''Variety Obituaries'' is a 15-volume series with facsimile reprints of the full text of every obituary published by the entertainment trade magazine ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' from 1905 to 1994. The first eleven volumes were published in 1988 by
Garland Publishing
Garland Science was a publishing group that specialized in developing textbooks in a wide range of life sciences subjects, including cell and molecular biology, immunology, protein chemistry, genetics, and bioinformatics. It was a subsidiary o ...
, which subsequently became part of
Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...
.
Information
Information for each deceased person can include the following:
* Date, place and cause of death.
* Birthdate and birthplace.
* Birth names, nicknames, aliases and other names used by celebrities.
* Education.
* Military record.
* Film, television and stage appearances.
* Awards.
* Career narrative.
Volumes and years covered
Indexes
Volume 11 is the alphabetical index for 1905 to 1986. It contains approximately 120,000 names. There are multiple entries for some people, so 100,000 different people is a realistic estimate.
Each of the four volumes after 1986 has its own index.
Celebrities are indexed under their birth names also. For example,
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
is also indexed as “Leach, Alexander Archibald”.
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...
is also indexed by her popular nickname “
The It Girl”. The names of living celebrities appear in the index when there are obituaries for their spouses and relatives; for example,
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
died after the reprints were discontinued, but immediately beneath his indexed name are the obituary references of nine of his relatives, as well as his masseur and his business agent.
Non-human celebrities also appear in the index, such as
Champion
A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...
(
Gene Autry’s horse) and
Bonzo the chimpanzee.
Critical evaluation
Excerpt from a review in ''
Library Journal'' by John Smothers:
:Almost since the periodical's inception, obituaries have been an important feature, and all of them (through 1986) have been gathered together here chronologically in 10 volumes, plus an index volume. The obits vary in length from one sentence to 30 paragraphs and more, with the average entry running about three paragraphs.
['' Library Journal'' review; 1989]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Variety Obituaries
Books about death
Biographical dictionaries
Variety (magazine)