J. G. Ballard (78) British science fiction author, a childhood survivor of a Japanese World War II prison camp best known for his autobiographical novel, Empire of the Sun (1984), filmed in 1987 by Stephen Spielberg and starring a teenage Christian Bale. Ballard's 1973 novel Crash explored people who derive sexual pleasure from car accidents. Diagnosed in 2006 with advanced prostate cancer, he died in London, England on April 19, 2009.

Kenneth Paul Block (84) fashion illustrator whose artful strokes captured the elegance of high-couture women of the ‘50s, then the fluid look of later decades. For nearly 40 years, starting in the mid-‘50s, Block was an illustrator for Women’s Wear Daily and later for W magazine as well, both published by Fairchild Publications. He died of complications from a fall at his home in New York City on April 23, 2009.

Benjamen Chinn (87) Chinese-American photographer who documented street scenes in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late '40s. Chinn was being treated for an infection when he died of cardiac arrest in San Francisco, California on April 25, 2009.

John Michell (76) icon of the ‘60s English counterculture who inspired disciples like the Rolling Stones with writings about UFOs, prehistoric architecture, and fairies—when he was not describing eccentrics or the perils of the metric system. Michell died of cancer in Poole, England on April 24, 2009.

Irving D. Chais (83) for 45 years owner and chief surgeon of the New York Doll Hospital in Manhattan who reattached thousands of heads, arms, and legs and reimplanted fake hair shorn by scissor-happy toddlers. The business had been in Chais's family since the early 1900s. He died in New York City on April 24, 2009.

Benjamin Edwards 3rd (77) retired A. G. Edwards chief who presided over the brokerage as it grew into a nationwide firm. Edwards was a great-grandson of the company’s founder. He joined A. G. Edwards in 1956 and became president in ’67. Under his leadership, the company grew from a St. Louis regional brokerage with 44 offices in 1965 to nearly 700 by the time he retired in 2001. He died of prostate cancer in Naples, Florida on April 20, 2009.

Arax Kalajian (64) co-owner of a computer consulting company whose lawsuit in the mid-‘70s established a divorced woman’s right to revert to her birth name. Kalajian died of complications from multiple sclerosis in Annandale, Virginia on April 20, 2009.

David B. Kellermann (41) acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, the mortgage lending giant, since September 2008. Kellermann was found dead, an apparent suicide by hanging, at his home in Vienna, Virginia on April 22, 2009.

Brig. Gen. Boyd E. King (65) chief executive of shipbuilder VT Halter Marine since 2002. Before joining Halter Marine, King served 35 years in the US Army. He led Halter Marine out of bankruptcy in 2002; since then, the company has secured commercial and government contracts with a construction backlog through 2013. King died at the company’s headquarters in Pascagoula, Mississippi on April 20, 2009.

Ken Annakin (94) British-born film director whose credits include the World War II epics Battle of the Bulge (1965) and The Longest Day (1962), the family classic Swiss Family Robinson (1960), and the sprawling period aviation comedy Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), whose screenplay earned him an Oscar nomination. Annakin's health had been failing since he had a heart attack and a stroke within a day of each other in February. He died in Beverly Hills, California on April 22, 2009.

Bea Arthur (86) tall, husky-voiced actress whose caustic delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star on the hit shows Maude (1972-78) and The Golden Girls (1985-92), both of which won her Emmys. Originally a stage actress, in 1966 Arthur won a Tony for her performance as Vera Charles, friend of star Angela Lansbury in the Broadway musical Mame. She died of cancer in Los Angeles, California on April 25, 2009.

Ruth Bowen (84) booking agent who represented many of the nation's top black performers. Over more than 60 years, Bowen guided the careers of such stars as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., and her first husband, William ("Billy") Bowen, one of the original Ink Spots. Ruth Bowen died of a brain tumor in New York City on April 21, 2009.

Kelly Breslin (44) public relations specialist and daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and reporter Jimmy Breslin, best known for his commentary in the daily newspaper Newsday and in New York magazine. Kelly Breslin had been on life support for four days after collapsing at a Manhattan restaurant and died from an apparent cardiac arrhythmia in New York City on April 21, 2009.

Jack Cardiff (94) Oscar-winning British cinematographer, one of the first to shoot in Technicolor. Cardiff won an Oscar for the film Black Narcissus (1947) and an honorary Oscar in 2001 for his lifetime of work, which included such classics as The Red Shoes (1948), The African Queen (1951), and The Barefoot Contessa (1954). Cardiff died in Cambridgeshire, southeast England on April 22, 2009.

Marilyn Cooper (74) veteran Broadway character actress and singer best known for her Tony-winning performance in the Kander & Ebb musical Woman of the Year (1981), in which she sang a show-stopping duet, "The Grass Is Always Greener," with star Lauren Bacall. Cooper died in Englewood, New Jersey on April 22, 2009.

Jade Defoe (26) aspiring rapper and half-brother of British international football (soccer) player Jermain Defoe. Jade Defoe, also known as Gavin and Esco Bars, became a popular figure on the east London urban music scene as a rapper who performed a form of hip-hop and garage known as grime. He died of severe head injuries after a brutal street attack in Leytonstone, London, England on April 24, 2009.

Catherine Murray di Montezemolo (83) fashion editor and pillar of Southampton society who helped to shape the look of postwar American sportswear by promoting designers like Anne Fogarty and Claire McCardell on the pages of Vogue magazine. Di Montezemolo worked at Vogue for more than 30 years from 1943, many of them alongside the legendary Diana Vreeland (d. 1989). She died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Greenport, New York on April 22, 2009.

Annette Haddad (46) Business section reporter for the Los Angeles Times who covered the southern California residential real estate market. Haddad was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007 and died in Pasadena, California on April 22, 2009.

Tharon Musser (84) Tony-winning lighting designer of more than 100 Broadway shows, including such legendary musicals as A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, Mame, and 42nd Street. Musser died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in Newtown, Connecticut on April 19, 2009.

Santha Rama Rau (86) Indian-born, Western-educated journalist whose work helped to explain the Indian subcontinent to American readers after World War II and India’s independence from Great Britain. Mainly a travel writer, Rama Rau's articles describing her journeys in Asia, Africa, and the former Soviet Union were first printed in magazines and later collected in books. She died of cardiopulmonary failure in Amenia, New York on April 21, 2009.

William Thomas (79) journalist who won numerous feature-writing awards during his 30-year career at the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Before retiring in 1995, Thomas was known for doing whatever it took to get his story, including posing as an undertaker at Elvis Presley’s funeral and shedding his clothes to write about nudists. He died in Memphis, Tennessee on April 20, 2009.

Nosratollah Amini (94) Iranian lawyer and politician who became the personal attorney of Mohammad Mossadegh, the nationalist prime minister deposed in a US-backed coup in 1953. In 1979, after one month as governor of Fars province, a region in southwest Iran, Amini grew disenchanted with the revolutionary government of religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini and left his native country for the US. He died of pneumonia in Woodbridge, Virginia on April 20, 2009.

Joseph Baum (78) for more than 20 years chief judge of the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals, the only military service court with civilian members. Baum participated in more than 250 decisions and wrote the majority opinion in two-thirds of them. He died of congestive heart failure in Annapolis, Maryland on April 25, 2009.

Alex Lees (97) one of the last survivors of the historic (but largely unsuccessful) World War II mass escape from Stalag Luft III, a German prisoner-of-war camp, that inspired the 1950 book and '63 movie The Great Escape. Lees died in Bishopton, Scotland, near Glasgow, on April 22, 2009.

Andrew Mair (95) self-described farm kid who later worked for the US Department of Agriculture and the State Department around the world. Mair won a distinguished service award for helping to build the US Embassy in Afghanistan in the '60s. He also coordinated the Food for Peace Program. He died in Fort Collins, Colorado on April 25, 2009.

John J. Marchi (87) politician whose 50 years as a state senator from Staten Island made him the longest-serving lawmaker in New York state and one of the longest-serving state legislators in the nation. A Republican who often ran with the endorsement of Democrats, Marchi retired in 2006 after 25 consecutive victories since he was first elected in 1956. He died of pneumonia while vacationing in Lucca, Italy, home of his ancestors, on April 25, 2009.

James B. Moran (78) US District judge who served for 30 years on the federal bench in Chicago. Moran was a member of the Illinois General Assembly for one term (1965-66) and worked closely with lawmakers from the Democrat Party’s liberal independent wing. President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the federal bench in 1979, and he was chief judge of the US District Court for five years before stepping down and taking senior status in ’95. He died in Chicago, Illinois on April 21, 2009.

Elisha Ray Nance (94) last survivor of the "Bedford Boys," 38 National Guardsmen from the close-knit community of Bedford, Va. who were in Company A of the 116th Infantry in World War II; 19 were killed in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. That great loss from a town of 3,200 and its surrounding area led to Bedford’s selection as the site of the D-Day Memorial. Nance died in Bedford, Virginia on April 20, 2009.

Miriam Witherspoon (48) president pro tempore of the Birmingham City Council who became an advocate for the disabled after she was paralyzed in a car wreck while a law student in 1988. In 2005 Witherspoon became the first person in a wheelchair to win a council seat in Birmingham; the city had to retrofit the council dais so she could sit alongside other members. She died after a sudden illness, in Birmingham, Alabama on April 21, 2009.

Hannah Locke Carter (94) philanthropist who supported the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and other cultural institutions in southern California. In her youth a member of the US women's ski team, Carter was the widow of Edward W. Carter (d. 1996), the museum's founding president. She died in Menlo Park, California, where she had moved in 2005, on April 20, 2009.

Bea Charles (89) member of the national Indian Health Board and an activist in promoting domestic violence awareness. Charles worked to preserve the Klallam language and culture of the Lower Elwha tribe. She died in her sleep on the reservation about 70 miles northwest of Seattle, Washington on April 20, 2009.

Dr. Hassan Hathout (84) physician, medical ethicist, and leader of the southern California Islamic community, at the forefront of efforts to demystify American Muslims and build interfaith bonds. Hathout was a prominent member of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council and a leader of the Islamic Center of Southern California, where he had coordinated outreach efforts for 20 years. He died in Pasadena, California on April 25, 2009.

Jack Jones (96) former general secretary of Britain’s Transport & General Workers’ Union (1969-78). Jones became a household name in Britain through his battles to secure better rights for workers. He died in London, England on April 21, 2009.

Rev. Donald G. Jones (78) Drew University professor and Methodist minister, a spiritual mentor to a young Hillary Rodham. Jones's first pastorate, in the early '60s, was at First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Ill., where he met Rodham, then a high school freshman, while leading the church’s youth group. He died in Morristown, New Jersey on April 23, 2009.

Irene Leishman (108) oldest resident of Utah. In 2008, Leishman told the Deseret News that she was a granddaughter of Mormon Battalion Capt. James Brown, who commanded C Company and was among the Mormons present when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California, He later was instrumental in founding the city of Ogden. Leishman died in Bountiful, Utah on April 23, 2009.

Emilia Revello (110) Italian supercentenarian, believed to be among one of the oldest living validated people in Italy until her death in Savona, Italy on April 25, 2009.

Rev. Timothy Wright (61) Grammy-nominated gospel singer and composer known for his up-tempo praise songs and mass choir sound. Wright was pastor of Grace Tabernacle Christian Center Church of God in Christ, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. He released more than a dozen gospel recordings, writing many of the songs himself. He was critically injured July 4, 2008 in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 80 near Loganton, Pa. when another car going the wrong way struck his car; his wife, Betty, and 14-year-old grandson, D. J., died later at a hospital, as did the other driver. Wright died in the Bronx, New York on April 23, 2009.

Bill Barnes (91) former football coach at UCLA (1958–64), a decorated World War II veteran. Barnes had a record of 31-34-3 in seven years, after taking over before the fourth game of the 1958 season when head coach Henry (“Red”) Sanders died. An original member of the Alamo Scouts, considered the first US special forces, Barnes died of pneumonia after being hospitalized for more than two months, in Santa Monica, California on April 23, 2009.

Felix ("Doc") Blanchard (84) 1945 Heisman Trophy winner and Army’s "Mr. Inside" in college football’s most famous running-back combination. Blanchard and Glenn Davis (d. 2005), aka "Mr. Outside," helped Army to win consecutive national titles (1944-45). The oldest living Heisman winner, Blanchard had been in good health until recently. He died of pneumonia in Bulverde, a small town in central Texas, on April 19, 2009.

Chester ("Chet") Herbert (81) member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame who helped to develop an exhaust header that blew smoke away from a dragster’s rear tires to improve traction. Herbert was stricken with polio at age 20 and lived the rest of his life in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the chest down. He died of pneumonia in Orange, California on April 23, 2009.

Kiril Vajarov (21) Bulgarian professional ice-hockey goaltender, a member of the Bulgarian men's national ice hockey team, which finished fourth in the IIHF Division 2 World Championship earlier this year. Vajarov played three games in the tournament and was a member of the country's under-18 and under-20 games this past season. He was stabbed to death at a nightclub while celebrating the birthday of a friend, also killed in the incident, in Sofia, Bulgaria on April 19, 2009.

James H. Warsaw (61) entrepreneur who with his brother Robert joined their father's business, Sports Specialties Corp., in 1969, selling official sports team souvenirs, including authentic caps bearing the logos of professional and college teams. In 1993 the brothers sold the business to Nike for $78 million, and James Warsaw helped to establish the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon to train sports executives. He suffered from Parkinson's disease but died of complications from infections in Los Angeles, California on April 22, 2009.