David Clephan Elliot

Caltech professor, British Raj official >>

Pauline Weinstein Ledeen, who for decades visited Jewish inmates in jails and prisons, offering grandmotherly concern, wise advice and a connection to the Jewish community, has died. She was 97. >>

Marit Allen, a Hollywood costume designer whose artful style made such movies as this year's "La Vie en Rose" required viewing for fashion lovers, has died. She was 66. >>

The self-taught 'Sherlock Holmes of ancient ship reconstructors' was a pioneer of the art. >>

Vincent Madero was so exhausted after returning from combat missions in Iraq that he didn't always have time to write to his family and friends. Sometimes, weeks went by before he could send them postcards or e-mails. >>

Wayne R. Williams, an award-winning Modernist architect who made his mark in post-World War II Southern California by collaborating on residential, commercial and land-use designs with partner Whitney R. Smith, has died. He was 88. >>

Roger M. King, the CBS and King World Productions Inc. executive who helped bring such stars as Oprah Winfrey, Alex Trebek and "Dr. Phil" McGraw to television, died Saturday, a CBS spokesman said. He was 63. >>

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq: >>

Total U.S. deaths* >>

Karlheinz Stockhausen, the great German composer who envisioned music as a force of cosmic revolution and who himself became a musical force of nature, having an unprecedented impact on both high and popular post-World War II culture, has died. He was 79. >>

Mali Finn, an award-winning Hollywood casting director whose credits include "Titanic," "L.A. Confidential" and "The Matrix," has died. She was 69. >>

In the end, Maxene McGinnis did more than offer a home to girls nobody else wanted. The founder of Jacqueline Home for Girls offered the girls another way of seeing themselves, a view from a different mirror. >>

Alois Kracher, 48, a vintner whose success producing sweet wines helped to revive the Austrian wine industry, died of cancer Wednesday. >>

Arnold Hardy, an amateur photographer who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his gripping 1946 photo of a woman falling from a burning hotel, has died. He was 85. >>

Larry McCarthy, 59, the longtime president of the California Taxpayers' Assn., a taxpayer rights group, died Saturday in Sacramento, the group announced. He was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2006. >>

Peter Houghton, the world's longest-surviving recipient of an artificial heart, died Nov. 25 at a hospital in his home city of Birmingham, England. He was 68. >>

Bert R. Tiffany, the retired vice president of circulation for the Los Angeles Times whose innovative strategies helped drive the paper to record levels of readership, died Wednesday at his home in Bonsall, Calif. He was 81. >>

Her novel 'Desert of the Heart' inspired the movie 'Desert Hearts' >>

Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes, an early leader of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team who flew combat missions in two wars and spent three years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, has died. He was 89. >>

Paul Brach, a painter and founding dean of the school of art at California Institute of the Arts who revolutionized teaching of the discipline by insisting that it reflect what is going on in contemporary art, has died. He was 83. >>

David "Chip" Reese, a three-time World Series of Poker champion who was widely considered the best all-around poker player in the world, has died. He was 56. >>

Daniel Woodward was 76 >>

The critic, essayist and fiction writer who helped set the tone for the literary magazine was 91. >>

Robert O. Anderson, a legendary wildcatter and philanthropist who founded Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. and used his clout to support an array of major cultural organizations, from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to Harper's magazine, died Sunday at his home in Roswell, N.M. He was 90. >>

Pimp C, 33, a member of UGK, is found dead in West Hollywood. He is believed to have died of natural causes. >>

Natalie Limonick, an ebullient mentor of generations of singers who headed the opera departments at UCLA and USC, died Saturday in her sleep at her home in Los Angeles, said her longtime friend and colleague Jay Kohorn. She was 87. She had had heart valve replacement surgery in 2005 and since then had largely been confined to bed, Kohorn said. >>

Robert I. McCarthy, whose aggressive campaign against drunk driving led to his resignation as director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles during the Pat Brown administration, has died. He was 86. >>

Hollis Alpert, a film critic and author who co-founded the National Society of Film Critics more than 40 years ago in the living room of his New York City apartment, has died. He was 91. >>

Eugene B. Jacobs, an expert in redevelopment law who helped California cities use the powerful tool to transform blighted neighborhoods into vibrant pieces of the urban fabric, died Nov. 25 at a hospital in Provo, Utah. He was 84. >>

A report he wrote, which accused FBI Director William Sessions of misusing government property, led to Sessions' dismissal. >>

Seymour Benzer, the Caltech biologist who made key findings about the structure and function of genes and pioneered research linking genes to behavior, died from a stroke Friday at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena. He was 86. >>

Mathew D. Taylor had been weighing a military career for months, but still managed to catch his mother off guard when he told her that he'd decided to join the Army. >>

Silvestre Herrera, a Mexican-born World War II Medal of Honor recipient who captured eight German soldiers after single-handedly assaulting a machine-gun nest and continued fighting after losing both of his feet in a minefield during a second solo assault on another enemy position, has died. He was 90. >>

When he was a student, there was one thing about Wayne Geiger that didn't change in his first years on Lone Pine High School's basketball team: Other players gravitated toward him instead of the coach. >>

December 2, 2007 >>

Reynaldo P. Glover, 64, chairman of the Fisk University board of trustees, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer, the Nashville school announced. >>

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Iraq or who died at a military hospital of their injuries: >>

War casualties

Total U.S. deaths*:

* In and around Iraq**: 3,879 >>

The stuntman gained a following by leaping over vehicles. But his fame grew more through failure. >>

Roger B. Smith, the General Motors executive who led the world's largest automaker from record profits to record losses in the 1980s and was vilified in the documentary "Roger & Me," died near Detroit on Thursday. He was 82. >>

Jeanne Bates, 89, a veteran actress who played Nurse Wills on TV's "Ben Casey" in the 1960s and the mother in David Lynch's bizarre 1977 cult favorite "Eraserhead," died of breast cancer Wednesday at the Motion Picture & Television Fund hospital in Woodland Hills. >>

December 1, 2007 >>

Joe Restivo, a comedian and character actor who performed on the national comedy club circuit for many years with a stand-up routine that reveled in the absurdities of everyday life, has died. He was 60. >>

The author of 'The Naked and the Dead' won glory and scorn, on and off the page, as one of the major literary figures of his generation. >>

Robert Goulet, the strikingly handsome singer with the rich baritone who soared to stardom on the Broadway stage in 1960 playing Lancelot in the original production of the hit musical "Camelot," died Tuesday morning. He was 73. >>

Shav Glick, whose insightful coverage of motor sports for The Times made him nearly as famous as the racing stars he chronicled, died Saturday at his Pasadena home of complications from melanoma, said his companion, Doris Syme. He was 87. >>

Actress shattered demure image in film based on gritty bestseller. >>

The comedian had two '60s TV shows and made more than a dozen films. >>