Obituaries - Sept. 20, 1999

Gilbert Herman; Actor and Producer

Maj. Gen. Gilbert O. Herman, 80, actor and producer who oversaw the Air Force Reserve’s motion picture and television units. During World War II, Herman supervised and performed in the Broadway production of Moss Hart’s “Winged Victory” and helped adapt it to film. As a lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps, he produced Army training films. At war’s end, Herman was put in charge of the reserves’ pioneering theater arts section. He later worked in the Pentagon’s Air Force information office. He was promoted to major general in 1975. Born in Philadelphia, Herman earned a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. After acting on stage with the Manhattan Repertory Theatre Colony, he also had roles in several war films including “The Sands of Iwo Jima.” Along with his reserve duties, Herman had an active career in commercial television production. Among the shows he produced for networks were “The Alan Young Show,” Burt Lancaster’s “Kentuckian,” Academy Awards and Emmy Awards presentations, “The Steve Allen Show,” “The Phil Silvers Show,” “Truth or Consequences,” “The Eddie Fisher Show,” “The U.S. Steel Hour” and such game shows as “What’s My Line?” On Sept. 6 in Annapolis, Md.

Frances Knight Parrish; Passport Office Director

Frances Knight Parrish, 94, feisty conservative who dominated the U.S. Passport Office for 22 years. Critics claimed that Parrish, known professionally as Frances Knight, tried to make passports into national identity cards and used the office to harass leftist Americans. But she made the office superbly efficient and won two extensions to remain past the retirement age of 70. She retired in 1977 at age 72. Born in Newport, R.I., reared in New York City and educated at Hunter College and New York University, she moved to Washington, D.C., with her magazine publisher husband, Wayne Parrish. He amassed millions of dollars and the couple’s custom-designed home on Embassy Row was a center of entertainment for visiting heads of state. She wrote a 28-page catalog of the house and its spectacular art collection from the couple’s travels around the world. Parrish had worked as a typist at the National Industrial Recovery Administration and as a public relations director of the American Retail Federation when her name surfaced in 1955 as a replacement for Ruth Shipley, Passport Office director. She won the appointment from Secretary of State John Foster Dulles after she retorted in reply to his comment that she was controversial: “So are you, Mr. Secretary. So is anybody who sticks his neck out in government.” Although she often criticized State Department colleagues as “gutless” and “soft on communism,” the blunt Parrish also vowed to make her government agency efficient with business standards and friendly service. To modernize the Passport Office for the increasing travel boom, she consolidated units, sections and branches, improved coordination of field offices and hired additional staff. She led the office smoothly from processing 500,000 passports in 1955 to 3 million in 1977. On Sept. 11 in Bethesda, Md., after a series of strokes.

John White Sr.; Philadelphia’s Dean of Black Politics

John F. White Sr., 75, considered Philadelphia’s dean of African American politics. Although he did not hold elective office, White was credited with helping 10 blacks win city, state or federal elective seats before W. Wilson Goode became Philadelphia’s first black mayor in 1983. White was a key political strategist in the campaigns of his son John F. White Jr., who served in the Pennsylvania Legislature and finished third in this year’s mayoral race. The senior White retired a few years ago from the appointive office of assistant managing director of the city of Philadelphia. One of his duties was overseeing the community policing program City Watch, which he had helped establish. Born in Berlin, Md., White graduated from Bowie State College and earned a certificate of Christian education at Cedar Crest College. For many years, he served as a deacon at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in West Philadelphia. White helped found the Black Political Forum in 1968 and for three decades used it to marshal African Americans’ political goals and the means to achieve them. He made his last political appearance with his son a day before his death. On Wednesday in Philadelphia.

Leo Valiani; Italian Resistance Leader

Leo Valiani, 90, leader of the Italian resistance during World War II. An early opponent of fascism, and particularly of dictator Benito Mussolini, Valiani spent five years in prison for anti-fascist activities during the 1920s and 1930s. He later took refuge in Mexico, returning in 1943 to take over the wartime resistance movement in northern Italy. In 1980, Valiani was named a senator-for-life by then President Sandro Pertini, a fellow resistance member. On Saturday in Milan, Italy.