Obituaries - Jan. 18, 1999
Robert G. Adamson; Leader in State and National Realtor Groups
Robert G. Adamson, 78, former director of National and California Assns. of Realtors. Within the national organization, Adamson chaired the Make America Better Committee. A Los Angeles native and longtime resident, he graduated from USC and the Real Estate Institute of the National Assn. of Realtors. Adamson opened his first real estate office in 1947 in Southwest Los Angeles and worked in all areas of real estate for 27 years. In 1974, he moved into administration, beginning as executive vice president of the Southland Regional Assn. of Realtors in the San Fernando Valley. He helped the organization grow from 3,900 members then to its present 10,500, the largest Board of Realtors in the nation. Adamson was a founding director of the Los Angeles Council of Presidents, was active in assuring equal rights in housing, and was a director of United Way. On Tuesday in Springfield, Mo., of pneumonia.
Lorene Marsh Cole; Activist in Community, Environmental Causes
Lorene Marsh Cole, 83, activist in family and environmental causes. Born in Placerville, a third-generation Californian, Cole was active in the Order of Rainbow Girls, Assistance League, National Charity League, Rotary Club and the Sierra Club. She also worked with the University Club of the Desert, Date Empire Shrine Club, World Affairs Council, Salvation Army Booth Memorial Home and Hospital, the Los Angeles County Bureau of Adoptions, PEO Sisterhood and Chapman University Heritage Society. Two governors appointed her to serve on the Women’s Board of Terms and Parole. On Jan. 10 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Robert Douglas; Actor, TV Producer, Director
Robert Douglas, 89, stage, screen and television actor who went on to produce and direct television shows. Born in Bletchey, England, Douglas started appearing on the London stage in 1927. He appeared in several British films in both lead and supporting roles, including “Last Enemy” with Laurence Olivier and “Over the Moon” with Rex Harrison and Merle Oberon. After serving in the British navy in World War II, he came to Hollywood, where he signed a contract with Warner Bros. He played the villain in many adventure films, crossing swords with Burt Lancaster and Robert Taylor in films such as “Ivanhoe” and “The Flame and the Arrow.” His film career ended in the mid-1950s and he went on become a television producer and director. His TV directing credits include shows such as “77 Sunset Strip,” “Surfside 6’,” “Quincy,” “Columbo,” “Streets of San Francisco” and “Barnaby Jones.” He leaves a son, a daughter and two grandsons. On Monday in Encinitas.
Monroe ‘Bud’ Karmin; Pulitzer Prize-Winning Reporter
Monroe “Bud” Karmin, 69, who earned a Pulitzer Prize for stories on gambling and organized crime. Originally from Mineola, N.Y., Karmin studied at the University of Illinois and the Columbia University School of Journalism and served in the Air Force. He began his career with the Wall Street Journal, where he won the Pulitzer in 1967, along with his partner Stanley Penn. The prize was awarded for their expose of Mafia dominance of gambling in the Bahamas. Karmin later worked for the Chicago Daily News, Knight-Ridder Financial News, U.S. News and World Report and Bloomberg News. He was named to the Hall of Fame of the Washington chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and was a former president of the National Press Club. On Friday in Bethesda, Md., of cancer.
Don Roberts; Prolific TV Production Designer
Don Roberts, 64, a prolific production designer for television whose set of the legendary series “All in the Family” is on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Roberts designed all the pilots and numerous episodes for 46 popular television programs, including “The Jeffersons,” “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” “Three’s Company” and “One Day at a Time.” Roberts, a native of the Wilmington section of Los Angeles, is survived by a brother, Kenneth, of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, and his companion of 40 years, producer-director Bernie Wiesen. On Jan. 10 in Woodland Hills of a brain tumor.
