Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston)
(October 1, 1938 – February 17, 2023)

(The Hollywood Reporter) – Stella Stevens,
the screen siren of the 1960s who brought
sweet sexiness to such films as The Nutty
Professor, Too Late Blues and The Ballad
of Cable Hogue, has died. According to her
son, actor-producer-director Andrew Stevens,
she died today in Los Angeles. He said “She
had been in hospice for quite some time with
Stage 7 Alzheimer’s.”

Stella Stevens and Michael Landon in an
episode of “Bonanza” on NBC.  

Stevens and Jerry Lewis from 
“The Nutty Professor” (1963).

Jo Raquel Welch (September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023

(FOXNEWS) – Actress Raquel Welch died Wednesday at her
home in Los Angeles, following a brief illness.

The superstar catapult to fame in the sixties with "Fantastic
Voyage" and "One Million Years B.C."

Welch starred alongside a few of Hollywood’s leading men
through the years, including Frank Sinatra, Robert Wagner,
James Stewart, Dean Martin and Burt Reynolds.

On February 5, 1919, Hollywood heavyweights Charlie Chaplin,
Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith joined
forces to create their own film studio, which they called the
United Artists Corporation.

United Artists quickly gained prestige in Hollywood, thanks to
the success of the films of its stars, notably Chaplin’s The Gold
Rush (1925), as well as the work of actors such as Buster
Keaton, Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson. Chaplin
directed UA films as well as acted in them, and Pickford
concentrated on producing after she retired from acting in
the 1930s. With the rise of sound during that decade, UA was
helped by the talents (and bankrolls) of veteran producers
like Joseph Schenck, Samuel Goldwyn, Howard Hughes and
Alexander Korda.

The corporation began to struggle financially in the 1940s,
however, and in 1951 the production studio was sold and
UA became only a financing and distributing facility.

From left, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin
(seated) and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. signing the original
contract that created the United Artists studio in 1919.     

Melinda Dillon (October 13, 1939 – January 9, 2023)

Oscar and Tony-nominated actor Melinda Dillon, who played
Mother Parker in “A Christmas Story,” and appeared in
“Magnolia” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,”
died Jan. 9. No mention as to the cause of her death.

Melinda Dillon with Darren McGavin, Ian Petrella, and
Peter Billingsley (1983).

1978

Cynthia Jane Williams (August 22, 1947 – January 25, 2023)

Williams was a actress and producer, known for her role
as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcom Happy Days
(1975–1979), and Laverne & Shirley (1976–1982). She also
appeared in American Graffiti (1973). She died in Los
Angeles following a brief illness.

Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall in Laverne & Shirley
(1976 – 1983)