Barry Lewis (75) architectural historian whose lectures and walking tours of New York neighborhoods made him a local celebrity. Although his knowledge of architecture and design was vast, Lewis had a disdain for pretentiousness and jargon, academic or otherwise, and a showman’s style. He described the Tudor Revival buildings of Tudor City as vaudeville. He likened the Jefferson Market Library, with its bright red brick cladding, rather risqué for the period, to a woman dressed only in her underwear—a punk structure for its time. Lewis began leading tours in the ‘70s and gave tours both on his own and for the 92nd Street Y. In the late ’90s, when a producer at PBS conceived of a program of walking tours of New York, with David Hartman, longtime Good Morning America anchor, as host, Lewis was the guide they reached out to. Their series, which began as a one-off, “A Walk Down 42nd Street,” seen on the New York PBS station WNET in 1998, was so popular that they made 10 more, traveling from Brooklyn to Harlem. The shows were seen on PBS stations all over the country. Lewis died of heart disease in San Diego, California on January 12, 2021.

Sheldon G. Adelson (87) casino magnate who grew up in a tough Boston neighborhood where his family lived in a one-bedroom tenement apartment and he slept on the floor with his sister and two brothers. As a youth he hawked newspapers on a street corner and later dabbled in the candy machine trade. That he would grow up to become one of America’s richest men whose faux Venetian palaces drew gamblers eager to beat the odds and Republican candidates anxious to win campaign jackpots became the stuff of legend. Adelson is listed by Forbes magazine as the 19th-richest American, with holdings estimated at $35.1 billion. After he took his Las Vegas Sands Corp. public in 2004, his wealth increased by $1 million an hour. During the 2008 recession, it plummeted for a time at $1,000 a second. In the primary and general elections of 2012, ’16, and ‘18, Adelson was far and away the top Republican political donor, giving a total of more than $302 million. He died in Malibu, California from complications related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, on January 11, 2021.

Sir David Barclay (86) one of the billionaire identical twins whose business empire includes Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. Born in London in 1934, sons of a traveling salesman, David and his twin Frederick left school at 14. They began their working lives as painter-decorators before moving into property and hotels—including London’s Ritz, which they owned from 1995–2020—besides shipping, breweries, retail, and newspapers. They owned the weekly newspaper The European from 1992 until it closed in ‘98, owned The Scotsman from ‘95–2005, and bought the Telegraph Media Group, publisher of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, from Canadian mogul Conrad Black’s Hollinger International in ’04. The conservative broadsheet Daily Telegraph has been an unwavering champion of Brexit in recent years. Both the brothers, whose combined wealth was estimated at £7 billion ($10 billion) on the 2020 Sunday Times Rich List, were knighted in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II for donations to medical research. David Barclay died on January 10, 2021.

Marsha Zazula (68) with her husband, Jonny, founded Megaforce Records at the front end of a heavy metal wave and gave Metallica, Anthrax, and other pivotal bands their start. The Zazulas became important players in the early days of the ‘80s metal boom, signing and promoting bands through their seat-of-the-pants business, letting musicians crash at their house in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and releasing breakthrough albums, perhaps the most important of which was Metallica’s debut, Kill ’Em All, in 1983. The band grew so fast that after releasing a second Megaforce album, Ride the Lightning in 1984, Metallica moved to a bigger label, Elektra. Other bands, including Anthrax, followed a similar path, breaking in on the Megaforce label (Anthrax with the 1984 album Fistful of Metal), then moving to a bigger one. Other groups that released albums with Megaforce included Testament, Ministry, and Raven. The Zazulas sold their stake in Megaforce in 2001 and eventually retired to Florida. Marsha Zazula died of cancer in Clermont, Florida, about 20 miles west of Orlando, on January 10, 2021.

Patty Sakal (62) American Sign Language interpreter who translated updates about the coronavirus for deaf Hawaiians. Sakal, who worked as an ASL interpreter for nearly 40 years in a variety of settings, had become a mainstay in coronavirus press briefings in Hawaii, working with both the former mayor of Honolulu, Kirk Caldwell, and Gov. David Y. Ige to interpret news for the deaf community. In a statement, Isle Interpret, an organization of interpreters to which Sakal belonged, called her “Hawaii interpreter ‘royalty,’” in part because she understood Hawaiian Sign Language, a version of American Sign Language developed by deaf elders to which she had been exposed while growing up. Sakal, who lived in Honolulu, died of Covid-19 in San Diego, California, where she had gone last month to visit one of her daughters, on January 15, 2021.

Naomi Levine (97) executive director of the American Jewish Congress in the ‘70s, first woman to lead a major Jewish advocacy organization who later became instrumental in New York University's expansion into a top-tier institution. Naomi Bronheim first aspired to become a public-school teacher but was rejected after taking an oral exam because she had a lisp. She then decided to pursue law instead. She attended Columbia Law School, where among the other students in the ‘40s were such soon-to-be-prominent women as politician Bella Abzug, labor lawyer Judith Vladeck, and federal judge Constance Baker Motley. Naomi joined the AJC in the ‘50s as a lawyer on its Commission on Law & Social Action. Often in partnership with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, she wrote briefs in decisive Supreme Court cases. She gained greater visibility when she was appointed executive director of the AJC in 1972. She died in West Palm Beach, Florida on January 14, 2021.

Prentice Sanders (83) became San Francisco's first black police chief after working as a homicide detective on such infamous cases as the ‘70s Zebra murders, a six-month series of slayings that left at least 15 people dead and 10 wounded; four black men were convicted of the random attacks on white victims. Sanders was with the San Francisco Police Department for nearly 40 years and was chief from 2002–03. He was the first officer to testify in federal court about racism in the SFPD as part of a 1973 federal discrimination lawsuit filed by a group he helped to form, Officers for Justice. The case ended with the department accepting a consent decree that set new rules for hiring and promotions. Sanders also investigated the 101 California Street Shooting in 1993, where a gunman at an office building killed eight people and himself. He died of kidney failure in Burlingame, California on January 10, 2021.

Isidore Torres (73) as a boy, Isidore owned two pairs of pants: one for school, one for hoeing sugar beet fields outside Bay City, Michigan, alongside his mother and siblings. For years the family had shuttled between Michigan and Texas looking for migrant work, eventually settling in Bay City so the children could receive a steady education. Torres never forgot his humble roots, even as he became the first Hispanic judge in the Wayne County court system and served on state benches for more than 25 years. A prominent figure among Michigan Latinos, known for an endearing smile and a love of coffee, he had the ear of mayors, governors, and congressmen as he lobbied for more minority representation in the legal system. Torres had central nervous system lymphoma but died of Covid-19 in Troy, Michigan on January 12, 2021.

Sharon Begley (64) back in the glory days of news magazines, the editors at Newsweek used to sit around and fantasize about their dream “doomsday” team—the journalists they would want on hand if they had to cover the end of the world. One name was always at or near the top: Begley, a marquee journalist for Newsweek for more than 25 years and widely regarded as one of the preeminent science writers of her generation. She was fast and trustworthy and could turn a phrase. She was versatile, too, writing with authority across a range of topics, routinely taking complex material and synthesizing it into a clear, compelling narrative. After Newsweek, Begley wrote for the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and, for the last five years, Stat, the Boston-based health and science news website, where she was one of its lead writers on Covid-19. She died of lung cancer in Boston, Massachusetts on January 16, 2021.

Jerry Brandt (82) promoter and entrepreneur who owned two nightclubs, the Electric Circus and the Ritz, that were attention-getting parts of New York's music scene. Brandt made a career of trying to catch whatever wave was cresting on the pop-culture scene. With the Electric Circus, which he opened in 1967 on St. Marks Place in the East Village, it was psychedelia. With the Ritz, opened in 1980 a few blocks away, it was the exploding music scene of the MTV decade, with the shows he staged there—Parliament-Funkadelic, U2, Tina Turner, Ozzy Osbourne, Frank Zappa, and countless others—reflecting the energy of the time. Not all his big bets paid off. Perhaps his best-known debacle was Jobriath, a gay performer whom Brandt backed with a lavish promotional campaign in 1973 and ’74, hoping to create an American version of David Bowie’s androgynous Ziggy Stardust persona. The concert-going and record-buying public soundly rejected the attempt to manufacture a star, and Jobriath, whose real name was Bruce Campbell, faded quickly, But Brandt’s successes, especially with the Ritz, caught their cultural moment and propelled it forward. At the Ritz, he not only booked an expansive range of bands; he also brought new technologies into the mix. Brandt died of Covid-19 in Miami Beach, Florida on January 16, 2021.

Robert Cohan (95) New York-born dancer and choreographer who changed the course of British dance by helping to establish an acclaimed contemporary dance company and school in London in the late ‘60s. Cohan’s path to running the London enterprise began in 1954, when, as an important member of the Martha Graham company in New York, he met Robin Howard, a wealthy grandson of former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and a big fan of Graham’s work. Almost 10 years later, Howard sponsored a trip by the company to the Edinburgh Festival and a subsequent season in London and was so encouraged by the visit’s success that he suggested to Graham that she set up a studio there. Cohan had been teaching at the Graham School even while continuing to dance with it, and both Graham and Howard agreed that he should be the London outpost’s director. Cohan died in London, England on January 13, 2021.

Juan Carlos Copes (89) the tango was originally a social dance, performed in neighborhood gatherings and dance halls. But Copes turned it into a dance for the stage, with complex, highly polished choreography that could wow an audience over the course of an entire evening. He moved across the dance floor for 70 years. For much of that time he danced with one partner—also, for a period, his wife—María Nieves Rego. They came to define a new tango style, dubbed the “estilo Copes-Nieves.” Copes died of Covid-19 in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 16, 2021.

Siegfried Fischbacher (81) blond half of the successful big-cat illusionist duo Siegfried & Roy. Born in Germany, Fischbacher left home at 17, first becoming a dishwasher at an Italian resort, then signing on as a steward on a cruise ship. Eventually he began doing his tricks for passengers instead of just for the crew. The act grew in popularity, with props and a second show added. Hustling for an extra hand was how he met Roy Horn, his future performing partner, who was working as a waiter. On the next cruise, Horn showed Fischbacher the live cheetah he’d smuggled on board, and the two worked the cat into their act. It got them fired but also resulted in an offer to work on the cruise line’s Caribbean trips. The two became partners. Horn was the beastmaster, wrangling Chico the cheetah; in one illusion, Fischbacher disappeared in the middle of the act and reappeared as the cat. In 1967 they were invited to Las Vegas to be part of the Folies Bergere review at the Tropicana. In 2001 they signed a “contract for life” at the Mirage. There they performed their over-the-top illusion spectacle in the 1,504-seat Siegfried & Roy Theater, entertaining 700,000 people a year. Over 44 years the duo performed more than 30,000 live shows to close to 50 million people. Their Vegas run screeched to a halt in 2003 after Horn was critically injured by a white tiger named Mantecore, who sank his teeth into his handler’s neck during a performance and dragged him offstage. Horn suffered a stroke, nearly bled to death, and never fully recovered. Fischbacher died of pancreatic cancer on January 13, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada less than a year after Horn's death.

Duke Bootee, born Edward Gemel Fletcher (69) driving force behind “The Message,” the 1982 hit that pushed hip-hop from escapism toward chronicling the daily grind of urban poverty. Fletcher started writing “The Message” in 1980, the same year he became a studio musician at Sugar Hill Records, which released the early work of groups like the Sugar Hill Gang and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Fletcher toured with Sugar Hill acts, contributed to the recording of seminal tracks. and occasionally composed music. In his mother’s basement one night, in the tough and increasingly impoverished city where he grew up, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Fletcher began piecing together a different approach to hip-hop. images of the jungle and broken glass contributed to the lyrics of “The Message,” which sought to define everyday life in a tough urban world. Fletcher died of heart failure in Savannah, Georgia on January 13, 2021.

Charlene Gehm (69) dancer who thrilled audiences and critics alike with her excellence in an unusually wide range of roles with the Joffrey Ballet and other troupes. Audiences who saw Gehm perform with the Joffrey from 1976–91, when it was based in New York (it is now in Chicago), knew she could give as good as she got while being yanked, dragged, and thrown around in the combative, knockdown duets of William Forsythe’s “Love Songs.” By contrast she was an expert in stillness, minimalism, and archaic-profile poses when paired with Rudolf Nureyev as guest artist in the Joffrey’s 1979 landmark revival of Nijinsky’s “L’Apres-Midi d’un Faune.” Nureyev was the mythical fawn, and Gehm was the marvelously deadpan nymph who aroused him. In “Les Patineurs,” by English choreographer Frederick Ashton, Gehm could show off her strong classical technique. In his “Wedding Bouquet,” her gifts as a witty comedienne were on display. She died of cancer in New York City on January 10, 2021.

Howard Johnson (79) set a new standard by expanding the tuba’s known capacities in jazz and moonlighted as a multi-instrumentalist and arranger for some of the most popular acts in rock and pop. Fluent and graceful across an enormous range on one of the most cumbersome members of the brass family, Johnson found his way into almost every kind of scenario—outside classical music—where you might possibly expect to find the tuba and plenty where you wouldn’t. His career spanned hundreds of albums and thousands of gigs. He played on many of the major jazz recordings of the ‘60s and ’70s, by musicians like Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner, Carla Bley, and Charlie Haden. Johnson contributed arrangements and horn parts for rock stars like John Lennon and Taj Mahal. He was an original member of the Saturday Night Live band. Johnson died in Harlem, New York on January 11, 2021.

Pat Loud (94) before The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, before the Kardashians, before the idea of living unscripted on camera became a TV staple, there was a program on public TV called An American Family with a female character named Pat Loud. She was a California mother of five who drank, plotted her divorce, and accepted her openly gay son, Lance. She did it all in Santa Barbara and on camera—in 1973. Loud was the first reality TV star on the first reality TV show—and she paid a price for breaking new ground. Critics called her materialistic and self-absorbed, an “affluent zombie,” one said. What wife and mother would do such a thing? Newsweek put Loud, her husband, Bill, and their children on its cover with the headline “The Broken Family.” Loud was 47 when the show that made her famous first aired, and she spent much of the rest of her life explaining why she had done it and how it had changed her family. Lance Loud died of hepatitis C in 2001; Bill Loud died in 2018. Pat Loud died in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2021.

Elijah Moshinsky (75) Australian theater, TV, and opera director known for his productions at the Royal Opera in London, Opera Australia, and especially the Metropolitan Opera. The best Moshinsky productions combined traditional staging ideas with modern, striking, sometimes fanciful touches, as in his 1993 version of Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos for the Met, which is slated for revival in the 2021–22 season. Moshinsky’s version featured a bustling depiction of backstage preparations for an entertainment at the home of a Viennese gentleman, plus a trio of eerily gigantic nymphs, their dresses falling to the ground. Moshinsky died of Covid-19 in London, England on January 14, 2021.

Joanne Rogers (92) accomplished concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her late husband, beloved children’s TV host Mister Rogers. Joanne and Fred Rogers were married for more than 50 years, spanning the launch and end of the low-key, low-tech Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which presented Fred Rogers as one adult in a busy world who always had time to listen to children. His pull as America’s favorite neighbor never seemed to wane before his death in 2003. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Fred Rogers produced the pioneering show at Pittsburgh public TV station WQED beginning in 1966, going national in ‘68. He composed his own songs for the show. It offered a soft haven for kids, in sharp contrast to the louder, more animated competition. The final episode aired in August 2001. PBS stations around the country still rerun Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Joanne Rogers died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 14, 2021.

Antonio Sabàto Sr. (77) as a boy growing up in Palermo, Sicily in the ‘50s, Antonio dreamed of becoming a movie star. He would sneak into cinemas to watch the latest films of Luchino Visconti. He ran away from home more than once to infiltrate the Cinecittà film studio in Rome and try to talk his way into jobs. He adored American movies and idolized Marlon Brando. Sabàto became a popular Italian actor known for his roles in spaghetti westerns and action movies from the ‘60s through the ‘80s. Among them were Beyond the Law with Lee Van Cleef, and Twice a Judas, with Klaus Kinski, both from 1968. In 1983 he played resistance leader Dablone in the cult classic Escape from the Bronx. He was cast in John Frankenheimer’s 1966 car racing classic, Grand Prix, starring as Italian Formula One driver Nino Barlini alongside James Garner and Yves Montand. The film won three Oscars, and Sabàto was recognized at the Golden Globes with a nomination for most promising newcomer. He was the father of actor Antonio Sabàto Jr. Sabàto Sr. died of Coved-19 in Hemet, California on January 10, 2021.

Philip J. Smith (89) rose from box office treasurer at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway to chairman and co-chief executive of the theatrical giant Shubert Organization. In a career that spanned 63 years, Smith worked in every department of the Shubert Organization and was named general manager of all Shubert Theatres in 1964. The Shubert Organization owns and operates 17 Broadway theaters and six off-Broadway venues. Snith died from COVID-19 in New York City on January 15, 2021.

Phil Spector (81) eccentric music producer who transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” recording method and later was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 at his castlelike mansion on the edge of Los Angeles. After a trial in 2009, Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life. Clarkson, star of Barbarian Queen and other B-movies, was found shot to death in the foyer of his mansion in the hills overlooking Alhambra, a suburban town on the edge of LA. Until her death, which Spector maintained was an “accidental suicide,” few residents even knew the mansion belonged to the reclusive producer, who spent his remaining years in a prison hospital east of Stockton. Decades before, he had been hailed as a visionary for channeling Wagnerian ambition into the 3-minute song, creating the “Wall of Sound” that merged vocal harmonies with lavish orchestral arrangements to produce such pop monuments as “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Be My Baby,” and “He’s a Rebel.” He was the rare self-conscious artist in rock’s early years and cultivated an image of mystery and power with his dark shades and impassive expression. Spector died of natural causes at a hospital in French Camp, California on January 16, 2021.

Sylvain Sylvain (69) whose guitar playing in the early ‘70s as a member of the New York Dolls helped to lay the groundwork for what became punk rock. With their bizarre style and chaotic presentation, the New York Dolls—named, as the story goes, after a toy repair shop Sylvain spied across the street from a Manhattan clothing store where he once worked—turned heads immediately when they began playing clubs dressed in drag, hair teased, and faces made up, in 1971. David Johansen, the Dolls’ rubber-faced frontman, and Johnny Thunders, on lead guitar, took center stage with a rowdy visual interplay that evoked Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. The Dolls also included drummer Jerry Nolan and bassist Arthur Kane. But as the band’s rhythm guitarist, it was Sylvain whose sleazy-catchy riffs provided a solid foundation for all the flamboyance. He also played piano on the group’s self-titled 1973 debut. He died of cancer in Nashville, Tennessee on January 13, 2021.

Nancy Bush Ellis (94) sister of one US president (George H. W. Bush) and aunt of another (George W. Bush) who for a time devoted herself to Democrat causes despite her family dynasty’s Republican lineage. Smart, athletic, and outgoing, Ellis exuded the patrician charm of a bygone era. She was active at a time when public service was perceived as noble and politicians from the other party were not regarded as enemies. Unlike most of her family, Ellis was a liberal Democrat for decades, promoting environmental and antipoverty causes, raising money for the NAACP, and serving as head of the New England section of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. She was hospitalized on December 30 with a fever and tested positive for the coronavirus. Her symptoms abated within days, but her general health was failing. She died in Concord, Massachusetts on January 10, 2021.

Jon Arnett (85) one of southern California’s greatest running backs who became a five-time Pro Bowl player for the Los Angeles Rams. Arnett earned the nickname “Jaguar Jon” for his acrobatic agility and elusiveness running the ball. He lettered at USC from 1954–56, earned All-American and All-Pacific Coast Conference first-team honors as a junior, and received the Voit Trophy as the West Coast’s most outstanding player. In 1955 Arnett led the Trojans in rushing, total offense, scoring, kickoff returns, and punt returns. He also completed 12 passes for 150 yards. As a senior cocaptain playing just half the 1956 season, Arnett rushed for 625 yards and led the Trojans in scoring (43 points). He played in the College All-Star Game, East-West Shrine Game, and Hula Bowl. He still ranks in USC’s career top 25 lists for rushing, punt returns, and kickoff returns. The Rams made Arnett the second pick of the 1957 NFL draft, and he played with the team until ’63. He was a Pro Bowl selection in his first five years and was an All-Pro in 1958 when he led the NFL in punt return yardage. He still holds the Rams’ record for longest kickoff return (105 yards). Arnett died of heart failure in Lake Oswego, Oregon on January 16, 2021

Kathleen Heddle (55) three-time Olympic rowing champion for Canada. Heddle and Marnie McBean won Olympic gold medals in 1992 and ‘96 in the coxless pair and double sculls. Heddle also earned gold in the women’s eight in 1992. Heddle and McBean carried Canada’s flag at the closing ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Games. They are the only Canadian athletes to win three gold medals in the Summer Olympics. They also claimed gold in the coxless pair at the 1991 and ‘95 world championships. Heddle and McBean were inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. Heddle had breast and lymph-node cancer, followed by melanoma and brain cancer for six years. She died in Vancouver, British Columbia on January 11, 2021.

Kathleen Heddle (55) three-time Olympic rowing champion for Canada. Heddle and Marnie McBean won Olympic gold medals in 1992 and ‘96 in the coxless pair and double sculls. Heddle also earned gold in the women’s eight in 1992. Heddle and McBean carried Canada’s flag at the closing ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Games. They are the only Canadian athletes to win three gold medals in the Summer Olympics. They also claimed gold in the coxless pair at the 1991 and ‘95 world championships. Heddle and McBean were inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. Heddle had breast and lymph-node cancer, followed by melanoma and brain cancer for six years. She died in Vancouver, British Columbia on January 11, 2021.

Khalid bin Abdullah, Prince of Saudi Arabia (83) Saudi prince who owned the Juddmonte Farms horse-racing operation, which produced superstar thoroughbreds like Frankel and Dancing Brave. A passionate supporter of horse racing as a young man, Prince Khalid founded Juddmonte in 1980 and oversaw the breeding of more than 440 winners—including 102 at top-tier Grade One level worldwide—who carried his green, pink, and white silks. Dancing Brave, bred in Kentucky, was his star horse in the ‘80s, winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1986 and a string of major races in Britain that year including the 2,000 Guineas. Frankel, named after the late American trainer Bobby Frankel, is in contention as the greatest ever racehorse after an unbeaten career in which he won 14 races from 2010–12. Prince Khalid’s most recent superstar was Enable, whose wins included the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2017 and ’18 and the Breeders’ Cup Turf in ’18. Prince Khalid died on January 12, 2021.

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