Albert Boime (75) art historian, educator, and author who evaluated art in its social and political context for new insights into French Neo-Classicism, Impressionism, and other prominent art movements of the last 250 years. Boime was a faculty member at UCLA for more than 30 years. He died of a blood disorder in Los Angeles, California on October 18, 2008.

Robert Furman (93) engineer with a successful building and contracting company who for more than 60 years lived a quiet suburban life. But as a young man, Furman was at the center of two of the most remarkable developments of World War II: the building of the Pentagon and the development of the atomic bomb. His role as point man in an international espionage operation was cloaked in such secrecy that his name did not appear in official documents for decades. He died of metastatic melanoma in Adamstown, Maryland on October 14, 2008.

George M. Keller (84) former chairman and chief executive of Chevron Corp. As chairman of the Standard Oil Co. of California, Keller executed the company's takeover of Gulf Oil to form Chevron in 1984. He died from complications of orthopedic surgery, in Palo Alto, California on October 17, 2008.

Bill Reilly (70) publishing and media executive, a founder and former chairman of Primedia Inc., which under his leadership amassed a varied portfolio of more than 200 magazines, including American Baby, Fly Fisherman, Soap Opera Digest, National Hog Farmer, Adhesives Age, Seventeen, Modern Bride, Chicago, and New York. Reilly died of bone and prostate cancer in New York City on October 17, 2008.

Dr. Allan Rosenfield (75) former dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University who became a leading advocate for women's health during the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Rosenfield, who also suffered from myasthenia gravis, died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, in Hartsdale, New York on October 12, 2008.

Les Schobert (61) former general curator of the Los Angeles Zoo who advocated more open space and less isolation for elephants, chimpanzees, and other animals in captivity. Schobert died of lung cancer in La Quinta, California on October 14, 2008.

Edgar B. Stern Jr. (86) founder of Utah's Deer Valley Resort. Stern developed other properties besides Deer Valley, which opened in 1981, including the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco, the Royal Orleans hotel in New Orleans, and Aspen's Starwood Ranch residential subdivision in Colorado. He died in Seattle, Washington on October 12, 2008.

Wang Yung-ching (91) businessman who built his Formosa Plastics Group into Taiwan's biggest and most profitable manufacturing conglomerate. Forbes magazine listed Wang as the island's second-wealthiest person of 2008, with a personal fortune estimated at $6.8 billion. Formosa Plastics also set up chemical companies in the US and owns several oil wells and properties rich in natural gas in Texas. Wang died of cardiac arrest during a business trip to the US, in New Jersey on October 15, 2008.

Enid Hart Douglass (81) former mayor (1982-86) of Claremont, Calif., responsible for developing the oral history program at Claremont Graduate University, who led it for more than 30 years. Douglas died of Alzheimer's disease six days before her 82nd birthday, in Sunnyvale, California on October 17, 2008.

Lászlo Fábián (88) Transylvanian-born teacher, nephew of a former archbishop of Transylvania and a World War II veteran. In 1963 Fabian founded and built a high school in Csenger, Hungary, his mother's hometown, and was its first headmaster, continuing to teach into his 80s, until he suffered several strokes. He died in his sleep of respiratory and circulation problems in Csenger, Hungary on October 14, 2008.

Edie Adams (81) actress, comedienne, and classically trained singer who both personified and satirized the stereotypes of sophisticated chanteuse and sexpot blonde, especially in a long-running series of TV commercials for Muriel cigars, in which she encouraged men to "pick one up and smoke it sometime." The widow of '50s TV comedian Ernie Kovacs (killed in a 1962 car crash), Adams had a varied career in show business, performing on stage, in nightclubs, and in movies and TV. She won a Tony for creating the role of Daisy Mae in the Broadway musical Li'l Abner (1956). She died of pneumonia and cancer in Los Angeles, California on October 15, 2008.

Nathan Davis (91) character actor best remembered for his role as Rev. Henry Kane in the sci-fi horror sequel Poltergeist III (1988). Davis also had an extensive career in film, TV, and countless theater productions over nearly 30 years, including roles in Tough Guys (1986), Flowers in the Attic (1987), Steal Big, Steal Little (1995), Chain Reaction (1996), and Holes (2003), and guest appearances on the TV series Becker, ER, Cheers, Frasier, and Hill Street Blues. He suffered from emphysema and Parkinson's disease and died in Chicago, Illinois on October 15, 2008.

Guillaume Depardieu (37) son of French film star Gerard Depardieu, an actor who rebelled against his father. Guillaume served his first prison sentence at age 17 and returned to jail when he was 22 for heroin trafficking. He later said he had been a male prostitute as part of a revolt against his father, whom he called a lying, money-worshipping drunk. Guillaume won the French version of an Oscar, a Cesar, for "best new male talent" in 1996 for his role in the black comedy Les Apprentis (The Apprentices). He had his right leg amputated in 2003 to end years of pain from a bacterial infection after a motorcycle accident in 1995. He died of pneumonia in Paris, France on October 13, 2008.

Xie Jin (84) veteran director, a prominent figure in modern Chinese cinema known for tackling the country's ultraleftist Cultural Revolution. Xie was best known for a trio of films—The Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1980), The Herdsman (1982), and Hibiscus Town (1986)—about victims of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, when millions of people suspected of opposing the Communist government were persecuted. He was found dead in his hotel room in the eastern Chinese city of Shangyu, where he was attending the 100th anniversary of his middle school, on October 18, 2008.

Dave McKenna (78) jazz pianist who began his career as a big-band sideman but became best known for his distinctive solo playing, with a powerful left hand bass. McKenna died of lung cancer in State College, Pennsylvania on October 18, 2008.

Jack Narz (85) host of Dotto when it became one of the first TV programs ensnared in the quiz-show scandals of the '50s. Narz later emceed Concentration and other game shows. He was an elder brother of veteran game show host Tom Kennedy. Narz died of complications from a stroke in Los Angeles, California on October 15, 2008.

John E. Reilly (60) creator of the campy soap opera Passions who twice was head writer on Days of Our Lives. Reilly also wrote for General Hospital and The Young & the Restless and in 1990 was named head writer of The Guiding Light, with whose writing staff he won a daytime Emmy in '93. After five years (1992-97) with Days of Our Lives, he left that show to create Passions (1999-2008), a soap opera known for outrageous—and paranormal—plot twists. He died of complications after cardiac surgery, in New York City on October 12, 2008.

Evelyn Ay Sempier (75) Miss America of 1954, the last year before the pageant was televised. Evelyn Ay was a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania when she won the state and national pageants. She later helped to judge both local and national pageants for many years. After her reign, she married Carl G. Sempier, a Navy veteran and corporate executive who died in 2007. Evelyn Sempier died of colorectal cancer in Ephrata, Pennsylvania on October 18, 2008.

Levi Stubbs (72) Four Tops frontman whose voice drove such Motown classics as "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" and "Baby I Need Your Loving." The Four Tops sold millions of records and performed for more than 40 years without a change in personnel. They signed with Motown Records in 1963 and produced 20 Top-40 hits over the next 10 years. Their 1965 hit "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" and "Reach Out" (1966) went to No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. In a solo turn, Stubbs memorably provided the voice of Audrey II, the mysterious plant in the 1986 film version of the Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors. His death leaves one surviving member of the original group: Abdul ("Duke") Fakir (top left in right photo). Original Top Lawrence Payton (bottom left) died of liver cancer in 1997, and Renaldo ("Obie") Benson (top right) died of lung cancer in 2005. Stubbs died in his sleep in Detroit, Michigan on October 17, 2008.

Dee Dee Warwick (63) soul singer who won recognition for both her solo work and her performances with her elder sister Dionne Warwick. Dee Dee Warwick had several hits on the soul and R&B charts in the '60s and '70s, including "Foolish Fool," "She Didn't Know (She Kept on Talking)," and a version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me." She had been in failing health in recent months and died in Essex County, New Jersey on October 18, 2008.

Stanislav Hlucka (88) one of the best and last-living Czech pilots of World War II. After fleeing Czechoslovakia, then Nazi-occupied, in May 1943 Hlucka became part of Britain's Royal Air Force's No. 313 Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron. After the Communists took power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, he was arrested and sentenced to a one-year prison term. He later won many Czech, Slovak, and British state and military decorations. He died in Prague, Czech Republic on October 15, 2008.

Leo Major (87) only Canadian to have received two Distinguished Conduct Medals—the second highest award for gallantry in action after the Victoria Cross—for accomplishments in World War II and the Korean War. Major died in Montreal, Canada on October 12, 2008.

Owen Moscone (13) grandson of the late San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, assassinated in 1978 along with Supervisor Harvey Milk at City Hall by ex-supervisor Dan White. Owen Moscone died of neuroblastoma, a rare form of pediatric cancer, in Mill Valley, California on October 17, 2008.

John R. Reilly (80) former close political adviser to a string of Democrat Presidential candidates since the Kennedy years, particularly to his longtime friend Walter F. Mondale in 1984. Reilly died of abdominal cancer in Washington, DC on October 12, 2008.

Sen. James Rhoades (66) longtime Pennsylvania state senator, a Republican who had served for seven terms and was chairman of the Education Committee. Rhoades was campaigning for an eighth term. He was killed when his Cadillac collided head-on with a truck in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on October 18, 2008.

Matthew J. Rinaldo (77) former US congressman (R-NJ), a moderate Republican known for his personal attention to constituent problems during 20 years (1973-93) in Congress. Rinaldo died of complications from Parkinson's disease in West Caldwell, New Jersey on October 13, 2008.

Paul G. Rogers (87) former US congressman (D-Fla.) who earned the nickname "Mr. Health" for his work on environmental and health-care legislation during a 24-year (1955-79) career in Congress. Rogers' nickname came from his position as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health & the Environment for eight years. He also left a legacy of health-care legislation, including his work on the National Cancer Act of 1971, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. He had recently undergone surgery for lung cancer and died in Washington, DC on October 13, 2008.

Cole Berardi (10) Dallas boy accidentally struck and killed by a speeding police car while riding his bicycle at night. An investigation revealed that the squad car, responding to an emergency call, was going 72 miles an hour in a 40-mile-an-hour zone, without flashing lights or sirens. The area was unlit, and Cole was not wearing any reflective gear or a helmet. The Dallas police were reexamining their speeding policies. Cole Berardi died in Dallas, Texas on October 17, 2008.

Richard Cooey (41) Ohio condemned killer who along with two accomplices took part in the abduction, rape, and capital murder of two University of Akron students in 1986. Cooey had argued in numerous legal challenges that his weight problem would make it difficult for prison staff to find suitable veins to deliver the deadly multiple-drug chemicals, which became a problem that delayed previous executions in the state since 2007. He was executed by lethal injection in Lucasville, Ohio on October 14, 2008.

Dorothy Green (79) leading environmental activist whose anger over the pollution of Santa Monica Bay spurred her to establish the grass-roots group Heal the Bay and head efforts to change water policy in California. Green became an activist for clean water in 1985 after hearing that her brother had been splattered with barely treated sewage from an open drain at Ballona Creek in Marina del Rey. She died of melanoma in Westwood, California on October 13, 2008.

Alvin Kelly (57) former truck repair shop owner who, while serving time in prison for killing a man, was later convicted of the fatal shootings of Jerry and Brenda Morgan and their 22-month-old son Devin at their East Texas home during an apparent string of robberies in 1984. Kelly was among a dozen condemned inmates scheduled to die over the next six weeks and became the 10th person executed in Texas this year in the nation's most active capital punishment state. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on October 14, 2008.

Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (95) German prince and one of the last three members of the prestigious Bavarian royal family born before the end of the Wittelsbach's reign in Germany's second-largest province. The prince married his first cousin, Princess Irmingard of Bavaria, at Munich's Schloss Nymphenburg Palace in 1950 and later settled into private life in the southeastern country's rural district after the death of her father, Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, in '55. Ludwig died in Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany on October 17, 2008.

Frank ("Lefty") Rosenthal (79) sports handicapper, Las Vegas gaming executive, and inspiration for the blockbuster movie Casino (1995). Rosenthal, who once survived a car bomb, ran the Chicago mob-owned Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda, and Marina casinos through the '70s and into the mid-'80s but eventually was banned from Nevada's casinos because of his ties to the Mafia. He died of a heart attack in Miami Beach, Florida on October 13, 2008.

Jack Tenner (88) former Los Angeles Superior Court judge involved in the city's civil rights struggles over the past 60 years. Tenner worked to end housing discrimination and to integrate firehouses, among other civil rights causes. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles, California on October 13, 2008.

Kevin Watts (27) Texas killer condemned to death for fatally shooting the manager and two cooks during the holdup of a Korean restaurant in San Antonio in 2002. Watts confessed to the shootings, after which the manager's bride of two months was abducted and raped. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on October 16, 2008.

Alexei Cherepanov (19) rising Russian hockey star, a first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers. Cherepanov suffered from chronic ischemia, a medical condition in which not enough blood gets to the heart or other organs. He collapsed and died during a Continental Hockey League game outside Moscow on October 13, 2008.

Chris Mims (38) former defensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers. Mims played eight seasons in the NFL, seven with the Chargers and one with the Washington Redskins. He was found dead in his downtown Los Angeles, California apartment on October 15, 2008.

Hal Roth (81) avid sailor and author of 12 books who circumnavigated the globe three times, once (1981-85) with his wife, Margaret. Three of Roth's books on sailing were combined in one volume, The Hal Roth Seafaring Trilogy (2005). He died of lung cancer in Easton, Maryland on October 18, 2008.

Charles ("Sonny") Spielman (71) father of former NFL player Chris Spielman and Minnesota Vikings executive Rick Spielman. The eldest Spielman was a high school teacher and football coach who loved the game and teaching kids. He died after a two-year illness, in Canton, Ohio on October 14, 2008.

Tom Tresh (71) 1962 American League Rookie of the Year and part of three New York Yankees teams that reached the World Series. Tresh was a 1962 All-Star as a shortstop and made the team again in '63 as a center fielder. He died of a heart attack in Venice, Florida on October 15, 2008.

Nick Weatherspoon (58) former University of Illinois basketball star who played seven seasons in the NBA. Weatherspoon left Illinois after the 1972-73 season as the school's career scoring leader with 1,481 points—still the 10th best in Illini history. The 6-foot-7 forward was a member of the NBA's all-rookie team in 1973-74 and played for Washington, Seattle, Chicago, and San Diego. He had his best season for San Diego in 1978-79, averaging 13.8 points in 82 games. He died in Canton, Ohio on October 17, 2008.

Ben Weider (85) Canadian who helped to turn bodybuilding into a worldwide sport and was instrumental in launching Arnold Schwarzenegger's career in the US. A self-taught but noted Napoleonic scholar, Weider won the French Legion of Honor for his investigative work into Napoleon's death. He died suddenly in Montreal, Canada on October 17, 2008.