Obituaries - April 13, 1999

Howard R. Cohen; Screenwriter and Director

Howard R. Cohen, 56, screenwriter and director. Cohen wrote more than 50 films, including “Unholy Rollers” in 1972 and “Death Race 2000” in 1975. Many of his screenplays were low-budget productions, although his 1975 “Crazy Mama,” directed by Jonathan Demme, was called a “gem” by critic Leonard Maltin for its unrelentingly kitschy portrayal of America in the 1950s. Cohen directed as well as wrote several films, including the 1982 horror film “Saturday the 14th” and its 1988 sequel. The Illinois native had a variety of jobs before entering the movie industry. Trained as a designer at the Chicago Institute of Design, he helped found an alternative humor magazine called Aardvark in 1960 before becoming the party joke editor for Playboy magazine. Later he founded a comedy group called the Conception Corporation with comics Murphy Dunne, Ira Miller and Jeff Begun. After the group made a successful underground video called “Void Where Prohibited by Law,” Cohen moved to Los Angeles and in the 1980s began writing screenplays and directing films for Roger Corman. Known for his knowledge of movie and music trivia, he also was the author of the 1989 book “Test Your Movie IQ.” On April 3 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of a heart attack.

Jack McDonald; Former Imperial Corp. of America Chairman

Jack H. McDonald, 88, former chairman of Imperial Corp. of America who led the firm at the time it became one of the nation’s largest holding companies. McDonald was an official of the Pasadena-based firm Investors Savings and Loan Assn. when it was bought by Imperial in 1959. McDonald rose through the ranks of the San Diego-based Imperial, becoming chief executive officer in 1964 and chairman of the board in 1972. In the late 1960s, Imperial was spread out farther than any other S & L holding firm in the country with properties in Texas, Colorado and Kansas. But new federal regulations limited the number of states such businesses could expand into to just one. Imperial focused on California, purchasing a number of smaller firms on the way to becoming the largest S & L in the state, with 125 branches stretching from the Mexico border to Oregon. When McDonald retired in 1975, Imperial Corp. of America was the largest S & L corporation in the nation and the first and only one to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. During the mid-1980s, Imperial got into financial trouble with junk bonds and bad loans and was taken over by federal regulators in 1990. In retirement, McDonald developed properties in Hawaii and Guam and served as a consultant. On March 19 at Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearney Mesa of complications from Parkinson’s disease, leukemia and pneumonia.

Brother John Sellers; Blues, Jazz and Gospel Singer

Brother John Sellers, 74, blues, jazz and gospel singer and longtime collaborator with choreographer Alvin Ailey. Sellers was known for his raw and earthy rendition of songs such as “Chicago Hop,” “I Have the Blues Every Day,” and “You’ve Been Gone Too Long.” He was discovered by the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the early 1930s when he was about 10 and performing in tent shows put on by a church group in his native Clarksville. Jackson took him on tour with her throughout the South in the 1940s. He also toured in Europe with blues singer Big Bill Broonzy, another early influence on his music, and made two well-received recordings for Vanguard records. In the early 1960s, he regularly performed at Folk City, a legendary Greenwich Village nightclub that helped start the careers of singers such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. It was there that Ailey first encountered Sellers. Soon, the two were collaborating on Ailey’s “Blues Suite” and “Revelations,” the first pieces in a long partnership with the dance company that would stretch over three decades. At his death, Sellers, who suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, was involved in litigation over royalties and the copyright to “Revelations.” On March 27 in Manhattan.