Thomas J. D’Andrea; Actor in ‘The Life of Riley’

Thomas J. D’Andrea, 88, who played William Bendix’s sarcastic pal Jim Gillis on the 1950s television series “The Life of Riley.” The comedy series about Southern California blue-collar workers ran on NBC from 1953 to 1958. D’Andrea, a Chicago-born writer, character actor and comedian, performed stand-up comedy and appeared in 35 films, from “This Is the Army,” starring then-Lt. Ronald Reagan, in 1943 to “A House Is Not a Home,” starring Shelley Winters, in 1964. D’Andrea’s favorite role was the taxi driver for Humphrey Bogart in “Dark Passage” in 1947. The character actor first came to Hollywood in 1934 as publicist for Betty Grable, Gene Autry, Jackie Coogan and Mae Clark. He began acting on radio and then formed a comedy stage act with his friend Wilkie Mahoney. By 1937, D’Andrea was writing radio scripts for Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and the team of Olsen and Johnson. After he was drafted into the Army Air Corps in World War II, he wrote radio scripts for Gracie Fields and others. On May 14 in South Port Square, Fla., of heart disease.

*

Wolf Mankowitz; Screenwriter, Novelist

Wolf Mankowitz, 73, Academy Award-winning screenwriter, playwright and novelist. The London-born writer’s film version of his novel “The Bespoke Overcoat” earned an Oscar for best short subject in 1956. His eclectic screen output ranged from “The Millionairess,” starring Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren, to the James Bond spoof “Casino Royale,” with David Niven and Woody Allen, to “The Day the Earth Caught Fire,” about nuclear war. His books included both nonfiction, such as biographies on Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe, and fiction, such as the novels “A Kid for Two Farthings” and “Make Me an Offer.” Mankowitz was the son of a dealer in antique and secondhand books and grew up loving them. He became an authority on porcelain and wrote several handbooks on it, including his 1953 “Wedgwood.” Charged with failure to pay back taxes, the writer fell into bankruptcy in the 1980s and moved to a castle in Ireland. He taught briefly at the University of New Mexico. On May 20 in County Cork, Ireland, of cancer.

*

Blake H. Watson; Obstetrician

Dr. Blake H. Watson, 94, a Santa Monica obstetrician who delivered about 13,000 babies. The internationally respected obstetrician organized the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for St. John’s Medical Center in Santa Monica when it was founded in 1942. Watson headed the department for 23 years, was hospital chief of staff for two years, introduced its use of ultrasound technology and continued delivering babies there until his retirement in 1986. After post-earthquake remodeling, the hospital named its labor and delivery rooms in his honor. Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Watson was influenced to enter medicine by a neighbor physician whom he accompanied on his rounds in a horse and buggy. He was trained at the University of Manitoba, where he was a champion hockey player, and he continued his medical studies in Vienna; Prague, Czechoslovakia; Zurich, Switzerland; Glasgow, Scotland; and Munich, Germany. He spent three years as a flight surgeon in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After practicing and teaching in Canada, the doctor moved to Los Angeles in 1936. He was active in epicurean societies and yacht clubs, and, as the founding chairman of the Boxer Club of Southern California, contributed substantially to the popularity of the boxer breed of dogs. On May 19 in Los Angeles.

*

George Wright; Theater Organist

George Wright, 77, premier theater organist who recorded dozens of albums. Born in Orland, Calif., north of San Francisco, and raised in Stockton, Wright first performed publicly at 15 with his teacher, the organist at the Fox California Theatre in Stockton. He went on to perform at the Shanghai Terrace Bowl in Oakland, the old 5,000-seat Fox Theater in San Francisco and the Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles, and was principal organist at the Paramount Theater in New York. He made 60 recordings during his long career and gave concerts at theaters across the country, including the Rialto Theater in South Pasadena. He also worked for NBC and ABC radio, playing for the variety shows of Robert Q. Lewis, Paul Whiteman, Percy Faith, Bing Crosby and Perry Como and the “General Hospital” series. He was a master of both the giant theater pipe organs and the electronic organ. To honor his expertise, the Allen Organ Co. designed a George Wright Model electronic organ. In 1995, the American Theatre Organ Society honored Wright with its first Life Achievement Award. On May 10 in Los Angeles.