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Obituaries
Last Maharaja lived strictly by the numbers
SRIKANTADATTA NARASIMHARAJA WADIYAR 1953-2013
Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar was the last scion of the Wadiyar dynasty that ruled the south Indian kingdom of Mysore between 1399 and independence.
Compassionate hero who loved nature
GORDON BUTLER 1918-2013
In 2012, much to the astonishment of this modest man, Gordon Butler became a radio celebrity when he was interviewed by Richard Glover on ABC 702 about his World War II experiences.
Film composer helped to tingle spines
WOJCIECH KILAR 1932-2013
Wojciech Kilar was a Polish pianist and composer of classical music and scores for more than 130 films, including Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning The Pianist and Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Force in chemistry and new university
GORDON BARCLAY 1923-2013
Gordon Barclay grew up supporting his widowed mother by running an oyster lease on the Karuah River and was the first child in his family, and area, to go to high school.
David Clark: Manager of England's 1970-71 Ashes winning team
DAVID CLARK 1919-2013
David Clark was for three decades a leading cricket administrator with MCC and Kent, the club he had captained. He managed two England tours, on one of which – to Australia in 1970-71 – the Ashes went back to England.
From typist to pinnacle of magazine world
PATRICIA RYAN 1938 - 2013
Patricia Ryan started at Time Inc as a typist in the secretarial pool and rose to become the managing editor of People and Life, a rare ascent for a woman in what was then a male-dominated company.
Choreographer of Mary Poppins, Sound Of Music
MARC BREAUX 1924 - 2013
Marc Breaux was one of the lead choreographers on Mary Poppins (1964), coaching Dick Van Dyke through one of the most memorable live-action dance showstoppers in the Disney film canon - the chimney-sweep knees-up Step In Time.
Danger was his middle name
JOHN GAFF 1927-2013
Lieutenant-Colonel John Gaff was in overall command of all bomb disposal units during his posting to Northern Ireland in the 1970s and was awarded a George Medal.
Drew the hooligan worm that cleaned up Hong Kong
ARTHUR HACKER 1932-2013
Arthur Hacker created Lap Sap Chung, a long-snouted green worm with red spots and forked tail which persuaded the citizens of Hong Kong not to litter and achieved cult status afterwards.
British satirist of the '60s went on to bag Blair
JOHN FORTUNE 1939-2013
John Fortune , who has died aged 74, was part of the satire boom of the 1960s, and continued to lampoon the Establishment in the New Labour era.
Campaigner against Mexican drug gangs dies peacefully at home
Richard Fausset MIKE O'CONNOR 1946-2013
Mike O'Connor was an experienced war correspondent who in recent years had worked in defense of journalists in Mexico at a time when it had become one of the most treacherous countries for reporters in the world.
Pioneer of Australian diplomatic corps
BARRY HALL 1921-2013
Barry Hall was the last of the first. He was the remaining surviving member of the inaugural class of diplomatic staff cadets recruited in 1943, when 1500 eligible men and women applied to join the Department of External Affairs.
From fitter and turner to sugar industry expert
JOHN ALLEN 1925-2013
As a young apprentice fitter and turner at Garden Island naval base in Sydney, John Allen was given the job of entering the confined control space of two salvaged Japanese midget submarines after they had been sunk in Sydney Harbour by depth charges in 1942.
Man who was Billy Jack an independent-movie pioneer
TOM LAUGHLIN 1931-2013
Tom Laughlin created the Billy Jack movie series of the 1970s, a low-budget fusion of counterculture piety and martial-arts violence that struck a chord with audiences and became a prototype for independent film-making and distribution.
Singing with the stars
ROBERT ALLMAN 1927-2013
Robert Allman was one of Australia's great singers. To put his career into proper perspective it is necessary to list some of the great singers with whom he performed.
Scientist loved both medical research and leading jazz bands
DAVE KEMP 1945-2013
Dave Kemp was a respected scientist and an enthusiastic musician. Much of his time as an undergraduate at Adelaide University was spent playing double bass at jazz clubs before he discovered a love of research.
Abstract painter embraced realism
GUNTER CHRISTMANN 1936-2013
When asked to comment about his art for Mervyn Horton's Present Day Art in Australia (1969), Gunter Christmann replied: ''I do not care to write about art: I am a painter, I cover flat areas with paint. Paintings are to be looked at.''
Music experimentalist broadened defintion of 'jazz'
YUSEF LATEEF1920-2013
Yusef Lateef was a jazz saxophonist and flutist who spent his career crossing musical boundaries, starting out as a tenor saxophonist with a big tone and a bluesy style, not significantly more or less talented than numerous other saxophonists in the crowded jazz scene of the 1940s.
Designer of the world's most popular killing machine
MIKHAIL KALASHNIKOV 1919-2013
Mikhail Kalashnikov, who has died aged 94, invented the AK47 assault rifle which bears his name and became the weapon of choice for guerrillas, freedom fighters and terrorists the world over.
Pornographer's work 'utterly without redeeming social value'
AL GOLDSTEIN 1936-2013
Al Goldstein did not invent the dirty magazine, but he was the first to present it to a wide audience without the slightest pretense of classiness or subtlety. Sex as depicted in Screw was seldom pretty, romantic or even particularly sexy.
Custodian of Indian temple treasures
SREE UTHRADOM THIRUNAL MARTHANDA VARMA 1922-2013
Sree Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma was head of the family that once ruled the south Indian kingdom of Travancore and remained largely unknown to the wider world until 2011, when it was revealed that a temple of which he was hereditary custodian contained untold treasures.
Ex-Marine kept Lockheed Corporation airborne
LAWRENCE KITCHEN 1923-2013
Lawrence O. Kitchen was a business-savvy ex-Marine who ran Lockheed Corp. in an era when the aerospace industry was dominated by scientists and engineers.
RAF pilot won two gongs on one WWII mission
JIMMY FLINT 1913-2013
Wing Commander Jimmy Flint had the unique distinction of receiving two gallantry awards for separate actions during the same flight.
Distinguished navigator and strategist
RICHARD HAMMOND 1933-2013
A distinguished navigator and strategist who ranks among Australia's greatest yachtsman, Richard ''Sighty'' Hammond also played a significant part in the shaping of the modern Sydney skyline.
World music pioneer was also a top jazz performer
KIM SANDERS 1948-2013
The multi-instrumentalist musician/composer Kim Sanders liked to blow into things. Whether it was a tenor saxophone, a Turkish ney or some strange Balkan bagpipe made from a goatskin.
Top-notch creations made boy from Jerilderie a star in London
FREDERICK FOX 1931-2013
One of Britain's finest milliners, Australian-born Frederick Fox, liked to create hats that were both large and arresting, often sporting feathers or flowers (Royal Ascot was a theatre made for his designs).
Romance writer got her man and her millions of fans
Paul Vitello JANET DAILEY 1944-2013
Janet Dailey was secretary who married her boss at 19, wrote her first novel on something of a dare and went on to become one of the most successful American romance writers of her time, selling as many as 300 million books.
The end was nigh, more than once
Robert D. McFadden HAROLD CAMPING 1921-2013
Harold Camping was a Christian radio entrepreneur and biblical soothsayer who stirred consternation, ecstasy, complaints to the US Federal Communications Commission and widespread ridicule by repeatedly prophesying the end of the world - twice in 2011.
Uncertain starter become one of country music's leading lights
RAY PRICE 1926-2013
Ray Price was one of the most successful country singers in Nashville's history, with a career lasting from 1949 until earlier this year; among his hits was the oft-covered song Release Me.
Two wars and a thousand great stories
ANNE RUSSELL 1923-2013
Anne Russell worked at Bletchley Park in World War II before driving ambulances for the Free French during the Allied thrust into Germany. Subsequently she was employed by the Deuxieme Bureau - French Military Intelligence - in the Indochina campaign.
'Bravest' was last survivor of Myanmar independence fighters
YE HTUT 1922-2013
Ye Htut was the last surviving member of the “Thirty Comrades” who led the fight against British rule in Burma during and after World War II.
To the UK's otters, she was saviour
JEANNE WAYRE 1927 - 2013
Jeanne Wayre co-founded the Otter Trust, a charity that pioneered the captive breeding of otters for release into the wild and has been credited with saving the otter from extinction in much of England.
Sharp eye for history's lies against women
Margalit Fox CYNTHIA RUSSETT 1937 - 2013
Cynthia Eagle Russett was an historian whose best-known book explored attempts by Victorian thinkers to scientifically “prove” women's inferiority.
The Great Train Robber turned famous fugitive
RONNIE BIGGS 1929-2013
Ronnie Biggs was a carpenter and petty crook who became an international celebrity for his role in one of Britain's most famous crimes, the Great Train Robbery of 1963, and for the decades he spent afterward eluding a worldwide manhunt by Scotland Yard.
Left wing journalist with a nose for corruption
TONY REEVES 1940-2013
The award-winning author and journalist Tony Reeves was your classic leftie, a genuine class warrior and true believer. He strove hard to be a modest and common man but was continually undermined by his uncommon compassion, commitment, larrikinism, humanity and grace.
Oscar-winning starlet from the golden age of Hollywood
JOAN FONTAINE 1917-2013
Joan Fontaine was the younger sister of Olivia de Havilland - with whom she maintained a lifelong feud - and indelibly associated with the lead role in the film of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1940).
Best actor Oscar eluded Lawrence of Arabia star
PETER O'TOOLE 1932-2013
Peter O'Toole was an Irish bookmaker's son with a hell-raising streak whose magnetic performance in the 1962 epic film Lawrence of Arabia earned him overnight fame and put him on the road to becoming one of his generation's most accomplished and charismatic actors.
The 'other woman' in Enid Blyton's divorce petition
IDA POLLOCK 1908-2013
Ida Pollock was 105 and the world's oldest working romantic novelist, and, as the author of 123 sagas, one of the most prolific. While her stories were largely untainted by sex, she was dismayed to be cast as the "other woman" in Enid Blyton's divorce petition.
World class choir musician's lasting legacy
DAVID RUSSELL 1937-2013
David Russell was a teacher, composer and one of the Australian Catholic Church's colourful culture warriors and musical leaders.
Author's robust ego was more than matched by his prodigious output
COLIN WILSON 1931–2013
Colin Wilson suspected he was a genius, and there were some who agreed with him when in 1956, aged 24, he published The Outsider, a somewhat portentous overview of existentialism and alienation.
Brilliant chemist was profoundly deaf
JOHN CONFORTH 1917-2013
John Cornforth was awarded a Nobel prize in chemistry in 1975 and is still the only Australian to take the Nobel in chemistry.
Versatile jazz sideman was not one to big-note himself
JIM HALL 1930-2013
Jazz guitarist Jim Hall had a restrained, elegant style, rich in subtlety and nuance and expressed through the amplifier in a sound both mellow and carefully modulated.
Actor made versatility his calling card
CHRISTOPHER EVAN WELCH, 1965-2013
Christopher Evan Welch was a versatile actor whose work ranged from New York stage productions of Shakespeare to the role of the narrator in Woody Allen's 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Elegance in acting career crowned by Sound of Music
Anita Gates ELEANOR PARKER 1922-2013
Eleanor Parker was nominated three times for a best-actress Oscar but her best-known role was a supporting one, as the marriage-minded baroness in The Sound of Music.
Giant of British jazz conquered bad pianos
STAN TRACEY, 1926-2013
Stan Tracey was Britain's finest and most original jazz composer; he was also a pianist of rare distinction.
NELSON MANDELA 1918-2013
The man who built the rainbow
"Justice, freedom, goodness and love have prevailed spectacularly in South Africa, and one man has embodied that struggle and its vindication," Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, the first black Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, wrote following the end of apartheid rule in South Africa.
Family came first, but there were parties and pirates, too
MARY BARGWANNA 1921-2013
Mary Bargwanna embodied an archetypal Australian story. She was born in the bush, went through World War II and eventually lived a global, corporate life, in her case as the wife of a meat industry executive.
Principal shaped technical education and brought life to the arts
JACK PITT 1925-2013
Jack Pitt's energy and perseverance in the face of daunting obstacles enriched the quality of secondary education in Victorian government schools and injected life into a range of arts institutions.
Stylish writer endured grievous loss
ANNABEL FREYBERG 1961-2013
Annabel Freyberg was a gifted and original writer who was arts editor at The Evening Standard before becoming interiors editor of the Telegraph Magazine.
A long quest to claim her birthright as a woman
GEORGINA SOMERSET 1923-2013
Georgina Somerset lived the first 34 years of her life as a man, having been wrongly registered at birth as a boy. A high-profile “intersexual” (a person born with both male and female characteristics), in 1962 she became the first known woman legally to marry in church after officially changing sex.
Exploring the byways and burials of American history
Bettina Boxall MICHAEL G. KAMMEN 1936-2013
Historian Michael G. Kammen began his career steeped in colonial America.
Motor movie man meets maker in mean machine
PAUL WALKER 1973-2013
Paul Walker was an actor best known for his role in the Fast and the Furious movies about street racing.
Dedicated surfer rode against wave
PETER LASCELLES 1952-2013
Peter ''Chops'' Lascelles was a surfer, family man and friend who lived in the picturesque village of St Agnes, Cornwall, a long way from his north Queensland birthplace and the Australian surf he had loved from an early age.
Brutal French general who commanded torture gangs in Algerian war
PAUL AUSSARESSES 1918-2013
General Paul Aussaresses scandalised France and disgraced himself when, in 2000, he revealed he had participated in summary executions and acts of torture during the Algerian War of Independence.
Aviation safety was engineer's passion
ICKO TENENBAUM 1919-2013
Icko Tenenbaum played a significant role in the early formation of the Australian safety and airworthiness systems that have contributed to the outstanding safety record of commercial and general aviation in this country and worldwide.
Bandleader travelled life to the beat of his own drum
CHICO HAMILTON 1921-2013
Chico Hamilton was a jazz drummer, bandleader and composer of film music whose long career was marked by a distinctive style and independent approach.
A passionate life lived in the arts
ELKE NEIDHARDT 1941-2013
When a three-year-old Elke Neidhardt was huddling in the cellar of her Ludwigsburg home during an Allied bombardment in 1944, no one would have imagined that she would go on to make an indelible contribution to opera and theatre in far away Australia.
Egypt's 'peoples poet' lampooned dictators
AHMED FOUAD NEGM 1929-2013
Ahmed Fouad Negm was Egypt's "poet of the people", whose sharply political verses in colloquial Arabic skewered the country's leaders and inspired protesters from the 1970s through the current uprisings.
Redhead 'bad girl' of 1940s British cinema
JEAN KENT 1921-2013
Jean Kent was the "bad girl" of British films in the 1940s, specialising in trollops, minxes and brazen hussies opposite such leading men as Michael Redgrave, Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and Stewart Granger.
Nazi killer finally jailed 65 years after war's end
HEINRICH BOERE 1921-2013
Heinrich Boere murdered Dutch civilians as part of a Nazi Waffen SS hit squad during World War II but avoided justice for six decades.
Chef converted to 'comfort food' by a ham sandwich
JUDY ROGERS 1956-2013
Judy Rodgers' genius as a cook was finding the perfection in the simplest dishes. And at her Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, diners would reserve months in advance to eat roast chicken.
Mexican mezzo-soprano 'voluptuous and deep'
ORALIA DOMINGUEZ 1925-2013
Oralia Dominguez was a Mexican mezzo-soprano who sang opposite Maria Callas in Aida, appeared in the premiere of Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage at Covent Garden and dominated the role of Mistress Quickly in Falstaff at Glyndebourne.
No blood, widows or nukes in wargame guru's world
DONALD FEATHERSTONE 1918-2013
Donald Featherstone was the author of more than 40 books on wargaming and military strategy, credited with turning an obscure hobby into a widely popular recreation for living-room generals of every age.
Post-war pioneer of the digital age
WILLIS H WARE 1920-2013
Willis H Ware was an electrical engineer who in the late 1940s helped to build a machine that would become a blueprint for computer design in the 20th century, and who later played an important role in defining the importance of personal privacy in the information age.
A fine producer, historian and friend
OLIVER STREETON 1941-2013
Oliver Streeton was the grandson of Australian artist Sir Arthur Streeton, and made his mark in the film and art worlds.
TV evangelist created world's largest Christian network
PAUL F. CROUCH 1934-2013
Paul F. Crouch was a television evangelist who founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network with his wife, Janice, and turned it into the world's largest Christian television network.
Theatre chief Freddie Gibson lit up every stage
FREDDIE GIBSON 1934-2013
In 1955 a budding young actor, Freddie Gibson, featured in Terence Rattigan's The Sleeping Prince with Sybil Thorndike and Ralph Richardson.
Whistleblower exposed lies of tobacco giants
MERRELL WILLIAMS JNR 1941-2013
Merrell Williams jnr was a paralegal who leaked mountains of internal documents of the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company in 1994, fuelling lawsuits that resulted in an industry payout of billions of dollars.
Innovator drove food industry's reputation
PETER BOARD 1927-2013
The CSIRO and the Australian food industry have for many years enjoyed an excellent international reputation, thanks in great part to Peter Board's dedication, initiative and energy, especially in the area of canning.
Hard man of the small screen was a true Professional
LEWIS COLLINS 1946-2013
Lewis Collins was part of one of the great double acts in television: Bodie and Doyle, the crime-fighting duo in the series The Professionals (1977-81).
Art
Art, music and a mind-blowing voyage of discovery
Richard Neville MARTIN SHARP 1942-2013
As well as artistic flair, Martin Sharp had a physical beauty similar to that of Jean-Paul Belmondo, with piercing blue eyes, effortless style and a mordant wit.
Relentless rebel with many causes
NANCY HILLIER 1924-2013
In 1976, when the NSW government proposed to turn Botany Bay into a deep-water port with a coal loader, Nancy Hillier led a campaign against it.
Sculptor produced works of great power and presence
MAREA GAZZARD 1928-2013
Marea Gazzard had presence. She was much admired for her great dignity and humanity which could bring out the best in other people, yet she never flagged in the pursuit of excellence which she brought to her own exceptional body of work.
A hotelier with a gift for hospitality
CYRIL MALONEY 1919-2013
The warmth of a good Aussie pub can be hard to beat. It was a feeling third-generation hotelier Cyril Maloney knew and believed in only too well. But even when his career brought him to Australian pub life, working the land remained important in his life.
Committed doctor fought for equality in era of apartheid
JAY SADHAI 1942-2013
Jay Sadhai arrived in Australia in 1977, after a narrow escape from imprisonment by the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Manchester United mainstay Bill Foulkes saw club tragedy and cup victory
BILL FOULKES 1932-2013
Bill Foulkes was one of Manchester United's most capped players and experienced both the agony of the Munich air crash in 1958 and the ecstasy of winning the European Cup 10 years later.
Wartime pioneer with a lifelong love of nursing
MADELEINE BRENNAN 1917-2013
Madeleine Brennan was the oldest surviving member of the RAAF Nursing Service.
Judge helped to establish child support, protection services
JOHN FOGARTY 1933-2013
John Fogarty was a Victorian Family Court judge and a significant figure in child protection across Australia. He did not avoid difficult issues, thus making his contribution so noteworthy.
Visionary mission for Pacific people
STANLEY HOSIE 1922-2013
Father Stan Hosie was an unsung and unrecognised pioneer with a fresh and radical way of looking at mission work.
TV pioneer Margaret Moore a high achiever even in trying times
MARGARET MOORE 1930-2013
Margaret Moore was a woman of many talents. She was just four years old when her singing was first broadcast on the radio.
Double Nobel prize-winner, unlocked chemical 'grammar' of DNA
FREDERICK SANGER 1918-2013
Frederick Sanger was the only Briton - and one of only four people in history - to win the Nobel prize twice.
David Ades alto sax sound a crusher
DAVID ADES 1961-2013
Sometimes it could be an audience crusher: a sound of such mass as to have a physical impact, even though you knew it was just an alto saxophone.
Cypriot leader respected by both sides
GLAFCOS CLERIDES 1919 -2013
Cyprus was under British rule when Glafcos Clerides became involved in politics. In 1993, he was finally elected president of the island nation.
US foreign policy guru served four presidents
ROBERT BOWIE 1909-2013
Robert R. Bowie was a Harvard foreign policy expert who served four postwar administrations as an adviser on the Cold War, national security and conflicts around the globe.
Writer boiled down the art of the screenplay
SYD FIELD 1935-2013
In the 1970s, Syd Field's job in Hollywood was reading scripts all day and picking out the gems that might make it to the screen. In one two-year period he figured he read 2,000 screenplays - and turned down 1,960 of them.
Gay brodacaster centre stage in AIDS euthanasia trial
RAY GOSLING 1939-2013
Ray Gosling was an inspired broadcaster and one of BBC radio's most extraordinary talents. His rambling, iconoclastic word portraits of Britain's cities and eccentrics could both enthral and exasperate listeners.
Archaeologist priest sifted the truth from 'good yarns'
JEROME MURPHY-O'CONNOR 1935-2013
Father Jerome Murphy-O'Connor was a Dominican priest, a leading authority on biblical archaeology and Professor of New Testament studies at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, the oldest Roman Catholic graduate school in the Holy Land.
The Iceman Goeth
STAN PATERSON 1924-2013
Stan Paterson was a leading glaciologist with the Canadian Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP), whose work on ice cores has helped scientists to gain a better understanding of past climate change.
Soviet space program veteran spent over a year in orbit
ALEKSANDR SEREBROV 1944-2013
The Soviet Union led humanity into the heavens, sending the first satellite, man and woman into space, and all were duly celebrated by their country. The cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first person to orbit the Earth, on April 12, 1961, received his nation's highest award, Hero of the Soviet Union.
Passionate educator was inspiration to all
HAL POWER 1913-2013
Hal Power taught science at St Aloysius' College in Milsons Point for 30 years.
No book could hide from avid collector
LINDSAY SHAW 1922-2013
Lindsay Shaw was an avid book collector and philanthropist, and more than 12,000 of his books are now in the Monash University Library in Melbourne.
A passionate life fulfilled by treading the boards
EILEEN BEATSON 1925-2013
Eileen Beatson was a legendary figure at Brisbane's La Boite Theatre. In her day, it was an entirely amateur company but, because of its high standards and aspirations, it attracted serious theatre workers.
Visionary engineer kept many in the loop
FRANK WATSON 1927-2013
The 30 million or so passengers who use the Melbourne underground rail loop each year all benefit from the great engineering and project management skills of Frank Watson.
Death of a giant of 20th century literature
DORIS LESSING 1919-2013
Doris Lessing, the Nobel prize-winning novelist, was one of the towering figures of modern literature; in the course of a writing career that spanned the latter half of the 20th century, she commented on its grand sweeps and shed light on its many absurdities.
Master wove his magic on a gullible public
JOHN CALVERT: 1911-2013
The pencil moustached American magician, conman and lothario John Calvert caused a monumental media frenzy when his yacht was shipwrecked off Arnhem Land in 1959 and he came ashore with a Filipino singer and a chimpanzee.
France's answer to Ian Fleming
GERARD DE VILLIERS: 1929-2013
Gerard de Villiers was a prolific spy novelist and created the best-selling SAS series, which became a French publishing phenomenon.
Artist was at one with every landscape he painted
JOHN PEART 1945-2013
The method that consists in no method is the perfect method.'' That opaque Taoist quote from China in the 7th century was chosen to describe John Peart's artistic philosophy by his fellow artist, the late Roy Jackson.
Union boos created a 'sewer of corruption'
JOAQUIN HERNANDEZ GALICIA 1922-2013
Joaquin Hernandez Galicia was a Mexican oil union boss who rose to control a political empire built on patronage and intimidation but was eventually dethroned by a Mexican president wary of his vast power.
Blues man inspired Lennon, Santaana, The Zep
BOBBY PARKER 1937-2013
Bobby Parker was a soul-blues singer and guitarist whose recordings from the late 1950s and 1960s - notably the propulsive groove of Watch Your Step - influenced performers as varied as John Lennon, Carlos Santana and the band Led Zeppelin.