Obituaries - Aug. 15, 1997

Evan J. Kemp Jr.; Disabled Rights Activist

Evan J. Kemp Jr., 60, former chairman of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Kemp had suffered from Kugelberg-Welander disease, a progressive and degenerative form of spinal muscular atrophy, since he was 12. Wheelchair-bound since the 1970s, Kemp was named an EEOC commissioner in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and promoted to chairman of the agency in 1990 by President George Bush. A strong voice for the disabled, he worked on proposals to give disabled workers the same protections received by minorities and women under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He also worked on legislation requiring employers to make workplaces accessible for the handicapped. Previously, Kemp served eight years as executive director of the Ralph Nader-sponsored Disability Rights Center. Brought up in Cleveland, Kemp graduated from Washington & Lee University and the University of Virginia Law School. On Tuesday in Washington, after he was stricken by an undiagnosed disease.

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Roy D. Leventhal; Real Estate Developer

Roy D. Leventhal, 62, a real estate developer who built complexes from Manhattan Beach to Oxnard and Ontario. With Harry Crowell, he co-founded Crowell/Leventhal Inc. in 1963, based in Upland. By the time Leventhal, as vice president, and his wife, Phyllis, as corporate treasurer, retired in 1975, the firm had built more than 3,000 single-family homes and several commercial and industrial properties. Their projects were built principally in Manhattan Beach, Oxnard, Glendora, Upland, Ontario and La Verne. Leventhal next moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, where he founded Mountain Savings Bank and served as its chief executive officer. After a second retirement, he moved to Seattle, where he founded Roy’s Toys. The home the Leventhals built on Puget Sound was featured in Architectural Digest. Leventhal was a noted collector and authority on rare and antique automobiles. He was a graduate of USC, where he played varsity tennis and was a member of the USC Marching Band. On Monday in Seattle after a short illness.

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Carlton Moss; Pioneer in Black Theater

Carlton Moss, 88, an important early African American figure in film and theater. A native of Newark, N.J., Moss attended Morgan College in Baltimore and formed a touring dramatic group from African American colleges called “Toward a Black Theatre.” As part of New York’s Harlem Renaissance of arts in the early 1930s, Moss wrote three NBC radio series: “Careless Love,” “Meeting House” and “Folks From Dixie.” He also hosted a groundbreaking “Community Forum” local radio talk show. During the Depression, Moss became heavily involved in the Federal Theater, sponsored by the Works Progress Administration. He first served as assistant to director John Houseman on Orson Welles’ production of “Macbeth” at Harlem’s Lafayette Theater. Moss later became co-director of the Lafayette’s Federal Theater presentations, producing such plays as “The Show-Off,” “Noah” and “Prelude to Swing.” Moss also managed the theater of the Harlem YMCA, which gave a boost to the careers of Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier. During World War II, Moss rewrote and acted in a film titled “The Negro Soldier” for the War Department and produced the film “Teamwork.” After the war, Moss settled in Los Angeles, where he produced educational short films and commercial and government documentaries. Moss taught at UC Irvine until 1994. On Sunday in Los Angeles.