PASSINGS: Patricia Elliott, soap opera and stage actress; Arlin Adams, judge considered for Supreme Court

Patricia Elliott, soap opera and stage actress, dies at 77

Patricia Elliott, who won a Tony Award on her Broadway musical debut, went on to star opposite David Bowie in “The Elephant Man” and spent 23 years aboard the TV soap opera “One Life to Live,” has died. She was 77.

Elliott died of cancer Sunday at her home in Manhattan, according to her niece, Sally Fay.

Elliott, who was born in Gunnison, Colorado, made her Broadway debut as Countess Charlotte Malcolm in the original production of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” and won the Tony for best featured actress in 1973.

She also was nominated for a Tony in 1977 in the original production of “The Shadow Box.” Her other Broadway credits include “A Doll’s House,” “A Month of Sundays” and “Hedda Gabler.” For “The Elephant Man,” she replaced Carole Shelley as Mrs. Kendal and her John Merricks included Philip Anglim and Bowie.

Elliott also played Renee Divine Buchanan on the ABC daytime drama “One Life to Live” from 1988 to 2011. She graduated from the University of Colorado in 1960 and, among other theater work, she starred in “Hay Fever” at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. She had guest roles on such TV shows as “Kojak,” “St. Elsewhere” and “Hill Street Blues.”

Besides her niece, Elliott is survived by an aunt, Claudine Walker, and several cousins.

Arlin Adams, Philadelphia judge considered for Supreme Court, dies at 94

Arlin Adams, a longtime stalwart of the federal bench in Philadelphia who was considered at least twice for the U.S. Supreme Court, has died. He was 94.

A spokeswoman at Adams’ former law firm, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, said he died Monday night. Adams spent 18 years on the bench of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, retiring in 1987.

President Gerald Ford considered him for the U.S. Supreme Court in 1975. He was one of two finalists but lost out to John Paul Stevens. “I don’t think I was entitled to it,” Adams said in an interview later. “There were many other lawyers and judges more qualified, I thought, and just being considered was honor enough.”

Adams was also President Richard Nixon’s second choice, behind William H. Rehnquist.

A lifelong Republican, Adams worked on Nixon’s successful presidential campaign in 1968. That led to his appeals court appointment. After retiring, Adams served as independent counsel in an investigation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that won numerous convictions.

Adams was born in Philadelphia and earned a law degree at University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1947.