YEAR IN REVIEW 1997: OBITUARY

Abu Seif, Salah Egyptian filmmaker whose movies, noted for their realism and progressive political messages, drew criticism from Muslim religious leaders and the Egyptian government; several of his films were banned (b. May 10, 1915--d. June 23, 1996). Agnew, Spiro Theodore U.S. politician (b. Nov. 9, 1918, Baltimore, Md.--d. Sept. 17, 1996, Berlin, Md.), served as vice president (1969-73) under Pres. Richard Nixon until a tax-evasion scandal forced his resignation. After earning a law degree from the University of Baltimore, Agnew practiced until he was elected to public office in 1962. He served as executive of Baltimore county before becoming governor of Maryland in 1967. Agnew gained Nixon's attention when he chastised African-American leaders during riots in Baltimore following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., accusing them of remaining silent while militants stirred up the crowds. Although he was virtually unknown to the public when Nixon chose him as his running mate in the 1968 election campaign, Agnew's colourful attacks on the media ("nattering nabobs of negativism") and antiwar demonstrators ("pusillanimous pussyfooters") won him national recognition. Shortly after he took office for his second term as vice president, however, a Baltimore grand jury investigated him (1973) on charges of extortion, bribery, and income-tax violations dating back to his tenure as governor. He resigned from office--only the second U.S. vice president to do so and the first because of legal difficulties--and pleaded nolo contendere to one count of income-tax evasion. He was fined and sentenced to unsupervised probation. After being disbarred (1974) by the state of Maryland, he turned to private business and became a consultant to foreign business concerns. Ai Qing (JIANG HAICHENG), Chinese poet (b. March 27, 1910, Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China--d. May 5, 1996, Beijing, China), created works that at their best were simple and powerful while at their worst were marred by propagandistic intent. The son of a wealthy landowner, Jiang lived the first five years of his life with an impoverished wet nurse. From 1928 to 1932 he studied in Paris, where he gained an appreciation for Western literature. Upon his return to China, he was imprisoned for his radical political associations, and while in jail he wrote a poem about his wet nurse that established his popularity. After his release some three years later, he joined Mao Zedong and dedicated his poetry to the communist cause. He published more than 30 volumes of chiefly nationalistic, folk-oriented verse and served in many cultural offices, but in 1957 he was officially censured. He remained silent for 21 years, interned in labour camps in Heilongjiang and Xinjiang provinces. Selected Poems of Ai Qing was published in 1982. Ake, Claude Nigerian political scientist and activist who was an expert on African politics and economics, founded and directed the Centre for Advanced Social Science, Port Harcourt, and served as a visiting professor at Yale University; in 1995 he resigned from a Shell Oil commission to protest the execution of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others (b. Feb. 18, 1939--d. Nov. 7, 1996). Albrecht (PRINCE ALBERT LUITPOLD FERDINAND MICHAEL), DUKE OF BAVARIA, German head of the more than 800-year-old House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the Bavarian throne; he survived the Nazi concentration camps of World War II and went on to become an internationally known forestry expert (b. May 3, 1905--d. July 8, 1996). Albright, Josephine Patterson U.S. journalist who belonged to one of the most prominent American journalism families yet worked for a rival newspaper in Chicago, where she interviewed murderers and covered criminal court proceedings; she also bred horses, ran a dairy and pig farm, and piloted planes that flew the mail (b. Dec. 2, 1913--d. Jan. 15, 1996). Alea, Toms Gutirrez ("TITN"), Cuban filmmaker (b. Dec. 11, 1928, Havana, Cuba--d. April 16, 1996, Havana), worked within the stringencies of revolutionary Cuba to satirize bureaucracy. Regarded as the nation's finest director, he stimulated the Cuban film industry as one of the leaders of the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematogrficos, which was founded in 1959 when Cuba adopted socialism. His masterwork, Memorias del subdesarrollo (1968; Memories of Underdevelopment), is a sophisticated study of an intellectual who is searching for his place in revolutionary Cuba. His most popular piece--Fresa y chocolate (1993; Strawberry and Chocolate)--about a homosexual man living in a macho society, was feted at international film festivals and became the first Cuban motion picture to be nominated for an Academy Award. Alea graduated with a degree in law from the University of Havana before studying (1951-53) at the Centro Sperimentale film school in Rome, which at the time was awash in the Neorealist influences of Roberto Rossellini and Luis Buuel. In his first full-length feature, Historias de la revolucin (1960; Stories of the Revolution), Alea was influenced by Rossellini. Later he borrowed from Buuel in such films as La ltima cena (1976; The Last Supper) and Los sobrevivientes (1978; The Survivors). These and other pieces--such as La muerte de un burcrata (1966; Death of a Bureaucrat)--made sharp use of humour to probe the prevailing bourgeois mentality. With cancer encroaching, he invited Juan Carlos Tabo to co-direct his last two films--Fresa y chocolate and Guantanamera (1995). Allen, Mel (MELVIN ALLEN ISRAEL), U.S. sports broadcaster who charmed baseball audiences with his congeniality and catchphrase "How about that!" as head announcer for the New York Yankees professional baseball team (1940-64) and the television program This Week in Baseball (1977-95). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978 (b. Feb. 14, 1913--d. June 16, 1996). Alton, John (ALDAN JACKO), Hungarian-born U.S. cinematographer who helped create the stark, shadowy look of film noir in the 1940s. He also fostered the development of the Argentine film industry in the 1930s, wrote the esteemed primer Painting with Light (1949), and won an Academy Award for shooting the colourful ballet sequence that closes Vincente Minnelli's 1951 musical An American in Paris (b. Oct. 5, 1901--d. June 2, 1996). Ambartsumian, Viktor Amazaspovich Armenian astrophysicist (b. Sept. 18, 1908, Tbilisi, Georgia, Russian Empire--d. Aug. 12, 1996, Yerevan, Armenia), studied the origin and evolution of stellar systems and the processes that contribute to stellar evolution. In 1947 he discovered a new type of star system that surrounds galaxies; it is characterized by loose clusters of young stars that are constantly forming, and he named it a stellar association. He also studied radio signals that originate outside the Milky Way Galaxy and demonstrated that, contrary to accepted theories, the signals are not generated by the collision of star systems but are the result of enormous explosions in the dense centres of galaxies. Ambartsumian showed an early aptitude for mathematics and physics. When he graduated in 1928 from the University of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), he already had 10 published scientific papers to his name. After receiving a doctorate (1931) in astrophysics from Pulkovo Observatory near Leningrad, he served as professor of astrophysics at his alma mater until 1943. During this time he developed various theories concerning the processes of stars, and in 1939 he published an influential work that was translated into English as Theoretical Astrophysics in 1958. He moved to Yerevan State University, where he oversaw the construction of the Byurakan Astronomical Observatory on Mt. Aragats and served as its director from 1944 to 1988. Through Ambartsumian's efforts the observatory became an international centre of astronomy. He served as president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences (1947-93), the International Astronomical Union (1961-64), and the International Council of Scientific Unions (1968-72). In 1953 he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. Among the numerous awards he received were two Stalin Prizes and five Orders of Lenin. Amin, Mohamed Kenyan news photographer and cameraman whose television reports of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia attracted worldwide attention and prompted a massive outpouring of relief, including the Live Aid concert; his more than 30-year career was ended by the crash of a hijacked Ethiopian airliner off the Comoros (b. Aug. 29, 1943--d. Nov. 23, 1996). Amsterdam, Morey U.S. comedian and master of the one-liner who performed in vaudeville and on radio before moving to television, where he portrayed the wisecracking Buddy on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," 1961-66 (b. Dec. 14, 1912?--d. Oct. 28, 1996). Asaf Ali, Aruna Ganguli Indian political activist who became prominent during Mohandas Gandhi's Quit India movement against British rule when she managed to sneak past police, hoist the Indian flag publicly in Bombay, and then evade arrest; she went on to become important in the underground and after independence moved between the Congress, Socialist, and Communist parties before returning to the Congress Party and being elected mayor of Delhi. She also published a newspaper, Patriot, and a magazine, Link (b. July 16, 1909?--d. July 29, 1996). Atsumi, Kiyoshi (TADOKORO YASUO), Japanese comic actor (b. March 10, 1928, Tokyo, Japan--d. Aug. 4, 1996, Tokyo), portrayed the character Tora-san--the beloved bumbling hero of the 48-episode film series Otoko wa tsurai yo (1969-96; "It's Tough Being a Man"), the longest-running cinema series ever. Tora-san (Kuruma Torajiro) is a middle-aged peddler in a frumpy beige suit and hat who, in a typical story line, sells trinkets to passersby; visits his half sister, a candy shop owner in old Tokyo; tours a picturesque provincial town; and, most centrally, unsuccessfully courts a pretty woman. Atsumi infused the role with witty wordplay and a folksy sincerity that struck a chord of nostalgia among moviegoers who remembered a simpler, gentler era. Atsumi grew up in a run-down neighbourhood of Tokyo. While still a child, he left school to work in factories during World War II and then took odd jobs in the theatre. He later established a reputation as a comedian in the city's Asakusa entertainment district. Atsumi first played the role of Tora-san on television in 1968 and made his film debut the following year. Despite their formulaic sentimentality and lack of international appeal, the films were box-office hits in Japan, grossing an average of $10 million each. Until 1988 Tora-san installments were released biannually, in the summer and on New Year's Day. Atsumi made few other films and rarely appeared in public, but when he did, he generally wore his character's trademark garb. In 1980 the Japan Academy Awards honoured Atsumi for his portrayal of the lovable loser. Aydid, Gen. Muhammad Farah (MUHAMMAD FARAH HASSAN), Somali faction leader (b. c. 1930, Beledweyne, Italian Somaliland--d. Aug. 1, 1996, Mogadishu, Somalia), was the most dominant of the clan leaders at the centre of the civil war that had raged in Somalia since 1991 in spite of UN intervention. In 1995, though his forces controlled only about half of the country, his supporters elected him president of all of Somalia. He remained, however, on the front lines in command of his troops. Aydid adopted an "official" birthday of Dec. 15, 1934. He was given military training in Italy, and after Somalia became independent (1960), he was promoted to captain. He received further training in the U.S.S.R., and his career advanced. When Muhammad Siad Barre seized power in 1969, Aydid was made chief of staff. Barre mistrusted him, however, and imprisoned him for six years, until 1975. Two years later Aydid's military skills were needed, so he was promoted to brigadier general and given an advisory role in Somalia's war with Ethiopia (1977-78). He continued as a military adviser until Barre, still feeling threatened, sent him to India as ambassador for five years (1984-89). Aydid then went to Italy and led one of the dissident groups plotting the overthrow of Barre. He returned to Somalia in 1991 after Barre had been forced from Mogadishu, the capital, but Ali Mahdi Muhammad, another factional leader, was named interim president. Warfare continued, first against Barre's forces and then between clans struggling for dominance. UN and U.S. troops were dispatched in 1992 to attempt to negotiate a peace agreement and facilitate the distribution of food, but in 1993, after his forces ambushed Pakistani UN troops and killed a number of them, Aydid was declared an outlaw. The attempt to capture him led to many more deaths, and--following publicity that included films of the mutilated bodies of U.S. soldiers being dragged through the streets--troops were withdrawn. Aydid then intensified his campaign against Ali Mahdi. He reportedly died of a heart attack a week after having been wounded in battle. Ayres, Lew (LEWIS AYER), U.S. actor who memorably portrayed a disillusioned German soldier in the 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front before he was blacklisted for declaring himself a conscientious objector during World War II; he voluntarily served, however, as a medic and chaplain's aide and won three silver stars for gallantry, an action that helped relaunch his career, notably as Dr. Kildare in eight films, 1939-42 (b. Dec. 28, 1908--d. Dec. 30, 1996). Azikiwe, Nnamdi (BENJAMIN AZIKIWE; "ZIK"), Nigerian political leader (b. Nov. 16, 1904, Zungeru, Nigeria--d. May 11, 1996, Enugu, Nigeria), was a longtime champion of African nationalism and became Nigeria's first president when the country became a republic in 1963. Although he was in office only until 1966, when he was ousted in a coup, he came to be regarded as Nigeria's elder statesman. Azikiwe was educated in the U.S. and taught at Lincoln (Pa.) University before returning to Africa in 1934, first to the Gold Coast (now Ghana), where he worked as a newspaper editor, and then in 1937 to Nigeria. There he founded a chain of newspapers and became active in politics. He wrote columns promoting nationalism, joined the Nigerian Youth Movement, and was (1944) one of the founders of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. In 1948 Azikiwe became a member of the Nigerian Legislative Council, in 1952 he became a member of the Western House of Assembly, and from 1954 to 1959 he served as premier of the Eastern Region. He became governor-general of the newly independent Nigeria in 1960 and served in that post until he became president. In 1967 when his fellow Igbo (Ibo) attempted to form the independent Republic of Biafra, Azikiwe at first supported them and tried to gain the recognition and help of other countries. By 1969, however, he had concluded that the cause was lost, and he shifted his allegiance to the federal government. Although he was denounced for this move and kept a low profile for a time, he became a leader of the new Nigerian People's Party and ran unsuccessfully for president in 1979 and 1983. Babu, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Tanzanian politician who, as left-wing champion of the anticolonial Pan-African movement of the mid-20th century, laid the ideological groundwork for the Zanzibar revolution of January 1964, which led, three months later, to Tanganyika's uniting with Zanzibar to form Tanzania (b. Sept. 22, 1924--d. Aug. 5, 1996). Badr, Muhammad al- Yemeni king and imam who came to power in 1962 but was almost immediately overthrown during an Egyptian-backed coup; after his numerous attempts to restore the monarchy failed, he went into exile in the U.K. (b. Feb. 25, 1929--d. Aug. 6, 1996). Bainbridge, Kenneth U.S. physicist and director of the Trinity test, the first test explosion of the atomic bomb, which took place in the remote Jornado del Muerto desert in central New Mexico on July 16, 1945; he later served as chairman of the physics department at Harvard University and opposed nuclear weapons testing (b. July 27, 1904--d. July 14, 1996). Balsam, Martin U.S. character actor who provided durable support in a wide variety of roles onstage and in such films as Twelve Angry Men, Psycho, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and A Thousand Clowns, for which he won an Academy Award for best supporting actor (b. Nov. 4, 1919--d. Feb. 13, 1996). Baltzell, E(dward) Digby U.S. sociologist who popularized the term WASP, an acronym for "white Anglo-Saxon Protestant"; though the term reportedly originated in 1957, not until 1964, when Baltzell used it in the highly influential The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy & Caste in America, did it achieve widespread usage (b. Nov. 14, 1915--d. Aug. 17, 1996). Bass, Saul U.S. graphic designer who created a number of corporate logos and won an Academy Award for the documentary short subject Why Man Creates but was best known for introducing a new art form with his opening credit sequences for such films as The Man with the Golden Arm, Anatomy of a Murder, West Side Story, and Psycho (b. May 8, 1921--d. April 25, 1996). Bazin, Herv (JEAN-PIERRE-MARIE HERV-BAZIN), French writer (b. April 17, 1911, Angers, France--d. Feb. 17, 1996, near Angers), scandalized the French public with his denunciation of motherhood, the family, and the Roman Catholic Church in his first novel, Vipre au poing (1948; Viper in the Fist, 1951; U.K. trans., Grasping the Viper, 1950). Born into a wealthy bourgeois family, Bazin was consigned to the care of a grandmother, who died when he was 11. He was a difficult child, and when his mother took up her parental duties, neither was happy. Expelled from several schools, Bazin disregarded his parents' expectations and determined to be a writer, eventually taking a degree in literature from the Sorbonne. He had published some slight poetry while in his 20s, but not until the publication of the autobiographical Vipre au poing--with its trenchant portrayal of a monstrous woman, based on his own mother--did his name become a household word. He followed this first novel of the Rezeau family with La Mort du petit cheval (1950; "The Death of the Little Horse") and Le Cri de la chouette (1972; "Screech of the Barn Owl"). His acerbic perceptions also surfaced in Le Tte contre les murs (1949; Head Against the Wall, 1952), a novel about mental institutions, and in such works as Qui j'ose aimer (1956; A Tribe of Women, 1958) and Le Matrimoine (1967; "The Matrimonk"). For roughly the last two decades, he was president of the Acadmie Goncourt. Bell, Quentin Claudian Stephen British artist, critic, university professor, and writer who chronicled the Bloomsbury group, which was founded by his parents, Clive and Vanessa Bell, and wrote an authoritative two-volume biography of his mother's sister, the novelist Virginia Woolf (b. Aug. 19, 1910--d. Dec. 16, 1996). Belli, Melvin Mouron U.S. lawyer (b. July 29, 1907, Sonora, Calif.--d. July 9, 1996, San Francisco, Calif.), was renowned for his flamboyant presentations in court and was dubbed the "King of Torts" because of the large awards he gained for clients involved in personal-injury cases. Belli was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and at that university's law school, Boalt Hall, from which he graduated in 1933. He first gained attention in the early 1940s with a number of high-profile cases, including one in which a young woman's leg had been severed by a San Francisco trolley. When the trolley company appealed the original award, Belli made a dramatic presentation to the jury--a package that contained her artificial leg. He won her an award that was even larger than the first judgment and much higher than was customary for a severed limb. Later victories included a $19 million settlement for families of U.S. servicemen killed in a plane crash in Newfoundland and a $32 million judgment against California crematoriums that mishandled human remains; by 1987, Belli estimated, he had won over $350 million for his clients, most of whom were "ordinary" people. He also represented the famous, including Errol Flynn, Mae West, Lana Turner, and Lenny Bruce; in the case that made Belli a celebrity, he defended Jack Ruby after Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald (accused of assassinating U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy). In 1995, however, Belli had to file for bankruptcy when he had difficulties collecting money due from the Dow Corning breast-implant case. Belli was the author or coauthor of dozens of books, some of which were used as textbooks. Beltrn, Lola (MARA LUCIA BELTRN ALCAYAGA), Mexican singer (b. 1931?, Sinaloa, Mexico--d. March 24, 1996, Mexico City, Mexico), infused mariachi ballads with such drama, emotion, and style that she came to be known as Lola la Grande, the queen of mariachi. Her regal bearing was enhanced by extravagant costuming and ornate jewels and by the drama with which she clutched her trademark shawl. Beltrn began singing when she was a young child, and in 1953 she moved with her mother to Mexico City in hopes of breaking into show business. While working as a secretary at a radio station, she performed on one of its weekly talent shows. Within a year she was starring in her own show. For more than 40 years, her popularity did not wane. Besides performing for a number of Mexico's presidents and other world leaders, she toured extensively. Beltrn was featured in some 50 musical motion pictures and recorded scores of albums. In many songs, including her signature "Cucurrucucu paloma," which became a classic, her heartfelt expressions of the melancholy despair of love and betrayal left her listeners inspired and moved. Her "Soy infeliz" was the opening theme for Pedro Almodvar's hit motion picture Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). Benhadugah, 'Abd al-Hamid Algerian writer who was considered the father of modern Arabic literature in Algeria; among the concerns he addressed in such novels as Rih al-janub (1971; "The Wind from the South") were the limitations that societal tradition imposes on young people as they strive for progress and the struggle of women for emancipation (b. Jan. 9, 1925--d. Oct. 20/21, 1996). Bentine, Michael British comedian who was a founding member of "The Goon Show" on BBC radio and went on to such television programs as the children's shows "The Bumblies" and "The Potties" as well as the outrageous "It's a Square World"; he was appointed CBE in 1995 (b. Jan. 26, 1922--d. Nov. 26, 1996). Berghaus, Ruth German director and choreographer (b. July 2, 1927, Dresden, Ger.--d. Jan. 25, 1996, Zeuthen, Ger.), developed techniques of body language and movement that she taught and incorporated into her direction of opera and theatre productions for over three decades. Her personal, radical approach inspired both controversy and admiration throughout her career. Berghaus studied dance and choreography in Dresden and in 1951, impressed by a Berliner Ensemble production of Bertolt Brecht's Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder, moved to East Berlin. She continued her studies, first with Wolfgang Langhoff and then at the Berliner Ensemble, where she met the composer Paul Dessau, with whom she collaborated until his death in 1979. They were married in 1954. Berghaus gained international attention with her battle scene choreography for the Berliner Ensemble's production of Coriolanus (1964), combining acting and dancing in a radical new way. She became head of the company in 1971 and served until 1977. After that, most of her work was in opera direction, regularly with the Deutsche Staatsoper but also for other companies internationally. Her production of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung tetralogy in Frankfurt in the mid-1980s was a cult event, and the last performance of the series, Gtterdmmerung (1987), was given a 75-minute standing ovation. Among the last works that Berghaus directed were Rolf Liebermann's Freedom for Medea in Hamburg and Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus in Leipzig, both in 1995. Berman, Pandro Samuel U.S. motion picture producer whose memorable works included seven of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals, The Blackboard Jungle, and such Elizabeth Taylor films as National Velvet, Father of the Bride, and Butterfield 8 (b. March 28, 1905--d. July 13, 1996). Bernard, Jessie Shirley U.S. sociologist (b. June 8, 1903, Minneapolis, Minn.--d. Oct. 6, 1996, Washington, D.C.), conducted meticulous research and wrote numerous books that provided insights into women, sex, marriage, and family-community interaction. She was called a founding mother of sociology, and her work was considered to have provided a scholarly foundation for modern feminism. Following her education at the University of Minnesota (B.A., 1923; M.A., 1924), Bernard accompanied her husband, sociologist Luther Lee Bernard, who had been one of her professors, to his various academic posts over the next several years. She received a Ph.D. from Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., in 1935, worked as a social science analyst for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and in 1940, at Lindenwood College for Women, St. Charles, Mo., began her teaching career. From 1947 to 1964 she was professor of sociology at Pennsylvania State University. Her early books included American Family Behavior (1942), American Community Behavior (1949), and Academic Women (1964). Following her retirement from Penn State, she moved to Washington, D.C., and served in such capacities as scholar in residence for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights--studying sex discrimination--and founding board member of the Center for Women in Policy Studies. Bernard had her first child when she was 39 and her last when she was 47; her husband died six months later. She thus was able to bring the perspective of both wife and single mother to her writings, and she came to realize that she had long been a feminist. Bernard's later works, such as The Sex Game (1968), Women and the Public Interest (1971), The Future of Marriage (1972), The Future of Motherhood (1974), and The Female World (1981), established the importance of her scholarship to the women's movement. Bernardin, Joseph Louis Cardinal U.S. Roman Catholic prelate (b. April 2, 1928, Columbia, S.C.--d. Nov. 14, 1996, Chicago, Ill.), was the highest-ranking figure in the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. and for some three decades was at the centre of most of its important developments. A moderate and a consensus builder, he was considered a possible successor to Pope John Paul II. Bernardin earned a B.A. (1948) from St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Md., and an M.A. (1952) from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He was ordained a priest in 1952 and he spent 14 years in Charleston, S.C. He became the youngest bishop in the U.S. when he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Atlanta, Ga., in 1966. Bernardin served (1968-72) as general secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, guiding the reorganization of the U.S. church following the second Vatican Council, and for the next 10 years was archbishop of Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, he was president of the national conference from 1974 to 1977. In 1982 Bernardin was named archbishop of Chicago, and he was elevated to cardinal the following year. In 1983 the publication of a U.S. bishops' pastoral letter on nuclear war, "The Challenge of Peace," brought Bernardin to public notice. His guidance as chair of the committee that produced the antinuclear document was illustrative of his ability to find a common ground. In 1987 he guided the formulation of a policy of tolerance concerning educational programs advocating the use of condoms in AIDS-prevention efforts, and in 1991, after the church had been shaken by scandals involving priests' sexual abuse of minors, he established procedures for investigating and dealing with these incidents. Two years later Bernardin was accused of having sexually abused a young man in the 1970s. He strongly denied the charges, and his accuser recanted four months later. Shortly before his accuser died from AIDS in late 1994, Bernardin met and prayed with him. In June 1995 Bernardin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and though he went into remission after surgery and chemotherapy and radiation treatment, the cancer recurred. Facing death with dignity and serenity, Bernardin extended his ministry to large numbers of cancer patients and the dying. A week before his death, in a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court, he urged that the right to physician-assisted suicide not be recognized. In September 1996 Bernardin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Bernstein, Edward Morris U.S. economist who, at the Bretton Woods Conference (1944), where a global post-World War II financial strategy was drafted, played an influential role in convincing British economist John Maynard Keynes and others that the U.S. would not enter a postwar depression (b. Dec. 16?, 1904--d. June 9, 1996). Bhutto, Murtaza Pakistani political activist who was the rival of his sister, Benazir Bhutto, for the mantle of their father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was deposed as prime minister in 1977 and executed in 1979 (b. Sept. 18, 1954--d. Sept. 20, 1996). Blackwell, Ewell ("THE WHIP"), U.S. sidearm fastball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team during the 1940s and '50s whose whiplike delivery intimidated batters; he compiled a career record of 82 wins and 78 losses, with a 3.30 earned run average (b. Oct. 23, 1922--d. Oct. 29, 1996). Bleustein-Blanchet, Marcel French advertising magnate and entrepreneur who founded France's first advertising agency, Publicis, where he created a number of unforgettable advertising slogans and pioneered the use of radio for publicity purposes; he also founded Le Drugstore, a chain of 24-hour emporiums (b. Aug. 21, 1906--d. April 11, 1996). Bokassa, Jean-Bdel African military officer and political leader (b. Feb. 22, 1921, Bobangui, Oubangui-Chari, French Equatorial Africa [now in Central African Republic]--d. Nov. 3, 1996, Bangui, Central African Republic), was president of the Central African Republic (1966-77) and self-styled emperor of the Central African Empire (1977-79). His rule was characterized by brutality and greed. After the assassination of his father, a village chief, and the suicide of his mother, Bokassa was raised by missionaries. In 1939 he joined the French army, and his bravery during the conflict in Indochina led to numerous honours, including the Croix de Guerre and admittance into the Legion of Honour. Bokassa achieved the rank of captain, and in 1961 he left the French armed forces to command the army of the newly independent Central African Republic. In 1966 he overthrew Pres. David Dacko and seized control of the republic. During Bokassa's rule political opponents were often tortured and executed. Moreover, the country's economy, one of the poorest in the world, suffered further strain as Bokassa plundered the uranium and diamond industries to finance his lavish lifestyle. In 1977 he proclaimed himself Emperor Bokassa I in an opulent ceremony modeled upon the coronation of Napoleon I and rumoured to cost $200 million. His reign over the country, renamed the Central African Empire, was short-lived, however. In 1979 his participation in the massacre of 100 schoolchildren who had protested mandatory school uniforms led to a French military coup that reestablished the republic; Dacko was reinstated, and Bokassa was forced into exile. After his return home in 1986, Bokassa was tried and found guilty of murder (he was acquitted on charges of cannibalism). His death sentence, however, was commuted, and Bokassa was released from prison in 1993. Bombeck, Erma Louise U.S. humorist (b. Feb. 21, 1927, Dayton, Ohio--d. April 22, 1996, San Francisco, Calif.), turned her views of daily life in the suburbs into satirical newspaper columns and such best-selling books as I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression (1973); The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank (1976), which was adapted (1978) into a television film; and If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? (1978). The self-deprecating humour she employed in accounts of everyday crises of home and family struck a chord of familiarity among readers, who saw their lives mirrored in the situations she described. Bombeck began writing columns when she was in junior high school. She worked at the Dayton Journal Herald while she was in school and after graduation (1949) from the University of Dayton. She left the paper in 1953 to start a family, but later, with three children in school, she felt "too old for a paper route, too young for Social Security and too tired for an affair." She persuaded the editor of a suburban weekly to let her produce a column. The success of "At Wit's End" drew the attention of the Journal Herald's editor, who hired her to write three columns a week. A short time later her columns were syndicated and eventually appeared in more than 900 newspapers. Bombeck also was a contributor to a number of magazines, including Good Housekeeping, Redbook, and McCall's; created, wrote, and produced a television series, "Maggie" (1981); and appeared (1975-86) on the "Good Morning America" television program. She underwent a mastectomy in 1992, and shortly afterward her kidneys began to fail. She underwent dialysis and was placed on waiting lists for a transplant, but though a donor match was found, she died of complications after the surgery. Boorda, Jeremy Michael ("MIKE"), U.S. naval commander (b. Nov. 26, 1938, South Bend, Ind.--d. May 16, 1996, Washington, D.C.), joined the military as an enlisted sailor and rose through the ranks to become a four-star admiral (1987) and chief of naval operations (1994-96)--the navy's senior military officer and commander of all its active-duty and reserve personnel. In 1956 Boorda fled his unhappy childhood home by dropping out of high school and falsifying his age in order to enlist. He was educated at Officer Candidate School, Newport, R.I. (1962), and at the University of Rhode Island (B.A., 1971), and he undertook postgraduate study at the Naval War College, Newport. During the Vietnam War he was promoted from ensign to lieutenant to commander, although he did not engage in combat there. From 1991 to 1994 he was based in Naples, where he was in charge of NATO forces in southern Europe. He became involved in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and became a proponent of U.S. intervention there. In 1994 he led NATO forces in attacks against Bosnian-Serb fighter planes violating a UN "no-fly" zone and in support of air strikes on Gorazde--the first time in NATO history that its forces had been used in an offensive mission. As chief of naval operations, it fell to him to face the political fallout from several high-profile misconduct scandals, including the 1991 sexual assault incident known as the Tailhook affair. Boorda committed suicide hours after reporters had inquired about two combat-related medals that he had worn until 1995. Following his death, high-ranking navy officials disagreed over whether Boorda, who during the Vietnam War had served aboard a ship traveling in a combat zone, had a right to wear the medals. Bourassa, Robert Canadian politician (b. July 14, 1933, Montreal, Que.--d. Oct. 2, 1996, Montreal), as premier of Quebec (1970-76, 1985-93) during a period of escalating tensions between federalists and Quebec separatists, attempted to preserve the province's French culture while maintaining unity with Canada. After earning a law degree from the University of Montreal, Bourassa studied at Harvard University and the University of Oxford. In 1966 he won a seat in Quebec's National Assembly. Although inexperienced and relatively unknown, he was elected leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, led it to victory in the April 1970 elections, and was named premier. In October 1970 a radical Quebec separatist group murdered a Cabinet member and kidnapped the British trade commissioner. Bourassa was harshly criticized for his handling of the crisis; the federal government intervened, suspending civil liberties and sending armed troops to Montreal. Bourassa's economic policy, however, which focused on large-scale development, notably the James Bay hydroelectric project, was popular, and he won reelection in 1973. The following year he signed Bill 22, which made French the official language of the province and limited the use of English. The bill, which increased tensions between federalists and Quebec nationalists, contributed to his defeat in the 1976 elections. Bourassa withdrew from politics. In 1980 his tireless campaigning against a referendum on Quebec independence won favour with the Liberal Party, and in 1983 he was reelected its leader. With the Liberals' victory in 1985, Bourassa was again named premier; he was reelected in 1989. In 1990 a dispute over land claims led to a standoff with Mohawk Indians. Bourassa, who had been diagnosed with skin cancer, delayed medical treatment during the 78-day crisis, which ended peacefully. His health, however, deteriorated, and in 1993 he resigned. Bourdet, Claude French human rights activist and journalist who led the French Resistance during World War II and was a prominent figure in the Parisian leftist intelligentsia as cofounder and editor of the political weekly France-Observateur (b. Oct. 28, 1909--d. March 20, 1996). Brancker, Sir John Eustace Theodore Barbadian politician and lawyer who fought for black rights, particularly suffrage, while a member of the Barbados parliament, 1937-76 (b. Feb. 9, 1909--d. April 25, 1996). Broccoli, Albert Romolo ("CUBBY"), U.S. film producer (b. April 5, 1909, New York, N.Y.--d. June 27, 1996, Beverly Hills, Calif.), popularized the fictional character James Bond, the charismatic British hero of Ian Fleming's spy novels, by producing 17 internationally successful motion pictures. Broccoli, the son of Italian immigrants, worked for relatives first in the vegetable business and later at a coffin company before moving to California, where he held a succession of odd jobs. He landed an entry-level position at the Hollywood film studio Twentieth Century Fox and worked his way up to the post of assistant director on the film The Outlaw (1943). After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II and working as a Hollywood talent agent, he launched his career as an independent producer in Great Britain in the early 1950s, making a string of money-making adventure films with U.S. migr Irving Allen. In 1962 he paired with Canadian producer Harry Saltzman to create the first James Bond film, Dr. No, for the United Artists studio. The movie, starring Sean Connery, was a box-office hit and prompted Broccoli and Saltzman to produce eight more films together until Saltzman sold out to United Artists. Broccoli, who retained rights to the series, continued to make James Bond films, drafting his daughter and stepson to produce the most recent film, GoldenEye (1995). Brodkey, Harold (AARON ROY WEINTRAUB), U.S. short-story writer and novelist (b. Oct. 25, 1930, Staunton, Ill.--d. Jan. 26, 1996, New York, N.Y.), was a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine for 30 years before publishing the novel he had been working on for most of his adult life. His inability to produce the promised novel, coupled with his sinuous, self-reflective style, unabashedly autobiographical oeuvre, and high self-regard, made him a controversial figure in the literary world. Having lost his mother at 17 months, Brodkey was adopted by cousins whose name he took. His adoptive parents, too, died while he was a boy, events that both traumatized him and informed his art. Brodkey attended Harvard University and soon began publishing short stories. His first collection, First Love and Other Sorrows (1957), contained stories of youthful romance and marriage for which he used incidents from his own life. He then began writing the autobiographical novel that occupied him for most of the next 30 years. Titled The Runaway Soul, it was finally published in 1991 to mixed reviews. Excerpts from it were published earlier as Women and Angels (1985). Wiley Silenowicz, the protagonist of The Runaway Soul, is also featured in 12 of the 18 tales in Stories in an Almost Classical Mode (1988). Brodkey in 1994 published another novel--Profane Friendship, about a homosexual affair in Venice--shortly after his dramatic announcement in the pages of The New Yorker that he had AIDS. Brodsky, Joseph (IOSIP ALEKSANDROVICH BRODSKY), Russian-born U.S. poet and essayist (b. May 24, 1940, Leningrad, U.S.S.R.