Bingham Ray, American independent film executive, died from complications from strokes he was 57.

Bingham Ray  was an American independent film executive  died from complications from strokes he was 57.. He was a co-founder of indie film distributor October Films and president of United Artists from 2001 to 2004. At the time of his death, he was executive director of the San Francisco Film Society.^[1][2]

^{(1 October 1954 – 23 January 2012)}

As noted by the Independent Feature Project's Gotham Independent Film Awards, "New to the Gotham Awards this year [2012] is the Bingham Ray Award, an award bestowed upon an emerging filmmaker whose work exemplifies a distinctive creative vision and stylistic adventurousness that stands apart from the mainstream and warrants championing. The goal is to bring additional attention to new artists whose work could be seen as conceivably joining the ranks of filmmakers championed by industry veteran Bingham Ray, who died in January."^[3]

Oden Roberts, Director and Writer, "A Fighting Season" was awarded the SFFS KRF grant by Bingham in December of 2011.
Benh Zeitlin, director and co-writer of Beasts of the Southern Wild, was the inaugural recipient of the Bingham Ray Award.^[4]



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Miloš Pojar, Czech author and diplomat, died he was 71.

Miloš Pojar  was a Czech (and Czechoslovak prior to 1993) historian, writer and diplomat died he was 71.. Pojar oversaw the establishment of diplomatic relations between the former Czechoslovakia and Israel following the Velvet Revolution.^[1] He became the first Czech ambassador to Israel following the revolution.^[1] Pojar served as ambassador from 1990 until 1994.^[2] His son, Tomáš Pojar, currently serves as the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Israel, as of February 2012.^[1][2]

^{(1940 – January 23, 2012)}

The majority of Pojar's books and articles focused on Jewish history and themes, though the government of Communist Czechoslovakia forbid him from publishing his work from 1970 until 1990.^[1] After returning from Israel, Pojar became the director of the Jewish Museum in Prague's Educational and Cultural Center in the 1990s and a lecturer at the New York University's Prague campus.^[1][3]
His last book, completed shortly before his death, explored the relationship between Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and the Jewish people.^[1]
Pojar died at a hospital in Prague on January 22, 2012, at the age of 71.^[1]



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Erik Haaest, Danish journalist and author, died he was 76.

Erik Haaest was a controversial Danish journalist died he was 76..^[1]

^{(14 March 1935 – 23 January 2012)} 

Haaest's father was an active member of the Danish resistance. After the war, his father refused to accept any awards from Denmark's post-war government, because many officials who had collaborated with the Germans, were still unpunished, in positions of power and were now posing as anti-Nazis. Haaest is intimately familiar with the subjects of Danish resistance, and Danish pro-Nazi collaborators.
He has interviewed many Danish Waffen SS veterans, and in typical journalist fashion, takes pains to document his claims and name his sources. Perhaps as a result, attempts to discredit Haaest have consisted mostly of innuendo and denial, rather than discussing what - if anything - is wrong with the evidence he provides.
In 2007 the Danish Arts Council was condemned for providing funding to Haaest for research into Danes who served in the SS, on the grounds that Haaest had stated that the concentration camp gas chambers never existed and that the Diary of Anne Frank was a forgery.^[2]



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Marge Carey, British union leader, President of USDAW (1997–2006), died from motor neurone disease she was 73.

Marge Carey, MBE  was a trade unionist and served as President of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) from 1997 to 2006 died from motor neurone disease she was 73..

(c. 1938 – 23 January 2012)

Carey was born in Middlesbrough, although her family soon moved to Liverpool.^[1]
Carey joined the USDAW in 1972, whilst working at Vernons Pools,^[1] and was appointed as an area organiser in 1978.^[2] She was promoted to Divisional Officer for the union's North West region in February 1990 and continued in that position until she retired in 2001. She was elected President of the USDAW from 1997 until 2006.^[2]
She also served as a member of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress from 1998 until 2006^[3] and was awarded an MBE in 1998 "for services to industrial relations".^[2]
After retiring, Carey was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and became active in the Merseyside branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, serving as a branch committee member. She died of motor neurone disease, known as Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) in North America, on 23 January 2012, aged 73.^[4]


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Anthony Capo, American mobster-turned-informant (DeCavalcante crime family), died from a heart attack he was 52.

Anthony "Tony" Capo was a hitman in the DeCavalcante crime family who later became a government witness and entered the witness protection program died from a heart attack he was 52..

(1959/1960 – January 23, 2012^[1]) 

Made Man

A resident of South Beach, Staten Island, Capo became an associate of the DeCavalcante crime family during the early 1980s under powerful Elizabeth, New Jersey faction leader Giovanni Riggi. Capo was involved in extortion and loansharking activities. Capo is a large man with red hair who loves manicures and playing golf.^[2] He is married with three children. He had a bad temper and an eagerness to use violence.^[2] In the mid-1980s, Capo committed many home invasions dressed as a policeman. On one occasion, he handcuffed an elderly man to his wife and then pulled a ring off his finger. On another occasion, Capo ransacked a man's safe and then locked the victim in it.^[3]
At one point during the 1980s, Capo attended school to become a certified Asbestos abatement worker. However, Capo later testified that he slept during class and allowed the school's operator to take the test for him. When questioned by a federal prosecutor about his knowledge of asbestos removal, Capo replied, "I wouldn't know asbestos if I was sitting on it."^[4] Sometime in the late 1980s, law enforcement listed Capo as a soldier in the DeCavalcante family.

Weiss murder

In 1989, Capo participated in the murder of Fred Weiss, a Staten Island, New York developer and newspaper publisher. Weiss was under federal investigation for illegal dumping of medical waste and Gambino boss John Gotti was afraid that Weiss might become a government witness. As a favor to Gotti, the DeCavalcantes agreed to murder Weiss.
On September 11, 1989, Capo drove DeCavalcante mobsters Vincent Palermo and James Gallo to Weiss' apartment. Palermo and Gallo shot Weiss in the face as he was entering his car.^[3]

Criminal activities

By 1990, Capo was working for John D'Amato and reputed capo Anthony Rotondo of the Elizabeth faction in labor racketeering, illegal gambling, extortion and loansharking activities.^[5] Capo also ran a DeCavalcante crew in New York City. Between 1986 and 1994. Capo also worked with reputed Gambino crime family mobster Joseph Watts in a loansharking racket that allegedly grossed more than $12 million.
After Riggi was indicted in 1990 for labor racketeering and extortion, he appointed Gaetano "Corky" Vastola as the new acting boss. Later in 1990, Riggi was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, that same year, Vastola went to federal prison on a 20 year sentence on extortion charges. Riggi replaced Vastola with D'Amato as acting boss.

D'Amato murder

In January 1992, Capo participated in the murder of acting boss D'Amato. Earlier in 1991, D'Amato's girlfriend, retaliating against D'Amato over an argument, told Rotondo that D'Amato was an active bisexual. She described swinging encounters that D'Amato had in Manhattan sex clubs with both women and men. Rotondo shared this information with underboss Giacomo Amari, and consiglieri Stefano Vitabile. As Capo himself described it in court testimony in 2003,

“Nobody's going to respect us if we have a gay homosexual boss sitting down discussing La Cosa Nostra business,”^[6]

In addition, many family members believed that D'Amato was controlled by Gambino boss John Gotti. The three men ordered D'Amato's execution and gave the job to Capo, Vincent Palermo, and James Gallo. In contravention of Cosa Nostra rules on the killing of a family boss, the plotters did not ask permission to kill D'Amato from the Mafia Commission in New York.
On the day of the attack, D'Amato, Capo and the other two hitmen entered D'Amato's car to drive to lunch. Sitting in the back seat, Capo shot D'Amato four times, killing him.^[3] Capo and Rotundo left the body at a safe house, where other mobsters disposed of it. D'Amato's body was never recovered. Informed in prison of D'Amato's execution, Riggi appointed Amari as the new acting boss.^[4][5][7]

Majuri murder conspiracy

After Amari's death in 1997, Riggi and Vitabile established a "Ruling Panel" to run the family. This panel included capos Vincent Palermo, Girolamo Palermo (no relation) and Newark faction leader Charles Majuri. However, Majuri wanted to control the family himself, and he asked Gallo to murder Vincent Palermo. Instead, Gallo told Vincent about the plot. Vincent now decided to murder Majuri and enlisted Capo and Gallo in the plot. On the day of the attack, Capo, Gallo, and DeCavalcante mobster Joseph Masella went to Majuri's house to ambush him. However, Majuri did not return home. After several hours, the hitmen drove away. After the failed murder attempt, Vincent Palermo decided to cancel the murder contract.
During the mid-1990s, Capo stabbed a Gambino associate named Remy in the eye at a Staten Island bar. Capo was flirting with a girl there when Remy interrupted their conversation. Capo objected and Remy cursed at him. Capo then stabbed Remy in the eye and the face. When describing this incident in court in 2003, Capo said he thought Remy had a gun and described him as a "violent individual".^[3]

Indictments

In December 1999, Capo and the DeCavalcante leadership were indicted on charges of labor racketeering, extortion, loansharking, murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors charged Capo with the 1989 Weiss murder, the 1992 D'Amato murder, and involvement in two other murders.^[8]
To avoid a life sentence for murder, Capo became a government witness. He later testified against the DeCavalcante family, Colombo crime family boss Joel Cacace, and Genovese crime family capo Federico Giovanelli. Capo also warned prosecutors that a stenographer working in the Manhattan office of the U.S. Attorney was passing sensitive information, including lists of suspects, to Giovanelli.^[9]

Death

Anthony Capo died after a heart attack on January 23, 2012, aged 52. He and his family were in the federal Witness Protection Program.^[1]



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Wesley E. Brown, American jurist, federal judge for the District Court for Kansas (since 1962), died he was 104.

Wesley Ernest Brown  was a U.S. District Court judge who, as of his death, was both the longest serving federal judge and the oldest federal judge still hearing cases died he was 104..^[1][2] In August 2011, he passed Joseph William Woodrough in age, becoming the oldest person to serve as a federal judge in the history of the United States.^[2]

^{(June 22, 1907 – January 23, 2012)}

Biography

Brown was born in Hutchinson, Kansas to Morrison (Morey) Houston Heady Brown and Julia Elizabeth Wesley Brown.^[3] He received his LL.B. from the Kansas City School of Law in 1933. He was in private practice in Hutchinson from 1933 to 1944, including a stint as county attorney for Reno County, Kansas, from 1935 to 1939. From 1942 to 1944, he was the secretary of corporation and attorney for Aircraft Woodwork Manufacturers. He entered the United States Navy in 1944, becoming a Lieutenant and serving until 1946. He then returned to private practice in Hutchinson until 1958. From 1958 to 1962, he was a Referee in Bankruptcy for the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.
On March 8, 1962, President John F. Kennedy nominated Brown to a seat on the Federal District Court for Kansas vacated by Delmas C. Hill. Brown was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 2, 1962, and received his commission two days later. He served as chief judge from 1971 to 1977, and assumed senior status on September 1, 1979, and continued to hear cases until his death.
Brown had lightened his workload to compensate for his advanced age. In March 2011, he stopped hearing new criminal cases, though he still heard civil cases.^[4]
Brown died the evening of January 23, 2012 in the assisted living facility where he had lived for the past few years.^[1]


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Dick Tufeld, American voice actor and announcer, voice of Robot B-9 on Lost in Space, died he was 85.

Richard Norton "Dick" Tufeld  was an American actor, announcer, narrator, and voice actor from the late 1940s until the early 21st century died he was 85..

Early life and career

Born in Los Angeles, California, to a Russian father and a Canadian mother,^[1] he spent his childhood in Pasadena, California. Tufeld attended Northwestern University's school of speech, and gained a job as an engineer in 1945 at KLAC, a radio station in Los Angeles.^[2]
Tufeld's voice career began in radio. He was the announcer on The Amazing Mr. Malone on the American Broadcasting Company in early 1950 (before the show moved to New York and NBC), then on Alan Reed's Falstaff's Fables, an ABC five-minute program, starting in the fall radio season of 1950. From October 25, 1952 to March 19, 1955, he was the announcer for the entire run of ABC Radio's Space Patrol.

Television and later life

He moved to television in 1955,^[2] working in ABC daytime programming and anchoring The Three Star Final, a 15-minute newscast on KABC-TV, Los Angeles, which debuted on October 3, 1955 at noon (replacing Wrangler Jim), then moved to 11 p.m. on April 2, 1956.
Tufeld was often used as the announcer on Disney television shows, including the 1957–1959 series, Zorro, starring future Lost in Space lead Guy Williams. He had periods as the house announcer on two ABC variety series, The Hollywood Palace and The Julie Andrews Hour.
In 1954, he was cast in assorted roles in fifteen episodes of Gene Autry Productions's syndicated television series, Annie Oakley, starring Gail Davis and Brad Johnson.
Tufeld is perhaps best known as the voice of the Robot in the CBS television series Lost in Space, a role he reprised for the 1998 feature film. He also provided the narration voiceover for many other Irwin Allen productions, such as ABC's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and The Time Tunnel, and did voice work for the 1978 animated television series Fantastic Four. He nar­rated sev­eral episodes of Thundarr the Barbarian (1980), as well. The main title nar­ra­tor on the 1979 DePatie-Freleng series Spider-Woman, he was also the main title announcer on the 1981 Mar­vel Pro­duc­tions show Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.^[3][4]
He died in 2012 of congestive heart failure.^[5]


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