Perry Moore, a co-producer of “The Chronicles of Narnia” film series and the author of an award-winning novel about a gay teenager with super powers, has died. He was 39.

Moore was found unconscious in the bathroom of his Manhattan home Thursday. He died later at a hospital, police said. The cause of death will be determined by the city's medical examiner, but no foul play was suspected.

His father, Bill Moore, told the New York Daily News  that an initial autopsy was inconclusive.

Moore had a varied career in television and in film, as producer, screenwriter and director. His 2007 novel, “Hero,” won the Lambda Literary Award for best novel for young gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children or adults.

Moore, who was gay, said in an interview on his website that in writing the novel, he had wanted to tell the story of his father, a Vietnam veteran, and his son.

“Like most young people, I grew up feeling alienated and different -- for very specific reasons in my case -- in a place that didn't value differences,” he said. “I also have this borderline-crazy belief in the power of literature to change the universe. So I'd always wanted to tell this story.”

Moore was an executive producer on all three hugely successful “Narnia” films, and authored a bestselling illustrated book for the first film, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” He directed a 2008 drama with Sissy Spacek called “Lake City” and co-directed a documentary about children's book author Maurice Sendak with Hunter Hill and Spike Jonze.

But it was his novel about a super-powered teenager that seemed to focus his passions. With “Hero,” he said he hoped to create a gay superhero who was not, he said, a supporting character, victim or token. “I decided I would write the definitive coming-of-age story of the world's first gay teen superhero,” he said.

It was the death of one of the first prominent gay heroes in the Marvel Comics universe, Northstar, at the hands of X-Men's Wolverine, that spurred him to finish the book. “He slaughtered the X-Men's token gay hero,” Moore said. “I found this story to be disturbing, to say the least.”

He compiled a list of gay characters in comics to show how most were “minor characters, and victims who are tortured, maimed and killed.”

Moore was born in Virginia and majored in English at the University of Virginia, according to his website. He started his career in television at MTV and VH1, then worked for “The Rosie O'Donnell Show.” He later joined Walden Media, the company that produced the films based on C.S. Lewis' “Narnia” books.

-- Associated Press

Cinematographer Don Peterman, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in 1983's "Flashdance" and 1986's "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," has died. He was 79.

Peterman died Feb. 5 at his home in Palos Verdes Estates of complications from myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of leukemia, said his wife, Sally.

"Flashdance" starred Jennifer Beals as a welder and dancer who was trying to get into dance school. The movie with its glitzy images and memorable musical score showed how "to turn a rock video into a feature film," wrote critic Leonard Maltin in his "2006 Movie Guide." (The video accompanying this post includes some scenes from the movie.)

Peterman's many film credits included "Splash" in 1984, "Cocoon" in 1985, "Point Break" in 1991 and "Get Shorty" in 1995.

Donald William Peterman was born Jan. 3, 1932, in Los Angeles and graduated from Redondo Beach Union High School. He served in the Army in the early 1950s, traveling the country working on an Army documentary, his wife said.

After the service, he started working at Hal Roach Studios as a film loader. Peterman's first feature film credit as director of photography was "When a Stranger Calls" in 1979.

Peterman was injured in 1997 during filming of "Mighty Joe Young" when a crane holding a platform 18 feet off the ground snapped, sending the platform crashing to the ground. Peterman, who was on the platform, suffered a broken leg, broken ribs and head injuries, his wife said. A camera operator also was injured.

Peterman's last film was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" in 2000.

In addition to his wife, Peterman is survived by daughter Diane Tschupp of Lafayette, Colo.; sons Keith of Palos Verdes Estates; Jay of Fountain Valley; Brad of Manhattan Beach; and 10 grandchildren. Services will be 1 p.m. March 3 at St. Cross by-the-Sea Espiscopal Churchin Hermosa Beach.

--Keith Thursby

Lonnie Burr, an original Mouseketeer on TV's "The Mickey Mouse Club," says he was saddened to hear about the death of former Walt Disney Studios animator and Imagineer Bill Justice, who died of natural causes Thursday in a nursing home in Santa Monica at age 97.

In an e-mail to The Times on Friday, Burr wrote:

"Most people do not know that the warm, funny raconteur Bill knew Walt liked to discover things himself, so when there was need for a 'Pencil Song' on the upcoming Mickey Mouse Club in 1955, Bill had his talented actor/singer/song-writing, tennis buddy, Jimmie Dodd, write the song and had him sing it for some execs and Walt in the latter's office.

"Walt said, 'He's our new Mickey Mouse Club host!'

"Bill smiled knowing that he had helped his buddy and helped Walt find him."

The Times' obituary on Bill Justice is here.

--Dennis McLellan 

Photos: Jimmie Dodd, Lonnie Burr and the rest of the Mouseketeers (top) and Disney animator Bill Justice (below). Credit: Walt Disney Co.

 
French actress Maria Schneider, whose role as Marlon Brando's lover in "Last Tango in Paris" won her lifelong fame but also an image that she found difficult to shake off, has died. She was 58.

Le Figaro newspaper quoted her family as saying she had died Thursday morning in Paris after a long illness.

The daughter of French actor Daniel Gelin and a Parisian bookshop owner, Schneider was 19 when she was cast opposite Brando, who was 48.

Director Bernardo Bertolucci's "Last Tango in Paris" was controversial at the time of its release in 1972 for its sexual content, and Schneider later struggled with her image as a sex symbol, refusing to appear in a nude scene ever again.

"I was too young to know better," Schneider said in a 2007 interview with Britain's Daily Mail newspaper. "Marlon later said that he felt manipulated, and he was Marlon Brando, so you can imagine how I felt. People thought I was like the girl in the movie, but that wasn't me.

"I felt very sad because I was treated like a sex symbol -- I wanted to be recognized as an actress and the whole scandal and aftermath of the film turned me a little crazy and I had a breakdown."

Although Schneider appeared opposite Jack Nicholson in "The Passenger" in 1975 (see YouTube clip below), her subsequent acting career consisted mostly of undistinguished, low-budget European films such as "Memoirs of a French Whore" (1979) and "Mama Dracula" (1980).

The complete Times obituary is here.

-- Reuters

Photo: Maria Schneider with director Bernardo Bertolucci, left, and co-star Marlon Brando during the filming of "Last Tango in Paris." Credit: United Artists Corp.

Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Barry, who wrote music for a dozen James Bond films including "You Only Live Twice" and "Goldfinger," and developed the twanging guitar riff for the theme music in the suave spy movies, has died. He was 77.

Barry died Sunday in New York, where had lived for some time, his family said. No cause of death was given.

Though his work on the Bond films is among his most famous, the English-born composer wrote a long list of scores, including for "Midnight Cowboy," "Dances with Wolves" and "Body Heat." He was proud of writing both for big action blockbusters and smaller films.

He won two Oscars for "Born Free" in 1966, for best score and best song. He also earned Oscars for the scores to "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990).

His association with Agent 007 began with "Dr. No" in 1962, although his contribution to that film was not credited and is in dispute.

Monty Norman, who was credited as the composer for "Dr. No," sued the Sunday Times in 2001 for reporting that Barry had composed the theme, working from scraps of Norman's work. Norman won the case, collecting 30,000 pounds ($48,000).

Barry testified that he was paid 250 pounds to work on the theme music, developing the guitar line from part of Norman's song "Bad Sign, Good Sign," but agreed that Norman would get the credit. Norman does not dispute Barry's orchestration.

In later years, Barry limited his comment on the case to saying, "If I didn't write it, why did they ask me to do the other ones?"

He subsequently wrote music for "Goldfinger," "From Russia with Love," "Thunderball," "You Only Live Twice," "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," "Diamonds are Forever," "The Man with the Golden Gun," "Moonraker," "Octopussy," "A View to a Kill" and "The Living Daylights."

Born John Barry Prendergast, he recalled growing up "exposed to the fantasy life of Hollywood" at the eight theaters his father owned in northern England.

"Rather than talkie-talkie movies, I liked films with excitement and adventure, because they were the ones that had the music," Barry said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper in 1999.

"It was nice to have the very commercial Bondian thing ... and then at the same time have these smaller movies, which were artistically more interesting to do," he said.

Other films included "Robin and Marian," "Somewhere in Time," "The Cotton Club," "Peggy Sue Got Married" and "Howard the Duck." He was also nominated for Oscars for his scores of "Mary, Queen of Scots" in 1971 and "Chaplin" in 1992.

Barry trained as a pianist, studied counterpoint with York cathedral organist Francis Jackson, and later took up the trumpet. He founded a jazz group, the John Barry Seven, in 1957.

The group teamed with singer Adam Faith, scoring hits with "What Do You Want?" and "Poor Me," and Barry moved into film work when Faith was tapped to star in "Beat Girl" (titled "Living for Kicks" in the United States).

"The James Bond movies came because we were successful in the pop music world, with a couple of big instrumental hits. They thought I knew how to write instrumental hit music," Barry said in 1991.

In an interview in 2008 with the Irish Times, Barry said his success "was not that difficult."

"If you hit the right formula, if you have an instinct for music, if you apply it, if you have the good fortune to meet with certain people who teach you well ... I didn't find it all that difficult," he said.

More at Pop & Hiss, The Times' pop music blog, and later at latimes.com/obituaries.

-- Associated Press

Photo: John Barry in 2000. Credit: EPA

Charlie Callas, a versatile comedian and sidekick whose zany faces and antics made him a regular for more than four decades on television, in films and on casino stages, died Thursday in a Las Vegas hospice, said his son Mark Callas.

Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said the death was from natural causes.

Callas toured with Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones, and had a screen part with Jerry Lewis in "The Big Mouth" in 1967.

His facial expressions and rapid-fire comedy also made Callas a favorite on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

He also worked with Mel Brooks and was the voice of Elliot in Disney's "Pete's Dragon."

The complete Times obituary by Dennis McLellan is here.

-- Associated Press

 
German movie producer and director Bernd Eichinger died after suffering a heart attack Monday night during a dinner with family and friends in Los Angeles, the film production firm Constantin Film AG said in a statement Tuesday. He was 61.

Eichinger, a major Constantin shareholder and one of the firm's leading executives, produced such films as "The Neverending Story," "The Name of the Rose" and "The House of the Spirits."

One of Eichinger's more recent successful productions was "Downfall," for which he had also written the screenplay. The movie depicts the last days of Nazi Germany in Adolf Hitler's massive bunker and was nominated as a foreign language film for an Academy Award in 2005.

More later at latimes.com/obits

-- Associated Press

Photo: Bernd Eichinger in 2006. Credit: Miguel Villagran / EPA

Theoni V. Aldredge, an award-winning costume designer who created memorable outfits for more than 300 stage and film projects, including "Gypsy," "A Chorus Line," "Dreamgirls" and "42nd Street," has died. She was 78.

Aldredge died Friday at a hospice in Connecticut, said her husband, actor Tom Aldredge.

She won three Tonys, for "Annie," "Barnum" and "La Cage aux Folles," and an Oscar in 1975 for designing costumes for "The Great Gatsby," starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.

Aldredge, known for her ability to go from Las Vegas stage shows to opera, and to create everything from Elizabethan period costumes to contemporary street fashion, was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

She was the principal designer for Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival for many years.

-- Associated Press

Credit: Mia Farrow as Daisy and Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby in costumes Theoni V. Aldredge designed for the 1974 film "The Great Gatsby." Credit: Paramount Pictures

British actress Susannah York, one of the leading stars of British and Hollywood films in the late 1960s and early 1970s, has died. She was 72.

York died of cancer Saturday at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, said her son, actor Orlando Wells.  He said York went into the hospital on Jan. 6 after experiencing shoulder pain.

York had a distinguished career in film, television and on stage, but she is best remembered for her early film roles, when she had an immediate impact in 1963 as Albert Finney's love interest in the memorable period piece romp “Tom Jones.”

With its tongue-in-cheek sensuality and gentle send-up of the British aristocracy, the film is remembered as an early landmark in ‘60s cinema, and York's unmistakable presence added to its appeal. Her long blond hair, stunning blue eyes and quick-witted repartee brought her a string of excellent roles.

York was nominated for an Oscar for the 1969 film “They Shoot Horses, Don't They?” and also starred in “A Man for All Seasons” in 1966.

She acted with major stars such as Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, George C. Scott and many others, stirring some controversy with her portrayal of a lesbian in the 1968 drama “The Killing of Sister George.”

In 1972 York won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. Her film work tailed off as London's swinging '60s era faded into cultural history, but she did play Superman's mother in several of the films.

She moved on to television and stage work, which included several one-woman shows.

Wells said his mother also had a passion for writing.

“She wrote two children's books, which is great for her grandchildren and something we will pass on to them,” Wells said.

York was born in London and studied at the storied Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, which has tutored many of Britain's top actors.

In addition to her son, York had a daughter, Sasha ,with her husband, Michael Wells, before they divorced. She is survived by her children and several grandchildren.

More later at latimes.com/obituaries.

--Associated Press

Photo: Susannah York in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Credit: Associated Press

British filmmaker Peter Yates, who sent Steve McQueen screeching through the streets of San Francisco in a Ford Mustang in "Bullitt," has died. He was 81.

A statement from Yates' agent, Judy Daish, said he died Sunday in London after an illness.

Yates was nominated for four Academy Awards -- two as director and two as producer -- for the cycling tale "Breaking Away" and the backstage drama "The Dresser."

A graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art who directed stage greats including "Dresser" star Albert Finney and Maggie Smith, Yates also created one of film's most memorable action sequences -- the much-imitated car chase in the 1968 police thriller "Bullitt," as seen in the YouTube clip above.

Born in Aldershot in southern England in 1929, Yates trained as an actor, performed in repertory theater and did a stint as a race-car driver before moving into film, first as an editor and then as an assistant director on films including Tony Richardson's "A Taste of Honey" and J. Lee Thompson's "The Guns of Navarone."

His first film as a director was the frothy 1963 musical "Summer Holiday" starring Cliff Richard -- a singer billed, optimistically, as the "British Elvis."

Also in Britain, he directed "Robbery," based on a real 1963 heist known as the "Great Train Robbery," which marked him as a talented director of action sequences.

He went to Hollywood for "Bullitt," and went on to make well-received films including the war thriller "Murphy's War," with Peter O'Toole, and the tense crime drama "The Friends of Eddie Coyle," starring Robert Mitchum.

Nothing if not varied, his 1970s movies included crass comedy "Mother, Jugs and Speed," starring Bill Cosby and Raquel Welch, and the critically derided but commercially successful undersea thriller "The Deep."

In 1979, Yates hit another creative high with "Breaking Away," a deft coming-of-age story about a cycling-mad teenager in small-town Indiana. It was nominated for five Oscars, including best director and best picture -- giving Yates two nominations, as he was a producer on the film.

Yates received two more nominations for "The Dresser," a 1983 adaptation of Ronald Harwood's play about an aging actor and his assistant, which he directed and co-produced.

In recent years, Yates had worked mostly in television. His last theatrical feature was 1999's "Curtain Call," which starred Michael Caine and Maggie Smith as a pair of theatrical ghosts.

Yates is survived by his wife, Virginia Pope, a son and a daughter.

More later at latimes.com/obits.

-- Associated Press

British children's author Dick King-Smith, whose novel "The Sheep-Pig" inspired the hit Hollywood movie "Babe," has died in England. He was 88.

His publisher, Random House Children's Books, says the writer died in his sleep early Tuesday morning at his home near Bath, about 100 miles west of London, after suffering from poor health in recent years.

King-Smith was honored by Queen Elizabeth II when he received an OBE last year for his services to children's literature.

The writer worked for 20 years as a farmer before he trained as a primary school teacher. In his 50s, he began to write his first story, "The Fox Busters," about chickens taking their revenge on foxes.

He had since published over 100 books, selling more than 15 million copies worldwide.

-- Associated Press

Agathe von Trapp, a member of the musical family whose escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was the basis for "The Sound of Music," has died. She was 97.

Von Trapp died Tuesday at a hospice in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Md., after suffering congestive heart failure in November, said Mary Louise Kane. Kane and von Trapp lived together for five decades and ran a kindergarten at the Sacred Heart Catholic parish in nearby Glyndon until 1993.

Von Trapp was the oldest daughter of Austrian naval Capt. Georg Ritter von Trapp. His seven children by his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, were the basis for the singing family in the 1959 play and 1965 film, which won the Oscar for best picture.

The widowed captain had three more children with his second wife, Maria Augusta Kutschera. They performed together as the Trapp Family Singers.

Agathe, a guitarist, was represented in the film by 16-going-on-17 Liesl, played by Charmian Carr. But Agathe was far more reserved than the outgoing Liesl, Kane said.

Although Agathe admired the movie, she felt it misrepresented her father as too strict and not as the loving, caring parent he was, Kane said.

"She cried when she first saw it because of the way they portrayed him," Kane said. "She said that if it had been about another family she would have loved it."

Von Trapp wrote her memoir, "Memories Before and After The Sound of Music," published in September by Harper Paperbacks, to set the record straight, Kane said.

Johannes von Trapp, the youngest of the children, said Agathe was a private person who also was a talented sketch artist.

He said she will be buried in the spring at a cemetery at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt.

Agathe's death leaves four surviving members of the Trapp Family Singers: Maria von Trapp, 96; Rosmarie von Trapp, 81; Elenore "Lorli" von Trapp Campbell, 79; and Johannes, 71.

-- Associated Press

Photo: Agathe von Trapp, center, surrounded by family members in 1998. Credit: Associated Press