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Maudet Christian (b. 1904-08-04 / d. 1994-07-08) alias Christian-Jaque
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64
Born 1938-04-01. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer
Peter Miles was the stage name of American child actor Gerald Richard Perreau-Saussine. After his film career ended, he turned to writing under the pen name Richard Miles
65
Born 1926-05-26. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Stroke
Osteoarthritis (which led to a hip replacement operation in 1976, the first of several), depression, bursitis, ulcers, rheumatism and a renewed dependence on alcohol and illegal drugs (primarily cocaine), throughout late 1974 and early 1975.
47
Born 1918-11-01. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident
He was a British sports car racing engineer and driver best known for his motorsport career in the US and with American teams on the international scene. He is an inductee to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. The Ford J-car was intended to be the successor to the all-conquering Ford GT40 Mk.II and, despite reliability problems, showed potential in the springtime Le Mans trials. After the death of Walt Hansgen in a J-car Ford while testing at Le Mans in April, the decision was made to shelve the J-car and focus on the proven Mk IIs, and little development was done for the rest of the 1966 World Sports Car Championship season. Finally, in August 1966, Shelby American resumed testing and development work with Miles serving as primary test driver. The J-car featured a breadvan-shaped rear section that experimented with Kammback aerodynamic theories, as well as a revolutionary (but untested) honeycomb panel design that was supposed to both lighten and stiffen the car, but the design remained unproved with high-speed prototype sports cars. After almost a day of testing at Riverside International Raceway in the brutally hot Southern California desert summer weather, Miles approached the end of the track's 1-mile (1.6 km), downhill back straight at top speed (200-plus mph) when the car suddenly looped, flipped, crashed and caught fire. The car broke into pieces and ejected Miles, killing him instantly. The car had suffered precisely the sort of crash damage the honeycomb construction was designed to prevent. As a result, the aerodynamics of the J-car were greatly modified to correct the rear-end lift generated at race speeds. Ford officials, under pressure after the second of two fatal accidents in the program in five months, also ordered a NASCAR-style steel tube rollover cage to be installed in future versions of the car.] The death of 47-year-old Miles, following that of 46-year-old Hansgen, led Ford to favour younger drivers in subsequent race entries. The significantly revised J-car, renamed the Ford Mk IV, won the only two races in which it was entered: the 1967 Sebring (Fla.) 12 Hours, and the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. The steel roll cage in the Mk IV (mandated as a direct result of Miles's death) probably saved the life of Mario Andretti, who crashed violently during the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans but escaped.