with the completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, which delivers water from Eastern California.
Los Angeles has a diverse and robust economy, and hosts businesses in a broad range of professional and cultural fields. It also has the busiest container port in the Americas. In 2018, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had a gross metropolitan product of over $1.0 trillion, making it the city with the third-largest GDP in the world, after Tokyo and New York City. Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics and will host the 2028 Summer Olympics. (Wikipedia)
31 Vintage Photos of Silent Screen Actress Jeanette Loff during the 1920s and 1930s
Another beautiful actress from the silent screen who came to a tragic end. Jeanette Loff is definitely someone worth remembering not only for her beautiful face, but for her many talents. Her life came to a tragic end when she was just thirty-five years old.
“I don’t think there is much of a story in me. I haven’t had any strange or remarkable experiences. I haven’t done anything startling.” – Jeanette
The first Hollywood Christmas Parade, held on December 5, 1928, was known as “Santa Claus Lane” and featured Santa and Jeanette Loff (a last-minute replacement for Lili Damita). That evening, crowds thronged Christmas-tree lined Hollywood Boulevard (rechristened Santa Claus Lane) from Vine Street to La Brea Avenue. With Jeanette Loff, Santa Claus drove his reindeer-drawn sleigh east on the brilliantly illuminated course to La Brea, and returned over the same route.
The “parade” continued every evening during the Christmas season with a different prominent film player (Lili Damita showed up the following evening) each night.
However, Jeanette Loff, the first starlet of what is known today as the Hollywood Christmas Parade, is probably little known today. At the time of the first Santa Clause Lane, Loff had appeared in twelve films since 1926, working her way up to costarring parts in Hold ‘Em Yale (1928) with Rod La Rocque, Annapolis (1928) with Johnny Mack Brown and Love Over Night (1928), again with La Roque.
Jeanette Loff was born on October 9, 1905 (most records claim 1906), in Orofino, Idaho to Marius and Inga (Loseth) Loff. Studio publicity claimed that her father was a famous Danish violinist, but he was in fact a barber and later a farmer.
After living for a time in Wadena, Canada, the Luff’s relocated to Lewiston, Idaho. After her high school graduation, the family moved to Portland, Oregon, where Jeanette enrolled at the Ellison & White Conservatory of Music where she learned to play the pipe-organ. When a local theater needed a pipe-organ player, Jeanette got the position. She worked her way up to playing at bigger and better Portland theaters.
Loff’s discovery in Hollywood is open to several versions. Whatever her introduction to films, in 1926, with her extremely wholesome looks, she earned a bit part in Universal’s The Collegian series followed by another extra part in Young April (1926) a film for Cecil B. DeMille’s company at Pathé, where she was put under contract.
DeMille cast her in two Westerns, followed by leading roles in the two films with Rod La Rocque. Over the next few years, she costarred in several good, but not outstanding films. At some point during her early career, she also posed for nude photographs.
Shortly after appearing as the first actress to ride in Hollywood’s premier Santa Claus Lane, Loff was brought to Universal to audition for The King of Jazz (1930), a possible million-dollar film they were producing. Executives were doubting their original choice for an important leading female role when producer Paul Bern arranged for her to audition. In the audition, she sang the number, “The Bridal Veil,” in a clear lyric soprano that impressed producers to give her the part.
In 1929, Loff’s parents had divorced, and her mother Inga and two sisters, Myrtle and Irene, moved to Los Angeles (her father, Marius, remained in Oregon until his death). That same year, Jeanette was also divorced from her first husband, traveling jewelry salesman Harry Roseboom whom she had secretly married in 1927. She reportedly had affairs with Gilbert Roland, Paul Bern–who tried unsuccessfully to cast her in a film–and lyricist Walter O’Keefe.
After making three more films over the next year, she grew tired of Hollywood and moved to New York, struggling to find stage roles, appearing only in the short-lived Broadway musical, Free for All, which closed after twelve days.
In 1933, she returned to Hollywood when she heard that Universal was planning to re-release The King of Jazz. Thinking it would revive her career, she accepted the leading role in St. Louis Woman (1934) with Johnny Mack Brown (she also worked with Brown in Annapolis) for a poverty row studio. The film did poorly, but she made two shorts and three more films that same year, none of them money-makers. Her last film was Million Dollar Baby (1934) for Monogram Pictures.
From then on, she retired from films. In 1935, she married liquor salesman, Bertram “Bert” Friedlob. The following year, Friedlob produced Bert Wheeler’s Hollywood Stars in Person revue and included Loff in the cast. Her marriage to Friedlob was rocky; he was a womanizer who had affairs with Lana Turner and many others.
On August 1, 1942, Loff ingested ammonia at her Beverly Hills home at 702 North Crescent Drive; she was treated for mouth and throat burns at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital where she died three days later. Loff was only 35.
The coroner was unable to determine if her death was accidental or a suicide. Reportedly at the time, she was suffering from a stomach ailment and accidentally took the wrong bottle of medication.
However, wouldn’t she have noticed the ammonia smell? In any event, her death certificate called her death a “probable suicide.” Surprising, some in her family maintained that she had been murdered, but never publicly offered proof.
15 Vintage Photos Showing London Street Scenes during the 1890s
15 Vintage Photographs of Janis Joplin at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, June 1970
Photographer whose work vividly expressed the essence of creative personalities ranging from Janis Joplin to Arthur Miller. Like that of many photographers, David Gahr’s work was better known than his name. He was among the first photographers to specialize in taking pictures of popular musicians and, more specifically, to think them worthy of being photographed.
As a consequence, he caught the likes of Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen disarmed, and his shots of them for album covers and magazines helped to propel them to fame and, for millions of record buyers, defined their heroes’ images.
“Janis Joplin would like you or hate you on sight or insight. And was rarely wrong. She shrieked when I told her my assignment was for Time Magazine. ‘Damn, now my old man will know I’ve done something, I am someone! He always reads Time. Damn, damn. Good!’ We miss you, Joplin, wherever you are.”
In 1970 Gahr shot Janis Joplin for the cover of Rolling Stone, and also snapped the cover of her classic posthumous LP Pearl. These candid snapshots were taken by David Gahr at the Chelsea Hotel in June 1970, just four months before her death at the age of 27.
(Photos by David Gahr)
Amazing Photographs Showing Life in Japan during the Late 1940s
After Japan’s surrender in World War II, the country rapidly changed from an imperial nation under an emperor, to a democratic and demilitarized state.
Much of Japan lay in ruins after the war, devastated by air raids and the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet the country’s economy grew so fast that by 1964, Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games. Japan adopted a new, progressive constitution, allied with the United States and enshrined limits on the use of military force.
These amazing photographs were taken by an American lieutenant colonel in Counter Intelligence operations stationed in Kumamoto during the American occupation of Japan after World War II.
31 Beautiful Photos Showing Women’s Fashion during the 1950s
65 Celebrity Photos That Were The Last Known To Be Taken Before They Died
This photo of Robin Williams with his monkey, Crystal, was posted by to his Instagram on his birthday, 20 days before he died. Williams had been misdiagnosed as having Parkinson’s Disease but actually suffered from a type of dementia that led to severe paranoia in the days before his death. He committed suicide by hanging at the age of 63.
This is one of the last photos of the lead singer of Queen, taken in 1991. Until the very end, Freddie denied rumours about having AIDS, preferring to avoid the inevitable media circus and concentrate on his career as best he could. The day before his death he released the following statement : “Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with me, my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue.” Less than 24 hours later he died from bronchopneumonia, that was brought on by having AIDS.
This photo of Carrie Fisher was taken by a fan in London the day before she boarded a flight to Los Angeles. On board the flight she suffered a heart attack and passed away in hospital four days later.
This is the last known photo of Nicola Tesla. On 7th January 1943, Tesla died alone in the New Yorker Hotel. The inventor, physicist, and futurist was best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. By the end of his brilliant and tortured life, he was penniless and had become a vegetarian living on only milk, bread, honey, and vegetable juices. Tesla spent days in a park surrounded by the creatures that mattered most to him—pigeons—and his sleepless nights working over mathematical equations and scientific problems in his head.
The December 7th 2015 premiere of his musical, ‘Lazarus,’ at the Theatre Workshop in New York would turn out to be David Bowie’s final public appearance. Bowie had been battling liver cancer for over a year, and by this late stage was aware that it was terminal. His final album ‘Blackstar’ was full of references to death and he had appeared to have accepted and come to terms with his own mortality, with a humour and grace that many of us can only hope to emulate.
This photo of a smiling and seemingly happy Chester Bennington was taken just days prior to his passing. On July 20, 2017, Bennington was found dead at his home in California, having committed suicide by hanging. Bennington had always been open about his struggles with addiction and depression, but those close to him were shocked by his suicide. The day after Cornell’s memorial, Bennington tweeted that he was “feeling very creative” and had written six new songs. Around the same time, he told a friend, Rene Mata, “We have to stick together, and we have so much to live for.” Bennington was just 41 years old at the time of his death.
This photo of Jimi Hendrix with his favourite guitar ‘Black Betty’ was taken on September 17th, 1970, by his girlfriend Monika Danneman in the garden behind her apartment. Hendrix died the next day from a barbiturate-related asphyxia in London. He is said to have choked on his own vomit after taking a mixture of drugs, including a large dose of sleeping pills. There is no indication to suggest that Hendrix’s death was a suicide, despite media speculation that it was.
The man who shot John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, is captured getting an autograph from the Beatles star. After signing the album for him, Lennon asked, “Is this all you want?” Chapman smiled and nodded in agreement. Four hours later, as Lennon was returning to his residence from a recording studio, Chapman dropped onto one knee and fired five bullets into Lennon’s back from close range. Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital soon after.
This is Alan Rickman looking well in his last ever photograph before losing his battle with cancer. Rickman had been diagnosed with terminal cancer of the pancreas in August 2015, something he kept in private until his death on 14th January 2016.
This photo of Heath Ledger is from his last film ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.’ It was to be his last role, just a few days later he was found dead in his New York apartment after suffering an accidental overdose from prescription medication on January 22nd, 2008.
This photo of Muhammad Ali was taken on May 22nd, 2016, by his daughter Hana. Ali was hospitalized on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as “fair”, it worsened, and he died the following day at age 74 from septic shock. Ali had suffered the effects of Parkinson’s disease since 1984, but remained active in civic and political causes throughout and up until his death.
This photo of Anne Frank was taken in 1942, and is one of the last images of her alive. Frank died in March 1945 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after her and her family were discovered and arrested on August 4th, 1944. She is pictured with her sister, Margot.
This photo of Christopher McCandless was found in his undeveloped camera, having ventured into the Alaskan wilderness in solitude. He died of starvation in August 1992, after he had set out along an old mining road known as the Stampede Trail with minimal supplies, hoping to live simply off the land. His story would later be told in the book and then movie, Into the Wild.
This is one of the last photos taken of Steve Jobs before his death in October 5th, 2011 at his home in California. He died due to complications arising from a relapse of his previously treated pancreatic cancer. His family was at his side while he passed away, his final words were said to be, “oh wow, oh wow, oh wow.” Jobs is buried in an unmarked grave at Alta Mesa Memorial Park.
This photo shows Marilyn Monroe with jazz pianist Buddy Greco in August 1962, just days before her death. She was found dead in her Los Angeles home by her psychiatrist, having experienced various mental health problems including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and chronic insomnia for many years. Her death was officially ruled a probable suicide due to the large amount of barbiturates she had ingested, previous overdosing and being prone to mood swings and suicidal ideation.
This photo of James Dean at a gas station was taken the day that he died. Dean was a keen driver and loved race cars. He died when he crashed the Porsche in this photo, swerving to avoid an oncoming car, on September 30, 1955. Curiously, when Dean introduced himself to British actor Alec Guinness during an encounter in Hollywood, he asked him to take a look at the car. Guinness thought the car appeared “sinister” and told Dean: “If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.” This happened on September 23, 1955, seven days before Dean’s death.
The photo on the left shows the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. standing with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3rd, 1968. A day later he was assassinated in approximately the same place by James Earl Ray, although there are many conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination. The photo on the right was taken directly after the shooting. King was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where doctors opened his chest and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m on April 4th, 1968.
This photo of Amy Winehouse was taken in London on July 12th, 2011. She died at her home on July 23rd 2011, with the coroner’s inquest reaching a verdict of accidental alcohol poisoning. Winehouse’s blood alcohol content was more than five times the legal drink-drive limit, with the unintended consequences of such potentially fatal levels being her sudden death. Her brother, Alex Winehouse, revealed her battles with eating disorders. “She suffered from bulimia very badly. That’s not, like, a revelation – you knew just by looking at her… She would have died eventually, the way she was going, but what really killed her was the bulimia… I think that it left her weaker and more susceptible. Had she not had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger.”
This photo of John F. Kennedy was taken just before his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with Kennedy’s assassination, which he denied. Oswald was himself killed soon after. The case has led to myriad conspiracy theories that continue to circulate to this day.
This photo of Micheal Jackson was taken during rehearsals for upcoming sold out shows, two days before his death. Jackson went into cardiac arrest after a case of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication at his home in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009. He was pronounced dead in a nearby hospital after multiple failed attempts to resuscitate him. His personal physician was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 and served a two-year prison sentence, having previously administered a cocktail of anti-anxiety drugs to Jackson that led to his death. Jackson had intended to perform a series of comeback concerts to over one million people at London’s O2 Arena from July 2009 to March 2010.
This photo of Leonard Cohen was taken on Oct 13th, 2016 at the launch of his final album ‘You Want It Darker’ in L.A. He died peacefully during his sleep on November 7th, with cancer said to be a contributing cause.
This photo of Anton Yelchin was his last self portrait posted on his Instagram. Three days later on June 19th, 2016, the 27-year-old actor died in a freak car accident outside his home. Yelchin’s Jeep rolled backwards down his driveway, trapping him against a brick mailbox pillar and security fence. The Jeep crushed his lungs, and he is believed to have died within a minute of impact.
his photo of Bob Marley was taken in Munich, Germany, a few months before he died of cancer May 11th, 1981. At this point his weight was just 35 kilograms. Marley had a dark pigment melanoma, a rare form of skin cancer, under his toe that spread throughout his body and lead to his eventual passing.
This is a photo of Candy Darling on her deathbed, taken shortly before she died of lymphoma on March 21, 1974. In a letter written on her deathbed and intended for Andy Warhol and his followers, Darling said, “Unfortunately before my death I had no desire left for life … I am just so bored by everything. You might say bored to death. Did you know I couldn’t last. I always knew it. I wish I could meet you all again.” The transgender actress was best known for her role in Andy Warhol’s films, and as a muse for the band ‘Velvet Underground.’
This is a photo of Paul Walker, taken while he was leaving a charity event. Moments later the red Porsche, driven by Roger Rodas, would crash into a concrete lamp post and caught fire, killing both men. The investigation into the crash concluded that the car’s speed – between 80 mph (130 km/h) and 93 mph (150 km/h) – and age of the tyres were the primary reasons behind it.
This photo is taken from a Nirvana photo shoot about five months before Cobain died. It was the last formal photo shoot Nirvana ever did before the songwriter took his own life at the age of 27. Cobain was found with a high concentration of heroin and traces of diazepam in his body, and had a troubled history of addiction and depression. He died on April 5, 1994, having shot himself at his home in Seattle.
This photo of Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, was taken shortly before departure on an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe. On July 2nd, 1937, the plane disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean in unresolved circumstances. The mystery surrounding her disappearance, along with her celebrity status at the time, has led to a great many claims and conspiracy theories around her doomed final flight.
This photo of John Candy was taken on the set of the film ‘Wagons East.’ On March 4th, 1994 while the film was still in production, Candy suffered a heart attack in his hotel room in Durango City, Mexico. He had struggled for some years with weight-related health issues.
This photo of Lucille Ball was taken at the Academy Awards on March 29th, 1989. Ball suffered an aortic rupture on April 26th, 1989, and died at her home in Los Angeles.
This photo shows Whitney Houston seen leaving Tru Hollywood club two days before her death. On February 11th, 2012 Houston was found unconscious in Suite 434 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, submerged in the bathtub. Toxicology results revealed the presence of prescription and non-prescription drugs in her system, and the manner of her death was listed as accidental drowning. She passed away aged 48.
This photo of Jim Morrison was taken on June 28th, 1971, together with his girlfriend Pamela Courson. Morrison died of a heart failure in Paris on July 3rd in the bathtub of his apartment, allegedly of a heroin overdose although there is some uncertainty surrounding the exact cause. Morrison is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, which has become one of the city’s most visited tourist attractions.
On 31st August 1997, Diana was fatally injured in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. This photo shows her car speeding away from the Ritz in Paris At around 12:20 a.m. Princess Diana is looking back at the pursuing paparazzi. Seconds after the picture was taken the car went into the tunnel, where the driver lost control and crashed into a pillar. Diana was critically injured but died later that morning in the hospital.
This photo of Elvis Presley was taken at Graceland in the early hours of August 16th, 1977 having just visited the dentist. Later that day Presley had a heart attack and died in his bathroom, having had complications due to a drug habit and a weak heart resulting from this. He had suffered from a range of health issues brought on by his notoriously hedonistic lifestyle including drugs and an indulgent diet.
This is the last known photograph of Prince, taken outside a Walgreens pharmacy near his home in Minnesota. He spent his final hours at home alone, and was discovered unconscious in an elevator more than 13 hours after he was last seen alive. Prince died from the accidental overdose of the opioid pain medication Fentanyl, there were no signs of suicide or foul play.
This photo of Robert Kennedy was taken moments after his shooting at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles by Sirhan Sirhan on June 5, 1968. He died early the next morning. After his arrest, Sirhan said, “I can explain it. I did it for my country.” Sirhan said he was motivated to assassinate Kennedy by his support for Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
This photo of Tupac Shakur was taken moments before he was shot several times in a drive-by shooting. The shooting occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 7, 1996. Shakur died from his wounds six days later while in hospital. While allegations involving Shakur’s rival at the time The Notorious B.I.G surfaced soon after the shooting, these were never proven and the case investigating the shooting of Tupac Shakur remains unsolved.
This photo of Abraham Lincoln was taken sometime in March, 1865. Lincoln was shot in the head by well-known actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre on April 14th, 1865, in Washington DC. He died the following day. He was the first of four American Presidents to be assassinated while in office.
his photo of George Harrison was taken for the booklet of Jools Holland’s album Small World, Big Band, released in 2001. Harrison had written the song “Horse to the Water,” which featured on the album. Harrison was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1997 and treated with radiotherapy, which was thought at the time to be successful. He publicly blamed years of smoking for the illness. In 2001 he was treated for lung cancer, and passed away on Nov. 29th, 2001, in Los Angeles.
This the very last picture of River Phoenix, taken 2 days before his death. On the evening of October 30th, 1993, Phoenix was to perform with his close friend Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, at a Hollywood nightclub partly owned at the time by actor Johnny Depp. During the early morning hours of October 31st, 1993, Phoenix suffered a drug overdose, collapsed outside and convulsed for over five minutes. Toxicology studies showed high concentrations of morphine and cocaine in his blood, as well as other substances in smaller concentrations. The cause of death was listed as acute multiple drug intoxication.
This photo was taken at Bill Paxton’s last public appearance, the 2017 NAACP Awards. He is pictured with his co-star from the movie ‘Training Day,’ Justin Cornwell. Two weeks later, on February 25th, 2017, Paxton died at the age of 61 from a stroke, a result of complications following heart surgery.
This photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt was taken on April 11th, 1945. The next day, April 12th, Roosevelt suffered a stroke and passed away, one of eight American presidents that have died while in office. Roosevelt’s declining physical health had been kept secret from the general public, and his death was met with shock and grief.
This photo of Brittany Murphy shows her walking the red carpet on December 3rd, 2009 in what was her last public appearance. Soon after, on December 20th, she died of a cardiac arrest after collapsing in her bathroom, with causes believed to be acute pneumonia and severe anaemia as well as multiple drug intoxication. Murphy had been taking a range of over-the-counter and prescription medications, with the most likely reason being to treat a cold or respiratory infection. All of the drugs were legal and the death was ruled to be an accident.
This is the last known photo of Vladimir Lenin, taken in May, 1923. He had suffered three strokes by this time and was completely mute. He passed away on January 21st, 1924 aged 53. The official cause of death was recorded as an ‘incurable disease of the blood vessels,’ and while there have been speculations that he had died of complications from syphilis, these rumours are unsubstantiated.
This is one of the last photos taken of James Gandolfini, dining in Rome and enjoying the company of his family while on vacation. He died soon after on June 19th, 2013, of a heart attack in his hotel after a day of sight seeing in the city.
his photo of Benazir Bhutto was taken moments before her death on December 27th, 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Standing out of the bulletproof car to wave to the surrounding crowds, Bhutto was fatally injured when a man standing close to the car fired three gunshots at her, and then detonated a suicide vest packed with ball bearings.
This is last known photo of Hugh Hefner, taken on August 6th, 2017. Hefner died at his home in Los Angeles on September 27, 2017, after a cardiac arrest. He is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, in a crypt beside Marilyn Monroe. “Spending eternity next to Marilyn is an opportunity too sweet to pass up,” Hefner had said in 2009.
This photo of Frank Zappa is a still from the last video interview that he ever conducted. Zappa was diagnosed with prostate cancer and passed away on December 4th, 1993, and is buried in an unmarked grave at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
This photo of Cliff Burton was taken backstage at the Solnahallen Arena in Sweden on September 26th, 1986. Burton died the next day after the band’s tour bus crashed while driving to their next gig. Burton was thrown through the window of the bus, which fell on top of him. Reportedly, attempts were made to rescue him from underneath the bus by lifting it with a crane, but the crane slipped, and the bus crashed down on top of Burton a second time. Band members and onlookers have given different accounts of whether Burton died upon first impact or when the bus came down again, but the promising young star died at the scene.
This photo of Joan Rivers was taken the night before she underwent a surgery whose complications would ultimately claim her life. On August 28th, 2014, Rivers stopped breathing while undergoing what was scheduled as a minor throat procedure. Investigations later concluded that the clinic had made a number of mistakes both before and during the procedure, and that Rivers’ death was preventable.
This picture of Babe Ruth, taken at Memorial Hospital on July 29th 1948, is believed to be the last picture of the baseball idol. Ruth had been diagnosed with cancer and died on August 16th, 1948, in New York.
This photo of Dale Earnhardt was taken just before what would turn out to be his final race. He passed away from injuries suffered when he crashed into a wall on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 on February 18th, 2001.
This photo of Cory Monteith was posted to Twitter on July 11th 2013, two days before he died. On July 13th, Glee star Monteith was found in his room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver, having died from “a mixed drug toxicity” consisting of heroin and alcohol. His death appeared to have been accidental.
This photo of Garry Shandling was tweeted by Kathy Griffin, his friend and Larry Sanders Show co-star, just four days before his passing. Shandling died on March 24th, 2016, from a heart attack.
This photo of Paramahansa Yogananda was taken at a dinner on the day of his death. Yogananda died of heart failure while giving a famous speech at the dinner on March 7th, 1952 in Los Angeles. The Indian guru and yogi introduced Kriya Yoga and the power of meditation to many in the western world through his book Autobiography of a Yogi.
This photo of Fidel Castro was taken 10 days before he died at the age of 90. He is being presented with a portrait of himself as a young revolutionary by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang. Cuban state television announced that Castro had died on the night of November 25th, 2016, with the cause of his death undisclosed.
This photo of Andy Kaufman is believed to be one of the last taken of him before he died from an extremely rare type of lung cancer. Kaufman passed away at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles on May 16th, 1984, after many attempts to find a cure, including natural medicine, psychic surgery and radiotherapy.
This photo of Margaret Thatcher was taken at her 87th birthday dinner in October, 2012. She died of a stroke on April 8th, 2013 in London. She had been in poor health after a series of smaller strokes in 2002 led to dementia, and had largely retired from public life. Thatcher had served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.
This photo of Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G, leaving a party on March 9th, 1997, was the last picture ever taken of him. At around 12:45 a.m while driving back to his hotel from the party, he stopped at a red light. The rapper was shot in the chest four times in a drive-by shooting. Wallace was rushed to hospital, but he was pronounced dead soon after.
This is the last known photo of Tiny Tim, taken minutes before he collapsed and died following his last performance on November 30, 1996. After a few bars, he suddenly cut the song short. The audience applauded as Tiny mumbled “God bless” and stumbled away from the microphone. He collapsed into the arms of his wife, and died of a heart attack soon after.
This photo of Keith Moon was taken on September 6th, 1978, at a party before the premiere of ‘The Buddy Holly Story’. Moon died of an overdose of Heminevrin, a drug intended to help Moon cut down on his alcohol intake, the next day at his home in London. Moon had been trying to curb his excessive behaviour, but had been exceeding his prescribed dose of Heminevrin the same way he abused other substances. One of rock music’s greatest ever drummers died aged just 32.
This photo of Jenni Rivera was taken and posted to Instagram, moments before takeoff on a flight from Monterrey International Airport, Mexico, on December 9th, 2012. The plane, a 43-year-old Learjet 25 (a small business jet), had a history of fuel system problems and crashed 10 minutes after take off, killing everyone on board.
This photo is possibly the last one taken of The Ultimate Warrior alive. According to reports, Warrior clutched his chest and collapsed outside of a hotel in Arizona on April 8th, 2014. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at age 54. Warrior’s colleagues said Warrior appeared frail during WrestleMania weekend, and said that he was sweating profusely and breathing heavily backstage. An autopsy revealed Warrior died of a heart attack caused by atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Originally named James Brian Hellwig, he had legally changed his name to Warrior in 1993. This one-word name appears on all legal documents pertaining to Warrior, and his children carry the Warrior name as their legal surname.
This photo of Adolf Hitler was taken around two days prior to his death. He is standing outside of his Berlin bunker, looking at the aftermath of a bomb strike with his adjutant, Julius Schaub. Hitler would be found dead in his bunker by other members of the Nazi party on April 30th 1945, having killed himself by biting down on a cyanide capsule while shooting himself in the head.
This photo of Ryan Dunn was posted to Twitter just hours before his death. Dunn died in an alcohol-related car accident on June 20th, 2011, in Pennsylvania. Investigations suggested the car had been travelling at between 132 and 140 miles per hour (212 and 225 km/h) in a 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) zone.
This photo of Mitch Lucker was taken two hours before he died from injuries sustained after a motorcycle accident in Huntington Beach, California, on November 1st, 2012. Lucker had posted the photo himself, dressed up as a skeleton and with the caption ‘The dead are living.’
30 Amazing Photos of London Street Children From the Early 1900s
Around 1900, photographer Horace Warner took a series of portraits of some of the poorest people in London – creating relaxed, intimate images that gave dignity to his subjects and producing great photography that is without comparison in his era.
