Notable people who died in 2008

Agents of change

Dith Pran, 65; survivor of Cambodia’s “killing fields” became the public face of the genocide (March 30)

Del Martin, 87; longtime leader of the lesbian rights movement who, with her partner Phyllis Lyon, became the first same-sex couple to marry in San Francisco in June (Aug. 27)

Dorothy Green, 79; founder of Heal the Bay and a giant of the California environmental movement (Oct. 13)

Bettie Page, 85; the brunet pinup queen whose saucy photos helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 1960s (Dec. 11)

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Actors, actresses and entertainers

Suzanne Pleshette, 70; comedic actress best known for her role as Emily Hartley on “The Bob Newhart Show” (Jan. 19)

Heath Ledger, 28; Australian-born actor nominated for an Oscar for his role as a gay cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain” was found dead of a prescription drug overdose (Jan. 22)

Roy Scheider, 75; actor starred in “Jaws” and “All That Jazz” (Feb. 10)

Paul Scofield, 86; acclaimed British actor won an Academy Award for “A Man for All Seasons” (March 19)

Richard Widmark, 93; Hollywood leading man made a sensational film debut as the giggling killer in “Kiss of Death” (March 24)

Charlton Heston, 84; Oscar-winning actor achieved stardom playing larger-than-life figures, including Moses, and was a darling of the conservative movement (April 5)

Harvey Korman, 81; the tall, versatile comedian won four Emmys for his contributions to “The Carol Burnett Show” (May 29)

Cyd Charisse, 86; brought sizzle and sophistication to dance in such classic movie musicals as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Silk Stockings” (June 17)

George Carlin, 71; comedian and social critic tested limits of speech and society (June 22)

Estelle Getty, 84; played Sophia Petrillo, the wisecracking mother of Bea Arthur on the popular NBC sitcom “The Golden Girls” (July 22)

Bernie Mac, 50; comedian starred in a Fox sitcom and the “Ocean’s Eleven” trilogy (Aug. 9)

Paul Newman, 83; movie star and irreverent cultural icon created a model philanthropy fueled by profits from a salad dressing (Sept. 26)

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Adventurers

Sir Edmund Hillary, 88; New Zealand mountaineer was first to climb to the top of Mt. Everest (Jan. 11)

Steve Fossett, millionaire adventurer missing since September 2007, ruled legally dead (Feb. 15) by an Illinois court. Wreckage of his plane and his remains found near Mammoth Lakes, Calif., in October

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Artists and architects

Robert Rauschenberg, 82; artist changed the course of American and European art with his hybrid forms of painting and sculpture (May 12)

Joern Utzon, 90; Danish architect designed the iconic Sydney Opera House (Nov. 29)

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Business and labor leaders

Douglas Fraser, 91; former United Auto Workers president helped Chrysler get federal bailout (Feb. 23)

George M. Keller, 84; former chairman of Standard Oil oversaw the formation of Chevron Corp. (Oct. 17)

Ron Carey, 72; former president of the Teamsters union who was elected as a reformer but was later forced from leadership in a financial scandal (Dec. 11)

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Fashion figures

Bill Belew, 76; Elvis Presley’s costume designer was known as “The Man Who Dressed the King” (Jan. 7)

Yves Saint Laurent, 71; French fashion designer created a new dress code for women during the feminist revolution of the 1970s (June 1)

Mr. Blackwell (Richard Sylvan Selzer), 86; acerbic fashion critic offered annual appraisal of “worst dressed” celebrities (Oct. 19)

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Filmmakers

David Watkin, 82; British cinematographer who won an Academy Award for “Out of Africa” (Feb. 19)

Anthony Minghella, 54; director of “The English Patient,” “Cold Mountain” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (March 18)

Abby Mann, 80; Oscar-winning screenwriter of 1961’s “Judgment at Nuremberg” (March 25)

Jules Dassin, 96; blacklisted filmmaker considered a master of film noir (March 31)

Ollie Johnston Jr., 95; noted Disney animator and last surviving member of the legendary “Nine Old Men” who created many of the studio’s signature films (April 14)

Sydney Pollack, 73; Academy Award-winning director of “Out of Africa” and other mainstream movies, including “The Way We Were” and “Tootsie” (May 26)

Stan Winston, 62; te renowned makeup, creature and visual effects wizard whose memorable work on “Aliens,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Jurassic Park” earned him four Academy Awards (June 15)

Bill Melendez, 91; animation pioneer best known for bringing “Peanuts” characters to life (Sept. 2)

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Government officials and politicians

Tom Lantos, 80; California Democrat was the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress (Feb. 11)

William F. Buckley Jr. 82; author and conservative commentator founded the National Review (Feb. 27)

Howard W. Metzenbaum, 90; former Ohio senator fought big business in Washington, D.C. (March 12)

Hamilton Jordan, 63; political aide to President Carter and the youngest White House chief of staff (May 20)

Jesse Helms, 86; former North Carolina senator who for half a century infuriated liberals with his campaign tactics and maddened presidents of both parties with his use of senatorial privilege (July 4)

Tony Snow, 53; conservative writer and commentator cheerfully sparred with reporters in the White House briefing room during a stint as President George W. Bush’s press secretary (July 12)

Paul Weyrich, 66; conservative thinker coined the phrase “moral majority,” founded the Heritage Foundation and became an intellectual leader of the U.S. religious right (Dec. 18)

W. Mark Felt, 95; “Deep Throat” helped guide the Washington Post’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into the Watergate scandal (Dec. 18)

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Image-makers

Johnny Grant, 84; Hollywood’s honorary mayor and biggest booster was known as host of the Walk of Fame induction ceremonies (Jan. 9)

Warren Cowan, 87; legendary Hollywood publicist was known as a pioneer of independent entertainment publicity for many of the biggest names in show business (May 14)

Bernie Brillstein, 77; talent manager and producer guided the careers of John Belushi and Jim Henson and helped bring “Saturday Night Live” to television (Aug. 7)

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Inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs

Carl Karcher, 90; Orange County entrepreneur created the Carl’s Jr. hamburger empire (Jan. 11)

Richard Knerr, 82; co-founder of toy company Wham-O Inc., maker of the Hula Hoop and the Frisbee (Jan. 14)

Gary Gygaz, 69; co-creator of the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons, which helped start the role-playing phenomenon (March 4)

Herb Peterson, 89; invented the Egg McMuffin as a way to introduce breakfast to McDonald’s restaurants (March 25)

Irvine Robbins, 90; co-founder of Baskin-Robbins, whose penchant for creating unusual flavors pushed post-World War II America (May 5)

Robert Mondavi, 94; pioneering Napa Valley vintner whose drive and salesmanship revolutionized perceptions about California wines (May 16)

J.R. Simplot, 99; his fascination with potatoes helped change America’s eating habits and made him a billionaire (May 25)

Carmen Rocha, 77; longtime waitress at Los Angeles’ El Cholo Mexican restaurant is credited with introducing the city to nachos (Oct. 9)

Betty James, 90; wife of the Slinky’s inventor gave the toy its name and later saved the business (Nov. 20)

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Last one left

Erich Kaestner, 107; soldier believed to have been Germany’s last veteran of World War I (Jan. 1)

Lazare Ponticelli, 110; France’s last surviving veteran of World War I (March 12)

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Law and scandal

Christian Brando, 49; son of acting legend Marlon Brando who was found guilty of killing his half-sister’s lover (Jan. 26)

Ruth Greenglass, 84; her testimony in a Cold War espionage trial helped send sister-in-law Ethel Rosenberg to the electric chair (April 7)

Martha “Sunny” von Bulow, 76; spent nearly 28 years in a coma after what prosecutors alleged were two murder attempts by her husband (Dec. 6)

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Music leaders

John Stewart, 68; singer-songwriter wrote the Monkees’ hit “Daydream Believer,” was part of the Kingston Trio and had a significant solo career (Jan. 19)

Israel “Cachao” Lopez, 89; Cuban bassist and composer credited with pioneering the mambo style of music (March 22)

Eddy Arnold, 89, country music superstar transformed the genre from a rural phenomenon into music with a broad-based national appeal (May 8)

Bo Diddley, 79; rock and blues musician helped cast the sonic template of rock with a signature syncopated rhythm (June 2)

Issac Hayes, 65; seminal figure in R & B and soul music who wrote theme for “Shaft” (Aug. 10)

Don Helms, 81; steel guitarist whose aching instrumental cry gave voice to the anguish and joy in virtually all the key recordings by Hank Williams (Aug. 11)

Jerry Wexler, 91; coined the term “rhythm and blues” and discovered Aretha Franklin as an Atlantic Records executive (Aug. 15)

Norman Whitfield, 68; songwriter and producer helped shape the direction of Motown Records in the 1960s and ‘70s. (Sept. 16)

Nick Reynolds, 75; founding member of the Kingston Trio who jump-started the revival folk scene of the late 1950s (Oct. 1)

Levi Stubbs, 72; Four Tops frontman whose dynamic and emotive voice drove such Motown classics as “Reach Out [I’ll Be There]” and “Baby I Need Your Loving” (Oct. 17)

Miriam Makeba, 76; South African singer wooed the world with a beautiful voice but was banned from her country for anti-apartheid activities (Nov. 10)

Odetta Holmes, 77; folk singer was a voice of the civil rights movement and championed black history (Dec. 2)

Elmer Valentine, 85; co-founder of Whiskey a Go Go, the legendary West Hollywood night club (Dec. 3)

Eartha Kitt, 81; sultry singer, dancer and self-proclaimed “sex kitten” famous for her catlike purr (Dec. 25)

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Television figures

Earle H. Hagen, 88; Emmy Award-winning television composer wrote the memorable theme music for “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (May 26)

Tim Russert, 58; he pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of influential guests as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” (June 13)

Larry Harmon, 83; entrepreneur brought Bozo the Clown to television as a children’s show host in the late 1950s (July 3)

William ‘Engineer Bill’ Stulla, 97; children’s show host in the 1950s and ‘60s whose program featured his popular red-light, green-light milk-drinking game (Aug. 12)

George Putnam, 94; pioneer television news anchorman and conservative commentator whose stentorian voice was familiar to millions of Southern Californians during his heyday in the 1950s and ‘60s (Sept. 12)

Charles M. Runyon, 86; aka Chucko the Clown, was a popular L.A. children’s television show host in the 1950s and 1960s (Oct. 3)

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Religious and spiritual leaders

Gordon B. Hinckley, 97; 15th president of the Mormon church, led its greatest expansion (Jan. 27)

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 91; founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement (Feb. 5)

Thubten Jigme Norbu, 86; eldest brother of the Dalai Lama and a tenacious symbol of the Tibetan struggle for independence (Sept. 5)

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Scholars

Robert Fagles, 74; professor emeritus at Princeton University whose bold, flowing translations of Homer and Virgil made him a bestselling classical scholar (March 26)

Charles Moskos, 74; sociologist helped formulate the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gays in the military (May 31)

Leonid Hurwicz, 90; co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in economics for developing a theory that helps explain how buyers and sellers can maximize their gains (June 24)

Randy Pausch, 47; terminally ill professor whose farewell lecture at Carnegie Mellon University became an Internet phenomenon and bestselling book that turned him into a symbol for dying well (July 25)

Henri Cartan, 104; noted French mathematician and teacher (Aug. 13)

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Science and medical leaders

Judah Folkman, 74; groundbreaking cancer researcher (Jan. 14)

Joshua Lederberg, 82; Nobel Prize winner was a pioneer in genetics (Feb. 2)

Giuseppe Attardi, 84; Caltech professor of molecular biology whose work linked degenerative diseases and aging to genetic mutations (April 5)

John A. Wheeler, 96; leading 20th century physicist popularized notions about black holes, wormholes and quantum foam (April 13)

Albert Hofmann, 102; Swiss chemist discovered LSD (April 29)

Willis E. Lamb Jr., 94; physicist and Nobel Prize winner helped produce the modern field of quantum electrodynamics (May 15)

Michael E. DeBakey, 99; medical pioneer was the driving force in developing the field of cardiac surgery (July 11)

Victor A. McKusick, 86; Johns Hopkins University physician widely regarded as the father of medical genetics (July 22)

Adrian Kantrowitz, 90; cardiac surgeon performed the nation’s first human heart transplant and developed lifesaving medical implants (Nov. 14)

Arthur R. Kantrowitz, 95; physicist and engineer whose research helped lead to nose cones in rockets and heart-assist pumps (Nov. 29)

D. Carleton Gajdusek, 85; pediatrician, virologist and anthropologist won the 1976 Nobel Prize in medicine but was also an unrepentant pedophile (Dec. 12)

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Sports

Johnny Podres, 75; left-hander pitched Dodgers to first World Series title in Brooklyn (Jan. 13)

Bobby Fischer, 64; the reclusive chess genius became a Cold War hero when he dethroned the Soviet world champion in 1972 (Jan. 17)

Georgia Frontiere, 80; inherited the Los Angeles Rams football team from her husband, Carroll Rosenblum, and infuriated Southern California football fans when she moved the team to St. Louis (Jan. 18)

Larry Smith, 68; led USC to Rose Bowl appearances in his first three years as coach (Jan. 28)

Boyd Coddington, 63; his “American Hot Rod” TV reality show introduced the nation to the West Coast hot-rod guru (Feb. 27)

Art Aragon, 80; Los Angeles’ charismatic “Golden Boy” boxer of the 1940s and ‘50s (March 25)

Will Robinson, 96; first black basketball coach in an NCAA Division I school (April 28)

E.J. “Buzzie” Bavasi, 93; former general manager of the Dodgers who guided the team through its transition from Brooklyn to L.A. (May 1)

Jim McKay, 86; eloquent sportscaster thrust into the role of telling Americans about the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics (June 7)

Mando Ramos, 59; former lightweight boxing champion of the 1960s and ‘70s (July 6)

Gene Upshaw, 63; longtime director of the NFL Players Assn. and former star lineman with the Oakland Raiders (Aug. 20)

Phil Hill, 81; the only American-born driver to win the Formula One international auto-racing championship (Aug. 28)

Don Haskins, 78; Texas Western coach helped integrate college basketball when he started five black players in NCAA championship game against Kentucky in 1966 (Sept. 7)

“Preacher” Roe, 92; Dodgers pitcher in the late 1940s and early ‘50s known for throwing the spitball (Nov. 9)

Pete Newell, 93; Hall of Fame basketball coach won an NCAA championship and Olympic gold medal and later tutored some of the game’s greatest big men (Nov. 17)

Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, 94; record-setting passer, punter and defensive back who led the Washington Redskins to two NFL titles and whose wide-open style of play helped usher professional football into the modern era (Dec. 17)

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Theater

Gerald Schoenfeld, 84; longtime head of the Shubert Organization helped bring numerous works to Broadway, including “A Chorus Line,” “Cats” and “Amadeus” (Nov. 25)

William Gibson, 94; Tony Award-winning playwright best known for “The Miracle Worker,” the story of Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan (Nov. 25)

Harold Pinter, 78; English playwright and Nobel Prize winner whose original style changed the face of 20th century theater (Dec. 24)

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World figures

George Habash, 82; founder of Arab nationalism and architect of infamous airline hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s (Jan. 26)

Suharto, 86; former dictator of Indonesia who ruled ruthlessly for 32 years (Jan. 27)

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Writers and editors

Arthur C. Clarke, 90; visionary titan of science fiction who collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on “2001: A Space Odyssey” (March 19)

Clay Felker, 82; innovative founding editor of New York magazine was widely considered one of the great post-World War II magazine editors in America and a key figure in the emergence of New Journalism in the 1960s (July 1)

Alexander I. Solzhenitsyn, 89; Nobel laureate’s writing mirrored the turmoil and repression of his beloved Russia (Aug. 3)

Mahmoud Darwish, 67; leading Palestinian poet was a political and cultural icon (Aug. 9)

Robert Giroux, 94; giant of 20th century publishing helped guide the careers of T.S. Eliot, Jack Kerouac and Susan Sontag (Sept. 5)

David Foster Wallace, 46; novelist, essayist and humorist best known for his tome “Infinite Jest” (Sept. 12)

Tony Hillerman, 83; author of the bestselling series of mystery novels set in the Southwest featuring Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Sgt. Jim Chee (Oct. 26)

Studs Terkel, 96; made his name listening to ordinary folks talk about their ordinary lives(Oct. 31)

Michael Crichton, 66; creator of “Jurassic Park” and “ER” was a towering figure in pop culture (Nov. 4)

Forrest J Ackerman, 92; author, editor and collector of memorabilia was considered the grand old man of science fiction (Dec. 4)

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latimes.com/2008obituaries

Additional listings

More comprehensive lists of influential people who died in 2008 are available online, along with links to their obituaries.