Obituaries - July 9, 1999

Edouard Boubat; Photographed ‘No Blood, No War’

Edouard Boubat, 75, French photographer known for his images of children. Born in Paris, Boubat held a job as a technician in a photographic plant, working on his own images in his spare time. Pablo Picasso met him and believed he had promise as a photographer. He urged him to leave his job and spend all his time on his personal work, which Boubat did. By 1951, he was invited to exhibit with well-known photographers like Brassai, Robert Doisneau and Izis and was eventually hired as a staff photographer for Realities magazine. He remained with the magazine until 1967, after which he marketed his work through the Top/Rapho agency. Boubat eschewed political subjects and practiced his motto, “No bodies, no blood, no war.” During a 50-year career, Boubat roamed Europe, Africa and Latin America, seeking images representing the beauty of life--photographing women, animals and nature as well as children. On June 30 in Paris of leukemia.

Ronny Graham; Mel Brooks Writing Collaborator

Ronny Graham, 79, a performer and writer who often teamed up with Mel Brooks in screwball comedies. Born Ronald Springer in Philadelphia, he collaborated with Brooks on the films “Spaceballs” and “To Be or Not to Be” and the musical number “Inquisition” from “History of the World--Part I.” The two men met when Graham appeared in Leonard Sillman’s “New Faces of 1952” along with Paul Lynde, Eartha Kitt and Carol Lawrence, for which Graham earned Tony and Theater World awards. Together, Graham and Brooks went on to write three summer Colgate Comedy Hours. Graham performed on Broadway with Robert Preston in “The Tender Trap” and wrote critically acclaimed lyrics for the musical “Bravo Giovanni” and screenplays including “Finders Keepers.” Graham was a frequent writer and guest star for television, particularly the series “MASH,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.” He was also familiar as “Mr. Dirt” in commercials for Mobil Oil. Graham served in the Army during World War II, entertaining troops as part of a piano trio, and later had a nightclub act in Philadelphia. On Sunday in Los Angeles.

Wallace E. Howell; Meteorologist, Rainmaker

Wallace E. Howell, 84, the meteorologist best remembered as New York’s controversial rainmaker during an East Coast drought half a century ago. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, Howell served as a weatherman in the Army Air Corps during World War II and then earned a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He invented one of the first snow-making machines for ski resorts in the 1960s, served as president of the weather observatory on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire and worked for 15 years with the Federal Bureau of Reclamation to increase the Rocky Mountains snowpack. But for two decades, he traveled the world trying to make rain by seeding clouds with dry ice and silver iodide. Howell unquestionably earned the most attention for his work for New York City during an unusual water shortage in 1949-50. The city hired him for $100 a day, and he used a surplus military radar system and police planes and pilots to seed clouds. Once the rains began--supplemented by a freak snowstorm in April 1950 that was dubbed “Howell’s snow”--they seemed never to end. Farms and resorts in the nearby Catskill Mountains got drenched along with the city, and the mountain crowd sued the city and Howell for costing them profits. How much Howell’s efforts contributed to the rain could not be proved, and he took little credit for ending the drought. On June 12 in San Diego.

Thor Kappfjell; Norwegian Daredevil Parachutist

Thor Kappfjell, 32, a parachutist who gained international fame with his daredevil leaps from some of the world’s tallest buildings. Known as the Human Fly, the Norwegian-born Kappfjell launched himself from 200 buildings, mountains and towers, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Norwegian prime minister’s headquarters in Oslo. Recently, he set out to conquer New York’s landmark buildings. On Oct. 25, 1998, he jumped off the observation deck on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, calling it the fulfillment of his biggest dream. Three days later he successfully plunged from the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building, again eluding police and security. He wanted his next New York adventure to be a jump from the top of the World Trade Center, but Mayor Rudolph Giuliani threatened to arrest him, calling the proposed stunt a “really stupid and jerky thing to do.” Kappfjell did return to the scene of his intended crime on March 25, however, parachuting down the trade center’s 110 stories to the ground. He was arrested, pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment and was sentenced to seven days of community service. Then he filed a $2.3-million fraud suit against the syndicated TV show “Extra,” claiming that one of the show’s editors tipped off police so a crew could tape his arrest. He also alleged that the show reneged on a promise to pay him $7,500 to air videotapes of his two earlier New York jumps. “Extra” denied the allegations. On Tuesday, Kappfjell miscalculated a jump in thick fog from the top of the 3,300-foot-high Kjeraag cliff, about 300 miles west of Oslo, and plunged to his death.

Dr. C. Walton Lillehei; Heart Surgery Innovator

Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, 80, creator of many innovative open-heart surgery techniques in the 1950s. Lillehei was a surgery professor at the University of Minnesota and later served as chairman of the department of surgery at the Cornell Medical Center-New York Hospital. He wrote more than 700 clinical publications and trained more than 1,000 cardiac surgeons, including Dr. Christiaan Barnard, who performed the first human heart transplant in 1967. In 1955, Lillehei led university researchers in developing a machine to oxygenate blood and pump it through the patient’s body, making open-heart and ultimately heart transplant surgery possible. Lillehei worked with Medtronic Inc. co-founder Earl Bakken in 1957 to develop the first wearable pacemaker for the successful treatment of patients with chronic complete heart block. He also contributed to the design of four prosthetic heart valves, including the widely used St. Jude medical mechanical heart valve. On Monday in St. Paul, Minn., of cancer.

Richard K. Polimer; Film Agent, Writer, Producer

Richard K. Polimer, 95, a Hollywood talent agent, writer and producer. Born in Boston and raised in New York City, Polimer moved to Los Angeles as a young man to become a literary agent. Soon he began taking on acting clients as well, including Ann Sheridan. Polimer befriended actors Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, shared offices with Irving Thalberg and became a popular host of film industry parties in his Malibu home. Moving into production, Polimer became a friend and advisor to silent screen star Mary Pickford and served as president of her Pickford Corp. and Marford Inc. Polimer also owned several racehorses and produced a film about racing titled “The Winners’ Circle.” On June 28 at the Motion Picture and Television Home in Woodland Hills after a fall.

David Tyrell; Played Variety of Comedy Roles

David Tyrell, 86, a veteran stage actor who had a role in the early television series “Mr. Peepers.” Tyrell, who became known particularly for comedy, began his career on Broadway in “All Quiet on the Western Front” and went on to appear in several major shows, including “Love Goes to Press,” “Overton” and “Goose for the Gander.” He acted occasionally in films, including “Love Before Breakfast” in 1936 and “Saintly Sinners” in 1962, and more frequently on television, with guest roles in “The Rifleman” in the late 1950s. In 1952, he played the continuing role of Coach Charlie Burr in the sitcom starring Wally Cox as a mild-mannered high school teacher named “Mr. Peepers.” Tyrell was married to actress Billie Nelson. On Monday in Los Angeles.