AP Obits--12/27
ObitsMan
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Obituaries in the News
Fri Dec 27, 9:15 AM ET
ENGLEWOOD, N.J. - Russell Berrie, founder of the company that makes Russ gift
and novelty products who used his wealth to advance health care and other
causes, died Wednesday. He was 69.
Berrie, the chief executive and chairman of Russ Berrie & Co. in Oakland,
started the business in a rented garage in 1963 and made it one of the world's
largest gift companies.
With more than 1,500 employees worldwide and sales of $294.3 million last year,
the company is known for its line of "Bears From the Past" and its soft,
beanbag Luv Pets.
Berrie — who in 1998 was named one of the 40 most generous Americans by
Fortune magazine — gave large sums to numerous charities through the Russell
Berrie Foundation, which he founded in the mid-1980's.
In 1996, he created the Russ Berrie Prize for Making a Difference, an award to
honor New Jersey residents for uncommon heroism and community service.
Earlier this month, Berrie announced plans to establish an institute at William
Paterson University to teach sales, a profession that he believed got the short
shrift at most schools.
Ray Doherty
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ray Doherty, who spent much of his 38-year career with
United Press International covering Wisconsin news as Milwaukee bureau chief,
died Wednesday at 76.
Doherty, born in Brainerd, Minn., started his career with UPI, then known as
United Press, in Minneapolis before moving to Fargo, N.D., and Springfield,
Ill. He settled in Milwaukee in 1956.
After retirement, he taught journalism at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Clark Morphew
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Clark Morphew, a former St. Paul Pioneer Press
religion writer and Lutheran pastor, died Tuesday, six months after learning he
had lung cancer. He was 64.
Morphew, who retired in 2000, worked 18 years at the Pioneer Press. His weekly
religion column was syndicated and published by dozens of Knight Ridder News
Service clients throughout North America.
Journalism was Morphew's third career. He also worked as an elementary school
teacher in his native Iowa and in California, and was ordained as a Lutheran
pastor.
For 11 years, he served churches in Grand Forks, N.D., and Cottage Grove before
leaving the parish in 1978. After a brief stint selling insurance for Lutheran
Brotherhood, Morphew joined the Pioneer Press and Dispatch full-time in May
1982.
He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; a daughter; a son; four stepchildren; two
brothers; and four grandchildren.
F.J. O'Neill Jr.
CLEVELAND (AP) — F.J. "Joe" O'Neill Jr., former governor of the U.S. Polo
Association, died Monday. He was 75.
O'Neill, whose father was for a time the majority owner of the Cleveland
Indians, also was president of the Cleveland Polo Club.
He began playing polo at age 15. His last game on the Cleveland Metroparks'
Hunting Valley Polo Field was in 1999.
As a businessman, he headed some subsidiaries of his family's business,
Leaseway Transportation and owned O'Neill owned Thermo King dealerships.
William T. Orr
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor and television executive William T. Orr, who served
as executive producer of Warner Bros. television shows in the 1950s and 1960s,
died Wednesday. He was 85.
Orr, the former son-in-law of movie mogul Jack Warner, helped bring such hits
as "Maverick," "77 Sunset Strip" and "F-Troop" to television. He had been put
in charge of Warner Bros.' fledgling TV division in 1955, 10 years after he
married Warner's stepdaughter, Joy Page.
He began his career in 1936 as an actor, playing second lead roles opposite
Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, James Stewart and Edward G. Robinson. His also had a
role in a satirical revue, "Meet The People," hosted by gossip columnist
Louella Parsons.
During World War II he made training films alongside fellow actors Ronald
Reagan and Alan Ladd.
He and his wife divorced after 25 years.
Herb Ritts
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Herb Ritts, who made his name as a photographer by
capturing revealing, often unorthodox portraits of famous people, died Thursday
of complications of pneumonia. He was 50.
His subjects, who ranged from pop culture icons to world leaders, were usually
photographed in black and white, with poses and backgrounds far from the norm
of vanity photography. He showed the world Elizabeth Taylor, for example, with
the actress' brain-surgery scar still visible.
He was born in Los Angeles in 1952, part of a prosperous family in the
furniture business. An impromptu photo session with a young Richard Gere
bloomed into a career in celebrity photography.
Ritts went on take pictures of George Clooney, Michelle Pfeiffer and Dizzy
Gillespie for top fashion and culture magazines including Interview, Harper's
Bazaar, Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair.
When Taylor married construction worker Larry Fortensky in 1991, Ritts had
exclusive rights to photograph her.
Ritts showed Madonna grabbing her crotch, Cindy Crawford dressed as a man, and
Annette Bening pregnant and lounging on a couch.
His subjects ranged far beyond pop culture, with President Reagan, Stephen
Hawking and the Dalai Lama among those who went before his lens.
Ritts published several books of photographs and did work for top fashion
designers including Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani. He also took
pictures for album covers and directed music videos.
In 1991 two of his videos won MTV Awards: best female video, Janet Jackson's
"Love Will Never Do Without You," and best male video, with Chris Isaak's
"Wicked Game."
His work was displayed at studios and museums, including a major retrospective
at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1996-97.
Ritts also helped raise charity funds, often for AIDS groups.
吵o吩oo
> ENGLEWOOD, N.J. - Russell Berrie, founder of the company that makes
Russ gift
> and novelty products who used his wealth to advance health care and
other
> causes, died Wednesday. He was 69.
He tried to advance health care and yet, he only made it to 69. Sad.
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吵o吩oo