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Lovable, laid-back Jesse White made acting seem fun and easy. He was born Jesse Marc Weidenfeld in Buffalo, New York, and was raised in Akron, Ohio. He made his first amateur appearance on the local stage at age 15. Before breaking into professional theater in the 1940s, he held many different jobs, including selling beauty supplies and lingerie. Jesse got his start in vaudeville and burlesque, and eventually reached Broadway in 1943. The following year, he played the rascally, gruff-mannered asylum attendant in Harvey, starring Frank Fay. This role made him famous and he went on to appear with James Stewart in the movie version (Harvey (1950)). The 1950s was a decade of transition to the new medium of television. As a television regular, he did something that had never been done before - he appeared regularly in two series at the same time. In Private Secretary (1953) and The Danny Thomas Show (1953). This record stood for 13 years until Leo G. Carroll appeared simultaneously on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966)).

One of Jesse's earliest television appearances is a 1961 episode of the sci-fi series Once Upon a Time (1961) in which he played, prophetically enough, The Repairman. Jesse would make guest appearances on dozens of television series, and appear in 60 movies, almost always playing a lovable rascal. Some of his last movie appearances were in the sci-fi movies Pajama Party (1964) and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966). Then the 50-year-old Jesse seized a terrific career opportunity. From 1968-1989, he would be television's second and longest running Maytag Repairman in a long series of commercials. For this, he made several hundred thousand dollars a year, for just a few days filming. Even though he was semi-retired during this time, Jesse appeared in a dozen movies, his last film being Matinee (1993), which was an homage to some of the 1950s-1960s sci-fi films of which he had been a part. Jesse always seemed to be having as much fun acting as the fans did watching him.

Jesse White died of a heart attack on January 9, 1997, only six days after his 80th birthday. He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

Ellen Beatriz Griffin Dunne was born on 28 January 1932 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. She was married to Dominick Dunne. She died on 9 January 1997 in Nogales, Arizona, USA.

Joan Blair was born on 8 June 1903 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Deadline for Murder (1946), Poppa Knows Worst (1944) and New Orleans (1947). She was married to David A. Coplin, John B. Mayes and Kubec Glasmon. She died on 9 January 1997 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Aniko Szabo was born on 12 September 1944 in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. She was an actress, known for Hannibál tanár úr (1956). She died on 9 January 1997 in Budapest, Hungary.

Maureen Roden-Ryan was born on 13 March 1904 in Dublin, Ireland. She was an actress, known for Little Miss Thoroughbred (1938). She died on 9 January 1997 in Culver City, California, USA.

On January 9, 1997 the stars shined less brightly, because of the passing of former National Theater of the Deaf actor, Mark Allen Branson. This friend to many in the Boston Deaf Community suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in his Dallas, Texas home. Mark was diagnosed this past October with lymphoma. He was having chemotherapy treatments, was doing well. Also, as many know, he had been HIV positive for 12 years, and had recently learned his viral load was at "zero."

Mark lived his life fully. He had been a teacher of the Deaf; an actor in many varied stage productions including several with Boston Theater of the Deaf, "One More Spring" and "Odyssey" with National Theater of the Deaf and his own one-man touring show, "The Trunk"; played the role of William Wilkes in the Disney movie, "Huckleberry Finn"; a presenter of acting and interpreter training workshops; taught ASL most recently at Collin County Community College (Plano, Texas); and an HIV/AIDS counselor and outreach coordinator for the Dallas Deaf/Hearing Impaired Community. He was also very involved in civic activities and served on committees that would improve Deaf individual rights and Deaf children's education.

Paulo Fortes was born on 7 February 1923 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was an actor, known for Pai Herói (1979), Os Saltimbancos Trapalhões (1981) and A Difícil Vida Fácil (1972). He died on 9 January 1997 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.