Timeline Wednesday 27 March 2002

Events on Wednesday 27 March 2002 4

• 1906 – 2002 Billy Wilder (1906-2002) Died 27 March 2002, aged 95 Billy Wilder was an Austrian-born writer-director who fled Nazi Germany and became one of Hollywood's sharpest talents. His films spanned film noir, drama and comedy, including Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot and The Apartment. He won six Academy Awards and was known for acid wit on screen and off.
• 1908 – 2002 Milton Berle (1908-2002) Died 27 March 2002, aged 93 Milton Berle was a vaudeville and radio comedian who became American television's first major star as host of the Texaco Star Theater from 1948. His broad, costume-heavy slapstick drew such large audiences that he was nicknamed Mr. Television and credited with helping sell sets. His career on stage and screen spanned some eight decades.
• 1935 – 2002 Dudley Moore (1935-2002) Died 27 March 2002, aged 66 Dudley Moore rose through the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe and a long comic partnership with Peter Cook before Hollywood stardom in the films 10 and Arthur. A gifted jazz pianist, he often performed music alongside his acting. His final years were affected by the degenerative brain disease progressive supranuclear palsy.
• 2002 Passover massacre and Operation Defensive Shield Israel launches its largest West Bank offensive since 1967 A Hamas suicide bomber killed 30 people at a Passover meal in a Netanya hotel on 27 March 2002, the deadliest attack of the Second Intifada. Two days later Israel began Operation Defensive Shield, reoccupying West Bank cities and besieging Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah. Heavy fighting in the Jenin refugee camp became the subject of lasting dispute.