Obituaries - Nov. 13, 1998

Peter Cotes; British Actor, Director

Peter Cotes, 86, British actor and director who staged the first theater production of Agatha Christie’s “Mousetrap.” Born in Maidenhead, England, Cotes was the son of parents who had run a theater company in South Africa. He became a major force in serious British theater throughout the 1940s and 1950s by establishing his own theater group. He staged “Mousetrap” in 1952. Cotes was also known for his hit production of “Pick-Up Girl” in 1946. The play, an American tale of child abuse and venereal disease, was officially censored until the Queen Mother Mary saw it and sanctioned it. Cotes also wrote several books, including a biography of Charlie Chaplin in 1951. On Tuesday in London.

Roman Cycowski; Comedian Harmonists Member

Roman Cycowski, 97, the last surviving member of the 1920s-’30s vocal group the Comedian Harmonists. A film about the group earlier this year won Germany’s top cinema prize, the Golden Reel award, and four other awards at the German equivalent of the Oscars. The German sextet became an overnight sensation with its a cappella sound and between 1927 and 1935 made more than a dozen films and sold millions of records. The group was essentially destroyed by the Nazis because three members, including Cycowski, were Jewish. Their bookings decreased and their music was labeled “degenerate art” after Hitler came to power in 1933. They went on a world tour in late 1934, including a performance in New York, but returned to Germany to find themselves banned from all live performances. The group disbanded, with non-Jewish members continuing to perform but far less successfully. The Jewish members emigrated, with Cycowski moving to Los Angeles in 1941. After the war, Cycowski sang as a cantor at Beth-Israel Temple in San Francisco for 25 years. In March, Cycowski accepted a German recording prize on behalf of the original group. On Monday in Palm Springs.

Robert C. Hopkins; Computer, Ballistics Pioneer

Robert Clarke Hopkins, 84, engineer and scientist who was a pioneer in computers and ballistic testing. A native of Washington, Kan., Hopkins was intrigued with electrical engineering even as a child, building a crystal radio set in his backyard workshop. He earned degrees from the College of Emporia in Kansas and from Caltech. During World War II, Hopkins helped plan the Normandy invasion. After the war, he designed and helped build the Navy’s Ballistic Testing Laboratory at China Lake. There he developed “microsecond photography of rocket in flight” to make still photos of a bullet in flight, a technique now miniaturized for use in surveillance aircraft. Hopkins spent the Korean War years working for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon. Later, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratories, he helped design the SAGE computer, the original U.S. defense computer and the forerunner of all modern personal computers. As a resident of Los Angeles’ Cheviot Hills for several decades, Hopkins worked on computer design at Hughes Aircraft and System Development Corp. He also taught computer science and programming at Pierce College. On Sunday in Salt Lake City.

William M. Jacobs; Former Chief of Gas Co.

William Morton Jacobs, 90, former head of Southern California Gas Co. Educated at Caltech in mechanical engineering, Jacobs joined Southern California Gas in 1930 and remained with the company for 42 years. He rose from industrial service engineer to vice president and director by 1950, and in 1968 became president and chief executive officer. He retired in 1972 as chairman of the board. Also a well known executive in the utility industry, Jacobs served as president of Pacific Coast Gas Assn. in 1954 and of the American Gas Assn. in 1968, earning its distinguished service award in 1971. Jacobs was president of the Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, president of the Central City Assn. and president of the Los Angeles Economic Roundtable. He was also president of the Caltech Alumni Assn. in 1947 and of its fund-raising Caltech Associates in 1971 and 1972, earning a distinguished alumni award in 1971. Jacobs also served on boards of KCET, the Metropolitan Los Angeles YMCA, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Los Angeles Conference of Christians and Jews. On Oct. 10 in Medford, Ore.