AP Obits--2/14
ObitsMan
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Obituaries in the News
Fri Feb 14,10:08 PM ET
By The Associated Press
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Television writer-producer Joe Connelly, who co-created
the wholesome family comedy "Leave It to Beaver," died Thursday of
complications from a stroke he suffered late last month. He was 86.
Born in New York, Connelly worked for the Merchant Marine before being hired by
the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, where he met his eventual partner
Bob Mosher.
Both men left the agency in 1942 for the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy
radio show. In the mid-1940s, after writing for the Frank Morgan and Phil
Harris radio shows, they began a 12-year run writing for "Amos 'n' Andy,"
including the early 1950s TV version of the popular radio show.
The pair's most notable work was "Leave It to Beaver," which became a household
name. The show ended in 1963 after six seasons, but continues in syndication
around the world.
Other TV credits for Connelly and Mosher include "The Munsters."
Connelly continued to work in the entertainment industry, producing Elvis
Presley's final movie, "Change of Habit." In the early 1970s, he suffered a
near-fatal aneurysm that halted his career.
Kid Gavilan
MIAMI (AP) — Former welterweight champion Kid Gavilan, one of the first
members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, died Thursday of a heart
attack. He was 77.
Born Gerardo Gonzalez in Camaguey, Cuba, on Jan. 6, 1926, Gavilan became a star
and television regular in multiple fights against Ike Williams and Sugar Ray
Robinson. One of the most popular fighters in the 1940s and 1950s, he had a
15-year professional career beginning in 1943, compiling a record of 107 wins,
30 defeats and 6 draws with 28 knockouts.
Gavilan won the vacant welterweight title by outpointing Johnny Bratton in 1951
at New York, and he defended it seven times before losing it on points to
Johnny Saxton three years later at Philadelphia.
Gavilan took up boxing at age 10 and had 60 amateur bouts before turning pro at
17. Considered a hero in pre-Castro Cuba, he moved to the United States in
1968.
Known for his slick defense and timely combinations, Gavilan often displayed
his signature bolo punch, a sweeping move that began like a softball pitcher's
windup and ended in an uppercut.
He was a member of the inaugural class of the Hall of Fame in 1990, inducted
with Robinson and Jack Dempsey.
Harriet Ann Hale
SEATTLE (AP) — Harriet Ann Hale, who could not talk or use her arms and legs
but found the will and spirit to become a painter and help establish an arts
group for the disabled, died Feb. 8 of complications from pneumonia. She was
60.
Hale, a native of Kansas City, Mo., had cerebral palsy as a result of brain
damage at birth.
Hale and six others started the artists group Very Special Artists in Seattle
after entering a residence for the disabled in 1980. She also helped found VSA
Arts, a nonprofit guild that provides services to 200 disabled artists.
Hale's paintings were shown around the country in the group's shows.
Taught to read by her mother, a former teacher, and to spell out words using
eye signals devised by her father, Hale began painting as a form of therapy at
age 15 with the encouragement of her mother.
Wearing a headpiece that gripped the paintbrush, she dipped her head toward the
canvas for each stroke.
Her paintings were shown at the Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Fair in
Bellevue after being selected by jurors who were unaware of her disability.
Stacy Keach Sr.
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Stacy Keach Sr., father of actors Stacy and James
Keach and an accomplished character actor in his own right, died Thursday of
complications of congestive heart failure. He was 88.
He had been in declining health for more than a year, said publicist Dick
Guttman.
Keach appeared in hundreds of movies, commercials, and television and radio
shows in a career that spanned more than 50 years.
He had a recurring role as Professor Carlson in television's 1960s spy spoof
"Get Smart" and, more recently, as Judge Webster in "Dr. Quinn, Medicine
Woman," which starred his daughter-in-law Jane Seymour, wife of James Keach.
Keach's movie credits included 1990's "Pretty Woman" and 1994's "Cobb."
He also appeared in scores of commercials — more than three dozen in 1980
alone, Guttman said.
Born in Milwaukee, Keach attended Northwestern University, where he later
became a drama instructor. He also taught at Armstrong College in Georgia,
where he founded the Savannah Playhouse.
Keach moved to Los Angeles to direct the Pasadena Playhouse and stayed on,
becoming a contract player at Universal Pictures and later working as a
producer for the RKO film studio.
Joseph Kinneary
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Retired U.S. District Judge Joseph Kinneary, who was
known for his stern treatment of lawyers, defendants and jurors, died Friday of
natural causes. He was 97.
Kinneary retired in August 2001 after 35 years on the federal bench. The U.S.
District Court building in Columbus was named for him in 1998.
President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Kinneary judge in 1966, after he had
served as a U.S. attorney for five years.
The judge often gruffly reprimanded attorneys who failed to conduct themselves
properly. He said he ran his courtroom by rules he called the four B's: "be on
time, be prepared, be well dressed and be brief."
The rules applied to lawyers, their clients, jurors and even people sitting in
the gallery.
He was known to order his bailiff to remove anyone reading newspapers in his
courtroom and reportedly even ordered a member of the gallery to stop picking
his nose.
Dr. Richard Kuhn
GROSSE ILE, Mich. (AP) — Dr. Richard Kuhn, who served as a U.S. intelligence
officer in Europe during World War II, died Feb. 5 of lymphoma. He was 91.
Kuhn served as a flight surgeon and an officer for the Office of Strategic
Services, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.
He befriended members of the Romanian royal family, obtaining penicillin for
one and supplying American movies to the king and queen, The Detroit News
reported Friday.
The Grosse Ile resident practiced medicine for more than 50 years in the
Detroit area, delivering more than 4,000 babies and at times trading medical
treatment for groceries to feed his nine children.
Born in Detroit, Kuhn started his medical practice in 1938. He had just married
his wife, Rosalie, when he volunteered for the Army in 1941.
When he returned to the United States, he reopened his practice at the same
Detroit office, where he had a no-appointment policy and worked until December
2002.
Johnny Longden
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hall of Famer Johnny Longden, who won the Triple Crown
aboard Count Fleet in 1943 and was the only jockey to ride and train a Kentucky
Derby winner, died Friday on his 96th birthday.
Longden, who was the winningest rider in the history of thoroughbred racing
from 1956 to 1970, died at his home, where he had been bedridden the past four
months following a stroke.
"He was one of the greatest of all time," said Bill Shoemaker, who surpassed
Longden's mark of 6,032 career wins in 1970.
In 1935, Longden's purse earnings reached $100,000 a year, and at times they
soared to more than $1 million.
He rode Count Fleet to victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont
Stakes.
Nicknamed "The Pumper" for his style of shortening his stirrups and riding up
on a horse's neck, Longden led the nation in races won or purse money earned
five times, and was inducted into thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame in 1958.
He retired in 1966.
In 1969, he trained Majestic Prince to victories in the Derby and Preakness.
Longden narrowly missed winning another Triple Crown when the colt lost the
Belmont.
Thoroughbred racing's winningest rider is now Laffit Pincay Jr., who has more
than 9,500 wins.
Walt W. Rostow
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Walt W. Rostow, who as a member of the Kennedy and
Johnson administrations was one of the "best and brightest" who led the United
States into the Vietnam War, died Thursday. He was 86.
The cause of death was not disclosed.
President Kennedy appointed Rostow in 1961 as deputy special assistant for
national security. Later that year Rostow was named counselor of the State
Department and chairman of its Policy Planning Council.
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Rostow special assistant for
national security affairs. He remained in that post as the Vietnam War
escalated and until the end of the Johnson administration in early 1969.
Rostow's brother, Eugene V. Rostow, also served in the Johnson administration
as undersecretary of state and defended the nation's role in Vietnam. Eugene
Rostow died in November.
Before and after his tenure in Washington, Walt Rostow was a college professor
who taught economics and history.
He was born Oct. 7, 1916, in New York City. Rostow earned his bachelor's degree
and doctorate at Yale University and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes
Scholar.
His teaching career also included posts at Oxford, Cambridge University,
Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After the Johnson administration, Rostow joined the faculty of the University
of Texas at Austin as professor of economics and history.
During World War II, Rostow was a major in the Office of Strategic Services,
the forerunner of the CIA, and after the war joined the State Department as
assistant chief of the German-Austrian Economic Division.
Rostow wrote more than 30 books. His latest, "Concept and Controversy: Sixty
Years of Taking Ideas to Market," is to be published in June.