Obituaries - Aug. 7, 1999

* Shulamith Katznelson;Language School Founder

Shulamith Katznelson, 80, two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee who founded an influential language school in Israel. Katznelson was born in Switzerland of Russian Jewish parents, and in 1951 established the Ulpan Akiva in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya, where she brought Arabs and Jews together through language study. It is the only language school in Israel that has been open to Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza and the first ulpan in which Jews could learn spoken Arabic, the official second language of Israel. Among the 80,000 students from 148 countries who have studied there have been Israel’s former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, former President Chaim Herzog and former Prime Minister Yitzhak Perez. Since Israel was founded 50 years ago, the ulpan has been a vital institution for reviving the ancient Hebrew language and helping a nation of immigrants assimilate. “If you learn a person’s language,” Katznelson once said, “you understand their way of life.” Her school is considered the Harvard of ulpans for its excellent teachers and innovative teaching style. Students sit in a circle and are encouraged to engage in dialogue, rather than rote memorization. Katznelson was awarded the 1986 Israel Prize for Life Achievement, her country’s highest honor. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 and 1993. On Friday in Netanya.

Carl Toms; Set Designer for Operas, Ballets

Carl Toms, 72, British stage designer who devised sets for more than 40 productions in London, New York and Los Angeles. Toms, born in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, England, was educated at Mansfield College of Art, the Royal College of Art and the Old Vic School. He went on to design sets for operas and ballets, as well as interiors for restaurants, hotels and homes. He and Lord Snowdon were chosen in 1969 as the design consultants for the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales, designing a ceremony for a mass television audience that the Times of London described as a mixture of modernist chic and supercharged pageantry. His credits included work for the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the National Theatre, the San Francisco Opera, the New York City Opera, the San Diego Opera Company, the Vienna State Opera and Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theater. He also designed costumes for several films. Among his awards were the Order of the British Empire for his work on the investiture; the Antoinette Perry Award and a Drama Desk Award for “Sherlock Holmes,” which had a New York run in 1974; and the Hollywood Dramalogue Critics Award for “A Patriot for Me,” which had runs in London and Los Angeles. On Wednesday of emphysema in London.

Stanley Stahl; Bank Owner, Real Estate Executive

Stanley Stahl, 75, bank owner and New York real estate tycoon who was the target of a failed murder-for-hire scheme allegedly plotted by ex-partner Abe Hirschfeld. The son of a Brooklyn butcher, Stahl began as a Manhattan real estate broker and parlayed his earnings into property. He bought several Broadway theaters with his father, Max, and once owned the original Lindy’s restaurant, a theater district landmark. He became one of New York’s most powerful landlords, owning 3,000 apartment units and numerous office buildings. The centerpiece of his real estate empire was 277 Park Ave., which he built for $50 million in the late 1950s and which was appraised in 1990 at an estimated $1 billion. He was the sole stockholder of Apple Bank for Savings, which he secured in a hostile takeover for $174 million in 1990, when Newsday estimated his net worth at $430 million. Stahl was famous for his tough bargaining tactics, brusque manner and penchant for secrecy. He made anonymous donations to charity and was known to reserve surrounding tables in restaurants to keep others from overhearing his conversations. He could also be devious. In a 1961 divorce trial, his ex-wife testified that he hooked up an extension of their home phone in his office so he could listen in on her calls. In 1977 he was indicted for bribing an IRS official and was found guilty, but an appeals court threw out the conviction. Last year he was named as the target of a alleged murder plot by his former business partner of 40 years, Abe Hirschfeld. The self-described parking garage king, accused of giving an intermediary $75,000 as a down payment for a hit man to kill Stahl, has denied the charges and is to be tried later this year. On Thursday at a Manhattan hospital of a stroke.

Leroy Vinnegar; Jazz Bassist With Art Tatum, Charlie Parker

Leroy Vinnegar, 71, a bassist known for his “walking” style who played with some of the giants of jazz, including Art Tatum, Dexter Gordon and Charlie Parker. A native of Indianapolis, Vinnegar was originally a pianist, but at age 18 taught himself bass after a band member left the instrument at Vinnegar’s home. Vinnegar started his career playing clubs in Chicago in the early 1950s, but his real jazz education started when he began playing with the legendary pianist Tatum. “Tatum taught me harmony, he taught me time, he taught me feeling,” Vinnegar once said. “He also taught me humbleness.” By the mid-1950s, Vinnegar had moved to Los Angeles and was working with the top names in the local jazz scene--Stan Getz, Chet Baker and Herb Geller. In 1956, he joined drummer Shelly Manne and pianist Andre Previn to produce a jazz version of “My Fair Lady” that became a best-selling recording. He worked steadily through the late 1950s and early ‘60s. The 6-foot, 6-inch Vinnegar’s health began a steady decline in the 1980s and he moved to Portland, Ore. His battles with heart and lung ailments curtailed his travel and eventually forced him to use bottled oxygen, even during performances. He explained his bass walking style in an interview with National Public Radio some years ago. “Look at a spider on the wall. Watch him when he walks. Watch how he does each foot as he walks. And he’s walking in rhythm. That’s where you’re walking the bass. You’ve got four fingers and you’re moving your fingers all the time. That’s the walking bass. One-two-three-four. Simple as that.” On Tuesday in Portland of cardiac arrest.