May 18

Elisha Cook, Jr., a character actor, appeared in more Film Noir (21) than any other actor or actress.  He died on May 18, 1995 at the age of ninety-one.

I think his most famous role was as Wilmer, a gunman working for the "Fat Man" in the 1941 classic, The Maltese Falcon.  He had many scenes opposite Humphrey Bogart's character.

In the 1952 psychological thriller, Don't Bother to Knock, Cook plays Eddie, an elevator operator who works in a hotel.  He introduces his niece Nell (played by Marilyn Monroe) to some hotel guests to be their child's babysitter.  

In the 1953 western film, Shane, Cook plays Torrey, a hot-tempered ex-Confederate homesteader.  He is taunted into drawing his gun by Wilson (a professional gunfighter played by Jack Palance), who then shoots Torrey dead.

Arthur O'Connell was another character actor.  He died on May 18, 1981 at the age of seventy-three.

In the 1955 romantic comedy-drama film, Picnic, he plays Howard the boyfriend of Rosemary (Rosalind Russell).  Howard also befriends Hal (William Holden).

Again in 1955, O'Connell portrays Gordon Walker, a Human Resources executive in the film The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.  He interviews the character played by Gregory Peck.

Anatomy of a Murder is a 1959 American legal drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger.  O'Connell portrays Parnell, an assistant to the character portrayed by James Stewart.

Both Jim Brown and Ernie Davis, football stars at Syracuse University who wore the same number 44, died on May 18.  Brown died in 2023 at the age of eighty-seven, while Davis died in 1963 at the age of twenty-three.  I saw them both play football in person.