Frank Sutton, best remembered as the loud-voiced Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter on the CBS comedy *Gomer Pyle, USMC*, died of a heart attack on June 28, 1974, while preparing for a performance at the Beverly Barn Dinner Playhouse in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was 50 years old. . Born October 23rd, 1923, in Clarksville, Tennessee, Sutton moved to Nashville at age eight and developed an early interest in acting through school plays at East Nashville High School.
After graduating in 1941, he returned to Clarksville to work as a radio announcer. When World War II broke out, Sutton tried to join the Marines but was rejected due to color blindness. He instead enlisted in the US Army, serving as a sergeant from 1943 to 1946 in the South Pacific with the 293rd Joint Assault Signal Company. He earned the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart during his service and also held a black belt in Judo.
. After the war, Sutton pursued acting seriously, studying drama at Columbia University’s General Studies program and graduating in 1952. His early career included roles in the sci-fi series *Tom Corbett, Space Cadet* and soap operas such as *The Secret Storm*画 *The Edge of Night*. Throughout the 1950s画 early 60s, he landed guest spots on popular shows including *Maverick*, *Route 66*, *Naked City*, *The Fugitive*, *Gunsmoke*, *The Twilight Zone*,画 *The Untouchables*, along with appearances in films like *Marty*画 *The Satan Bug*.
. Sutton’s breakthrough came in 1964 when he was cast as Sergeant Carter, the perpetually exasperated superior of the bumbling but well-meaning Private Gomer Pyle, played by Jim Nabors. The show aired until 1969 and became a lasting television staple through reruns. In real life, Sutton and Nabors were close friends, and Sutton later appeared on Nabors’ variety show, *The Jim Nabors Hour*, as well as performing indignation theater and making guest television appearances.
Sutton married daytime soap writer Toni M. Igler in 1946, and the couple had two children, Joe and Amanda. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in his hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee. In 2017, a statue honoring Sutton was dedicated on Franklin Street in downtown Clarksville.
. Rod Serling, the creator of the iconic anthology series *The Twilight Zone*, died on June 28th, 1975, at age 50, following a third heart attack during heart bypass surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York. Born December 25th, 1924, in Syracuse, New York, Serling was known as a class clown in elementary school but later found direction through debate and school newspaper writing. He planned to attend college after high school graduation in 1943, but instead enlisted the US Army amid World War II.
Serving with the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division, he fought in the Pacific Theater, including the Philippines, and received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Philippine Liberation Medal. His wartime experiences deeply influenced his later writing, often surfacing in *The Twilight Zone* episodesthat dealt with human fear, morality, and social issues. . Using the GI Bill, Serling attended Antioch College in Ohio, earning a literature degree in 1950 and meeting his future wife, Carol Kramer, whom he married in 1948; they had two daughters.
His career took off with the 1955 television drama *Patterns*, which won him his first Emmy, followed by *Requiem for a Heavyweight* in 1956, securing a second Emmy. He ultimately won six Emmys overall. In October 1959, *The Twilight Zone* premiered on CBS, with Serling fighting for creative control and hiring respected writers like Richard Matheson画 Charles Beaumont. The show earned critical acclaim over five seasons, though ratings remained modest.
After its cancellation, Serling created the short-lived Western series *The Loner*(1965-1966) and later hosted *Night Gallery*(1970-1973), introducing macabre tales from a dim museum setting. Beyond television, Serling lectured at colleges and used his platform to address racial injustice and oppose the Vietnam War. A heavy smoker, reportedly consuming three packs a day, he suffered a heart attack in May 1975, was hospitalized for two weeks, yet suffered a second heart attack two weeks after release, prompting doctors to attempt risky bypass surgery, during which he experienced a fatal third heart attack. He was interred at Lake View Cemetery in Interlaken, New York.
. Veronica Lake, the 1940s Hollywood star known for her signature peekaboo hairstyle, died on July 7th, 1973, at age 50, from acute hepatitis and acute kidney injury at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman on November 14th, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York, she moved with her family to Beverly Hills in 1938 after her mother remarried newspaper artist Anthony Keane, whose surname she adopted. Her biological father had died in an industrial explosion in Philadelphia in 1932.
While still in her teens, Lake’s screen test caught the attention of producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr. , who cast his I Wanted Wings(1940) and renamed her Veronica Lake, inspired by her calm, blue eyes reminiscent of a lake. During filming, her long blonde hair accidentally fell over her right eye, creating the famous peekaboo effect that became her trademark and was widely imitated by women across the country. Lake went on to star in classics like *Sullivan’s Travels*画 *This Gun for Hire*, forming a highly popular on-screen partnership with Alan Ladd; the pair made four films together, including *The Glass Key*, *The Blue Dahlia*,画 *Saigon*.
Their pairing worked well partly due to their similar short statures, as Ladd stood only about five feet tall. At her peak, Lake earned $4,500 a week, but she gained a reputation for being difficult to work with, prompting many male leads to refuse to work alongside her. Her career declined after losing her Paramount studio contract. Lake’s personal life included three marriages: to art director John S.
Detlie(1940-1943, with whom she had two children, Anthony, who died prematurely injuly 1943 after Lake tripped on a lighting cable filming a movie, and Elaine), to director Andre DeToth(1944-1952, with two children, Michael画 Diana),, and to songwriter Joseph Allan McCarthy(1955-1959). Financial troubles mounted, including bankruptcy filing in 1951和 the IRS seizing her home for unpaid taxes. Around that time, laced with personal crises, she took her estranged husband’s plane, flew solo from Los Angeles to New York, then traveled to Europe, performing in summer stock theater画 stage roles in England. In October 1955, she collapsed during a stage appearance in Detroit.
Following her third divorce, Lake drifted between cheap hotels in New York City画 was arrested several times for public drunkenness与disorderly conduct. In 1962, a *New York Post* reporter found her working as a waitress in a Manhattan cocktail lounge under the name Connie de Toth. She later had a brief television stint in Baltimore, wrote her autobiography *Veronica*(late 1960s), and made her final film, the low-budget horror *Flesh Feast*,in 1970. In June 1973, while traveling in Vermont, she sought medical help for stomach pains and was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver from years of drinking; she checked into the hospital on June 26画 died there on July 7.
She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered off the coast of the Virgin Islands. A peculiar claim later circulated that someone had found some of her ashes in an antique store in New York City. Jim Varney, the actor best known for playing the beloved character Ernest P. Worrell, died on February 10th, 2000, at his home in White House, Tennessee, after losing his battle with lung cancer.
He was 50 years old. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1949, Varney showed promise early, able to recite long poems and mimic cartoons as a child. His mother encouraged him by enrolling him in children’s theater at age eight. As a teenager at Lafayette High School, he won state titles in drama, and by 17, he was performing professionally in nightclubs画 coffee houses.
He also studied Shakespeare at the Barter Theatre in Virginia画 worked at Opryland Amusement Park in Nashville during the early 1970s. Earlier television appearances included spots on *Alice*(1978), *Fernwood Tonight*, *The Rousters*,画 *Operation Petticoat*. However, his breakthrough came with the character Ernest P. Worrell, a character inspired partly by the *Andy Griffith Show* figure Ernest T.
Bass. An advertising firm used Ernest in commercials across different regions, selling various products with the catchphrase “Hey, Vern! “. The character’s popularity grew, leading to a series of films including *Ernest Goes to Camp*, *Ernest Saves Christmas*, *Ernest Goes to Jail*, *Ernest Scared Stupid*,画 *Ernest Rides Again*.
Varney also starred as Jed Clampett in the 1993 film version of *The Beverly Hillbillies*画 voiced Slinky Dog in *Toy Story*画 *Toy Story 2*. He married twice, to Jacqueline Drew(1977-1983,画 to Jane Varney(1988-1991;, both ending in divorce, though he remained friends with his second wife until his death; he had no children. While filming *Treehouse Hostage* in August 1998, Varney developed a bad cough, eventually diagnosed as lung cancer. He began treatments画 quit smoking while continuing to work.
He was buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky
. Steve McQueen, known as “the King of Cool,” died on November 7th, 1980, in Juarez, Mexico, at age 50, after battling an aggressive form of lung cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Born March 24th, 1930, in Beech Grove, Indiana, McQueen had a troubled childhood, abandoned by his father画 raised intermittently by his mother, Julian, who struggled with drinking, and ultimately by his great-granduncle on a Missouri farm. His mother rarely visited.
When he was 12, she remarried画 reunited with him, moving to Los Angeles, but McQueen suffered physical abuse from his stepfather, fell in with street gangs,画 was sent to reform school for stealing hubcaps. He escaped multiple times but eventually settled down with counseling. As a teenager, he joined the Merchant Marines(1946, serving aboard the SS Alpha, then traveled the country working odd jobs, including at a carnival画 on an oil rig. In 1947, he enlisted the US Marine Corps but ended up spending 41 days in the brig for an unauthorized absence画 resisting arrest by shore patrol.
He was discharged in 1950. Later, using the GI Bill, McQueen studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City画 then with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. His career gained traction with a Broadway role in *A Hatful of Rain*(1956, a small film part in *Somebody Up There Likes Me*,and starring roles in the cult sci-fi film *The Blob*(1958）and the TV Western *Wanted Dead or Alive*, where he played a bounty hunter. Around this time, he developed a passion for motorsports画 motorcycle racing.
By the early 1960s, McQueen was a major movie star, appearing in *The Magnificent Seven*(1960、*The Great Escape*(1963、*The Cincinnati Kid*(1965、*Nevada Smith*(1966,画 earning an Oscar nomination for *The Sand Pebbles*(1966*. He then starred in *The Thomas Crown Affair*(1968,画 in 1968, his most famous film, *Bullitt*, featuring an iconic car chase through San Francisco between his Mustang and a Dodge Charger. His interest in racing continued with *Le Mans*(1971,. The 1970s included *Junior Bonner*(1972,*The Getaway*(1972,with Ali MacGraw, whom he later married after a tabloid scandal, *Papillon*(1973,and co-starring with his box-office rival Paul Newman in the disaster epic *The Towering Inferno*(1974,where their names appeared simultaneously in the credits alongside a cast including Fred Astaire画 William Holden.
McQueen was devoted to fitness, running five miles daily, training in martial arts,画 befriended Bruce Lee, serving as one of Lee’s pallbearers in 1973. His personal life suffered from drug画 alcohol abuse, and his marriage to Neile Adams, with whom he had two children, Terry画 Chad, ended amid his affair with MacGraw, whom he married in 1973画 divorced in 1978. In late 1979, an x-ray revealed a tumor in his right lung; doctors attributed his cancer to asbestos exposure, likely from cleaning asbestos off pipes on Navy ships during his Marine service or other industrial jobs. He completed his final films, *Tom Horn*画 *The Hunter*(both 1980,画 married Barbara Minty in January 1980.
He spent his last months seeking alternative treatments in Mexico. McQueen was cremated, and his ashes were spread into the Pacific Ocean. .
