/news/obituaries - latimes.com

Norma Merrick Sklarek dies; pioneering African American architect

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

The first African American woman to become a licensed architect, Norma Merrick Sklarek worked on Terminal 1 at LAX and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

Norma Merrick Sklarek, the first African American woman in the country to become a licensed architect, who helped produce Terminal 1 at Los Angeles International Airport and the American Embassy in Tokyo, died Monday at her home in Pacific Palisades. She was 85.

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Nello Ferrara dies at 93; candy company executive

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Nello Ferrara created Lemonheads and Atomic Fire Balls, two of the Ferrara Pan Candy Co.'s most popular candies. His father founded the Chicago firm.

Candy company executive Nello Ferrara liked to say that he came up with the idea for Lemonheads in 1962 because his newborn son's head was shaped like the yellow fruit.

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Robert Hecht Jr. dies at 92; controversial dealer in classical antiquities

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Robert Hecht Jr. died just weeks after his criminal trial in Rome, on charge of trafficking in looted antiquities, ended without a conviction. One of his chief clients had been the J. Paul Getty Museum.

When Robert E. Hecht Jr. arrived at the loading platform of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in the fall of 1972, he was carrying a large wooden box and was escorted by an armed guard.

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Robert A. Citron dies at 79; space visionary

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

An entrepreneur and engineer who helped commercialize space, Robert A. Citron collaborated on a transportation module for the space shuttle.

Robert A. Citron, an aerospace engineer and intrepid entrepreneur, whose boyhood fantasy of traveling beyond Earth inspired pioneering ventures to commercialize space, died Jan. 31 at his home in Bellevue, Wash. He was 79.

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PASSINGS: Jim Lloyd, Harry Keough, Antoni Tapies, Florence Green

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Jim Lloyd, former West Covina congressman, dies at 89; Harry Keough, American soccer legend, dies at 84; Antoni Tapies, Spanish art figure, dies at 88; Florence Green, last known World War I veteran, dies at 110.

Jim Lloyd

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Roger Boisjoly dies at 73; engineer tried to halt Challenger launch

Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

The night before the 1986 explosion, Boisjoly and four others argued that joints in the shuttle's boosters couldn't withstand a cold-weather launch.

The 1986 explosion that destroyed the space shuttle Challenger and killed seven astronauts shocked the nation, but for one rocket engineer the tragedy became a personal burden and created a lifelong quest to challenge the bureaucratic ethics that had caused the tragedy.

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Yuri Rasovsky dies at 67; big name in radio dramas, audio books

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

With his award-winning productions, Yuri Rasovsky helped bring radio drama back from near-extinction. His 'genius for conceiving and executing scholarly projects of immense scope' earned him praise.

Radio drama was thought to be nearly extinct when Yuri Rasovsky launched the National Radio Theater of Chicago in the early 1970s, and he emerged as a major voice in its revival.

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PASSINGS: Mike deGruy, Zalman King

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Mike deGruy, award-winning nature cinematographer, dies at 60; Zalman King, writer-producer of '9 1/2 Weeks,' dies at 70

Mike deGruy

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Dorothea Tanning dies at 101; artist and poet married Max Ernst

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Known as 'the last living Surrealist,' Dorothea Tanning created paintings and sculptures and mingled with luminaries. Later in life, she focused on writing. Her works garnered strong reviews.

Over more than a century, Dorothea Tanning collided and consorted with artistic titans of the 20th century who included Pablo Picasso, John Cage and Joseph Cornell. She designed sets for George Balanchine ballets, played romantic matchmaker for poet Andre Breton and appeared in Hans Richter's avant-garde films — but she remained best known as the wife of Surrealist Max Ernst, to whom she was married for nearly 30 years

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Ben Gazzara dies at 81; veteran actor of stage and screen

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

In a 60-year career that began on stage, the gravel-voiced Ben Gazzara appeared in more than 100 films and TV movies. He also starred in the 1960s series 'Run for Your Life,' enjoyed a renaissance in the '90s and won an Emmy in 2002.

A New York native of Sicilian heritage, Ben Gazzara was a strongly masculine, subtly menacing screen presence with a gravelly voice that one writer described as "saloon-cured" and another said could strip paint at 50 paces.

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