Valentin Berezhkov; Russian Diplomat, Author

Valentin M. Berezhkov, 82, Russian diplomat, translator and author who taught at Claremont and Occidental colleges. Born in St. Petersburg, he attended Kiev University then served in the Soviet Navy. As first secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Germany in 1940 and 1941, he translated for Soviet officials in their meetings with Nazis, including the one in which Germany declared war on the Soviet Union. Berezhkov was detained by the Nazis in Berlin until an exchange of diplomats could be arranged. He later served as personal translator for Josef Stalin in his wartime conferences with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. After the war, Berezhkov became vice chief editor of the Soviet foreign affairs weekly New Times, then in 1969 was founding editor of USA Economics, Politics and Ideology, an influential journal. He served from 1978 to 1983 as first secretary and special representative of the Academy of Sciences in the Soviet Embassy in Washington. In 1991, after the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union, Berezhkov moved permanently to Claremont, where he taught at Pitzer, Harvey Mudd and Pomona colleges. He also taught at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and most recently held a visiting professorship at Occidental College. On Friday in Claremont of a heart attack.

Gerard Grisey; French Composer

Gerard Grisey, 52, the modern French composer whose work was premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Grisey’s “L’Icone Paradoxale,” which premiered at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in January 1996, was jointly commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. and the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Born in Belfort, France, Grisey studied music at the conservatory in Trossingen, Germany, and later the Paris Conservatory, the Superior Normal School of Music and the Faculty of Sciences in Paris. Grisey earned the Prix de Rome in 1972 and studied for two years in Italy. In 1980, he became one of the first composers to work at the Institute of Research and Coordination for Acoustics and Music in Paris, which promotes modern music. Grisey taught at UC Berkeley from 1982 to 1986, when he returned to France to teach at the Paris Conservatory. Among his best-known compositions were “Meditations,” “Jour Contre Jour” and “Stele.” On Wednesday in Paris of complications after a stroke.

Henry Hampton; Documentary Filmmaker

Henry Hampton, 58, documentary filmmaker who created “Eyes on the Prize.” The television series about the 1960s civil rights movement was telecast on PBS in 1987 to widespread acclaim. The six-hour series earned Emmys for writing and one segment, “Bridge to Freedom 1965,” was nominated for an Academy Award for best feature documentary. Hampton first envisioned the series, which would become his life work, when he participated in a civil rights march in Selma, Ala., in 1965. In 1990, he was one of five Americans honored by the National Endowment for the Humanities for their work in making history, literature, philosophy and other humanities topics more accessible to the public. Hampton opened his production company, Blackside Inc., in Boston in the late 1960s. The company came into its own with “Eyes on the Prize.” Ironically, the widely praised series sparked litigation by the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who charged that Hampton used films of the civil rights leader without family authorization. Hampton later made the documentaries “The Great Depression” and “America’s War on Poverty.” Born in St. Louis, Hampton studied English at Washington University and at Boston University and McGill University in Montreal. He suffered polio as a child and had recently battled lung cancer. On Sunday in Boston.

Charles Nichols; Ex-Chief Photographer for Disneyland

Charles Nichols, 94, chief photographer for Disneyland from 1958 to 1975. Nichols began his career at the age of 16, taking postcard views of Omaha and selling them to local stores. Nichols was a staff photographer for the Omaha Bee-News, the Detroit Free Press and the McKeesport Daily News before moving to California to become the Los Angeles bureau manager for International News Pictures. Nichols received four special citations from the National Press Photographers Assn. He was a charter member of the Press Photographers Assn. of Greater Los Angeles. Among his assignments over the years were appearances by six U.S. presidents starting with Herbert Hoover, the atomic bomb tests in Nevada and the opening of Disneyland. On Nov.12 in Anaheim of complications from Parkinson’s disease.

Stu Ungar; Three-Time World Series of Poker Champion

Stu Ungar, 45, a professional poker player and three-time winner of Binion’s Horseshoe World Series of Poker. Nicknamed “The Kid,” Ungar earned millions of dollars gambling but also periodically lost the money. He won the Binion’s poker tournament in 1980, 1981 and 1997. His face adorns the casino wall, and last year Binion’s produced collector’s edition gambling chips with Ungar’s image on one side. His death is under investigation. On Sunday in Las Vegas.

Vincent Winter; Won Special Oscar as Child

Vincent Winter, 50, who received a miniature Academy Award for his work as a child actor. The actor earned the award in 1953 for his appearance as a 6-year-old in “The Little Kidnappers,” a film about two boys who are forbidden to have a dog but find a baby and keep it as a pet. Winter and his co-star, John Whiteley, both received the special Oscars for “outstanding juvenile performances.” Too young to read when the film was made, Winter learned his lines by verbal repetition. He had such a good memory that he would say his own lines aloud and then mouth the other parts. A native of Aberdeen, Scotland, Winter spent much of his life before the camera but never equaled his success in his initial film. On Nov. 2 in Chertsey, England, of a heart attack.