Mae Questel
NEW YORK, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Mae Questel, the cartoon voice of Betty Boop
and Popeye's girfriend Olive Oyl, has died at the age of 89 in New York.
Questel died Sunday at her home. The native of the South Bronx began
performing in vaudeville when she was 17, after winning a local contest
to find the girl most like Helen Kane, known as the boop-oop-a-doop queen.
In 1931, animator Max Fleischer spotted her doing her boop-oop-a-doop
routine and signed her as the voice for the cartoon character Betty
Boop. Her Betty Boop recording of "On the Good Ship Lollipop" sold two
million copies.
Carl Perkins
JACKSON, Tenn. Jan. 19 (AP) - Carl Perkins, a rock 'n' roll pioneer
whose song "Blue Suede Shoes" and lightning-quick guitar playing influenced
performers including Elvis Presley and the Beatles, died today. He was 65.
Perkins died at 10:30 a.m. at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital from
complications related to three strokes suffered in November and December,
family spokesman Albert Hall said. The tall, broad-shouldered Perkins was
among the founders of "rockabilly," a cross of rhythm-and-blues and country
music that came out of Sun Records in Memphis in the mid 1950s.
(He paid his dues; playing the blues; he claims that he wrote the Blue Suede Shoes.)
Jack Lord
HONOLULU (AP) -- Jack Lord, whose gruff portrayal of a Hawaiian police
chief helped turn "Hawaii Five-0" into one of television's longest
running shows, died Thursday evening of heart failure. He was 77.
Lord died at his Honolulu home with his wife, Marie, at his side.
"Jack loved acting and he loved these islands," Mrs. Lord said in a
statement. "Through all his years he was blessed with kindness, affection
and support of many fans and friends. He always appreciated that and never
forgot it."
Lord portrayed Steve McGarrett, the no-nonsense head of a fictitious
Hawaii state police force, for 12 years, ending in 1980. The CBS show Lord
produced and sometimes directed was seen in 80 countries with a weekly
audience estimated at more than 300 million.
Carl Wilson
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Carl Wilson, a founding member of The Beach Boys and
lead guitarist for the seminal surf band, has died from complications of lung
cancer, his family said Saturday. He was 51.
Wilson, who also had brain cancer, died Friday evening in Los Angeles
with his family at his side. "Even though he was diagnosed with cancer last
year and going through treatment for a year, he was real fighter," said publicist
Alyson Dutch. "He participated in the entire summer tour this year." Ms. Dutch
said family members, including brother and fellow Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson,
would not be available for comment.
Despite battling cancer, he completed the band's 36th annual tour this
summer, Ms. Dutch said. In addition to his brother, survivors include his wife
Gina; and sons Jonah and Justyn.
Harry Caray
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) - Harry Caray, who took millions of fans
out to the ball game on radio and television, died Wednesday of brain
damage from a heart attack. In a career spanning almost 60 years, the
often off-beat Hall of Fame broadcaster covered baseball's greats from
Musial to Mays to Maddux. Holy Cow! as he would say. Caray suffered
a heart attack last Saturday at a restaurant while with his wife. He
died of brain damage caused by the attack, said Harlan Corenman,
Eisenhower Medical Center spokesman.
Henny Youngman
NEW YORK, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Comic legend Henny Youngman, known as the
King of One-liners, died Tuesday in New York City. His personal assistant
said Youngman had been suffering from pneumonia since returning from a
series of performances in San Francisco just after Chistmas. He had been
hospitalized at Mount Sinai Medical Center since Jan. 2. He was 91.
He opened many of his pithy observations on the human condition with
his most famous line, "Take my wife... Please," followed by a cutting
joke. Youngman is survived by his daughter, Marilyn and his son, Gary.
Funeral services were set for Friday in Manhattan.
Lloyd Bridges
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Lloyd Bridges, whose half-century in acting
ranged from the drama of "High Noon" to the daft "Airplane!" to the
adventure of TV's "Sea Hunt," has died, his agent said Tuesday. He was 85.
Lee Stollman, a spokesman for the William Morris Talent Agency, said
Bridges died in Los Angeles, but had no other information. The tall,
craggy-faced, blond actor enjoyed amazing resiliency throughout his
career, even surviving the film industry's political blacklist. He
also spawned a new generation of actors. Sons Beau and Jeff, who started
acting as youngsters on "Sea Hunt," became stars in their own right.
Dr. Benjamin Spock
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Dr. Benjamin Spock, the pediatrician whose common-sense
theories of child care helped guide parents around the world during the last
half-century, has died. He was 94. Spock died Sunday in San Diego, according
to Dr. Stephen Pauker, who had been Spock's physician for 12 years. "He died
with his family at home," Pauker said this morning from his home in Wellesley,
Mass. He did not give the cause of death. Spock had suffered a heart attack,
stroke and several bouts of pneumonia.
Spock's "Baby and Child Care," first published in 1946, was the bible of
parents in the baby boom that followed World War II. "Trust yourself," Spock
told parents. "You know more than you think you do."
Bella Abzug
NEW YORK (AP) -- Former Rep. Bella Abzug, the raspy-voiced, hat-wearing
feminist who fought for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam, died
today. Ms. Abzug, 77, died of complications following heart surgery at
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, according to Harold Holzer, her
spokesman. She had been hospitalized for about 3 1/2 weeks.
Ms. Abzug, a labor and civil rights lawyer and peace activist before
she went into politics, became a lightning rod for publicity. She often said
that the adjectives would have been different if she had been a man --
"courageous" instead of "abrasive," "forceful" instead of "strident."
"There are those who say I'm impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, profane,
brash and overbearing," she wrote in her 1972 book, "Bella!" "Whether I'm
any of these things, or all of them, you can decide for yourself. But
whatever I am -- and this ought to be made very clear at the outset --
I am a very serious woman."
Pol Pot
Pol Pot, ousted leader of the Khmer Rouge and the architect of
Cambodia's "killing fields" regime, has died, evading prosecution
for the deaths of as many as 2 million of his countrymen.
Octavio Paz
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Octavio Paz, Mexico's foremost literary figure
and the winner of a Nobel Prize for poetry and essays mapping the
labyrinths of the Mexican mind, has died. He was 84.
Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo announced Paz's death early
Monday as Zedillo was returning from the Summit of the Americas
in Chile, Mexican news media reported. The president did not give
a cause of death or say when the author died.
In 1982, Paz won the Miguel Cervantes Prize, Spain's most
prestigious award. In 1987, he took the T.S. Eliot Award in
Chicago. Three years later, he captured the Nobel Prize for
literature.
James Earl Ray
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- James Earl Ray, the confessed
assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. who later
proclaimed his innocence but never provided hard facts of an alleged
conspiracy, died Thursday. He was 70. Ray, who fought without success
to have his name cleared, spent his last days in a coma at a Nashville
hospital. He had been in and out of intensive care for more than a year
with cirrhosis, a chronic liver disease. Authorities found Ray's
fingerprints on the rifle, a scope and a pair of binoculars. He pleaded
guilty in March 1969 and was given a 99-year prison sentence.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
MIAMI (AP) -- Environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the
feisty, tireless grande dame of the Florida Everglades who
led the fight to preserve her "river of grass," died today.
She was 108. She was considered the authority on the delicate,
troubled ecosystem, which dominates the southern third of Florida
and is home to plants and animals found nowhere else. She had no
close surviving relatives. A memorial commemoration of her life's
work will be held at the park at a time in the future, Muir said.
Frank Sinatra
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- "Ol' Blue Eyes," Frank Sinatra, is
being mourned Friday around the world by millions of fans after
his death from a heart attack. The Sinatra family plans to hold
a private funeral. The time and location of the service have
not been disclosed.
Sinatra, 82, was pronounced dead Thursday at 10:50 p.m. in
the emergency room of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his
publicist, Susan Reynolds. Sinatra's family, including his wife,
was with him when he died.
Sinatra was a master craftsman and ranked as one of the
most influential singers in this country's history. In more
than 200 albums, his music led the evolution of Big Band to
vocal American music.
Barry Goldwater
(CNN) - Republican conservative patriarch Barry Goldwater, a
former Arizona senator and presidential candidate, died Friday at
age 89, his wife said. "Mr. Republican" to many in the GOP, Barry
Goldwater was "a conservative's conservative." Outspoken and earthy,
he was never afraid to call things as he saw them.
Goldwater was first elected to the Senate from Arizona in 1952.
Twelve years later, he was ready for bigger things, becoming his
party's candidate for president 1964. During the campaign he was
accused by Democrats of extremism. "Extremism in defense of freedom
is not a vice. Extremism in the defense of liberty is a virtue."
Barry Goldwater always said it was an honor to serve in Congress
and run for president. But he said his greatest compliment came from a
policeman who told him: "Senator Goldwater, you always made me feel
proud to be an American."
Roy Rogers
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Roy Rogers, the singing "King of the Cowboys"
whose straight-shooting exploits in movies and television made him
a hero to young fans and No. 1 at the box office, died Monday July
6th. He was 86.
His death at his home in Apple Valley, California, was announced
in a statement by his spokeswoman, Jane Hansen. He suffered from
congestive heart failure, the statement said.
Rogers was a Depression-era truck driver, peach picker and country
singer who in 1937 landed a $75 a week job as singing cowboy at
Hollywood's Republic Studio. In 87 modest-budget films, armed with
a guitar, six-shooters and charm, he rose in salary and popularity
to "King of the Cowboys."
Robert Young
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Robert Young, whose death was announced
Wednesday July 22, was equally at home playing a debonair lover, a
caring father or a dedicated doctor, but the man behind the actor was
insecure and fought a lifelong battle with depression and alcoholism.
Best known for his lead roles in the long-running television shows
"Marcus Welby, M.D.," and "Father Knows Best," Young died Tuesday night
aged 91, according to a statement issued by his publicist. He died of
respiratory failure at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Westlake,
Bernstein Communications said.
"The world has lost one of its last real leading men, and I have
lost my father," daughter Betty Lou Gleason said.
E.G. Marshall
NEW YORK (AP) -- E.G. Marshall, the Emmy Award-winning character
actor who played so many politicians, lawyers and judges that he was
sometimes confused with the real thing, has died. He was 84.
Marshall, who had been sick for a short time, died Monday night at his
home in suburban Mount Kisco, said his agent, Clifford Stevens.
He starred as lawyer Lawrence Preston in "The Defenders," a popular
CBS courtroom drama series that ran from 1961 to 1965. His portrayal of the
father in a father-and-son law firm won him Emmys in 1962 and 1963.
His movie credits included "The Caine Mutiny," "The Silver Chalice,"
"The Left Hand of God," "Twelve Angry Men," "Cash McCall," "Town Without
Pity," "Compulsion," "The Bridge at Remagen" and "Superman 2."
Akira Kurosawa
TOKYO (CNN) -- The international film community
on Monday mourned the loss of Akira Kurosawa,
hailing him as a cinematic "giant" and one of the
most influential directors in the history of the industry.
Kurosawa, who won three Academy Awards during
a 30-film career that melded art and cinema and
earned him acclaim as one of Japan's most
famous cultural exports, died of a stroke on
Sunday at his Tokyo home at the age of 88.
George Wallace
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (CNN) -- Former Alabama Governor
George C. Wallace, the fiery populist and one-time segregationist
who made two serious bids for the American presidency before
being felled by a would-be assassin's bullet, died Sunday. He was 79.
Wallace died at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery after suffering
septic shock from what hospital officials described as an "overwhelming"
bacterial blood infection. He was admitted to the hospital Thursday
morning with breathing difficulties and high blood pressure. The former
four-term governor had had a series of medical maladies since his
legs were paralyzed in an assassination attempt in 1972. He also
suffered from Parkinson's disease.
Tom Bradley
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Tom Bradley, the Texas sharecropper's son who
rose from the police ranks to become Los Angeles' first black mayor,
died today. He was 80.
Bradley, who was mayor from 1973 to 1993, died at 9 a.m., Los Angeles
County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke announced at a supervisors meeting.
Mayor Richard Riordan's office confirmed the death but had no immediate
details. Bradley had suffered a paralyzing stroke in April 1996 while
recuperating from heart surgery.
Gene Autry
(CNN) -- Just two days after his 91st birthday, singer and actor Gene Autry
has died. He passed away at his Southern California home, a spokeswoman said.
Born September 29, 1907, on a ranch in Tioga, Texas, Autry was working
as a railroad telegrapher when Will Rogers heard him sing, and advised him
to try show business. It was good advice. Autry parlayed a $5 mail order
guitar into a career as Hollywood's first singing cowboy, appearing on radio,
television and the movie screen. And his talent for performing made him his
fortune. At his death he had acquired vast real estate holdings, several
broadcast stations, and the American League Anaheim Angels baseball team.
Roddy McDowall
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Roddy McDowall, a child actor in Britain who
became a film star in "How Green Was My Valley" and "Lassie Come
Home" and as an adult proved a versatile performer in theater,
television and films that included "The Planet of the Apes," died
Saturday after being diagnosed in April of cancer. He was 70.
Clark Clifford
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Clark M. Clifford, the consummate Washington
insider and a top adviser to four Democratic presidents, died early
this morning. Clifford, who was 91, had been in ill health in
recent years -- a period that saw his once distinguished reputation
tarnished by an international banking scandal.
No one in Washington, no one in the country, operated so close
to power for so long. Clifford, defense secretary in the Johnson
administration, was a powerful attorney and an adviser who
whispered into the ears of Harry S. Truman, Lyndon Johnson, John F.
Kennedy and Jimmy Carter.
They were long gone from the scene when Clifford became
embroiled in a scandal that dragged his name into headlines again
from mid-1991 until late 1993 in the BCCI banking case. Criminal
charges were dropped in 1993 because of his age and ill health, and
the last of several civil suits prompted by the case were settled
last month.
Bob Kane
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Bob Kane, creator of the "Batman" comic series,
died of natural causes on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 83 years old.
Legions of fans have followed the capers unravelled by his
characters Batman and Robin since the series was created in 1939.
The creation evolved into a 1960s television show, and a recent
series of Batman movies. Kane worked as a creative consultant on
the movies, and has published an autobiography titled "Batman and Me."
Kane died at Cedars-Sinai hospital with his wife at his side,
according to his attorney, Jim Leonard. He is survived by his wife,
a daughter from a previous marriage, and a grandson. A private service
will be held in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon; a public memorial is
planned for a future date.
Weeb Ewbank
OXFORD, Ohio (AP) -- Weeb Ewbank, the winning coach in two of
pro football's most famous championship games, died Tuesday at his home.
He was 91. The cause of death was not released immediately. The Hall of Fame
coach, who attended last Sunday's Jets-Colts game in Indianapolis, was
hospitalized briefly last year for treatment of a heart problem.
Ewbank was the only coach to win titles in the AFL and NFL. He coached
Joe Namath and the New York Jets over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts
16-7 in the third Super Bowl in 1969, giving the AFL its first title over
the more established NFL. In 1958, Ewbank coached Johnny Unitas and the
Colts to a 23-17 overtime win over the New York Giants for the NFL championship.
Often called "The Greatest Game Ever Played," it was credited with making pro
football one of the most popular American sports.