Errol Flynn (1909-1959)

Birth name: Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn
Birthdate: Sunday, June 20th, 1909
Location: Hobart, Tasmania

Died: Wednesday, October 14th, 1959
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Cause of death: Heart attack

Best known for: The ultimate swashbuckling Hollywood hero who portrayed big screen idols with natural flair, but whose silver screen persona became off-screen reality, leading to a sorry decline. He hit the big time in the title role of Captain Blood (1935) and starred in smash after smash in films such as The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Hawk (1940) and They Died with Their Boots On (1941).

Errol wasn't even a decade into his Hollywood matinee idol stardom when the outbreak of World War Two - or rather, the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 which forced the United States to get involved with the European conflict - signalled the beginning of the end. In August 1942, aged just 33, Errol failed to pass the requisite medical tests to allow him to enlist in the US Army - the results of his physical exam showed he had multiple cardiac problems, recurrent malaria (contracted in Papua New Guinea in the 1920s), chronic back pain (which he soothed by taking morphine and heroin), chronic tuberculosis (not helped by his smoking) and various venereal diseases (Errol was a notorious bed-hopper).

Cyd Charisse (1922-2008)

Birth name: Tula Ellice Finklea
Birthdate: Wednesday, March 8th, 1922
Location: Amarillo, Texas, USA

Died: Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Cause of death: Heart attack

Best known for: American actress and dancer known for her endless legs and elegant style opposite the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in a number of musicals in the 1940s and 50s, including Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The Band Wagon (1953). She was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1958 for the previous year's Silk Stockings, losing out to Kay Kendall and Taina Elg for Les Girls.

Cyd cottoned on quickly to the decline of the blockbuster MGM musicals in the late 1950s, and retired from dancing after playing showgirl Vicky Gaye in 1958's Party Girl opposite Robert Taylor. Instead she concentrated on straightforward acting, in romantic comedies and the occasional serious role too - Black Tights (1961), The Silencers (1966), Maroc 7 (1967) and Warlords of the Deep (1978).

Rock Hudson (1925-1985)

Birth name: Roy Harold Scherer Jr
Birthdate: Tuesday, November 17th, 1925
Location: Illinois, USA

Died: Wednesday, October 2nd, 1985
Location: Beverly Hills, California, USA
Cause of death: AIDS

Best known for: All-American leading man whose most successful period was the 1950s and 60s in romantic comedies with Doris Day. His legacy is perhaps a little overshadowed by his high profile death from AIDS at a time when the disease was little understood, but his bravery in being open about his diagnosis helped pave the way for more reasoned discussion of how to tackle the disease. Rock was nominated for an Oscar in 1957 for his part in the previous year's Giant (Yul Brynner won for The King and I). However, he did win four Henrietta Awards at the Golden Globes for Male World Film Favourite between 1959-63 (with a fifth nomination in 1966, losing to Paul Newman), and was voted America's biggest box office star in both 1957 and 1959.

Joyce Grenfell (1910-1979)

Birth name: Joyce Irene Phipps
Birthdate: Thursday, February 10th, 1910
Location: London, UK

Died: Friday, November 30th, 1979
Location: London, UK
Cause of death: Eye cancer

Best known for: Much-loved comedy actress and writer who was something of a pioneer in the UK for performing her own comedy songs and monologues, something Victoria Wood would popularise in the 1980s and 90s. Joyce's best known acting work is for her role as Ruby Gates in the St Trinian's series of British comedy films. She was awarded an OBE in 1946.

After being such a mainstay of British comedy films in the 1950s and 60s, it's somewhat surprising to learn that Joyce's final acting credit was actually a whole 15 years before she died. In 1964 she played Hortense Astor in The Yellow Rolls-Royce, a Golden Globe-winning film starring Ingrid Bergman and Rex Harrison. Joyce's role was modest, but at the age of just 54, she had so much more to offer which the acting profession ultimately missed out on.

Charles Bronson (1921-2003)

Birth name: Charles Dennis Buchinsky
Birthdate: Thursday, November 3rd, 1921
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

Died: Saturday, August 30th, 2003
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Cause of death: Alzheimer's Disease and pneumonia

Best known for: Actor known for his tough guy action roles, weather-beaten good looks and, in later years, a move toward more violent films such as the Death Wish franchise.

Charles had always excelled in action roles in both the movies and on TV, whether it was serial Westerns or blockbuster war movies, but in the 1970s, as he reached his 50th year, this speciality for the genre only grew when he signed with United Artists to make several action pictures, beginning with 1972's Chato's Land. These films were somewhat churned out, but were no less successful, and one of these films was Death Wish, released in July 1974 and directed by Michael Winner. Charles played a New York architect turned vigilante called Paul Kersey who hits the streets and murders random drop-outs after the murder of his wife (Hope Lange) by "street punks".

Peter Cushing (1913-1994)

Birth name: Peter Wilton Cushing
Birthdate: Monday, May 26th, 1913
Location: London, UK

Died: Thursday, August 11th, 1994
Location: Canterbury, UK
Cause of death: Prostate cancer

Best known for: Charismatic English character actor who made a name for himself in the horror film genre, principally with Hammer Studios in the Dr Frankenstein role. Peter, who was awarded an OBE in 1989, also took the legendary roles of Doctor Who in two 1960s movie adaptations, and the austere Grand Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). In 1956 he won a BAFTA for Best TV Actor.

Batman TV Series (1966-68) - The Bad Guys

First broadcast: Wednesday, January 12th, 1966 on the US ABC network
Final broadcast: Thursday, March 14th, 1968 on the US ABC network
Description: Camp, colourful live action series based on the characters from the DC Comics universe with its tongue thrust firmly into its cheek. There was a regular roster of guest villains for Batman and his Boy Wonder sidekick Robin to face each week, as well as a wealth of one-off guest villains, often played by popular performers of the day. It ran for 120 episodes over three series.

• A film version often referred to as Batman: The Movie was released in July 1966, just one month after the end of the first television series. It starred all of the main series villains (ie, Penguin, Joker, Catwoman and Riddler) working together to defeat the Caped Crusader. It had a budget of $1.54m but only made $1.7m at the box office and through North American rentals.

Click here for the Good Guys: Batman (Adam West), Robin (Burt Ward), Batgirl (Yvonne Craig), Commissioner Gordon (Neil Hamilton), Chief O'Hara (Stafford Repp) and Aunt Harriet (Madge Blake)

But now, some of the bad guys...

Batman TV Series (1966-68) - The Good Guys

First broadcast: Wednesday, January 12th, 1966 on the US ABC network
Final broadcast: Thursday, March 14th, 1968 on the US ABC network
Description: Camp, colourful live action series based on the characters from the DC Comics universe with its tongue thrust firmly into its cheek. There was a regular roster of guest villains for Batman and his Boy Wonder sidekick Robin to face each week, as well as a wealth of one-off guest villains, often played by popular performers of the day. It ran for 120 episodes over three series.

• A film version often referred to as Batman: The Movie was released in July 1966, just one month after the end of the first television series. It starred all of the main series villains (ie, Penguin, Joker, Catwoman and Riddler) working together to defeat the Caped Crusader. It had a budget of $1.54m but only made $1.7m at the box office and through North American rentals.

Click here for some of the Bad Guys: The Joker (Cesar Romero), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin, John Astin) and Catwoman (Julie Newmar, Lee Meriweather, Eartha Kitt).

But here's the good guys...