Gene Casey, 70;Composer, Arranger and AccompanistGene Casey,...

Gene Casey, 70;

Composer, Arranger and Accompanist

Gene Casey, 70, a lyricist-composer, musical director, arranger and accompanist, died of liver failure Sept. 28 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Los Angeles.

With his brother Jan, Casey wrote “Hubba Hubba,” a 1940s-style musical that premiered in 1970 at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut and had a run at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Among his other credits are co-writing “The Orphan’s Revenge,” which had extended runs at Ford’s Theatre in Washington and the Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas. His children’s musical, “The Magic Weave,” has toured extensively nationwide.

Casey also wrote songs for two Gallagher comedy television specials and for “Trapper John, M.D.,” “McCloud” and other TV series. As an accompanist, he played piano for an array of performers, including Edie Adams, Kaye Ballard and Liza Minnelli.

Casey was born at Ft. Sill, Okla., and grew up in Marshall, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles from New York City in the 1970s.

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Bernard Kamenske, 75;

Led News Operation

at Voice of America

Bernard H. Kamenske, 75, a former head of the Voice of America’s news operation, died Sept. 25 in Bethesda, Md., of complications from heart and lung disease.

Kamenske, who started working at the VOA in 1955 and became chief news editor in 1974, was credited with helping establish its charter governing news accuracy and objectivity.

He pushed for adoption of the VOA charter as law, which he saw as a way to shield the publicly funded overseas information agency from efforts to compromise its journalistic and programming integrity. The charter was signed into law in 1976 by President Ford. Kamenske left the VOA in 1981.

Kamenske, a native of Nashua, N.H., served in the Army during the Korean War. He worked for Associated Press before joining the VOA and for CNN as a senior news editor in Washington after he left.

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Robert LaMarchina, 75;

Symphony Conductor, College Music Teacher

Robert LaMarchina, 75, conductor of the Honolulu Symphony from 1967 to 1978, died Sept. 30 in Honolulu.

LaMarchina was born in New York City and began studying the cello at age 7. He made his first appearance as a solo cellist with the St. Louis Symphony a year later. He was 15 when conductor Arturo Toscanini hired him to perform with the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

In 1951, LaMarchina made his first appearance as a conductor in Japan in a production of “Madame Butterfly.”

He later taught music at Indiana University, traveled with the Ambassadors of Opera and conducted operas on the West Coast.

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Fred Tuttle, 84; Role

in Spoof Led Farmer to Win in Senate Primary

Fred Tuttle, 84, a retired dairy farmer who became a Vermont icon and a 1998 U.S. Senate candidate after starring in a political spoof, died Saturday in a Montpelier hospital. Tuttle was known to have suffered from heart trouble in recent years.

Tuttle, a native of Tunbridge, Vt., gained fame after appearing in the local movie “A Man With a Plan,” in 1996, in which he portrayed himself as someone who runs successfully for Congress with such slogans as, “I’ve spent my whole life in the barn. Now I just want to spend a little time in the House.”

Filmmaker John O’Brien persuaded Tuttle to enter the 1998 GOP Senate primary as a publicity stunt. Tuttle ended up winning the primary with 54% of the vote over millionaire Jack McMullen.

Tuttle’s surprise primary win brought him offers to appear with Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” and with Conan O’Brien.

In the general election, Tuttle received 23% of the vote, losing to Democrat Patrick Leahy.

In his concession speech, Tuttle said: “I’ve had the time of my life, but tomorrow I’ve got to go dig my potatoes. So, good night, and God bless.”

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Wilson Jones, world pocket billiards champion in 1958 and 1964, died Saturday in Bombay, India. He was 81.

From Times Staff and Wire Reports