As a young American in Paris in 1949 — four years out of the Army and one year out of a Boston art school — Ellsworth Kelly had an epiphany. The key to creative inspiration was in the world around him, not in other artists’ studios or at the Louvre. If he paid close attention to, say, the contour of a window, the shape of a leaf, the play of light and shadows on man-made and natural forms, his art would emerge.
“I think if you can turn off the mind and look only with the eyes, ultimately everything becomes abstract,” the artist told an interviewer in 1991, reflecting on the evolution of his work. Six years later, when a Kelly retrospective exhibition — organized by New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum — appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, he told a Times reporter: “I’m not searching for something. I just find it. The idea has to come to me … something that has the magic of life.”
By then, Kelly was internationally known as a master of geometric abstraction, the high priest of crisp, hard-edge shapes and vivid colors. Art history books had classified him as an exemplar of Minimalism’s cool aesthetic, which gathered force in the 1950s and ‘60s in reaction to Abstract Expressionism’s emotional aura.
“Minimalism was a necessary, even valuable phase, of modern art,” states “History of Art,” a monumental text on Western art written by H.W. Janson and subsequently revised and expanded. “At its most extreme, it reduced art not to an eternal essence but to an arid simplicity. In the hands of a few artists of genius like Kelly, however, it yielded works of unprecedented formal perfection.”
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A visitor looks at the artwork “Two Panels - Blue-Yellow” (1970) by artist Ellsworth Kelly as part of the exhibition “J’aime les panoramas” (I love the panoramas) at the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MUCEM) in Marseille, France in November 2015.
(Bertrand Langlois / AFP/Getty Images)
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Prominent New York artist Ellsworth Kelly in 1996. A major retrospective of his work travelled from the Guggenheim Museum in New York to L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art.
(Clarence Williams / Los Angeles Times)
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Ellsworth Kelly, “Black Relief with White,” 2011. Oil on canvas, two joined panels.
(Matthew Marks Gallery)
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President Obama awards Ellsworth Kelly the 2012 National Medal of Arts for his contributions as a painter, sculptor and printmaker.
(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)
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Works by U.S. artist Ellsworth Kelly are displayed during the Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Ellsworth Kelly exhibition preview at Villa Medici in 2010 in Rome.
(Elisabetta Villa / Getty Images)
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Ellsworth Kelly at the installation of his sculpture “The Barnes Totem” in the garden of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia in 2012.
(Matt Rourke / Associated Press)
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Ellsworth Kelly’s “Red Blue Green” (1963). Oil on canvas.
(Ellsworth Kelly)
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Installation view of an Ellsworth Kelly exhibit: “Prints and Paintings,” Jan. 22 – April 22, 2012, at Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
(Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
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Ellsworth Kelly, “Head with Beard,” (1949) newspaper cutout.
(Ellsworth Kelly)
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Installation view of an Ellsworth Kelly exhibit: Prints and Paintings, Jan. 22 through April 22, 2012, at Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
(Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
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Ellsworth Kelly, “Black Ripe,” (1955), oil on canvas.
(Anderson Collection at Stanford)
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Edythe and Eli Broad with artist Ellsworth Kelly in front of his paintings at the 1994 opening of the Broads’ gallery in Santa Monica.
(Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)
But for Kelly, perfection had little to do with geometry. What he wanted was joy. He found it through a keen perception of things he saw.
Kelly died Sunday afternoon at his home in Spencertown, N.Y. He was 92. His death was confirmed to The Times by Matthew Marks, owner of the Matthew Marks Gallery, which represents Kelly.
“I can confirm he died at home this afternoon. I saw him last week. He had just completed five new paintings. He was working well until the end,” Marks said. “He had a nice Christmas with a lot of friends and fellow artists.”
Four of Kelly’s works fill a room at the Broad, the museum in downtown Los Angeles founded by philanthropist Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe. In a review of the opening, Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight noted the artwork’s “seamless fusion of bold geometric shapes, crisp composition and saturated colors grabs you by the lapels.... All calmly share the same flat plane, perfectly balanced in scale and chromatic intensity, yet straining to burst their optical bonds. Kelly makes poise look easy.”
Long before Kelly’s death, art historians and critics pondered the complexities of his work and where it fit.
In the catalog of the Guggenheim’s 1996-98 traveling retrospective, curator Diane Waldman wrote: “Kelly’s need to make color an independent entity and to align it with a specific shape and space may have set him apart from a particular group or movement, but it has not set him apart from the art and culture of the 20th century nor from the age-old issues that animate art and give it its true meaning. It is Kelly’s strength to objectify color and form and to distill its essence from the world of reality, drawing on human emotion, imagination, and spirit.”
Reviewing the show for the New Yorker, Simon Schama wrote that the strength of Kelly’s “opulently colored and gracefully formed” work was “its winning combination of perceptual subtlety and sensuous immediacy: a philosophical delicacy of vision pumped up into raw chromatic heft.”
Kelly was born May 31, 1923, in Newburgh, N.Y. His father, Allan Howe Kelly, worked for the U.S. Army at West Point; his mother, Florence Githens Kelly, had been a teacher. The family moved to Pittsburgh when Ellsworth was a baby and in 1929 relocated to Oradell, N.J., where Allan Kelly became an insurance company executive.
Ellsworth, the second of three sons, honed his powers of observation early, developing what would become a lifelong interest in bird-watching. At Oradell Junior High School, he was honored as its “best artist” in the 1938 yearbook — and named the “class giant,” apparently because of his height.
I’m not searching for something. I just find it. The idea has to come to me ... something that has the magic of life.
Ellsworth Kelly
Kelly made his first oil painting in high school and studied art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn from 1941 to 1943, when he was inducted into the Army. He briefly trained with mountain ski troops in Colorado but was granted a requested transfer to a camouflage battalion in Maryland, where he made silk screen posters used to teach concealment techniques. In 1944, he joined a decoy unit in Tennessee that was sent to Europe. Eventually stationed near Paris, he visited the city but was unable to go to the museums that he would come to know a few years later.
Discharged from military service in the fall of 1945, Kelly studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston under the G.I. Bill until spring 1948. Within a few months, he had returned to Paris with funds from the G.I. Bill. He registered at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts but essentially educated himself by embracing the international art community, going to museums and traveling in France.
Kelly would become a pillar of 20th century American art. Marks, his dealer in the last decades of his life, called him “a true American original.” But the artist’s six-year sojourn in France launched his career. That’s where he painted “Plant I,” his first use of a white form on a black ground, and produced his first lithographs, collages, reliefs and shaped-wood cutouts. Turning away from figurative work, he joined two painted panels in “Window, Museum of Modern Art, Paris.” Often cited as a seminal piece, the 1949 construction transforms an architectural detail into a spare, geometric abstraction.
Kelly exhibited his work in Paris, but returned to the United States in 1954 and settled in New York. Although he had to support himself with a night job at a post office, he quickly made connections with artists and dealers. His first U.S. solo exhibition opened in 1956 at Betty Parsons’ avant-garde gallery in Manhattan. Kelly continued to show at Parsons until 1963, then moved on to other prestigious New York galleries, including Sidney Janis, Leo Castelli and Blum-Helman.
In the late 1950s and ‘60s, he lived and worked at an artists’ community on Coenties Slip, a tiny street overlooking the East River, where his neighbors included Robert Indiana, James Rosenquist, Agnes Martin and Jack Youngerman. Kelly moved to Spencertown in upstate New York in 1970 and established a large studio there. He met his companion, photographer Jack Shear, in 1982.
Tall, slim and energetic, Kelly radiated personal warmth and a sense of profound engagement with his work. In interviews, he might break into a dance or greet a reporter with a disarming question: “How long has it been since we talked?”
Kelly has left a huge legacy of parallel but interconnected bodies of work — paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints — made over long periods of time. Throughout his long career, he investigated natural forces and biomorphic forms as well as man-made curves and grids. His work has been exhibited at and collected by an international array of museums. He also has made a mark with major sculptural commissions in prominent places such as the Tokyo International Forum, Boston’s federal courthouse and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Although he spent most of his life on the East Coast, Kelly had a strong connection to Los Angeles beginning in the mid-1960s. His work appeared in solo exhibitions at Ferus, Irving Blum, Margo Leavin and Ace galleries. He also made frequent West Coast trips to work with master printers at Gemini G.E.L. and art fabricator Peter Carlson, who built his sculptures.
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Notable Deaths of 2015
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Born Harold Danhakl, the transgender actress, right, seen with Johnny Putnam, became one of Andy Warhol’s drag queen superstars. Her story was immortalized in the first lines of the Lou Reed song “Walk on the Wild Side.” She was 69. Full obituary
(Unknown Photographer )
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He helped launch a boom in sophisticated home cooking in the 1960s when he turned a hardware store in the Northern California community of Sonoma into the upscale kitchen shop Williams-Sonoma. His innovative approach led him to create a catalog business for home cooks in the early 1970s that was among the first of its kind. He was 100. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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The former national security advisor helped craft President Clinton’s foreign policy from 1997 to 2001, when the administration carried out airstrikes in Kosovo and against Saddam Hussein’s forces in Iraq. He previously had worked in the State Department in President Jimmy Carter’s administration. He was 70. Full obituary
(Kevin Wolf / Associated Press)
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The former South Korean president formally ended decades of military rule and accepted a massive international bailout during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. He was 87. Full obituary
(AFP / Getty Images)
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The Scottish drummer replaced Ringo Starr as the Beatles’ drummer on their first single, “Love Me Do.” The song, all 2 minutes and 22 seconds of it, was a hit, but after the session, White never played with the Beatles again. He was 85. Full obituary
(Michael Brennan / Getty Images)
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The legendary stripper and Bay Area institution helped introduce topless entertainment more than 50 years ago. She was 78. Full obituary
(Norbert von der Groeben / Associated Press)
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The West German chancellor was known for shepherding his country through tough economic times, pushing it closer to eventual reunification with Communist East Germany and facing down a band of domestic terrorists. He was 96. Full obituary
(AFP / Getty Images)
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(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
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The Southern California custom-car legend created many of the most memorable and outrageous automobiles ever seen on film and television. He designed TV’s Batmobile as well as special vehicles for many of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and John Wayne. He was 89. Full obituary
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Mathison is best known as the screenwriter of the enormously successful “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” Her film credits also include “The Black Stallion,” “The Escape Artist” and “The Indian in the Cupboard.” She was 65. Full obituary
(Paramount Pictures)
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The Irish-born actress was one of the biggest film stars of the 1940s and ‘50s. She more than held her own in her most heralded roles, even against as forceful a presence as John Wayne, with whom she made five films including the classic “The Quiet Man.” She was 95. Full obituary
(Harold Filan / Associated Press)
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Best known as costar of the 1960s television series “I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster,” Ingels was also the cartoon voice of Pac-Man, and did voice-overs on many other cartoons and commercials.
He was also known for his marriage to Shirley Jones for nearly 40 years. He was 79. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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The Kansas native and avid mountaineer cofounded the JanSport company and sold backpacks by the millions. He was 69.
(Teri Harris / Seattle Times)
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The All-Star won baseball’s Cy Young Award as a 23-year-old right-hander for the Angels in 1964. He later founded the International Boxing Assn. and managed several fighters during the 1990s. He was 74. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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Chef Paul Prudhomme popularized spicy Louisiana cuisine and became one of the first American restaurant chefs to achieve worldwide fame. He was 75. Full obituary
(Bill Haber / Associated Press)
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Grace Lee Boggs received a doctorate in philosophy from Bryn Mawr before marrying a black activist and becoming nationally known for her eloquent, passionate and thoughtful advocacy of social change in America. She was 100. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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Filmmaker Chantal Akerman was frequently likened to Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard and Rainer Werner Fassbinder for her restless, broad-ranging style and the piercing intelligence she brought to both the formal and thematic elements of her work. She was 65. Full obituary
(Elisabetta A. Villa / WireImage)
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In an era when few minorities of any kind belonged to Los Angeles’ social and civic elite, Marilyn Hudson was sometimes seen as the token black. The local civic leader broke barriers quietly at a time when racial militancy was in vogue. She was 88. Full obituary
(Marianne Diamos / Los Angeles Times)
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Susumu Ito, a member of a Japanese American regiment that rescued another group of U.S. soldiers during World War II, went on to become a professor and researcher at Harvard Medical School. He was 96. Full obituary
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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The designer was a force for working women who wanted a stylish but affordable look. Her eponymous brand became a favorite of career women. She was 80. Full obituary
(Adrienne Helitzer / Los Angeles Times)
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The publisher mined California’s counterculture for bestsellers, bringing out such consciousness-expanding works as “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards. He was 83. Full obituary
(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
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Considered one of the iconic figures of modern jazz, Woods was also thought of by some as the rightful heir to Charley “Bird” Parker. He may be best known to pop audiences for his alto saxophone work on Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are,” Steely Dan’s “Doctor Wu” and Paul Simon’s “Have a Good Time.” He was 83. Full obituary
(Hiroyuki Ito / Getty Images)
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Larson is best known for his role as Jimmy Olsen, the cub reporter in a bow tie who worked alongside Clark Kent (George Reeves) and Lois Lane (Noel Neill) in the 1950s TV series “The Adventures of Superman.” The show cast Larson into the pop culture pantheon. The bow tie he wore as Olsen later went to the Smithsonian. He was 87. Full obituary
(Warner Bros.)
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One of the best centers to ever play in the NBA, Malone was named to the NBA’s 50th anniversary all-time team and led the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA championship in 1983, when he also won the most valuable player award, one of three in his 21-year career. The 14-time All-Star entered the Hall of Fame in 2001. He was 60. Full obituary
(Elise Amendola / Associated Press)
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The Yankee Hall of Fame catcher was renowned as much for his dizzying malapropisms as his record 10 World Series championships. His wacky public utterances -- spoken with utter sincerity -- were quoted by presidents, professors and public speakers of all stripes, among millions of others. He was 90. Full obituary
(Ron Frehm / Associated Press)
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The best-selling author was a fixture on the Hollywood scene, where she frequented celebrity hangouts in search of story material. Her novels, including “Hollywood Wives,” “Hollywood Husbands” and “Hollywood Kids,” together sold more than 500 million copies around the world. She was 77. Full obituary
(Tony Barnard / Los Angeles Times)
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The Japanese American tail gunner overcame the American military’s discriminatory policies to fly on 58 bombing missions over three continents during World War II, including raids on Tokyo in the final months of the war. He was 98. Full obituary
(Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)
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Best known for star turns in Disney comedies such as “The Love Bug,” “That Darn Cat!” and “The Ugly Dachshund,” Jones often played the somewhat bumbling good guy. Later, his religious conversion -- he became a born-again Christian -- altered not only the course of his life but his career choices. He was 84. Full obituary
(Dan Grossi / Associated Press)
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His name forever linked to horror films, Craven created some of the genre’s most influential films, including 1977’s “The Hills Have Eyes,” 1984’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and 1996’s “Scream.” He was 76. Full obituary
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
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Once called “the poet laureate of medicine,” Sacks, a neurologist, tried to shed light on the human condition through his study of people suffering from illnesses caused by an aberrant brain. He was 82. Full obituary
(Elena Seibert / Knopf)
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The veteran producer-director brought Hollywood headliners into America’s living rooms through live television in the 1950s. His creative partnership with Norman Lear produced such films as “Come Blow Your Horn,” “Divorce American Style” and groundbreaking television sitcoms such as “All in the Family,” “Maude” and “Sanford and Son.” He was 89. Full obituary
(Harry Langdon / Associated Press)
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Charismatic and eloquent, the civil rights leader had numerous key accomplishments, including co-founding the landmark Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and serving as board chairman of the NAACP. He was 75. Full obituary
(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)
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After being shot in the face during a bar fight at 23 and losing his sight, Manning went on to become a poet, athlete and founder of a theater company in Watts. He was 60. Full obituary
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Specializing in made-to-order clothes, Scaasi designed bright, flamboyant creations that adorned first ladies from Mamie Eisenhower to Laura Bush and film stars from Elizabeth Taylor to Barbra Streisand. He was 85. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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(William Vanderson / Getty Images)
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As the wife of Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, she spoke frankly about the stresses of life in the public eye, sudden fame and the letdown of life back on Earth. Like many astronaut marriages, the Aldrins’ ended in divorce. She was 84. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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(Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort)
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The author of a dozen books, including “The Book of Daniel,” “Ragtime” and “Billy Bathgate,” E.L. Doctorow was best known for weaving historical figures such as Harry Houdini, Emma Goldman and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg into imaginative retellings. He was 84. Full obituary
(Francesca Magnani / Random House)
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In a film and TV career that spanned half a century, Theodore Bikel racked up more than 150 credits. His prolific career included playing the lead character Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” more than 2,000 times onstage. He was 91. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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The Egyptian-born actor, right, rose to international acclaim after starring with Peter O’Toole in “Lawrence of Arabia.” He went on to make some 90 movies in his career, including “Doctor Zhivago” and “Funny Girl.” He was 83. Full obituary
(Columbia TriStar / Getty Images)
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Soler, second from left, with chefs Juan Maria Arzak, left, Santi Santamaria and Martin Berasategui, in Paris in 2004, discovered chef Ferran Adria and helped him turn Spain’s El Bulli into one of the world’s most influential restaurants. Together they launched an era of gastronomic innovation fueled by Adria’s imaginative experiments converting foods into foam. Soler was 66. Full obituary
(Philippe Petit / Paris Match )
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In a career that spanned half a century, Weintraub proved a force in the worlds of music, film and television. He had an eye for talent, discovering a little-known singer-songwriter named John Denver, for example, and launching him to international stardom. Weintraub was 77. Full obituary
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
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An apprentice to Ansel Adams, Partridge photographed many of the West’s natural wonders. But unlike his mentor, he worked to show humanity’s encroachments -- power lines marring a vista, tire tracks crisscrossing a pristine beach. He was one of the last links to a defining era in Western photography. He was 97. Full obituary
(Oakland Museum of California )
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As secretary and assistant to author F. Scott Fitzgerald, she did everything from picking up his laundry and fetching his groceries to balancing his checkbook and heating up canned turtle soup for his lunch. She was consulted for decades afterward by writers eager for her insights into the author. She was 99. Full obituary
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Best known for playing dapper secret agent John Steed in the classic 1960s TV series “The Avengers,” Macnee also had roles in film and television. But he never tired of being closely identified with the role that made him famous. He was 93. Full obituary
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A stage and screen actor, Van Patten was most famous for starring as loving father Tom Bradford in the television series “Eight Is Enough.” His roles in movies included “Soylent Green,” “High Anxiety” and “Spaceballs.” He was 86. Full obituary
(Boris Yaro / Los Angeles Times)
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The Oscar-winning composer provided the musical accompaniment -- and the emotional beats -- to some of the most memorable works of modern cinema. While working on more than 100 movies, Horner earned six Grammy Awards and 10 Academy Award nominations, winning two Oscars for “Titanic.” He was 61. Full obituary
(EPA)
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A former pro football kicker for the Los Angeles Rams, Villanueva went on to co-found the powerful Univision network and become one of the wealthiest Latino executives in the country. He was 77. Full obituary
(Los Angeles Times)
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Roberts founded Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable TV company, and built it into far more than a supplier of TV channels by reaching into new frontiers of communications, including high-speed Internet service. He was 95. Full obituary
(TNS)
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The legendary talent manager played key roles in the careers of many top comedians, including Woody Allen, David Letterman, Robin Williams and Robert Klein. Along the way, Rollins helped create the role of the modern show business manager. He was 100. Full obituary
(Carol Bernson)
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He was an eighth-grade dropout, but, for a time, Kerkorian was the richest person in Los Angeles, amassing his fortune through bold investments in the casino, auto and music industries. While his name wasn’t on any buildings, he had ownership of companies like Chrysler and General Motors, and bought and sold MGM three times. He was 98. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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A courageous editor, Carroll guided the Los Angeles Times to new heights, including a record 13 Pulitzer Prizes in five years. Of the 13 Pulitzers the paper won under Carroll, five were awarded in 2004. It was the largest number The Times ever won in a single year and the second-largest in the history of the prizes. He was 73. Full obituary
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Chartoff produced six “Rocky” films, “Raging Bull,” “The Right Stuff” and nearly two dozen other movies. His work with producing partner Irwin Winkler captured 12 Oscars and 40 nominations, with “Rocky” winning best picture honors in 1977. Winkler, left, and Chartoff, right, flank Sylvester Stallone in 1977. Chartoff was 81. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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The English actor emerged as a British horror movie icon in the 1950s with his memorable portrayal of Count Dracula. In a career that spanned more than 60 years, he was known as “one of the screen’s foremost purveyors of evil and terror.” He was 93. Full obituary
(Universal Pictures )
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One of the first superstar chefs, Vergé, pictured here with actor John Travolta, was known for light, fresh and artfully plated food. He turned his restaurant, Le Moulin de Mougins in France, into a landmark of French gastronomy and a beacon of nouvelle cuisine. He was 85. Full obituary
(Gilberte Tourte / Associated Press)
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In 1947, Mervin D. Field created the Field Poll, which became the standard for public opinion research in California. Results of his surveys could instantly recast a campaign or alter a policy debate in Sacramento. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, one of several politicians who paid tribute to him after his death, said Field’s polls “helped shape nearly 70 years of state politics.” He was 94. Full obituary
(Field Research Corp.)
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While working as deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, Vincent Bugliosi gained worldwide fame for his key role in prosecuting murderer Charles Manson and his followers. He used his celebrity to launch a career as a bestselling author, beginning with “Helter Skelter,” his account of the Manson case that has sold more than 7 million copies. He was 80. Full obituary
(Anonymous / ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Ronnie Gilbert , pictured second to the right, was a member of the folk group the Weavers, who, at their peak, were known for spirited renditions of famous folk songs -- as well as antiwar protest songs that would lead to their temporary disbandment during the Red Scare. The group made a successful comeback three years later, going on to inspire other folk performers like the Kingston Trio. She was 88. Full obituary
(RICHARD DREW / AP)
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Prior to his surrender to U.S. forces in 2003, Tarik Aziz was known as the diplomatic symbol of the Iraqi government, the man Saddam Hussein deployed to convey his message to the world. He had been in custody since his surrender. He was 79. Full obituary
(Peter Dejong / Associated Press)
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Known as an innovator in biochemistry and a medical scholar, Irwin Rose, a researcher with UC Irvine, won the the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2004 for his study of how a cell gets rid of unwanted proteins. His research contributed to the use of an existing drug, Velcade, to treat a type of cancer called multiple myeloma. He was 88. Full obituary
(UC Irvine )
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A famed folk singer, Jean Ritchie was one of Appalachia’s most compelling voices and a powerful influence in American folk music, releasing more than 30 albums and performing globally. She is credited with saving songs that would have otherwise died and turning the once-obscure dulcimer into a folk music staple. She was 92. Full obituary
(AP)
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Known as a pioneer of local television news broadcasting, Sam Zelman is credited with helping to create CNN. In 1961, he introduced “The Big News,” expanding the typical 15-minute newscasts of the 1950s into a 45-minute broadcast. He would go on to work as a bureau chief and producer with CBS, and later, came out of retirement to help Ted Turner shape CNN. He was 100. Full obituary
(handout / )
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Son of Vice President Joe Biden, Beau Biden was the former attorney general for the state of Delaware and a U.S. Army captain. A promising young figure in Democratic Party politics, Beau was considered a leading contender in next year’s governor’s election in Delaware. He was 46. Full obituary
(Paul Sancya / AP)
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Acknowledged as one of the greatest American documentary photographers, Mark chronicled homeless families in Los Angeles and runaway children in Seattle, documenting them as they aged. Her work appeared in magazines such as Life and Look. She was 75. Full obituary
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Known as the “father of the modern-day surfboard,” Sweet played a pioneering role in introducing the foam surfboard that transformed the sport and helped propel it into the mainstream. He was 86. Full obituary
(Sweet family )
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The Nobel Prize winner transformed economics and was known as one of the greatest mathematicians of his time. The inspiration for Ron Howard’s 2001 Oscar-winning film “A Beautiful Mind,” he eventually recovered from his devastating illness, defying a common misconception about schizophrenia. He was 86. Full obituary
(AFP / Getty Images)
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The former jazz musician became a deeply influential and highly visible executive at Columbia Records, Blue Note Records and other major labels. He moved from one lofty record company job to another, leaving his mark along the way. He was 79. Full obituary
(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)
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Happy Rockefeller made news by divorcing her husband to marry Nelson Rockefeller, the New York governor and front-runner for the 1964 Republican nomination for president. Their marital history was widely seen as a political drawback that cost him the ticket. She was 88. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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The blues legend took the musical genre from the barrooms and back porches of the Mississippi Delta to Carnegie Hall and the world’s toniest concert stages. The 15-time Grammy winner created a unique style that made him one of the most respected and influential blues musicians ever. He was 89. Full obituary
(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
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Best known for her role as the clueless mother of a confused, young Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) in “The Graduate,” Wilson also acted in more than 30 movies and numerous Broadway plays. She was 94. Full obituary
(Archive Photos / Getty Images)
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The ex-wife of Johnny Carson, Joanne Carson was married to “The Tonight Show” host from 1963 to 1972. She later in life became a confidant of Truman Capote. She was 83. Full obituary
(Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
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The conceptual artist left a long-lasting legacy with “Urban Light,” the ranks of vintage lampposts tightly arrayed outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Installed in 2008, it rapidly became something of an L.A. symbol. Burden was 69. Full obituary
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Blake won a 1991 screenwriting Oscar for Kevin Costner‘s film “Dances With Wolves,” which became the first western to win a best picture Academy Award since “Cimarron” in 1931. He was 69. Full obituary
(Reed Saxon / Associated Press)
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A celebrated Russian ballerina famous for her swan-like arms, powerful leaps and rebel spirit on and off the stage, Plisetskaya was renowned for passionate performances that contrasted with the ethereal style of many other dancers. She was 89. Full obituary
(AFP / Getty Images)
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Though Carawan didn’t write “We Shall Overcome,” he brought the song to the civil rights movement in April 1960. The Library of Congress called the song “the most powerful song of the 20th century.” He was 87. Full obituary
(Jack Parker / Occidental College )
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Meadows was known for her work on the game show “I’ve Got a Secret.” The show also introduced her to the man who became her second husband, Steve Allen, above with Meadows in 1979, who was the first host of NBC’s “Tonight Show.” Until his death in 2000, they were one of the most recognizable performing couples in Hollywood. She was 95. Full obituary
(Martha Hartnett / Los Angeles Times)
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A former Auschwitz prisoner and member of Poland’s World War II underground resistance, Bartoszewski helped save Jews and later served twice as the country’s foreign minister. He was 93. Full obituary
(EPA)
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King, a singer-songwriter, had one of the most enduring hits ever with “Stand By Me.” He was also known for his solo hits “Spanish Harlem” and “I (Who Have Nothing),” and “There Goes My Baby” and “Save the Last Dance for Me” with the Drifters. He was 76. Full obituary
(AFP / Getty Images)
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His ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ crystallized his musical identity as a purveyor of deeply felt songs of romantic longing. He was 74. Full obituary
(Getty Images)
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The Nobel Prize-winning novelist was an eloquent voice of moral outrage in postwar Germany but stunned the nation with his 2006 admission that he had been a member of Hitler’s Waffen SS. He was 87. Full obituary
(EPA)
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The Uruguayan writer and committed socialist wrote books condemning European and U.S. exploitation of Latin America. He was 74. Full obituary
(EPA)
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The influential master of the lampoon channeled his off-the-wall sensibility into groundbreaking radio shows, comedy albums and hundreds of humorous television commercials for products such as chow mein and prunes. He was 88. Full obituary
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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The wife of James Brady, who was wounded in the attack on President Reagan in 1981, became the nation’s most prominent citizens’ advocate for tighter handgun regulation. She successfully pushed for passage of a historic bill aimed at keeping guns away from unqualified buyers. She was 73. Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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He built the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove as the embodiment of an upbeat, modern vision of Christianity, only to see his ministry shattered by family discord and financial ruin. He was 88. Full obituary
(Al Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The science teacher turned weatherman who joined KABC-TV in 1972 and spent nearly two decades exuberantly delivering the local forecast was 92. Full obituary.
(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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While presiding over a government that squelched dissent and characterizing opponents as “mediocrities and opportunists,” he transformed the backwater city-state of Singapore into one of the world’s most efficient and prosperous international business centers. Full obituary.
(Wong Maye-E / Associated Press)
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The constitutional scholar with a modest manner and a homespun sense of humor was a former chancellor of UC Irvine and president of the UC system for three years in the 1990s. He was 91. Full obituary.
(Dwayne Newton / Associated Press)
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The pioneering figure in postmodern design in the 1980s and ‘90s added historical ornament and bright color to prominent and often controversial buildings. As a product designer, he brought high-design housewares to a broad public. He was 80.
Full obituary
(Chris Felver / Getty Images)
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Known as the “Cuban Comet,” Minoso became Chicago’s first black Major League Baseball player when he signed with the White Sox in 1951. He was 90.
Full obituary
(Chicago Tribune )
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As the University of Notre Dame’s president for 35 years, he helped build the university into an academic powerhouse. He was once featured on the cover of Time magazine, which described him as the most influential figure in the reshaping of Catholic education. He was 97.
Full obituary
(Joe Raymond / Associated Press)
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Known as the half-alien, half-human Mr. Spock of “Star Trek,” Nimoy was a cultural touchstone and called by The Times “the most iconic alien since Superman.” He also made his mark with art photography, directed films, wrote poetry and acted on the stage. He was 83.
Full obituary
(Paramount Pictures )
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A versatile jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player, Terry played with musical greats including Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday. As part of the NBC “Tonight Show” Orchestra, he was the network’s first African American staff musician. He was 94.
Full obituary
(AFP / Getty Images)
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The courtly real estate developer and arts philanthropist was instrumental in transforming Orange County from a provincial bedroom community into a nexus of culture and commerce. He was 91.
Full obituary
(Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
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The auto marketing guru spearheaded Nissan’s launch into the U.S. car market. He’s credited as the executive who helped Japanese autos gain acceptance in the U.S. He was 105.
Full obituary
(Tsugufumi Matsumoto / Associated Press)
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Best known for singing “It’s My Party” and “You Don’t Own Me,” Gore also earned an Oscar nomination for “Out Here on My Own,” one of the songs she composed with her brother, Michael, for the 1980 film “Fame.” She was 68.
Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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Best known for his role as the dashing playboy in “Gigi,” Jourdan played key roles in scores of films and TV shows. But he felt he was too often stereotyped as the European lover, complete with charming accent. He was 93.
Full obituary
(File photo)
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former U.S. poet laureate wrote elegies to American blue-collar workers sweating through despair-laced jobs. He wanted to “find a voice for the voiceless,” he told Detroit magazine. He was 87.
Full obituary
(Gary Kazanjian / Associated Press)
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The radio broadcaster vaulted to fame playing the zany announcer in the landmark TV comedy series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.” He was 80.
Full obituary
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
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Chambers, right, with cameraman Martin Clancy in 1987, was a KTLA reporter for more than 60 years, his career spanning nearly the entire history of the pioneering Los Angeles TV station. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a KTLA building named after him. He was 91.
Full obituary
(Los Angeles Times)
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Tarkanian coached the University of Nevada Las Vegas to four Final Fours and won a national championship with the Rebels in 1990. But his coaching talents were overshadowed by controversies surrounding alleged recruiting violations. He was 84.
Full obituary
(Los Angeles Times)
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An accomplished architect, Jerde created “experience” malls and related projects -- including Universal CityWalk and Horton Plaza in San Diego. He also helped oversee the design of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. He was 75.
Full obituary
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
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The University of North Carolina basketball coaching legend mentored many of the game’s greatest players and coaches, including Michael Jordan and Larry Brown, and championed civil rights in the South during the segregated 1960s. He was 83.
Full obituary
(Getty Images)
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Renowned for his putting, Casper became one of the most accomplished golfers in the sport’s history. He won 51 PGA tournaments, two U.S. Opens and a Masters. Yet he remained one of the sport’s least-known legends. He was 83.
Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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Known as the “Jackie Robinson of golf,” Sifford was the first black player to earn a Professional Golfers Assn. of America membership card. His success helped clear the way for generations of minority players. He was 92.
Full obituary
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The songwriter and poet behind 1967’s “Listen to the Warm” was twice nominated for an Oscar -- in 1970 for the song “Jean” from “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” and in 1971 for original song score of the Peanuts movie “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” He was 81.
Full obituary
(David Redfern )
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The Australian author wrote “The Thorn Birds,” her 1977 saga of a baronial outback family and a priest tormented by love. It sold millions of copies and was made into TV’s second-most-popular miniseries, topped only by “Roots.” She was 77.
Full obituary
(Patrick Riviere / Getty Images)
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Known worldwide as “Mr. Cub,” Banks became the Chicago Cubs’ first African American player in 1953, and went on to become an 11-time all-star and two-time National League most valuable player (1958-59). He was 83.
Full obituary
(Associated Press)
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The Columbia University physicist transformed modern society with his invention of the maser and the laser, receiving the 1964 Nobel Prize in physics for his effort. He was 99.
Full obituary
(AP)
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Abdullah guided the Saudi kingdom through the challenges posed by the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, the war in neighboring Iraq, the disintegration of Syria, the upheavals of the “Arab Spring” and the rise of Islamic State. He was 90.
Full obituary
(Brendan Smialowski / Associated Press)
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In 1967, Tijerina led an armed courthouse raid in Tierra Amarilla, N.M., to free prisoners in a land grant dispute, an incident that became a galvanizing episode for the 1960s Chicano rights movement. He was 88.
Full obituary
(Los Angeles Times)
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The three-term governor of New York was a fierce champion of liberal causes. A fiery orator, he became one of the Democratic Party’s most forceful voices on the need to address economic inequality. He was 82.
Full obituary
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Over three decades, Martinez chronicled life in Southern California as a Los Angeles Times columnist. He wrote several books and was the subject of the 2012 Huntington Library exhibit “Al Martinez: Bard of L.A.” He was 85.
Full obituary
(Los Angeles Times)
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The former Miss Sweden became a Hollywood sex symbol in the 1950s and famously waded into Rome’s Trevi Fountain in Federico Fellini’s classic 1960 film “La Dolce Vita.” She was 83.
Full obituary
(Landmark Theaters)
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The son of one of the movie business’ original moguls, the younger Goldwyn started his own independent film company, which became a major force in 1980s and ‘90s Hollywood. He was 88.
Full obituary
(Ellis R. Bosworth / Associated Press)
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The Grammy-winning singer and composer was known for pioneering a gospel sound with a contemporary feel. He influenced artists including Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Paul Simon. He also led services at the church his father founded in the San Fernando Valley. He was 72.
Full obituary
(Brian Vander Brug / For the Times)
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A leading advocate for peace between Islam and other religions, Hathout for roughly three decades led the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles, one of the nation’s most influential mosques. He was 79.
Full obituary
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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The first African American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, he was also the first Republican senator to call for President Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal. He achieved a number of social firsts in the Senate, including the integration of its barbershop. He was 95.
Full obituary
(Frank C. Curtin / Associated Press)
But spring 2012 was an unusually big L.A. season for Kelly. Marks opened a Los Angeles branch of his New York gallery with a show of Kelly’s new paintings in a boxy white building with a Kelly-designed black bar along the top of its façade. At the same time, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art presented a sweeping survey of his printmaking activity, in conjunction with the publication of a complete catalog of his prints.
In a book about the prints, critic Dave Hickey wrote: “Kelly’s idea, it would seem, is to impose order on the world without bringing the world to order. As a result, when the knowing skill of long practice begins to refine his way of working, begins to disguise the rowdiness of its roots, Ellsworth Kelly is happy to relinquish control, to make some mistakes, to let some things happen, and then look again — and then maybe adjust things a little here and there, as the eye suggests they should be. Then proceed.”
news.obits@latimes.com
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