Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Dorothy Coonan

Actress/dancer

Born - 25 November 1913, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Died - 23 September 2009

A talented dancer, Coonan quit school at 14 deternmined to break into the movies - and she did. She was just 15 when she danced in the chorus of The Show of Shows and many more early sound musicals followed, including The Kid from Spain (1932), 42nd Street (1933) and Gold Diggers of 1933. She was spotted by director William Wellman, who cast her as the urchin girl who dresses as a boy in his cult classic Wild Boys of the Road (1933). The following year she became his fifth wife and they remained married until his death in 1975. Her only subsequent feature appearance was a small role in Wellman's The Story of GI Joe (1945), although she was seen in the 1995 documentary tribute to her late husband, Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick. She had seven children and 22 grandchildren.