Afterword

Musing with the news obituaries staff

John Barry, composer for James Bond movies and other films, dies at 77

Barry Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Barry, who wrote music for a dozen James Bond films including "You Only Live Twice" and "Goldfinger," and developed the twanging guitar riff for the theme music in the suave spy movies, has died. He was 77.

Barry died Sunday in New York, where had lived for some time, his family said. No cause of death was given.

Though his work on the Bond films is among his most famous, the English-born composer wrote a long list of scores, including for "Midnight Cowboy," "Dances with Wolves" and "Body Heat." He was proud of writing both for big action blockbusters and smaller films.

He won two Oscars for "Born Free" in 1966, for best score and best song. He also earned Oscars for the scores to "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990).

His association with Agent 007 began with "Dr. No" in 1962, although his contribution to that film was not credited and is in dispute.

Monty Norman, who was credited as the composer for "Dr. No," sued the Sunday Times in 2001 for reporting that Barry had composed the theme, working from scraps of Norman's work. Norman won the case, collecting 30,000 pounds ($48,000).

Barry testified that he was paid 250 pounds to work on the theme music, developing the guitar line from part of Norman's song "Bad Sign, Good Sign," but agreed that Norman would get the credit. Norman does not dispute Barry's orchestration.

In later years, Barry limited his comment on the case to saying, "If I didn't write it, why did they ask me to do the other ones?"

He subsequently wrote music for "Goldfinger," "From Russia with Love," "Thunderball," "You Only Live Twice," "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," "Diamonds are Forever," "The Man with the Golden Gun," "Moonraker," "Octopussy," "A View to a Kill" and "The Living Daylights."

Born John Barry Prendergast, he recalled growing up "exposed to the fantasy life of Hollywood" at the eight theaters his father owned in northern England.

"Rather than talkie-talkie movies, I liked films with excitement and adventure, because they were the ones that had the music," Barry said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper in 1999.

"It was nice to have the very commercial Bondian thing ... and then at the same time have these smaller movies, which were artistically more interesting to do," he said.

Other films included "Robin and Marian," "Somewhere in Time," "The Cotton Club," "Peggy Sue Got Married" and "Howard the Duck." He was also nominated for Oscars for his scores of "Mary, Queen of Scots" in 1971 and "Chaplin" in 1992.

Barry trained as a pianist, studied counterpoint with York cathedral organist Francis Jackson, and later took up the trumpet. He founded a jazz group, the John Barry Seven, in 1957.

The group teamed with singer Adam Faith, scoring hits with "What Do You Want?" and "Poor Me," and Barry moved into film work when Faith was tapped to star in "Beat Girl" (titled "Living for Kicks" in the United States).

"The James Bond movies came because we were successful in the pop music world, with a couple of big instrumental hits. They thought I knew how to write instrumental hit music," Barry said in 1991.

In an interview in 2008 with the Irish Times, Barry said his success "was not that difficult."

"If you hit the right formula, if you have an instinct for music, if you apply it, if you have the good fortune to meet with certain people who teach you well ... I didn't find it all that difficult," he said.

More at Pop & Hiss, The Times' pop music blog, and later at latimes.com/obituaries.

-- Associated Press

Photo: John Barry in 2000. Credit: EPA

 


Fashion designer Charles Nolan dies at 53

Nolan Fashion designer Charles Nolan, known to have a passion for American classics, which he skewed with a modern edge and personal touch, died Sunday. He was 53.

Women's Wear Daily, which first reported Nolan's death on its website, said he died of liver cancer. Nolan, also noted for his interest in politics, had battled cancer several years ago, and it came back in the fall and moved aggressively, said Maggie Savage, the vintage buyer for the Charles Nolan store in Manhattan's Meatpacking District.

The store was open Sunday, said Savage, who added that its future was unclear but that she hoped it would continue.

Nolan took a hiatus from the fashion industry in 2003 and worked on former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

"He was a wonderful, very matter-of-fact person," Dean told Women's Wear Daily. "For someone who had a tall record in the world of fashion, he was surprisingly unimpressed with his own success."

Nolan returned to the fashion world in 2004 with his own label. The former designer for corporate fashion houses Anne Klein and Ellen Tracy scaled back and put his own spin on everything, down to the furniture in his store and his off-the-beaten-path runway shows. In one recent season, he featured Olympian Dara Torres on the catwalk; the year before that, dancers from the American Ballet Theater were his models.

Nolan graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and apprenticed under Bill Blass and Christian Dior before moving to Ellen Tracy. In 2001, Anne Klein hired him to revive its image as a hipper, more fashion-forward brand.

-- Associated Press

Photo: Charles Nolan, right, in 2002. Credit: Associated Press


Composer Milton Babbitt dies at 94

Composer Milton Babbitt, who was known for his complex orchestral compositions and credited with developing the first electronic synthesizer in the 1950s, died Saturday. He was 94.

Paul Lansky, a composer and Princeton University colleague who was once a student of Babbitt's, said Babbitt died at a Princeton hospital. Lansky said he did not know the cause of death.

Born in Philadelphia, Babbitt earned degrees from Princeton and New York University. He joined Princeton's faculty in 1938 and became a professor emeritus of music there in 1984.

In the 1950s, RCA hired Babbitt as a consultant as it was developing the Mark II synthesizer. He became a founder and director of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, where the synthesizer was installed.

He blended electronic music with vocal performances in compositions such as “Vision and Prayer” and “Philomel” in the 1960s and “Reflections” in 1975.

Princeton awarded Babbitt, then 75, a doctorate in 1992, 46 years after his dissertation on the 12-tone system of modern composers was rejected.

“His dissertation was so far ahead of its time it couldn't be properly evaluated at the time,” Theodore Ziolkowski, dean of Princeton's graduate school and a close friend of Babbitt, said.

The music department then awarded doctorates for historical musicology, not composing.

Ziolkowski said faculty members weren't satisfied with the honorary doctorate Princeton awarded Babbitt the previous spring.

“We thought it wasn't right that such a distinguished composer and music theoretician who has contributed so much to music in this country should not have the degree he had earned,” Ziolkowski said then.

Babbitt received a special Pulitzer citation for his life's work in 1982, won a MacArthur Foundation grant in 1986 and received the Gold Medal of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1988.

-- Associated Press


Opera star Margaret Price dies at 69

Opera star Margaret Price, considered one of the world's leading sopranos, has died at her home in Wales. She was 69.

Price, who was known for her exquisite renditions of Mozart's complicated music, died of heart failure Friday, British press reports said.

Price, who rose to prominence after her debut as Cherubino in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" at the Welsh National Opera in 1962, had performed in most of the world's great opera houses by the time she retired in 1999.

She was known for the striking purity and beauty of her voice.

After her debut in Wales, Price went on to play Cherubino at the Royal Opera House at Convent Garden.

Over the course of her career, Price was honored in many countries, received honorary degrees from top universities and was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993.

She also appeared on numerous records and performed for television.

-- Associated Press


Comedian Charlie Callas dies in Las Vegas

Charlie Callas, a versatile comedian and sidekick whose zany faces and antics made him a regular for more than four decades on television, in films and on casino stages, died Thursday in a Las Vegas hospice, said his son Mark Callas.

Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said the death was from natural causes.

Callas toured with Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones, and had a screen part with Jerry Lewis in "The Big Mouth" in 1967.

His facial expressions and rapid-fire comedy also made Callas a favorite on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

He also worked with Mel Brooks and was the voice of Elliot in Disney's "Pete's Dragon."

The complete Times obituary by Dennis McLellan is here.

-- Associated Press


Gladys Horton, co-founder of Motown's Marvelettes, dies at 65 [Updated]

 

 

Gladys Horton, who co-founded the 1960s Motown group the Marvelettes and sang on hits including "Please Mr. Postman," died Wednesday night at a Sherman Oaks nursing home. She was 65.

[For the record, 8:40 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said Horton was 66. She was born May 30, 1945, and age 65 when she died.]

Her son, Vaughn Thornton, said she had been recovering from a stroke.

Horton was a teenager in the Detroit suburb of Inkster when she and some friends formed a group they called "The Casinyets," which was short for "can't sing yet."

When Georgia Dobbins had to leave, Horton became lead singer. The group changed its name to The Marvelettes, and Horton was 15 when Motown released "Please Mr. Postman" in 1961. It was a hit and the group had many others, including "Too Many Fish in the Sea." Horton was replaced as lead singer in 1965 and left the group two years later.

The complete Times obituary is here.

-- Associated Press

 


Charlie Louvin, known for country music harmonies, dies at 83

 

Charlie Louvin, half of the Louvin Brothers whose harmonies inspired fellow country and pop singers for decades, died Wednesday of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 83.

Brett Steele, his manager, said the Country Music Hall of Fame singer died at his home in Wartrace, Tenn.

 

Louvin According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the unique sound of Charlie and his brother, Ira, was highly influential in the history of the genre. The hall inducted them in 2001.

 

Their song "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" was No. 1 in 1965. Among their other hits were "When I Stop Dreaming," "Hoping That You're Hoping" and "You're Running Wild."

The brothers decided to disband their duo in 1963. Two years later, Ira died in a Missouri car crash.

Charlie later recalled that differences in personality and Ira's drinking created friction between them, but said they probably would have reunited if Ira had lived.

Charlie Louvin recorded regularly after his brother died. His album "The Longest Train" was released in 1996. His biggest solo hits were "See the Big Man Cry" in 1965 and "I Don't Love You Anymore" in 1964.

The brothers influenced harmony acts from the Everly Brothers onward. Emmylou Harris had a hit with their "If I Could Only Win Your Love" in 1975. The Notting Hillbillies recorded the Louvins' "Weapon of Prayer" in 1990.

Interest in his music resurged as Louvin reached his 80s. In 2007, his first studio album in years, "Charlie Louvin," was released, boasting appearances from artists including George Jones and Elvis Costello, and was nominated for a Grammy as best traditional folk album.

A year later, his "Steps To Heaven" was nominated as best Southern, country or bluegrass gospel album. It was one of two albums he put out in 2008; the other was "Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs."

The brothers became members of the Grand Ole Opry in 1955, and Charlie Louvin remained an Opry performer for more than 50 years.

More later at www.latimes.com/obits

-- Associated Press

 

Photo: Charlie Louvin in 2009. Credit: Associated Press


Bernd Eichinger, German film producer and director, dies at 61

Bernd 
German movie producer and director Bernd Eichinger died after suffering a heart attack Monday night during a dinner with family and friends in Los Angeles, the film production firm Constantin Film AG said in a statement Tuesday. He was 61.

Eichinger, a major Constantin shareholder and one of the firm's leading executives, produced such films as "The Neverending Story," "The Name of the Rose" and "The House of the Spirits."

One of Eichinger's more recent successful productions was "Downfall," for which he had also written the screenplay. The movie depicts the last days of Nazi Germany in Adolf Hitler's massive bunker and was nominated as a foreign language film for an Academy Award in 2005.

More later at latimes.com/obits

-- Associated Press

Photo: Bernd Eichinger in 2006. Credit: Miguel Villagran / EPA


Edgar Tafel, architect who trained at Taliesin with Frank Lloyd Wright, dies at 98 [Updated]

Tafel 
New York City architect Edgar Tafel, an original Taliesin fellow credited with saving some of Frank Lloyd Wright's most important works, has died. He was 98.

Tafel, who was instrumental in helping save two historic interiors from a house designed by his celebrated mentor in Minnesota, died Jan. 18 at his home in lower Manhattan, said Robert Silman, a longtime friend and New York structural engineer.

He was the last surviving member of the original Taliesin fellows, a community of young apprentice architects established in 1932 at Wright's home and school in Spring Green, Wis., Silman said.

He had a hand in two of Wright's most enduring structures: Fallingwater on Bear Run creek in southwest Pennsylvania and the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wis.

In his own practice, which Tafel opened in New York after World War II, he was perhaps best known for designing the Church House for the First Presbyterian Church, a 19th century landmark in Greenwich Village.

Decades later, Tafel was instrumental in helping save two Prairie-style interiors from Wright's Francis W. Little House in Wayzata, Minn., before it was demolished in 1971. The living room is installed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the library is in the Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania.

His other projects included three college campuses, 35 religious buildings, six townhouses and 80 homes.

Tafel, born in New York City, is the author of "Years With Frank Lloyd Wright" and "About Wright."

-- Associated Press

Photo: Edgar Tafel, standing second from right, and other Taliesin apprentices surround their mentor Frank Lloyd Wright at the architect's studio in Spring Green, Wis., in 1938. Credit: Associated Press

[For the record, Jan. 27, 2:20 p.m.: An earlier version of the photo caption gave an incorrect position for Edgar Tafel as second from left.]


Samuel Ruiz, Mexican bishop who helped mediate peace talks in Chiapas, dies at 86

Ruiz 
Samuel Ruiz, a Roman Catholic bishop famed as a defender of Mexican Indian rights and best known for helping mediate peace talks with the leftist Zapatista rebels in the southern state of Chiapas in the 1990s, has died in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, from a long-standing pulmonary ailment. He was 86.

Bishop Felipe Arizmendi, who took over Ruiz's diocese, confirmed his death Monday.

Arizmendi says Ruiz's remains will be returned to Chiapas for a memorial service. Ruiz is survived by a nephew.

Ruiz earned the affection of the state's largely Indian population and allowed some aspects of Indian religious practices to permeate his diocese -- irritating conservatives.

A complete obituary will follow at latimes.com/obits.

-- Associated Press

Photo: Samuel Ruiz, bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, in 1999. Credit: Janet Schwartz / AFP/Getty Images


Indian vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi dies at 89

Vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, a leading figure of Indian classical music, died Monday after a prolonged illness. He was 89.

Joshi was hospitalized three weeks ago in the western city of Pune complaining of shortness of breath, a Sahyadri hospital official said. He later underwent dialysis following kidney failure.

The son of a school teacher in the southern state of Karnataka, Joshi moved to the entertainment capital Mumbai in 1943 to work as a radio singer and released his debut album by age 22.

He received India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 2008.

Pandit Jasraj, another top vocalist, said: "His death is a great loss to Indian classical music."

Joshi is survived by three sons and a daughter.

-- Associated Press


Former college football star Ed Dyas dies at 71

College Football Hall of Famer and former Auburn star Ed Dyas has died after a long battle with cancer.

Dyas died Sunday, Auburn officials said. He was 71. No other details were available.

A fullback, linebacker and kicker, Dyas was fourth in the 1960 Heisman Trophy balloting and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. He finished his career as Auburn's No. 6 leading rusher with 1,298 yards, leading the Tigers in rushing and scoring as a senior.

Dyas was also a three-time academic All-American who opted for medical school instead of a professional football career. He became an orthopedic surgeon in his hometown of Mobile, Ala.

-- Associated Press




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Recent Posts
Fashion designer Charles Nolan dies at 53 |  January 30, 2011, 2:40 pm »
Composer Milton Babbitt dies at 94 |  January 29, 2011, 10:47 pm »
Opera star Margaret Price dies at 69 |  January 29, 2011, 8:52 am »
Comedian Charlie Callas dies in Las Vegas  |  January 28, 2011, 10:14 am »



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