Alan Landers, who appeared in advertisements for cigarettes, but became an anti-smoking advocate after developing lung cancer and heart disease, died last Friday. He was 68.
Landers sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco for exposing him to health risks without warning. The case is set to go to trial next month.
Playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote, who won a Pulitzer Prize and two Oscars (for To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies), died yesterday. He was 92.
Actor Sydney Chaplin, the son of Charlie Chaplin, died Tuesday. He was 82.
Sydney won a Tony for Bells Are Ringing and appeared with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl. He also appeared in two of his father's movies: Limelight and A Countess From Hong Kong.
Newspaper editor Jim Bellows, who nurtured the careers of Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin and Maureen Dowd, and helped make Entertainment Tonight a hit, died yesterday of Alzheimer's disease. He was 86.
Barbara Parker, a former attorney who wrote 12 mystery novels, died last Saturday. She was 62.
Most of her novels were set in Miami and illustrated the changing demographics of South Florida. At least two were on the New York Times bestseller list.