Fred Gwynne, 66, stage, television and film actor who had a diverse career but was best known for his portrayal of Herman Munster in the hit TV series “The Munsters” (CBS, 1964-66); television gave the 6-foot-5 actor his first national popularity when he starred as Francis Muldoon, half of the bumbling police duo in the comedy series “Car 54, Where Are You?” (NBC, 1961-63); both series remain popular in reruns; in 42 years of acting, he played a variety of roles, in Shakespearean productions and Broadway musicals, challenging dramas and lowbrow TV and screen comedies; as a young man, he aspired to be a portrait painter; later, he wrote and illustrated a series of children’s books; July 2, in his farm home near Taneytown, Md., of cancer.
Roy Campanella, 71, the top National League catcher of his day whose career with the Dodgers was cut short by an auto accident in January 1958 that left him paralyzed; the crash transformed him from a sports hero into a symbol of courage as he became an inspiration and spokesman for the handicapped; he continued to serve as an instructor at spring training and as a member of the Dodgers’ community-service division in Los Angeles; he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 as the major leagues’ second black player and was a star of one of baseball’s greatest teams, the storied “boys of summer” who won five pennants between 1949 and 1956; he was named the National League’s most valuable player three times (1951, 1953, 1955) and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1969; June 26, in Woodland Hills, Calif., of a heart attack.
George “Spanky” McFarland, 64, the chubby child star of “Our Gang” and “Little Rascals” movies of the 1930s and ’40s; his acting career began in 1931 at age 3 when he modeled baby clothes in Dallas, his hometown; he later made a Wonder Bread commercial that was noticed by film director Hal Roach, the creative force behind “Our Gang”; in addition to “Our Gang,” he made 14 feature-length movies, including “Trail of the Lonesome Pine” with Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray and “Woman in the Window” with Edward G. Robinson; he finished his movie career while still a teenager; June 30, in Grapevine, Texas.
Rabbi Yehudah David Goldman, 103, who served numerous Chicago-area synagogues, including Congregation Chevro Kadisho Machzikai Hadas on the Northwest Side, for more than 30 years; he was believed to have been the oldest active Orthodox rabbi in the United States and was president for life of Merkaz Harabonin, the Orthodox rabbinate; he was a native of Poland who came to Chicago in 1921; June 28, in Edgewater Hospital.
Aladena “Jimmy the Weasel” Fratianno, 79, who for many years was a Mafia hit man and mob boss in Los Angeles before turning FBI informant in the 1970s; after becoming a government snitch in 1977, he traveled the country to testify against fellow mobsters, then became the highest paid participant in the history of the federal witness-protection program; he remained in the program for 10 years, then was dropped in 1987 after the Justice Department said further payments might make the program appear like a “pension for aging mobsters”; June 29, in an undisclosed U.S. city where he was living under an assumed name, according to his wife, Jean, in Los Angeles. She said he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
Barbara Edwards Stuart, 77, longtime Chicago-area volunteer and civic leader and wife of former U.S. ambassador to Norway Robert D. Stuart Jr.; Mrs. Stuart had been on the board of directors of both the Planned Parenthood Association of Chicago and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America; she also had served as a volunteer or board member for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Urban Gateways Foundation, Women’s Board of the University of Chicago, Gorton Community Center and Lake Forest Symphony; July 1, in Lake Forest Hospital.
Boris Christoff, 79, one of opera’s great basses and a renowned interpreter of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov;Mr. Christoff sang many important roles with Chicago’s Lyric Opera before suffering a stroke six years ago; he brought deep psychological insight and meticulous phrasing to his many roles; his voice was focused and rich, and he was comfortable singing in Italian, German and Russian; born in Bulgaria but trained in Rome, he combined the characteristic lushness and majesty of the Slavic voice with the purity of vocal line and refinement of the best of Italian singing; June 28, in Rome.
Monroe E. Spaght, 83, a research chemist who became president and chairman of the Shell Oil Co.; since 1965, he had been the first American managing director of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., Shell’s parent; he worked his way through Stanford University playing the trombone in a dance band; he joined Shell in 1933 as a researcher and began his climb up the corporate ladder; by 1949 he was president of the Shell Development Co., a research affiliate; he became president in 1961 and chairman and a managing director four years later; June 27, while vacationing in southern France.
Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz, 86, professor of Jewish law for 49 years at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Issac Elchanan Theological Seminary; he was considered a “gadol,” an exceptional Torah scholar; as a child, he displayed a mastery of the Talumd, or Jewish law, and helped edited a volume of commentary of the Bible at age 12; he was president of the Suvalki Benevolent Society in the United States and served as president of Ezras Torah, the International Torah Relief Organization and on the presidium of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada; June 28, in New York.
Ernest W. Beck, 70, prominent medical illustrator whose drawings and paintings of anatomy and surgical procedures were widely published in medical textbooks, encyclopedias and teaching materials; a former president of the international Association of Medical Illustrators, he was honored in 1991 with the AMI’s lifetime achievement award; he was married to Joan Beck, Op-Ed page columnist for the Tribune; June 30, in his Lake Forest home, of a heart attack at home.
Leo M. Breen, 70, former White Sox president (1969-83) who joined the club in 1959 and took charge when it was owned by the late Arthur Allyn; later he was chief financial officer of the Cubs for a short while, retiring in 1985; before becoming Sox president, he held the posts of assistant treasurer, treasurer, general manager, executive vice president and president of Artnell, the holding company that included the team; June 25, in Evanston Hospital.
Antonio Badu, 79, Mexican actor and recording artist who appeared in dozens of movies in the 1940s and ’50s; his first performance on Mexico’s XEW radio chain in 1935 was an instant hit, but his first appearance in films a few years later was a flop: the movie, “Sangre en la Montana” (Blood on the Mountain), was so bad it never was shown publicly; June 29, in Mexico City, of a lung ailment.
Philip Lines Hawley, 64, professor of physiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine; he also had served as associate dean of the graduate school of the University of Illinois at Chicago and had taught in universities in Beruit, Lebanon and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; June 27, of a heart attack suffered while sailing on a lake near Durand, Ill.
Warren L. Gjorup, 67, public school teacher in Chicago for 39 years and past president of the Danish National Committee; he had been an officer of or active in several other Danish and teacher organizations; June 28, in Suburban Hospital, Hinsdale.
William V. Holt, 34, vice president of The Sachs Group in Evanston who was a planning consultant there and developed a new software tool to analyze the delivery of health care by institutions across the country; he did volunteer work as a community planner for gay, lesbian and AIDS support groups; June 28, in his Uptown neighborhood home, of complications due to AIDS.
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