Obituaries: January 2012

30 January 2012

Camilla Williams

Camilla Williams, 92, American opera singer, complications from cancer. Died 29 January 2012.

Camilla Williams passed away peacefully at her Bloomington, Indiana home, surrounded by family and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, attorney Charles T. Beavers.

Photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 31 May 1946.

29 January 2012

Former Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Dead at 93

Former Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, who helped rewrite Italian politics after a devastating corruption scandal in the 1990s, has died at age 93.

No cause of death was given.

After working as a lawyer to help anti-Fascists jailed in World War II, Mr. Scalfaro entered politics and helped cobble together Italy's first constitution as a republic.

He was elected president in 1992 just as news of a widespread corruption scandal involving bribery and illegal political party funding emerged. The scandal wiped out the traditional two-party system in favor of today's multi-party coalitions.

Current Italian President Giorgio Napolitano praised Mr. Scalfaro as a leader of moral integrity who confronted one of the most difficult periods in Italian history.

Photo of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro courtesy of Presidenza della Repubblica.

Ian Abercrombie

Ian Abercrombie, 77, English actor (Seinfeld, Wizards of Waverly Place, Birds of Prey). Died 26 January 2012 in Hollywood, California, USA.

In his last role he portrayed Ganthet in Green Lantern: The Animated Series, completing his work on the Cartoon Network show just before his death.

Abercrombie died from a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Gladys.

28 January 2012

Robert Hegyes

Died 26 January 2012. Robert Hegyes, 60, American actor (Welcome Back, Kotter, Cagney & Lacey), heart attack.

After suffering from chest pains at his Metuchen, New Jersey home, Hegyes died from an apparent heart attack at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey.

(Photo by David Levy: Robert Hegyes, following a speaking engagement at Rowan University (his alma mater) in Glassboro, New Jersey. 29 October 2008.)

24 January 2012

Famed Greek Director Theo Angelopoulos Killed During Movie Filming

Award-winning Greek film director Theo Angelopoulos died Tuesday after being hit by a motorcycle while filming scenes on his latest movie.

Angelopoulos was rushed to an Athens hospital where he died hours later of head injuries. He was 76 years old. The motorcyclist was an off-duty policeman.

Angelopoulos was Greece's most honored contemporary director, winning numerous awards at European film festivals.

He is best known for his 1998 film, Eternity and a Day, which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

At the time of his death, he was directing The Other Sea, a film about the impact of Greece's economic crisis on its citizens.

John Levy

Died 20 January 2012. John Levy, 99, American jazz double-bassist and manager. He died in Altadena, California.

Photography by William P. Gottlieb: John Levy (bass), Jimmy Jones (piano), and (possibly) Al Casey (guitar). Pied Pipers, NYC, September 1947.

20 January 2012

Remembering Blues Legend Etta James

by Doug Levine

Legendary blues singer Etta James, whose influence spread to generations of pop, rock and rhythm-and-blues performers, died Friday, 20 Jan., in California from complications from leukemia. She was 73 years old. The award-winning singer was best known for her moving rendition of the blues standard, “At Last.”

When Etta James sang Mack Gordon and Harry Warren’s “At Last,” the dozens of other versions by everyone from Nat “King” Cole to Beyonce seemed to pale in comparison. It was Etta’s signature song that launched her acclaimed career that spanned more than 50 years.

Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, California. She began formal music lessons at age five and sang solos in a choir at her Baptist church. Following a stint as a gospel singer on a local radio broadcast, she formed an all-girl vocal trio called The Creolettes. She was only 16 when the group, under the direction of producer Johnny Otis, changed its name to The Peaches and signed with Modern Records. Their first hit was Etta’s own composition, “The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry).”

“The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry)” was a Number One hit on the Rhythm and Blues charts in 1955. Soon after, Etta James and her group The Peaches parted ways, allowing her solo career to flourish.

Etta signed with Chess Records in 1960 and began recording for its subsidiary labels Argo and Cadet. Her debut album, “At Last”, yielded six Top 20 R&B singles, all of which crossed over onto the pop chart.

She continued her streak of hit singles and albums throughout the 1960s. By 1968, when she released her best-selling pop tune, “Tell Mama,” her repertoire grew to include soul, rock, jazz, duets and string orchestrations.

Etta’s struggle with drug addiction began in the 1960s. She was in and out of a psychiatric hospital for years but remained committed to her singing career. She conquered her drug problem at age 50, after seeking treatment at a substance abuse center.

Etta James won multiple Grammy Awards, including Best Traditional Blues Album, “Blues To The Bone” in 2004. She earned a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and her hit songs “At Last” and “The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry)” were both inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. She was also the winner of more than 15 Blues Music Awards.

Other accolades included her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Photo by John K. Addis: Etta James at the 2006 Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan.

US Blues Legend Etta James Dies of Leukemia

American blues singer Etta James, best known for her early-1960s hit “At Last,” has died of leukemia.

The singer's manager said the 73-year-old James died Friday at a hospital in California with her husband and two sons by her side. Her manager described her death as a “tremendous loss” for her fans around the world, saying her music “defied category.”

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, James won four Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement Grammy. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Despite her professional successes, the singer's life was beset with problems. Her struggle with drug addiction nearly derailed her career, leading to multiple hospital and rehab stays. In 1972, she and her husband were arrested for heroin possession. He took responsibility, serving a long jail sentence.

Etta James used her soulful voice to make famous songs such as “All I Could Do Was Cry” and “I'd Rather Go Blind,” but “At Last” was the song that became her signature.

Written in 1941, the love ballad first became a hit for Glenn Miller and his orchestra before James remade it. Her jazz-infused version has been featured in countless weddings, films and commercials.

U.S. President Barack Obama even danced to the song with his wife, Michelle, at his inaugural ball in 2009. The choice of contemporary R&B singer Beyonce to perform it angered James, who said Beyonce had “no business” singing her song. But James had supported a film the year before in which Beyonce played her and sang the song.

(Photo by Roland Godefroy: Etta James in concert. France, 1990.)

11 January 2012

Bridie Gallagher

Bridie Gallagher, 87, Irish singer. Gallagher lived in Belfast for most of her life.

Bridie Gallagher (7 September, 1924 – 9 January, 2012) was affectionately known as "The Girl from Donegal". She was "Ireland's first truly international pop star".

Gallagher died at her home in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 9 January 2012 at the age of 87, with her burial taking place in her native Creeslough.

(Photo: Irish singer Bridie Gallagher, seen in the Kentucky Irish-American newspaper, 1959.)

Former Soviet Spy Vartanian Dies

Photo: Gevork Vartanian was awarded with the Hero of the Soviet Union medal, a gold star with ribbon.

Gevork Vartanian, a former Soviet intelligence agent who helped derail a Nazi plot to assassinate allied leaders during World War Two, has died. He was 87 years old.

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service made the announcement Wednesday, saying Vartanian died Tuesday in Moscow.

Vartanian, whose father was a Soviet agent of Armenian descent based in Iran, began working for Soviet intelligence at the age of 16. In 1943, he participated in foiling a Nazi plot to assassinate Soviet leader Josef Stalin, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill when they held a conference in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

He had earlier obtained information about graduates of a British intelligence school in Tehran who were sent to the Soviet Union, allowing Soviet authorities to catch them.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent his condolences to Vartanian's widow, praising him as a legendary and brilliant personality who became a part of the country's history.

09 January 2012

President of Guinea-Bissau Dies in France

Nick Loomis
Dakar, Senegal

Malam Bacai Sanha, the president of Guinea-Bissau, died Monday in a Paris hospital. The West African nation has a long history of internal conflict and now faces a troubling power vacuum just two weeks after a suspected coup attempt.

Guinea-Bissau's national radio announced that President Sanha had died in a Paris from a protracted and undisclosed illness, though it is thought to be related to diabetes. The 64-year-old was was ill for much of his term and spent much of it on hospital visits to Europe and neighboring Senegal.

Since achieving independence from Portugal in 1974, the country has been plagued by corruption, coups and assassinations. Sanha was voted into power in 2009 after his predecessor, Joao Bernardo Vieira, was assassinated. His death comes only two weeks after a suspected coup attempt for which more than 100 military personnel, including high-ranking officials, have been arrested.

Alex Vines is a researcher with Chatham House, an policy institute for international affairs. He said the suspected coup attempt illustrates the fragility of the country and its government.

“The country remains one of the more unstable in sub-Saharan Africa and the death of the president hasn't helped this at all. Although he's been ill, it just adds more uncertainty to an already-unpredictable, uncertain country,” said Vines.

Vines said there probably will be no further coup attempts in the short term. Instead, he expects political posturing on the part of hopeful successors looking to grab power legitimately and peacefully. But in a place like Guinea-Bissau, a peaceful transition of power is rare and, according to Vines, was one of Sanha's greatest achievements.

“It's a shame that President Sanha's health was what it was. It think Sanha's winning the presidential election and the peacefulness that followed it was important. We'll have to see now if a successor can continue that legacy,” said Vines.

The head of the National Assembly, Raimundo Pereira, is expected to take control of the interim government until new elections can be organized - which the constitution says should take place within 90 days.

Bulgarian-Born Pianist Alexis Weissenberg Dies at 82

Bulgarian-born French pianist Alexis Weissenberg, whose passion for music saved him and his mother from a World War II concentration camp, has died at the age of 82.

Weissenberg died Sunday in Lugano, Switzerland, where his family had settled. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for years.

Bulgarian Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov described Weissenberg as “one of the greatest piano players of the 20th century.”

An only child, Weissenberg was born into a Jewish family in Sofia in 1929. When he and his mother tried to flee German-occupied Bulgaria for Turkey during World War II, they were captured and thrown into a concentration camp.

Weissenberg's musical talent saved his and his mother's lives. A German officer who enjoyed listening to the three-year-old play the accordion helped them escape.

After the war, Weissenberg moved to New York to study at the Juilliard School of Music. Weissenberg's musical talent quickly catapulted him to fame. He performed with renowned musical composers, including Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein.

Weissenberg eventually settled in France and became a French national.

(Photo: Euroarts)

Dave 'Omar' Alexander

Dave Alexander, 73, American blues singer and pianist. Died 8 January 2012 (age 73) in Marshall, Texas, United States.

Dave Alexander aka Omar Sharriff, Omar Hakim Khayam (10 March 1938 – 8 January 2012) was an American Texas blues singer, and pianist.

In February, 2011, Alexander relocated to Marshall, Texas where he lived until his death.

On 8 January 2012, Alexander was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Marshall, Texas. He was 73 years old.

Photo by Mike Shea: Dave Alexander performing at the 2007 San Francisco Blues Festival.

02 January 2012

Final Exits, 29-31 December 2011

Eva Zeisel, Hungarian industrial designer, potter and centenarian. Photo taken in 2001 by Daniel Wickemeyer.

Obituaries for 29-31 December 2011

29
* Paul Antaki, 84, Egyptian Melkite Catholic hierarch, Auxiliary Archbishop of Antioch (1968–2001).
* Rosman García, 32, Venezuelan baseball player (Texas Rangers), traffic collision. (Spanish)
* Leopold Hawelka, 100, Austrian coffee house owner (Café Hawelka).
* Aamir Hayat Khan Rokhri, 55, Pakistani politician, heart attack.
* Svein Krøvel, 65, Norwegian cinematographer. (Norwegian)
* Tyron Perez, 26, Filipino actor (StarStruck), shot.
* Amichand Rajbansi, 69, South African politician, Minister without portfolio (1984–1988), Leader of the Minority Front (since 1994).

30
* Ted Beard, 90, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox).
* John Buchanan, 58, American fine arts museum director (De Young), cancer.
* Mike Colalillo, 86, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient.
* George Daldry, 88, Australian fitness trainer.
* Dezső Garas, 77, Hungarian actor.
* Muhammad Hamidullah Khan, 74, Bangladeshi politician.
* Kim Geun-tae, 64, South Korean politician, Minister of Health and Welfare (2004–2006), pneumonia and kidney failure.
* Ricardo Legorreta, 80, Mexican architect, UIA Gold Medal recipient, cancer. (Spanish)
* Doug Sellars, 50, Canadian television executive (Fox Sports Media Group, CBC Sports), heart attack.
* Vasily Starodubtsev, 80, Russian politician, Governor of Tula Oblast (1997–2005), member of the Gang of Eight (1991).
* Mirko Tremaglia, 85, Italian politician, Minister without portfolio (2001–2006).
* Eva Zeisel, 105, Hungarian-born American ceramic artist and designer.

31
* Murray Barnes, 57, Australian footballer (Sydney Hakoah), national captain (1980–1981).
* Rex Jackson, 83, Australian politician and convicted criminal, New South Wales MLA for Bulli (1955–1971) and Heathcote (1971–1986).
* Glenn Lord, 80, American editor.
* Jerzy Kluger, 92, Polish businessman, bronchitis.
* Milton Wong, 72, Canadian businessman and philanthropist, pancreatic cancer.

Former Macedonian President Gligorov Dies

The first democratically elected president of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov, has died in Skopje. He was 94 years old.

Mr. Gligorov died in his sleep Sunday night, surrounded by his family.

Once a top communist official, he became president of Macedonia in 1991 when it was still part of Yugoslavia. He peacefully led the country to independence, avoiding the wars that raged in other Yugoslav republics.

Under Mr. Gligorov's guidance, Macedonia joined the United Nations as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia — a concession to neighboring Greece, which sees the use of the name Macedonia as laying future territorial claims to its own northern province of Macedonia. The dispute continues to this day.

Mr. Gligorov was seriously injured in a 1995 assassination attempt, suffering head injuries and losing an eye in a car bomb explosion. No suspects were ever arrested, but he continued his presidency until his term ended in 1999, becoming the world's oldest head of state. He later became a respected author.

A private family funeral will take place in Skopje on Tuesday. Mr. Gligorov is survived by a son and two daughters.

01 January 2012

Writers: Final Exits of 2011

Movies and TV: Final Exits of 2011

Music: Final Exits of 2011