PASSINGS: Violet Weber, Bernard Kates

Violet Weber

Fashion editor

Violet Weber, 94, fashion editor of the Los Angeles Times’ Home magazine from 1964 to 1975, died Feb. 22 at a Los Angeles nursing home from complications of old age, said her niece, Sue Kirschman.

Born in 1915 in Sugar Grove, Pa., Weber moved to California during World War II to work in the burgeoning defense industry.

Soon she began working as a publicist for MGM studios.

Weber’s interest in women’s fashion led her to The Times’ Home magazine, where she was responsible for the publication’s extensive fashion stories and photo layouts.

She had a particular interest in California fashion designers.

After leaving The Times, Weber operated a fashion consulting business until retiring in the late 1980s.

Bernard Kates

Radio, TV and stage actor

Bernard Kates, 87, a prolific actor who appeared on radio, television and stage, including a noteworthy run of shows at the Santa Maria-based Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, died Feb. 2 at a hospital in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., his family announced. He had sepsis and pneumonia.

Born in 1922 in Boston, Kates studied acting in New York and got his break on radio.

After serving in the military during World War II, Kates returned to acting.

He appeared on stage, including Broadway productions of “At War With the Army” and “The Disenchanted,” and in live television shows such as “The Philco Television Playhouse” and “Playhouse 90.”

Kates went on to land small parts on a variety of prime-time TV series, including “The Asphalt Jungle,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Dr. Kildare” and, more recently, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “3rd Rock from the Sun.”

He also had a bit part in the 1961 film “Judgment at Nuremberg” and played Ben Scott in the mid-1960s on the daytime drama “The Guiding Light.”

Kates, who enjoyed working in regional theater, acted in several productions at the Pacific Conservatory’s Theaterfest in the mid-1980s as well as a 1994 staging of “The Disputation” at the Tiffany Theatre in Hollywood.

-- times staff and wire reports

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