Final Exits, 8-14 September 2011

Old-time and Bluegrass musician Wade Mainer (Appalachian banjo picker/singer) in his later years. (Photo: National Endowment for the Arts)

Obituaries for 8-14 September 2011

8
* David Bitner, 62, American political leader, Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida (2011), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
* Mary Fickett, 83, American actress (All My Children), complications of Alzheimer's disease.
* Silvia Glogner, 70, Austrian-born German actress. (German)
* Jesse Jefferson, 62, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays), prostate cancer.
* Marcos Plonka, 71, Brazilian comedian and actor. (Portuguese)
* Sir Hilary Synnott, 66, British diplomat.
* Võ Chí Công, 99, Vietnamese politician, President (1987–1992).
* Emilianos Zacharopoulos, 96, Turkish-born Greek Orthodox hierarch, Metropolitan (since 1959). (French)

9
* Werner Geeser, 63, Swiss Olympic cross-country skier, cancer. (German)
* Laurie Hughes, 87, English football player (Liverpool).
* William Lesick, 88, Canadian politician, MP for Edmonton East (1984–1988).
* Herbert Lomas, 87, British poet.
* Ignace Matondo Kwa Nzambi, 79, Congolese Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Basankusu (1974–1998) and Molegbe (1998–2007).
* Khairy Shalaby, 73, Egyptian writer.

10
* David E. L. Choong, 82, Malaysian badminton player.
* Graham Collier, 74, British jazz bassist.
* Cecil Marshall, 71, Canadian cricketer.
* Sabino Augusto Montanaro, 89, Paraguayan politician, Minister of the Interior (1968–1989). (Spanish)
* Eric Prabhakar, 86, Indian Olympic athlete (1948).
* Cliff Robertson, 88, American actor (Charly, Spider-Man, PT 109), natural causes.

11
* Douglas Allen, Baron Croham, 93, British civil servant, Head of the Home Civil Service (1974–1977).
* Christian Bakkerud, 26, Danish racing driver, injuries sustained in a car accident.
* Cliff Brittle, 69, English sports administrator, Chairman of the Rugby Football Union (1996–1998).
* Arthur Evans, 68, American gay rights activist and author, aortic aneurysm.
* Ralph Gubbins, 79, English football player (Bolton Wanderers, Hull City, Tranmere Rovers).
* Yuri Kuzmenkov, 70, Russian actor (Big School-Break), heart attack. (Russian)
* Isabell Masters, 98, American politician, third-party candidate for President of the United States (1984, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004).
* Yuli Ofer, 87, Romanian-born Israeli businessman and entrepreneur.
* Tanekichi Onishi, 111, Japanese supercentenarian.
* Walter Righter, 87, American clergyman, bishop in the Episcopal Church, after long illness.
* Andy Whitfield, 39, Welsh-born Australian actor (Spartacus: Blood and Sand), non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

12
* Bill Cash, 92, American Negro league baseball player.
* Frits Castricum, 64, Dutch politician, Member of the House of Representatives (1977–1994) and the Senate (1999–2003). (Dutch)
* Alexander Galimov, 26, Russian ice hockey player, injuries sustained in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.
* Wade Mainer, 104, American bluegrass musician, heart failure.
* Don Wayne, 78, American songwriter ("Country Bumpkin", "Saginaw, Michigan").

13
* Walter Bonatti, 81, Italian mountain climber. (German)
* John Calley, 81, American movie studio executive.
* Wilma Lee Cooper, 90, American country music singer, natural causes.
* Sam DeLuca, 75, American football player and broadcaster (New York Jets), pancreatic cancer.
* Paul Gallant, 67, Canadian entrepreneur, inventor of Puzz-3D, cancer.
* Jack E. Garner, 84, American actor (The Rockford Files, My Fellow Americans), brother of James Garner.
* Richard Hamilton, 89, British artist.
* David Jull, 66, Australian politician, Member of the House of Representatives (1975–1983, 1984–2007).
* DJ Mehdi, 34, French musician.
* Harlan Erwin Mitchell, 87, American politician, U.S. Representative from Georgia (1958–1961).
* Carl Oglesby, 76, American activist, lung cancer.
* Gautam Rajadhyaksha, 62, Indian photographer.

14
* Harishchandra Birajdar, 61, Indian Olympic wrestler (1972).
* Choi Dong-Won, 53, South Korean baseball player (Lotte Giants, Samsung Lions), colon cancer.
* Julia Constenla, 83, Argentine journalist and writer. (Spanish)
* Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin, 74, Irish nobleman.
* David Francey, 87, Scottish broadcaster.
* Jorge Lavat, 78, Mexican actor. (Spanish)
* Buddy Tinsley, 87, Canadian football player (Winnipeg Blue Bombers).
* Malcolm Wallop, 78, American politician, United States Senator from Wyoming (1977–1995).

"Father of Pop Art" Hamilton Dies at 89

The man known as the “Father of Pop Art” has died in Britain. He was 89 years old.

British artist Richard Hamilton died Tuesday. The Gagosian Gallery, which represented Hamilton, confirmed his passing but did not disclose the location or cause of his death.

Hamilton was best known for his pop art collages, and was considered to be Britain's answer to American artist Andy Warhol. He first made his mark in the 1950s with a collage entitled “Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?”

Hamilton also was well known for a variety of art projects, including the album design of the Beatles White Album in 1968, and depictions of celebrities and politicians.

Actor Cliff Robertson Dies

American movie actor Cliff Robertson, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a mentally disabled janitor in the 1968 movie Charly, died Saturday, a day after his 88th birthday.

Robertson's long career began in the mid-1950s and continued into the 21st century. His later roles included kindly Uncle Ben in the Spider Man movies.

In 1963, Robertson starred as Lieutenant John F. Kennedy in the naval war film PT 109 about the military days of the young man who would become a U. S. president.

Robertson created a string of impressive performances in television and on Broadway, but always saw his stage roles played in films by bigger names. His TV performances in Days of Wine and Roses and The Hustler, for example, became movies starring Jack Lemmon and Paul Newman, respectively.

Robertson was determined that would not happen with his role in the TV story The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon. He bought the movie rights, changing the movie title to Charly. Robertson won an Oscar for his portrayal of the mentally disabled man who is transformed into a genius in an experiment, only to regress to his former self.

Robertson is also remembered for exposing powerful Columbia Studios chief David Begelman, who had forged the actor's name on a $10,000 check in the late 1970s. The ensuing scandal saw Robertson essentially blacklisted in the film industry until the early 1980s.

Robertson's second wife was actress and heiress Dina Merrill, daughter of financier E.F. Hutton and Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post cereal fortune and one of the world's richest women.

Robertson died on Long Island, New York.

Photo: Actor Cliff Robertson in 1981. Photo by Alan Light.

Final Exits, 1-7 September 2011

George Kuchar on set during production of his 2008 film, "Orphans of the Cosmos", 18 April 2008. Photo: Calliopemichael.

Obituaries for 1-7 September 2011

1
* Jan Lammers, 84, Dutch Olympic athlete (1948). (Dutch)
* Liu Huang A-tao, 90, Taiwanese activist, first comfort woman to sue Japan for compensation.
* Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi, 67, Bahraini opposition leader, founder of the PFLB and the NDA.
* Alexandru Pesamosca, 81, Romanian surgeon and pediatrician, cardiac arrest. (Romanian)
* Kamal Salibi, 82, Lebanese historian.

2
* Edgar Benson, 88, Canadian politician and diplomat.
* Felipe Camiroaga, 44, Chilean television presenter, plane crash.
* Takis Chrisoulis, 65, Greek playwright and actor. (Greek)
* Tony Corsari, 84, Belgian television host, cancer. (Dutch)
* Samuel Flores Borrego, Mexican drug cartel leader, shot.
* Allan Hubbard, 83, New Zealand businessman, car accident.
* Shrinivas Khale, 85, Indian composer.
* José María Montes, 91, Argentine Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Chascomús (1983–1996).
* Jehangir Sabavala, 89, Indian artist.
* Bernard William Smith, 94, Australian art historian and critic.
* Ichiro Yoshikuni, 95, Japanese baseball commissioner. (Japanese)
* Alberto Zalamea, 82, Colombian journalist and politician, Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, Venezuela and Italy.

3
* Julio Casas Regueiro, 75, Cuban politician, Vice President and Defense Minister (since 2008), heart attack.
* Andrzej Maria Deskur, 87, Polish Roman Catholic cardinal.
* Don Fambrough, 88, American football player and head coach (University of Kansas), injuries from a fall.
* Finn Helgesen, 92, Norwegian Olympic gold medal-winning (1948) speed skater. (Norwegian)
* John Hoover, 91, American artist.
* Sándor Képíró, 97, Hungarian World War II veteran acquitted of Nazi war crimes.
* Sumant Misra, 88, Indian tennis player.

4
* A Produce, 59, American musician.
* Lalla Aicha, 81, Moroccan princess, first female Arab ambassador, Ambassador to United Kingdom (1965–1969); Greece (1969–1970); Italy (1970–1973).
* Victor Bussie, 92, American labor activist, president of Louisiana AFL–CIO.
* Hugh Fox, 79, American poet and novelist.
* Hilde Heltberg, 51, Norwegian musician, cancer. (Norwegian)
* Bill Kunkel, 61, American video game designer and magazine editor, heart attack.
* Jag Mundhra, 62, Indian film director (Bawandar).
* León Rozitchner, 87, Argentine philosopher. (Spanish)
* Lee Roy Selmon, 56, American Hall of Fame football player (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), stroke.
* Dana Wilson, 28, New Zealand rugby league player, car accident.

5
* Charles S. Dubin, 92, American film and television director (Hawaii Five-O, Kojak, M*A*S*H), natural causes.
* Salvatore Licitra, 43, Italian tenor, injuries from a motor scooter accident.
* Georgios-Alexandros Magakis, 89, Greek professor of law and politician, Minister of Justice (1982–1986). (Greek)
* Vann Nath, 66, Cambodian painter.
* Bobby Rhine, 35, American soccer player (FC Dallas), heart attack.
* Peter Thuruthikonam, 82, Indian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Vijayapuram (1988–2006), heart attack.

6
* Shigeri Akabane, 70, Japanese professional wrestler, heart attack.
* Hans Apel, 79, German politician, Finance Minister (1974–1978) and Defence Minister (1978–1982). (German)
* Dan David, 82, Romanian-born Israeli businessman and philanthropist, brain hemorrhage.
* Archduke Felix of Austria, 95, Austrian royal, last surviving child of Charles I of Austria. (German)
* Michael S. Hart, 64, American author, founder of Project Gutenberg.
* George Kuchar, 69, American film director.
* Janusz Morgenstern, 88, Polish filmmaker.
* Malcolm Prine, 83, American baseball executive (Pittsburgh Pirates), lung cancer.
* Wardell Quezergue, 81, American music arranger, producer and bandleader, heart failure.
* Donald L. Taffner, 80, American television producer and distributor.

7
* Gabriel Bullet, 90, Swiss Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg (1970–1993). (German)
* Jang Hyo-Jo, 55, South Korean baseball player (Samsung Lions, Lotte Giants), liver cancer.
* Harold Mair, 92, Australian politician.
* Eddie Marshall, 73, American jazz drummer.
* Gabriel Valdés, 92, Chilean politician. (Spanish)
* Hiroe Yuki, 62, Japanese badminton player. (Japanese)
* Notable ice hockey players and coaches among the 43 killed in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash:
Vitali Anikienko, 24, Ukrainian
Mikhail Balandin, 31, Russian
Gennady Churilov, 24, Russian
Pavol Demitra, 36, Slovakian
Robert Dietrich, 25, German
Marat Kalimulin, 23, Russian
Alexander Kalyanin, 23, Russian
Alexander Karpovtsev, 41, Russian
Andrei Kiryukhin, 24, Russian
Nikita Klyukin, 21, Russian
Igor Korolev, 41, Russian
Stefan Liv, 30, Swedish
Jan Marek, 31, Czech
Brad McCrimmon, 52, Canadian
Sergei Ostapchuk, 21, Belarusian
Karel Rachůnek, 32, Czech
Ruslan Salei, 36, Belarusian
Maxim Shuvalov, 18, Russian
Kārlis Skrastiņš, 37, Latvian
Pavel Snurnitsyn, 19, Russian
Daniil Sobchenko, 20, Russian
Ivan Tkachenko, 31, Russian
Pavel Trakhanov, 33, Russian
Yuri Urychev, 20, Russian
Josef Vašíček, 30, Czech
Alexander Vasyunov, 23, Russian
Alexander Vyukhin, 38, Ukrainian
Artem Yarchuk, 21, Russian

Italian Opera Star Salvatore Licitra Dies a Week After Scooter Crash

Italian opera star Salvatore Licitra, who critics hailed as the heir to the great Luciano Pavarotti, died Monday more than a week after he was seriously hurt in a motor scooter accident.

Hospital officials in the Sicilian city of Cantania say he never regained consciousness from head and chest injuries and declared him brain dead. Doctors suspect he may have had a stroke just before he crashed. He was 43 years old.

A Swiss-born tenor, Licitra made his debut in Parma, Italy in 1998. He soared to international fame in 2002 when he filled in for Pavarotti in Puccini's Tosca at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

His performances thrilled audiences and critics who raved not just about his voice but his acting ability.

(Photo courtesy of Sony.)

Former 'Most Wanted' Nazi-Era Suspect Dead

A former Hungarian war crimes suspect once wanted in connection with the massacre of as many as 2,000 Serbs and Jews is dead.

News agencies say Sandor Kepiro died Saturday in Budapest. He was 97.

Kepiro once topped the most wanted list at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to tracking down Holocaust-era war criminals.

The center and Hungarian prosecutors said Kepiro was a member of Hungary's pro-Nazi police during World War Two. They accused him of taking part in the January 1942 massacre and helping to dump the bodies into the icy Danube River.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's top Nazi hunter found Kepiro living in Budapest in 2006 and alerted Hungarian authorities. But a Hungarian court freed Kepiro in July of this year, citing a lack of evidence.

The ruling sparked demonstrations in Budapest and Novi Sad, where the massacre took place.

Final Exits, 29-31 August 2011

David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta blues guitarist, 11 February 2008. Photo: Bengt Nyman.

Obituaries for 29-31 August 2011

29
* Mel Batty, 71, British long distance runner, heart attack.
* David "Honeyboy" Edwards, 96, American blues guitarist and singer, heart failure.
* Ben Gautrey, 18, English motorcycle racer, race crash.
* Wayne Hamilton, 20, Northern Irish motorcycle racer, race crash during 2011 Manx Grand Prix.
* Nicolás Mancera, 80, Argentine television host, cardiac arrest. (Spanish)
* R. B. McDowell, 97, Irish historian.
* Mark Ovendale, 37, English footballer (Luton Town, Bournemouth), cancer.
* David P. Reynolds, 96, American businessman and thoroughbred racehorse breeder.
* Junpei Takiguchi, 80, Japanese voice actor and narrator (Dragon Ball, Yatterman, Mazinger Z), stomach cancer.

30
* Alla Bayanova, 97, Russian singer, People's Artist of Russia, cancer. (Russian)
* Faye Blackstone, 96, American rodeo star, cancer.
* Peggy Lloyd, 98, American stage actress.
* Cactus Pryor, 88, American broadcaster, Alzheimer's disease.

31
* Wade Belak, 35, Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville Predators), suicide.
* Denis Collins, 58, Australian rules footballer, heart attack.
* Adam Easton, 71, Scottish motorcycle racer, race crash.
*Abderrahmane Mahjoub, 82, Moroccan-born French footballer.
* Robert Muir, 91, Canadian politician, MP for Cape Breton North and Victoria (1957–1968); Cape Breton—The Sydneys (1968–1979) and Senator (1979–1994).
* Radoslav Stojanović, 81, Serbian law expert and politician, professor at the University of Belgrade, a co-founder of Democratic Party. (Serbian)
* Rosel Zech, 69, German actress. (Veronika Voss, Aimée & Jaguar), cancer.