Anthony Perkins would be 79.
Talk about typecast! He had a steady career, playing quiet, sensitive, somewhat offbeat but likeable young men....and then came Norman Bates and Psycho...and BAM! He was never the nice, normal young man again. Psycho is usually rated at or near the top of most lists of the greatest horror/suspense films of all time. Finally figuring "if you can't beat 'em," he decided to go along with reviving the character that had forever straitjacketed him into the stereotype of wack-job and made Psycho II, III and IV in the 1980's. Tab Hunter, in his autobiography of a few years ago, spoke of his long-term love affair with the almost pathologically closeted Perkins, who died in 1992 of AIDS.
Arthur Murray, the most successful dance instructor in history, would be 116. He devised the idea of teaching dance steps with footprint diagrams sent via mail order, and within just a few years, over 500,000 dance courses were sold. He lent his name to a franchise of dance studios, which still (against all odds) still flourishes around the world to this day.
Film, radio and recording star Frances Langford would be 98. Her mellifluous voice and warm presence struck a chord with the American public during WWII and she became one of the top-selling recording artists of that era.
Heath Ledger would be 32 today, had he not tragically misjudged his drug intake. His autopsy revealed an astounding pharmacopia of drugs in his system. His death was a tragic loss, as he was just coming into his own as an artist, namely, with his astounding performances in Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight--for which he was awarded a multitude of posthumous Best Supporting Actor Awards, including the Oscar, SAG, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Awards.
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