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Famed Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi dies at 90

 
Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi poses in Cannes, France, in 2009.
Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi poses in Cannes, France, in 2009.
Published Aug. 2, 2014

Carlo Bergonzi, 90, who exemplified the Italian tenor as beloved by opera-goers for generations — the sort who strode onto the stage, dispensed with acting and stood there and sang with sublime beauty — died July 25 in Milan. He drew thousands of listeners to leading theaters around the world, notably the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where his career spanned four decades.

Robert L. Drew, 90, a journalist and filmmaker who altered both journalism and filmmaking when he helped develop the hand-held camera and a synchronized sound recorder in the 1950s and put the equipment to use making documentaries in the put-the-audience-in-the-room style known as cinema verite, died of sepsis Wednesday in Sharon, Conn. He schooled influential directors including D.A. Pennebaker and Albert Maysles.

Louise Shivers, 84, a late-blooming author whose first novel, Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail, a steamy tale of illicit love in rural North Carolina, was hailed as a Southern masterpiece, died of congestive heart failure July 26 in Evans, Ga. She was 53 when the novel was published.

Henry Hartsfield Jr., 80, who flew on three NASA space shuttles, including as the pilot of the final test flight of the Columbia and as the commander of the maiden mission of the Discovery, died July 17.

Dick Smith, 92, the Oscar-winning "Godfather of Makeup" who amused, fascinated and terrified moviegoers by devising unforgettable transformations for Marlon Brando in The Godfather and Linda Blair in The Exorcist, among many others, died of natural causes Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was the first makeup artist to win an Academy Award for lifetime achievement.

Anthony Smith, 88, a British author, explorer and inveterate adventurer who in his mid 80s — against the advice of well-meaning doubters -— voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean on a sail-powered raft, died of acute respiratory failure July 7 in Oxford, England.

Charles R. Larson, 77, a four-star admiral whose impeccable credentials led to a high-profile stint in the 1990s leading the Naval Academy after the worst cheating scandal in the college's history, died of pneumonia July 26 in Annapolis, Md.

Warren G. Bennis, 89, an eminent scholar and author who advised presidents and business executives on successful leadership — a commodity he found in short supply in recent decades — died Thursday in Los Angeles.