December 31st, 1930 to March 30th, 2010 "Jaime Escalante died at 79; A math teacher who challenged East L.A. students to 'Stand and Deliver'" He became America's most famous teacher after the 1988 movie portrayed his success at mentoring working-class pupils at Garfield High to pass a hard national calculus exam. He died of cancer on March 31, 2010.