Funda Gürkan (1953-1989)

Turkish adult actress.

Funda Gürkan (01.01.1953 - 27.12.1989)

Died of drug overdose, aged 36.

Inma de Santis (1959-1989)

Spanish film and television actress.

Inma de Santis (24.02.1959 - 21.12.1989)

Selected filmography: Another's Wife (1967), The Last Mercenary (1968), Goya, a Story of Solitude (1971), The Doubt (1972), Unmarried Mothers (1975).

She died in Morocco at the age of thirty following an accident while on holiday in the Sahara Desert. She was 30.

Silvana Mangano (1930-1989)

Italian film actress and model.

Silvana Mangano (21.04.1930 - 16.12.1989)

She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 1950s and '60s.

She won the David di Donatello for Best Actress three times - for The Verona Trial (1963), The Witches (1967), and The Scientific Cardplayer (1973) – and the Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress twice.

Raised in poverty during World War II, Mangano trained as a dancer and worked as a model before winning a Miss Rome beauty pageant in 1946. This led to work in films; she achieved success in Bitter Rice (1949) and went on to forge a successful career in films, working with many notable directors like Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, Alberto Lattuada, and Vittorio De Sica. Her career continued well into her 50s, with supporting roles in David Lynch's Dune (1984) and Nikita Mikhalkov Dark Eyes (1987).

Mangano was the wife of international film producer Dino De Laurentiis and had four children with him, including Veronica De Laurentiis and Raffaella De Laurentiis.

Following surgery on 4 December 1989 that left her in a coma, Mangano died of lung cancer in Madrid, Spain on 16 December 1989. She was 59.

Jock Mahoney (1919-1989)

American actor and stuntman.

Jock Mahoney (07.02.1919 - 14.12.1989)

He starred in two Action/Adventure television series, The Range Rider and Yancy Derringer. He played Tarzan in two feature films and was associated in various capacities with several other Tarzan productions. He was credited variously as Jacques O'Mahoney, Jock O'Mahoney, Jack Mahoney, and finally Jock Mahoney.

In the 1980s, Mahoney made guest appearances on the television series B. J. and the Bear and The Fall Guy. During the final years of his life, he was a popular guest at film conventions and autograph shows. Mahoney died of a second stroke at age 70 on December 14, 1989, two days after being involved in an automobile accident in Bremerton, Washington. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean.

Irene Staub (1952-1989)

Swiss actress, singer and model.

Irene Staub (1952 - 07.12.1989)

Was variously a muse, model, punk singer and escort. She was also an actor and starred in the cult 1977 lesbo-feminist piracy film Madame X- Eine Absolut Herrscherin (An Absolute Ruler).

Doors were opened for her and she led an exciting life but never really honed her craft in any one area of creativity. Fellini astutely noted of her that “Someone who burns that bright, dies young.”

Beneath her confident façade Staub was actually quite insecure and needed drugs, including heroin, to get up on stage in front of an audience. This led to a habit and three stints in rehab.

Staub died an untimely death in a motorbike crash in Thailand in 1989, aged 37. The exact circumstances of her death remain unclear.

John Payne (1912-1989)

American film actor who is mainly remembered from film noir crime stories and 20th Century Fox musical films, and for his leading roles in Miracle on 34th Street and the NBC Western television series The Restless Gun.

John Payne (23.05.1912 - 06.12.1989)

Payne attended the University of Virginia and Columbia University in New York and made his motion-picture debut in Dodsworth (1936). After working with various film companies, he joined Twentieth Century-Fox, where he starred in such musicals as Tin Pan Alley (1940), Footlight Serenade (1942), Springtime in the Rockies (1942), Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943), and The Dolly Sisters (1945). He is probably best remembered as the lawyer who defends Kris Kringle in the Christmas fantasy Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

He is probably best remembered as the lawyer who defends Kris Kringle in the Christmas fantasy Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

He later starred in a television series, The Restless Gun (1957–59). Payne appeared opposite Faye in a revival of the stage musical Good News (1973–74).

Payne died in Malibu, California, of congestive heart failure on December 6, 1989, aged 77.

Alvin Ailey (1931-1989)

American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT).

Alvin Ailey (05.01.1931 - 01.12.1989)

He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

Ailey's work fused theater, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with Black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of Black life in America. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece Revelations is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world.

On July 15, 2008, the United States Congress passed a resolution designating AAADT a "vital American cultural ambassador to the World." That same year, in recognition of AAADT's 50th anniversary, then Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared December 4 "Alvin Ailey Day" in New York City, while then-Governor David Paterson honored the organization on behalf of New York State.

Ailey died from an AIDS-related illness on December 1, 1989, at the age of 58.

Charli Waters (1962-1989)

American former porn actress.

Charli Waters (27.07.1962 - 01.12.1989)

Waters had turned to prostitution, and was murdered by a psychotic client who beat her to death. She was 27.

Mariko Shiga (1969-1989)

Japanese idol star and voice actress.

Mariko Shiga (24.12.1969 - 23.11.1989)

Shiga had a starring role as one of the children answering questions in the NHK quiz show Donna Mondai Q TV from 1984 to 1985. She performed the song Yume no Naka no Rondo, which was used as the theme song for the July 1985 OVA Magical Princess Minky Momo: La Ronde in My Dream. In 1986, Shiga played the role of Yumi Hanazono, the main character in Magical Idol Pastel Yumi. Her single, Freesia no Shōnen, was used as a theme song for the same series, and this helped her gain in popularity. After playing the role of Yumi and performing the theme song for the series, she officially made her debut as an idol singer under Warner Pioneer.

The actual debut song as a singer is the song "Dream Rondo -Rondo-" released in 1985 by Victor Music Industry (now JVC Kenwood Victor Entertainment). This song was used as the theme song for the OVA " Magical Princess Kanojo no Minkyomomo Yume no Naka no Rondo " released in July 1985 . After that, in " Magical Idol Pastel Yumi " (1986), she voiced the main character Yumi Hanazono and was in charge of the theme song " Freesia no Shounen" . ” became the format. For this reason, "Yume no Naka no Rondo -Rondo-" is now considered a pre-debut song. Shiga's only song to be listed on the Oricon Top 100 Weekly Rankings is Freesia, which ranked as high as #48 during the week of March 31, 1987.

During the promotion of her second single, she appeared as a guest on the radio program " Kenji and Yasuko 's Omoshiro Land" ( Nippon Cultural Broadcasting ). The staff will get mad at me." As she said, she had a calm voice for a female idol at the time. In April 1988, when she entered university, she faced the problem of balancing her studies and activities in the entertainment industry , and retired from the entertainment industry . In August 1989, she went to study abroad at the University of California , Riverside , in order to learn languages and jazz , which was her favorite music genre . However, at the 10th anniversary event of the founding of Studio Pierrot held in July of the same year , she temporarily returned and acted as a moderator. This is due to the fact that the production studio of "Pastel Yumi", which was the voice actor for the main character, was "Studio Pierrot", and the relationship was deep.

However, on November 23 of the same year (24th Japan time), when she went on a short trip after studying abroad, an animal jumped out in front of the car she was riding in with four friends on a freeway near Flagstaff , Arizona. In order to avoid it, he suddenly turned the steering wheel while driving at high speed, causing a traffic accident in which the car overturned. The four friends who were in the car were seriously injured, but survived, but Shiga died instantly from bruises all over her body when she was thrown out of the car. She was scheduled to return to Japan for the first time after her studies on December 3, one month before her 20th birthday. The body was cremated locally and the remains were returned to Japan in 1990 .

Jacques de Bascher (1951-1989)

French dandy, member of the jet set, and Karl Lagerfeld's companion from 1971 until his death, as well as Yves Saint Laurent's lover in 1973.

Jacques de Bascher (10.09.1951 - 19.11.1989)

Jacques de Bascher first met Karl Lagerfeld at the Nuage at the age of twenty-one. A few months later, after Jacques de Bascher resigned from Air France, they began to live together; they lived together until 1989.

Karl Lagerfeld appreciated Bascher's vast literary culture, impertinence, aristocratic appearance, and his manner of dressing. Kenzo Takada hired Jacques' brother Xavier de Bascher to be his general manager. They usually spent their time in gay nightclubs, like "Le 7".

In 1973, Yves Saint Laurent, at the time still companion of Pierre Bergé, fell in love with Jacques de Bascher. While Lagerfeld pretended he didn't notice, Yves Saint Laurent and Jacques de Bascher had an unbalanced and destructive relationship. Bergé threatened de Bascher, who put an end to this affair.

During these years, Jacques de Bascher, who did not work and was supported by Lagerfeld, fell into risky sexual practices, and eventually drugs and alcohol put him into a paranoid state. Sex was a huge part of de Bascher's life. He had relationships with both men and women. He was known for organizing orgies and an infamous BDSM party named "Black Moratorium", which was funded by Lagerfeld.

Jacques de Bascher discovered that he was HIV positive in 1984. At the end of his life, he cut himself off from everyone, unable to bear his physical decline.

He died of AIDS at Raymond Poincaré University Hospital in 1989, watched over by Karl Lagerfeld, who had an extra bed installed by his bedside. He was 38.

Rémi Laurent (1957-1989)

French actor, best known for playing the son Laurent in La Cage aux Folles.

Rémi Laurent (12.10.1957 - 14.11.1989) 

Laurent debuted in the 1976 film À nous les petites Anglaises. He was then featured in a number of popular French films in the late 1970s and most of the 1980s. He is particularly remembered in his role in the film La Cage aux Folles as Laurent, the son of Renato Baldi (Ugo Tognazzi). He also is remembered in his role as Denis Boucher in the québécois film The Plouffe Family (Les Plouffe) directed by Gilles Carle.

He died of an HIV-related illness on 14 November 1989 and is interred at Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. He was 32.

Cookie Mueller (1949-1989)

American actress, writer, and Dreamlander who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters' early films, including Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living.

Cookie Mueller (04.03.1949 - 10.11.1989)

Mueller died from AIDS-related pneumonia on November 10, 1989, at Cabrini Medical Center in New York City, aged 40.

Telma Costa (1953-1989)

Brazilian Jazz singer and brother Elcio Costa on guitar

Telma Costa (17.11.1953 - 07.11.1989)

Died of heart disease, aged 35.

Jackson Hughes (1959-1989)

American actor and model.

Jackson Hughes (26.09.1959 - 06.11.1989)

He whose one-man show “Our Man in Nirvana” just last month completed a six-month run at Hollywood’s Theatre Theater.

Died Monday in Los Angeles of the complications of AIDS. He was 30.

Yusaku Matsuda (1949-1989)

Japanese actor.

Yusaku Matsuda (21.09.1949 - 06.11.1989)

In Japan, he was best known for roles in action films and a variety of television series in the 1970s as well as a switch to a wider range of roles in the 1980s.

He is considered one of Japan's most important film actors. Several manga, anime and video game characters are based on him, including Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star, Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Aokiji in One Piece, Wabisuke in Summer Wars, and Jubei Yagyu in Onimusha 2.

In 1988, Matsuda was diagnosed with bladder cancer, before shooting began for Black Rain. Matsuda refused chemotherapy, as he thought it would affect his ability to act in the film. After his death, his first wife, who had experienced him ignoring an ear infection until it required surgery to prevent deafness, wrote that she suspected that he did not actually realize the seriousness of his illness. During the filming, he was urinating blood. By the time shooting finished, in March 1989, his cancer had spread to his spine and lungs, making it inoperable. On October 7, 1989, Matsuda was hospitalized. A month after he was admitted, Matsuda died at 6:45 PM JST on November 6 at the age of 40, at a Tokyo hospital.

Mihaela Runceanu (1955-1989)

Romanian pop singer and vocal techniques teacher.

Mihaela Runceanu (04.05.1955 - 01.11.1989)

She became a successful vocal singer, her voice being highly appreciated in Romania.

Many of her songs were hits, and she released two albums, Mihaela Runceanu (1987) and Pentru voi, muguri noi (1989), the latter only one day before she was murdered in her home in Bucharest. She was 34.

Veri Knotty (1946-1989)

American former stripper and porn star.

Veri Knotty (11.06.1946 - 01.11.1989)

In the mid 60's, she moved to New York where she became a Playboy Bunny at a club there.

She later became a go-go dancer and a stripper. While stripping, she gained fame for her trademark 4-inch labia that she could tie in a square knot. Around 1975, she was discovered by porn director Carter Stevens who gave her the stage name Veri Knotty based on her trademark and began making porn films and loops as well as posing for magazines such as Cheri, High Society, among others.

According to Carter Stevens, Veri passed away from liver failure from heroin use in early 80's. She was 43.