Robert Karl Heimann; Headed American Brands

South Bay Digest / Local News in Brief Robert Karl Heimann, 71, chief executive of American Brands Inc. from 1977 until his retirement in 1980. As head of American Brands, Heimann led the company in acquiring Gallagher Ltd., now the largest tobacco company in Britain. The company also diversified into such fields as foods, alcoholic beverages and fruit juices. Heimann joined American Brands in 1954 when it was the American Tobacco Co. He was assistant to the president from 1961 to 1964 and produced studies that tried to show a correlation between the stress of urban living and lung cancer. He was named vice president for marketing and public relations in 1964, when American Tobacco stopped sponsoring sports events on radio and television “to avoid any appearance of appealing to young people,” he said. In Greenwich, Conn. on Feb. 11 of unreported causes.