Milestones

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Sean Gregory And Rebecca Winters Sunday, Nov. 24, 2002
    • DIED. JAMES COBURN, 74, craggy, slyly intelligent Hollywood tough guy whose memorable villains were made creepier by his deep, satanic laugh and toothy, knowing grin; of a heart attack; at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. Coburn was famous for playing macho sidekicks in Westerns and action films, memorably as the laconic, deceptively easygoing knife thrower Britt in The Magnificent Seven, an army scout in Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee and a prisoner of war in the World War II drama The Great Escape. The wry actor gained star stature in the late 1960s as the lead in the James Bond spoofs Our Man Flint and In Like Flint. In 1998, coming back from a bout with rheumatoid arthritis that incapacitated him in the 1980s, Coburn won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Nick Nolte's abusive, alcoholic father in Affliction. On accepting the award, he said, "I finally got one right."

    PLEADED GUILTY. PRINCESS ANNE, 52, of England; to violating Britain's Dangerous Dogs Act by allowing her bull terrier, Dotty, to run loose and bite two young children in Windsor Great Park; in Slough, England. The first modern royal convicted of a criminal offense, she was fined $785 and ordered to pay $393 in compensation.


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    DIED. KIM GALLAGHER, 38, who bested chronic illness to win two Olympic medals in the 800-m race; of a stroke, after battling cancer of the stomach and colon; in Philadelphia. She underwent surgery for ovarian cysts six months before her silver-medal win in Los Angeles in 1984. Her 1988 time in Seoul is still the third fastest by an American woman in that race.

    DIED. MADELINE JAYNES, 59, journalist, who brought a talent for discerning nuance and spotting inconsistency to the New York Times, cnn and Time; of cancer; in Brooklyn, N.Y. She had been an editor at Time since 1996.

    DIED. LYNDA VAN DEVANTER, 55, who wrote searingly of her time as a Vietnam nurse; of a vascular disease perhaps related to Agent Orange; in Herndon, Va. Her book, Home Before Morning, told of the horror of combat surgery — of drunk doctors, lost patients and the special loneliness of a female veteran of our most loathed war.

    DIED. BUDDY KAYE, 84, songwriter who collaborated on such hits as Till the End of Time, one of Perry Como's signature numbers, and 'A'--You're Adorable; in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He also co-wrote the perky theme song for TV's I Dream of Jeannie.

    DIED. ABBA EBAN, 87, charismatic Israeli founding father whose skillful diplomacy and eloquent oratory helped build international support for Israel; near Tel Aviv. As ambassador to the U.N. and Washington and then as Israel's longest-serving Foreign Minister, Eban helped persuade the U.N. to approve the 1948 creation of the state and fervently defended Israel's aggressive actions in the pivotal 1967 war. Though he could be glib — he liked to say Palestinians "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity"--Eban was resolutely dovish, advocating an early land-for-peace deal. More popular with Jews abroad than with Israelis, many of whom were put off by his intellectualism, he also wrote several books, including the 1984 best seller Heritage: Civilization and the Jews.