Richard Beebe; Local Radio Broadcaster

Richard Beebe, 68, a local radio broadcaster for nearly 50 years. Born in Pasadena and brought up in Alhambra, Beebe began his career in 1949 as a disc jockey in Santa Fe, N.M. After serving in the Air Force, he attended Pasadena City College and studied theater arts at the Pasadena Playhouse. Waiting for success as an actor, he worked in Los Angeles freight yards and returned to the air as a relief worker at KRKD. Beebe was an actor in a repertory company when he was hired permanently by KRLA in 1959, beginning a long association with that station. He was last heard reading local news during the Don Imus show on KLAC in March. Beebe also recorded books on tape, including a final one in May on how to stop smoking. Other stations that carried his voice included KABC, KGIL and KLAC. A Golden Mike award winner, Beebe was co-founder and member of the nationally acclaimed satirical news group the Credibility Gap, heard on KRLA from 1968 through 1970. On Saturday in Northridge of lung cancer.

Vince Cannon; Actor and Producer

Vince Cannon, 61, an actor and producer of such films as “Number One” and “Coast to Coast.” Born Vincent Aloysius Carrelli Jr. in Philadelphia, Cannon graduated from Villanova University and began his career as an actor. He was cast as Morgan in the 1973 film “Blade” and as Johnny Dee in the 1975 film “Trackdown,” and appeared in “Uptown Saturday Night” among others. On television, he acted in episodes of “McMillan and Wife,” “The Love Boat” and “The Golden Girls.” Cannon was the personal manager of entertainer Dyan Cannon for 13 years and co-produced her short film “Number One” in 1976, which earned an Academy Award nomination. He was the associate producer of “Coast to Coast” in 1980 and producer of “The End of Innocence” in 1990, both starring Dyan Cannon. As manager of his artist wife, Artis Lane, Vince Cannon produced more than 100 exhibitions of her paintings and sculpture throughout North America and Europe. He also served as curator of the Artis Lane Gallery in Santa Monica. Cannon was active in the Rosa Parks Foundation, SHARE, the Michael Jordan Foundation, Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the Venice Family Clinic and the Magic Johnson Foundation. He was a founding member of Artists for a Free South Africa. On Aug. 15 in Los Angeles of an undisclosed illness.

David Craig; Taught Singing to Actors in Musicals

David Craig, 75, who taught actors how to sing for musical theater. An arranger, songwriter and well-trained vocalist, Craig developed his unusual specialty in New York while working as music coordinator on such shows as “Of Thee I Sing,” “Phoenix ‘55” and “Copper and Brass.” Among well-known stars he prepared for stage singing were Rock Hudson, Carol Burnett, Lauren Bacall and Alexis Smith. Craig married one of his students, comedian Nancy Walker, who died in 1992. “Nearly every actor can learn to sing well enough to bring enjoyment to others,” Craig told The Times in 1976. “As every actor-turned-singer discovers, a good voice is helpful, but the important part of the job is dedication and practice.” After working for many years on Broadway, Craig moved with Walker to Los Angeles, where he established a studio on Hollywood Boulevard. During his more than half-century career, he was associated with such universities as Carnegie Mellon and UCLA. He wrote three books about his work--”On Singing Onstage,” “On Performing: A Handbook for Actors, Dancers and Singers” and “A Performer Prepares.” During his years in Los Angeles, Craig worked with Los Angeles Music Center creative director Gordon Davidson on vocal staging for “A Little Night Music” and “Candide.” On Saturday in Los Angeles of lung cancer.

Lord Rothermere; Last of the English Press Barons

Lord Rothermere, 73, the last of the English press barons who built his family firm into a billion-dollar media empire. The third Viscount Rothermere, scion of a newspaper dynasty founded by his father and great-uncle, was owner of the London Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday and London’s Evening Standard. In 1971, he made Fleet Street history by relaunching the ailing broadsheet Daily Mail as a tabloid and turning it into a mass-selling paper for the middle market. Eleven years later, he launched the Mail on Sunday. The Rothermere empire now includes regional newspapers throughout Britain, magazines, specialist financial publications and the annual Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition. Born Vere Harold Esmond Harmsworth, he was schooled at Eton and tutored in the family business at a Canadian paper mill learning how newsprint was produced. He worked in every department of his family firm, Associated Newspapers. The company was formed in 1896 by his great-uncle, Alfred Harmsworth, later Lord Northcliffe, and later passed to his father, Esmond Harmsworth. Rothermere is the last of Britain’s publishing families--once including the Beaverbrooks, Astors and Hartwells--to retain control of its publishing business. On Tuesday in London of a heart attack.

Philip Sammeth; Pioneer in Disney Character Merchandising

Philip Sammeth, 88, pioneer in character merchandising at Walt Disney Productions. Sammeth joined Disney in 1954 and became director of the studio’s merchandising division in 1967. He also served as vice president and chief operating officer of its music and record companies. Among the merchandising programs Sammeth created were those for the television series “Mickey Mouse Club,” “Zorro” and “Davy Crockett.” One of the best-known items he marketed was Crockett’s ubiquitous coonskin cap. As an original toy licenser to Elliott and Ruth Handler, Sammeth provided a major boost for what would become Mattel Toys. After his retirement from Disney in 1977, Sammeth worked on San Francisco’s 50th anniversary celebration for the Golden Gate Bridge and supervised merchandising for Donny and Marie Osmond. On Aug. 27 in Los Angeles of respiratory failure.

Harriette Carr von Breton; Political Activist, Author

Harriette “Hattie” Carr von Breton, 88, political activist, art collector, architectural historian and author. Born in Porterville, Calif., Von Breton studied art at Scripps College, Stanford and UC Berkeley. But instead of art, she moved into politics and civic endeavors, first doing an ABC public service radio show, “Parlor Politics.” She was a leader of the Los Angeles chapter of the League of Women Voters, president of the Women’s Democratic Forum here and for 16 years served on the California Democratic State Central Committee. She also took an active part in city politics, once spearheading recall action against a Los Angeles city councilman she dubbed “Malfeasance Mac.” She served on the boards of the city’s Child Guidance Clinic, Assistance League and YWCA, and on the Committee to Investigate Juvenile Detention Homes, Parks and Recreation Committee for Teenage Activities, the Family Service Committee and Booth Memorial Home for Unmarried Mothers. After moving to Santa Barbara in 1959, Von Breton wrote articles about art, taught art at the Happy Valley School in Ojai and collected Rajasthani miniatures from India that she later exhibited at such museums as Pasadena’s Pacific Asia Museum. As an architectural historian, Von Breton lectured at UC Santa Barbara, served on the board of the National Society of Architectural Historians and, with David Gebhard, co-authored the well-received 1975 book “L.A. in the Thirties.” On Aug. 15 in San Anselmo, Calif.