The philosopher/historian was once timed at speaking 400 words a minute, and even that wasn’t fast enough to keep up with his mind. His elegant essays brought past thinkers to life, stating their views far more clearly than they had.
As a young CBS correspondent Kuralt covered Vietnam and Latin America, but it was on America’s back roads that his affectionate eye for the small story won him acclaim.
The gruffer he acted, the sweeter we knew he was underneath. When asked about his profession, he often said, “It sure beats working.” Spoken like one who really cared.
Named president of NBC Entertainment at the age of 31, he was hailed as a programming prodigy, transforming the last-place net into a powerhouse with shows like “Cheers.”
During his 22-year tenure as general manager, the autocratic, witty impresario revolutionized New York’s Metropolitan Opera-moving it to Lincoln Center, hiring its first black performers-and making it the premier company in the world.
Named to the Supreme Court by Eisenhower in 1956, Brennan became a leading liberal and a powerful voice for extending the constitutional protection of individual rights. His easy manner and rigorous intellect won him both friends and arguments.
In 1977 Denver was named the poet laureate of Colorado, though his appeal seemed to stretch to the horizon. With songs like “Sunshine on My Shoulders” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Denver’s earnest tenor gave voice to nature lovers everywhere.
The Anglo-French financier amassed billions as a corporate raider in the 1980s and later founded a party to oppose U.K. participation in the European Union. His private life was less conservative: Sir James maintained three separate families simultaneously.
He learned to swim at the age of 4–appropriately for a man who co-invented the Aqua-Lung and went on to become the world’s most famous oceanographer. Through his films and TV programs, millions explored alongside him.
One of the last true men of letters, Pritchett wrote novels, short stories, biographies, essays and criticism. In every genre, his vision was sharp yet subtle. Said one critic: “His prose wears bedroom slippers.”
Harriman romanced some of the century’s most famous men: Averell Harriman, William Paley, Gianni Agnelli. But her passion was for power-she became a Democratic Party force and ambassador to France.
Shabazz was 28 when she saw her husband, civil-rights firebrand Malcolm X, murdered in 1965. Her ability to carry on with his message while raising their six daughters provided an inspiring lesson in dignity .
The edgiest of the Beat Generation’s heroes, his fascination with sex, drugs and guns yielded a harrowing body of work-including the anarchic masterpiece “Naked Lunch.”
Stewart’s genius lay in his extraordinary ordinariness. The wildly popular veteran of more than 80 films was guileless, idealistic and upright-the American we all wanted to be.
Oscar winners come and go, but Chandler-arts patron and doyenne of the Los Angeles Times dynasty-gets her name in lights every time the Academy Awards come to the pavilion she helped build.
The only jockey ever to ride two Triple Crown winners, Arcaro was a national sports hero as well as a fierce competitor. “You have to want to win every race, not just the big ones,” he said.
Ginsberg’s “Howl” became a hymn of alienation, signaling the advent of the Beat Generation. He was an irrepressible voice of the antiwar movement, the drug culture, the gay revolution and, not least of all, his own genius.
Everybody liked Lichtenstein. He applied the comic-strip look to paintings of everything from noodles to nudes-and spoke so unpretentiously about it-that he became pop art’s Mr. Rogers.
The last of Africa’s old-time dictators was toppled in May. Throughout the cold war, the flamboyant Zairean strongman’s leopard-skin cap was a familiar sight in the capitals of the Western countries where he found support-and loved to spend his looted fortune.
The Oscar winner directed such classics as “High Noon,” “From Here to Eternity” and “A Man for All Seasons.” He had a gift for coaxing the best from his actors, and fiercely guarded his artistic vision. “Regardless of success or failure,” he said, “one must try to tell the truth as one sees it.”
The celebrity astrologer, socialite and newspaper columnist earned the nickname “the Seeress of Washington” for her apparent prediction of JFK’s assassination. She also foresaw victory for George Bush in 1992.
While communism faltered around the world, Deng’s iron-willed authority and pragmatic economic reforms made China stable, prosperous-and a rising world power.
From his Pulitzer Prize- winning first work, “Tales of the South Pacific,” through such historical epics as “Hawaii,” “Texas” and “Alaska,” readers were always happy to travel with Michener.
The dress sewn up with safety pins turned heads, but what Versace sold-better than anyone else-was the allure of celebrity. He put music stars at his shows and movie stars in his color-splashed clothes. He was the king of Frock and Roll.
Skelton used to laugh so easily that he rarely had the nerve to attend funerals. He had that effect on vaudeville, radio and TV audiences, too. His most famous characters-Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Freddie the Freeloader-combined a panache for physical comedy with a deceptively clever wit.
Elvis’s manager was reviled by some fans, who blamed him for the King’s descent into tacky excess. A former carny barker and lifelong disciple of the dollar, Parker found a home-where else?–in Las Vegas.
Maar was a photographer and painter when she met Picasso at the legendary Parisian cafE Les Deux Magots in 1936. She became his lover and the model for many of his weeping-woman paintings, such as “Dora Maar Seated” (below). “I could never imagine her except crying,” Picasso said. Maar also photographed him as he created “Guernica” in 1937.
The prolific author and notorious bon vivant’s 23 steamy best sellers (including “Never Love a Stranger” and “The Carpetbaggers”) chronicled the decadent doings of powerful men and willing women, earning Robbins millions.
Goizueta arrived from Havana in 1960 with $40 and 100 shares of Coca-Cola stock. In 1981 he was named the company’s CEO. During his aggressive, 16-year tenure Coke stock soared 3,500 percent.
A Frenchwoman who knew that the key to becoming the world’s oldest living person was a sense of humor. “I’ve only ever had one wrinkle,” she said when she turned 122, “and I’m sitting on it.”
