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Obituaries
Publisher's final chapter too soon
Saul Wordsworth MATT RICHELL 1973-2014
Matt Richell was a dynamic and talented publisher, and chief executive of Hachette Australia, the local arm of the international French publishing house Hachette Livre.Gifted instrumentalist with many strings to her bow
DELLA WOODS, 1926-2014
At 14, after winning many musical prizes, Della Woods was offered a position teaching at St Joseph’s Convent at Naremburn. This included accommodation, plus a scholarship to study with the Sydney Conservatorium’s most eminent violin teacher, Florent Hoegstoel.
Grande dame of the American modelling industry
EILEEN FORD, 1922–2014
Eileen Ford was the grande dame of the American modelling industry who influenced standards of beauty for more than four decades while heading one of the most recognisable brands in the trade of gorgeous faces.
Yachtsman and adventurer circumnavigated the world
MICK MORRIS, 1924-2014
Mick Morris was best known as an Australian yachtsman and adventurer with a larrikin wit. In 1947, when he joined Jack Earl on Earl's yacht Kathleen Gillett, the team embarked on one of greatest yachting adventures of the time.
Devoted to the successful art of dressing
ANNE HOLLANDER 1930-2014
Anne Hollander was a historian who helped elevate the study of art and dress by revealing the often striking relationships between the two, died on Sunday at her home in Manhattan. “The art of dressing is the art we all practice,” she liked to say.
Not wooden at all playing Pinocchio
DICK JONES 1927-2014
The actor Dick Jones appeared in more than 100 films and television shows in his long career, but he is best known by far for a role in which he was not seen on screen. At about 10, when he was known as Dickie, Jones was chosen by Walt Disney to be the voice of Pinocchio in the classic 1940 animated film.
Iran's biggest fraudster since the days of the Shah
MAHAFARID AMIR KHOSRAVI 1969-2014
Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, who has been executed in Tehran, was a billionaire businessman at the centre of the biggest fraud scandal in Iran since the fall of the Shah.
Kenny calling all the famous dead people
KENNY KINGSTON 1927-2014
Kenny Kingston was a self-proclaimed “Legendary Psychic to the Stars” and seemed to have a whole graveyardful of dead celebrities at his beck and call, ranging from Marilyn Monroe to the Duchess of Windsor.
Patriarch of an English racing dynasty
MICHAEL SCUDAMORE 1932-2014
Michael Scudamore, the patriarch of a racing dynasty, notched up a record 16 consecutive rides in the Grand National, famously riding Oxo to victory for trainer Willie Stephenson in 1959. He also won the 1957 Gold Cup on Linwell, and was one of the privileged few jockeys to have ridden a winner over jumps for the Queen Mother.
Reforming rabbi and spiritual father
ZALMAN SCHACHTER-SHALOMI 1924-2014
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was considered the spiritual father of the Jewish Renewal movement - an influential camp of religious pioneers who reintroduced to synagogue services ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, gender equality and ecstatic prayer.
"Played like a man" not a compliment
KATHY STOBART 1925-2014
Kathy Stobart was a tenor saxophonist whose long career in British jazz included prominent roles in leading bands, most notably that of Humphrey Lyttelton. She was also a distinguished teacher and a popular director of student bands.
Argentinian a champion to rival Pele as the greatest
ALFREDO DI STEFANO 1926-2014
Alfredo Di Stefano was, with the possible exception of Pele, the finest footballer of all time.Muse of Andy Warhol starred in avant-garde films
ULTRA VIOLET, 1935-2014
Isabelle Dufresne was a French artist, actress and muse, better known to Andy Warhol acolytes as "Ultra Violet", one of his entourage during the late 1960s.
Local man fought to protect the environment for future generations
Brittany Ruppert JIM SOMERVILLE 1915-2014
Australia's bush is a ubiquitous feature of our homeland, but the idea of conserving nature for future generations was once a "bizarre" notion, in the words of Jim Somerville, whose lifelong love of the bush saw him work alongside the founding members of NSW' pro-conservation family.
Eduard Shevardnadze, a leader during turbulent times
EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE 1928-2014
Eduard Shevardnadze played a key role in precipitating the collapse of the Soviet Union when he resigned as foreign minister at a crucial moment during the presidency of Mikhail Gorbachev.
Expansive personality and a sharp mind
Patricia Anderson PAUL COMRIE-THOMSON, 1948-2014
When a former editor of Quadrant magazine, Paddy McGuinness, was ailing in 2006 he asked Paul Comrie-Thomson to orchestrate Quadrant’s 50th dinner in Sydney. Everyone who knew ‘‘Comrie’’ was delighted.
Dental ambassador Pam Hession trained as a nurse
PAM HESSION, 1930-2014
Over time, Pam Hession became an ambassador for dentistry and Australia as the elegant young girl of the 1950s with the north shore "style" (twin-set and pearls, knee-length skirt and sensible shoes) evolved into the perfectly dressed hostess and mother and accompanied her husband around the world.Christian Fuhrer led demonstrations to help bring down Berlin Wall
CHRISTIAN FUHRER, 1943-2014
Christian Fuhrer was pastor of the St Nicholas Church in Leipzig which, in 1989, became the focus of the demonstrations that brought down the communist regime in East Germany (GDR).
Classical actress found fame in Blackadder
PATSY BYRNE, 1933-2014
Patsy Byrne was a fine classical actor but became particularly well-known for her role as the kindly but dim-witted Nursie, a member of the motley royal retinue attending the spoiled, capricious Queen Elizabeth I (Miranda Richardson) in the sitcom Blackadder II, screened in 1986.Petroleum scientist and individualist who never feared a controversy
BOB FOSTER, 1931-2014
Bob Foster was one of Australia’s more significant, erudite - and controversial scientists. His most important contribution was as one of the group of talented young scientists and engineers who joined BHP in the late 1960s, when it started producing oil and natural gas from Bass Strait.
Violinist much more than a second fiddle to Yehudi Menuhin
ROBERT MASTERS 1917-2014
Robert Masters was the violinist who created Yehudi Menuhin's orchestra from some of the finest string players in Britain.
Diplomat served as ambassador and spearheaded nuclear policy
ROY FERNANDEZ 1928-2014
Roy Fernandez spent his life travelling for Australia as a diplomat, rising to be ambassador to Burma, Yugoslavia, Romania, the European Community and, lastly, the Philippines.
How to save rhinoceroses at home
DELIA CRAIG 1924-2014
Delia Craig was born into a family of colonial farmers in Kenya and chose to stay on after the country became independent. On their vast estate on the Lewa Downs in the shadow of Mount Kenya, she and her husband David grew wheat and raised cattle, sheep – and rhinos.
The happy ending was a first for the genre
NANCY GARDEN 1938-2014
Nancy Garden’s enduring novel of 1982, Annie on My Mind, was among the first young-adult books to portray a lesbian relationship.
How Korean Air Lines Flight 007 met its end
ANATOLY KORNUKOV 1942-2014
General Anatoly Kornukov was a retired commander in chief of the Russian Air Force who, in 1983, relayed the order to shoot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 as it strayed into Soviet airspace, killing all 269 aboard.
Telling children's tales of the civil war
ANA MARIA MATUTE 1925-2014
Ana Maria Matute was a novelist whose explorations of alienation and the loss of innocence children experienced during and after the Spanish Civil War made her one of Spain’s most popular and acclaimed writers.
Changing the care of muscular dystrophy
DAVID GARDNER-MEDWIN 1936-2014
David Gardner-Medwin was a naturalist, an expert on the 18th century Tyneside engraver Thomas Bewick, and a paediatric neurologist who specialised in muscular dystrophy.
The fly-fishers tip tip rod making man
TOM MORAN 1948-2014
Tom Moran created exquisitely-fashioned split-cane fishing rods, and was regarded as a master of his craft.
In and Out for a life in China
PHUNTSOG WANGYAL 1922-2014
Phuntsog Wangyal co-founded the Tibetan Communist Party in the 1940s, but despite giving up on an independent Tibet and unifying his party with that in China, he was jailed in Beijing and kept in solitary confinement for almost two decades.
Age no barrier to world athletics records
OLGRA KOTELKO 1919-2014
Olga Kotelko became a poster girl for late developers after she entered her first “Masters” athletics competition aged 77 and went on to win more than 750 gold medals, setting world records (more than 30 in all) for every track and field event in her age group - ranging from the sprints to hammer throw to triple jump.
Editor played key role in growth of shopping malls
SABINA RUST 1944-2014
For more than 20 years, as a founder and managing editor of the prominent independent industry magazine, SCN (Shopping Centre News), she chronicled the growth, innovations, performance and personalities of an industry in which Australia is recognised as a world leader.
Polio sufferer dedicated to helping others
NEIL von SCHILL, 1947-2014
It is hard to bypass the death of a mate. And for this writer, Neil von Schill was a real mate, from the age of three, when the two of us played together and he got polio and I did not.
Soul survivor will be testifying no more
BOBBY WOMACK 1944- 2014
Bobby Womack was a rhythm and blues guitarist and songwriter and, despite a life that was luridly eventful even by the grand guignol standards of the milieu, the last great surviving exponent of the “testifying” style of soul singing.
High flyer who kept his feet on the ground
ALAN TERRELL, 1928-2014
Alan Terrell was contract ploughing near Brisbane’s Archerfield aerodrome in 1949 when a flying instructor called Jim Cronin offered him a joy flight in his Tiger Moth. Cronin could never have known he was setting in motion the career of a pilot who became one of the most respected and accomplished figures in Australian aviation.
Gordon Bennett explored indigenous past through his conceptual art
GORDON BENNETT, 1955-2014:
Gordon Bennett started his art practice late in life after work as a Telstra linesman.
Madly horsey books for horse-mad girls
JOSEPHINE PULLEIN-THOMPSON 1924-2014
Josephine Pullein-Thompson was a horsewoman and author – pursuits which she blended into an extraordinarily successful career entertaining a generation of preadolescent British girls with ripping tales of gymkhanas, hunt balls, riding club mishaps and “dud” ponies-turned-champion rides.
The man famously shot by Indiana Jones
TERRY RICHARDS 1932-2014
Terry Richards was one of Britain’s most prolific stuntmen, getting into staged fights, doubling for stars and taking falls in innumerable films; his most notable part, however, simply involved being shot by Indiana Jones.
Changing the course of hairdressing sales
PAULA KENT MEEHAN 1931-2014
In the 1950s, Paula Jane Baer, an aspiring actress who had adopted the stage name Paula Kent, came to the realization that she would never match the success of her junior high friend, Debbie Reynolds
Hey Mann, the man for the coolest easy-listening
JOHNNY MANN 1928-2014
Johnny Mann won two Grammy Awards as leader of the clean-cut easy-listening vocal group the Johnny Mann Singers. In the 1960s and ’70s, as rock ’n’ roll exerted itself as the driver of a rebellious youth culture, Mann represented a stolid old guard, musically speaking.
The tip-top man in table tennis
JOHNNY LEACH 1922-2014
Johnny Leach twice won the world table tennis singles championship and was one of the most admired British sportsmen of the post-war era. He was known for his modesty and courteous character.
Where Kevlar came from to protect police
STEPHANIE KWOLEK 1923-2014
Stephanie Kwolek was an American chemist and inventor who created the first in a family of synthetic polymers that would later be spun together into Kevlar - a lightweight fibre with myriad applications, most famously in the construction of bullet-proof vests.
Survivor of the UK police's Guildford flaw
GERRY CONLON 1954-2014
Gerry Conlon was one of the so-called Guildford Four, convicted on fabricated evidence of the Guildford pub bombings in 1974 which killed five people and injured dozens more, They all protested their innocence, and their sentences were finally quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1989, after they had served 14 years behind bars.
More than 60 years on stage and screen
ELI WALLACH 1915-2014
Eli Wallach was one of his generation's most prominent and prolific character actors in film, onstage and on television for more than 60 years.
Aerodynamics expert had passion for engineering
CYRUS OSTOWARI 1950-2014
Dr Cyrus Ostowari had the looks of a movie star, the brain of a rocket scientist and the heart of Mother Teresa.Wizard of Oz and his magic way with magazines
FELIX DENNIS 1947-2014
Felix Dennis was Britain’s most colourful media mogul; a former jail bird, crack fiend, serial womaniser and sometime poet and arboriculturalist, he built a publishing empire worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
Actress was rarely out of work on stage and screen
JOAN BRUCE, 1928-2014
Joan Bruce was a well-known actor of the Australian stage and from the popular ABC television series Certain Woman.
Jazz legend Horace Silver dies aged 85
NICK GALVIN HORACE SILVER 1928-2014
Horace Silver, the legendary jazz pianist best known for the tracks Song For My Father and The Preacher, has died. he was 85.
Leading nurse helped save heritage collections
JUDITH CORNELL, 1940-2014
Judith Cornell was a leader in nursing practice, education and administration as well as in the health care system more broadly.
Martin Erdman: Sonic visionary brought music to our ears
MARTIN ERDMAN, c1935-2014
An idea born out of a 1970 radio upheaval propelled Martin Erdman, a Sydney suburban recording studio operator, into one of the most prolific and energetic hit song producers in Australia.
Spot, the difference in children's books
ERIC HILL, 1927-2014
Eric Hill topped the bestseller lists for years with his charming Spot the Dog series of books for preschool children.
Constitutional lawyer dominated Australian National University
LESLIE ZINES, 1930-2014
Reflecting Leslie Zines' outstanding reputation as a constitutional lawyer and scholar, he was honoured with not one, but two, festschrifts (books honouring a respected person) in his life.
Gustave Tassell, frocking all over the world
GUSTAVE TASSELL 1926-2014
Gustave Tassell was a California designer, a contemporary of James Galanos and Bill Blass, who became a fashion star in the early 1960s with starkly refined clothes that appealed to women like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Greer Garson and Princess Grace of Monaco.
Jimmy Scot, the little giant of Jazz
JIMMY SCOTT 1925-2014
Jimmy Scott was a revered jazz singer who played with Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, and who appeared in Twin Peaks.
The Mayne man in Southam St photography
ROGER MAYNE 1929-2014
Roger Mayne was a photographer who captured the squalor and spectacle of Southam Street, a pocket of North Kensington in London that was to become synonymous with post-war poverty.
From Dracula to the stars for silent actor
CARLA LAEMMLE 1909-2014
Carla Laemmle was one of the last surviving links to the golden age of silent movies. As an actress and dancer she succeeded in navigating the precarious passage to “talkies” - a tricky transition that famously formed the backdrop to Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and The Artist (2011).
The Keyes to intelligence found in sci-fi
DANIEL KEYES 1927-2014
Daniel Keyes was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction, best-known for his 1958 short story and subsequent novel Flowers For Algernon.
The woman who changed dressage
ESME JACK 1917-2014
Esme Jack was the doyenne of dressage - a dynamic equestrian who helped introduce music to the prancing world of “horse ballet”.
The boy from Brazil who made billions
MOISE SAFRA 1935-2014
Moise Safra was a Brazilian financier and philanthropist, and one of a trio of migrant brothers from Beirut who each amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune.
Charismatic rocker was a true master of his craft
JIM KEAYS 1946–2014
At the peak of their reign, as they were setting off to London to record an album at Abbey Road Studios, having swept all before them in Australian music, the Masters Apprentices played the pop star game to princely perfection.
Child migrant became IR expert
DAVID PLOWMAN, 1942-2013
David Plowman made important contributions to industrial relations scholarship, management education and the cause of Maltese child migrants in Australia.
Broadcaster who 'reached for the stars'
CASEY KASEM, 1932-2014
Casey Kasem created and hosted one of radio's most popular syndicated pop music shows, American Top 40. The show, which first aired in 1970, was a weekly four-hour feast of homey sentiment and American optimism.
Actress was leading advocate for civil rights
RUBY DEE, 1922-2014
Ruby Dee’s public profile and activist passions made her, along with her husband, Ossie Davis, a leading advocate for civil rights both in American show business and in the wider world.
The mad Mayall of alternative comedy
RIK MAYALL, 1958-2014
The comedian and actor Rik Mayall was a former enfant terrible of alternative comedy with an anarchic line in over-the-top scatology; he later broadened his appeal with his portrayal of the egregious politician Alan B’Stard.
Home & Away director Leigh Spence a TV pioneer
LEIGH SPENCE, 1938-2014
The actor Betty Bobbitt was nervous about playing a scene as Judy Bryant in the classic Australian television drama Prisoner because it involved her character escaping incarceration by jumping a high fence.
Charting autism and Asperger's syndrome
The psychiatrist Lorna Wing co-founded the UK’s National Autistic Society and was the first to identify Asperger syndrome as a subcategory of the condition.
From banana boat to the count of ska
Count Suckle was a Jamaica-born sound engineer who stowed away on a banana boat to Britain and was credited as one of the pioneers of the ska reggae scene in London in the 1950s.
It took many, many pictures to make a whole
The German photographer Michael Schmidt was known for presenting stark black-and-white images in dramatic sequence, to powerful emotional effect. A recent project was a penetrating tour of the global food industry that included arresting images of factory farms, a cow’s bulging udder, supermarkets and a single apple. It won an international award just days before Schmidt’s death.DT 1945-2014
Patterson's great Pleasure Faire
PHYLLIS PATTERSON 1932-2014
Taking swinging London fashion to New York
Pat McDonagh was a fashion designer who led her own “British Invasion” when she moved to North America in 1966, introducing first Canada, then New York, to bell-bottoms, minidresses, jumpsuits and maxi-coats.
The finest Venezuelan political soap-opera
Jaime Lusinchi, the former president of Venezuela, came to power in 1984 amid high hopes that he would solve the country’s economic crisis. Instead he became the star of his own real-life soap opera.
Austen, Edgeworth and the romantic climate
Professor Marilyn Butler, who has died aged 77, was a groundbreaking scholar of Romanticism and wrote several influential critical works on Jane Austen and Maria Edgeworth. She was also the first female head of a formerly male Oxbridge college.
His old bones told interesting stories
George Armelagos was a pioneer in the field of bioarchaeology - the study of the skeletal remains of past human populations to study patterns of nutrition, illness and death.
Player was a cavalier of cricket's larrikin age
GARY GILMOUR 1951-2014
Gary Gilmour, or "Gus" as he was known, was a gifted amateur in the days before Australian cricket embraced hard-nosed professionalism. His sheer talent and aggressive attitude with the bat made him one of the most exciting players.
Kathleen Edwards a tireless campaigner on women's issues
KATHLEEN EDWARDS 1929-2104
Kathleen Edwards was one of Australia’s early workers for improving the status of women through her many years with the Young Women’s Christian Association.
Greg Bond was dedicated to Aboriginal Legal Service
Jeremy Styles GREG BOND, 1952-2014
Greg Bond, known to one and all as "Bondie", was well known in western Sydney courtrooms. He was a senior solicitor of the Aboriginal Legal Service, known for his personal generosity, his love and respect for his Aboriginal clients and their families.
Doc Neeson: Livewire performances fuelled Angels' success
BERNARD 'DOC' NEESON, 1947-2014
Before his death, Bernard 'Doc' Neeson spoke with Anthony O'Grady about his time in the spotlight.
David Armstrong, philosopher with an international reputation
DAVID ARMSTRONG, 1926-2014
David Armstrong, affectionally known as DMA or Armo, was in an elite category of Australian intellectuals – a philosopher who developed an international reputation, perhaps the most considerable of any Australian philosopher.
Bunny Yeager, glamour on both sides of the camera
BUNNY YEAGER, 1929-2014
Bunny Yeager was a pneumatic 1950s pin-up model who moved behind the camera to photograph saucy bikini-clad blondes and brunettes and in so doing became a pivotal figure in moving eroticism into the mainstream.
Geologist and 'legend' of Australian mining
GAVIN THOMAS, 1950-2014
Gavin Thomas was not only big in stature, he was a man with a big brain and a big heart. He also had the ability to discover enormous gold deposits.
Tireless activist for women's and workers' rights
JOYCE STEVENS, 1928-2014
Joyce Stevens was prominent in the wave of feminism that began in the late 1960s. Her pioneering activism, with other women like her, helped to change the nature of Australian society. When she started, there were no specific services for women as there are today.
Mother fought for equal education for children with disabilities
HILDE MANHAL, 1931-2014
In 1977, one of Hilde Manhal’s younger sons had a traffic accident that left him with an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI).
Last link to a great age of politics
MARY SOAMES 1922-2014
Lady Soames was the last surviving child of Winston and Clementine Churchill.
The man who came along with Ecstasy
ALEXANDER SHULGIN 1925-2014
Alexander Shulgin was an American chemist known as the “Godfather of Psychedelics”. In his psychopharmacological studies he used himself as a guinea pig to analyse human reactions to more than 200 psychoactive compounds.
The end of polio in Latin America
CIRO de QUADROS 1940-2014
Dr Ciro de Quadros was a Brazilian epidemiologist who navigated war zones and reimagined outmoded public health practices to lead an immunization campaign that eradicated polio in Latin America and the Caribbean.
A charmed maid with passport to Pimlico
BARBARA MURRAY 1929-2014
Barbara Murray was a Rank starlet of the post-war era who starred in the charmingly whimsical Ealing comedy Passport to Pimlico (1949).
Moss of Moss Bros and sartorial arbiter
MONTY MOSS 1924-2014
Monty Moss was the fourth-generation chairman of Moss Bros, the menswear and formal wear chain, and a strict arbiter of sartorial correctness.
