born Dec. 29, 1917, Calvert, Texas, U.S.
died Sept. 29, 1998, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mayor of Los Angeles (1973–93).
The son of a sharecropper, he moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was seven and endured poverty after his father abandoned the family. In 1940 he began a 22-year tenure with the city's police department, during which he earned a law degree (1956) by attending night school. In 1963 he became the city's first African American council member, and in 1973 he was elected one of the country's first two African American mayors of a major city (with Coleman Young of Detroit). During five terms as mayor, he helped transform Los Angeles into a bustling business and trading centre, overseeing massive growth and hosting the 1984 Olympic Games. He retired in 1992 after the city was consumed by riots following the acquittal of police officers in the beating of African American motorist Rodney King.