Irina Baronova, world- renowned in the 1930s as part of a trio of Russian-born dancers dubbed the “Baby Ballerinas,” died June 28 at her home in Australia, the Australian Ballet said. She was 89.
Baronova came to fame as a 13-year-old after being spotted in Paris by legendary choreographer George Balanchine, who teamed her with two other young Russian-born dancers, Tamara Toumanova and Tatiana Riabouchinska, in 1932. The three toured the world as the Baby Ballerinas.
Baronova later moved to the U.S., where she appeared with the American Ballet Theatre and in two Hollywood movies, “Florian” (1940) and “Yolanda” (1943).
Ronnie Mathews, a jazz pianist whose recorded output as a leader was sparse but whose résumé as a sideman with stars of jazz was substantial, died June 28 of pancreatic cancer in Brooklyn. He was 72.
Mathews spent most of his career out of the spotlight but was highly valued by many noted fellow musicians for his harmonic acuity, imagination as an improviser and sensitivity as an accompanist.
He began his first high-profile sideman job in 1963 with drummer Max Roach’s group. In the ensuing decades, he played with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Haynes, Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon and Art Blakey.
Pete Kameron, a showbiz multihyphenate and philanthropist who was a principal founder-investor of LA Weekly and served as its chairman for many years, died June 29 of cancer at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 87.
Kameron was involved in many aspects of the entertainment industry during his 65-year career. He managed the Weavers during the blacklist era and worked with such others as Kay Ballard, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Terence Stamp and Donovan. He also worked as a music publisher, TV producer, record company executive, concert and theater producer and film score supervisor.
Kameron also co-founded LA Style magazine, LA Weekly’s sister publication, in the 1980s.
His philanthropic work most recently included the establishment of the Pete Kameron Endowed Chair in Law at UCLA Law School and the Gait Analysis Laboratory at the UCLA Medical Center.
Michael Turner, a comic book artist who co-created “Witchblade” and drew covers for such major titles as “Superman/ Batman,” “The Flash” and “Civil War,” died June 27 at a Santa Monica hospital of cancer complications. He was 37.
Turner founded Aspen MLT in 2003. Through the publishing company, he created online comic adaptations for the NBC series “Heroes” and published his own titles, including the best-selling “Fathom,” a deep-sea story about a female superhero.
He was hired in 1994 by Top Cow Prods., where he co-created “Witchblade.” The comic spawned a TNT series and a feature film set for release next year.
Nathan Weiss, who was involved in the advertising and publicity campaigns for movies ranging from “Cleopatra” to “Ryan’s Daughter,” died July 3 at New York Hospital in Queens after a long illness. He was 85.
Weiss began his career at 20th Century Fox in New York. His correspondence with then-publicist Jack Brodsky became the basis for “The Cleopatra Papers,” documenting the making of that troubled 1963 movie.
From 1967-74, Weiss was based in London as MGM’s European advertising and publicity director. He also led the campaigns for Don Rugoff’s Cinema 5 films “Nothing but a Man” and “One Potato, Two Potato” as well as Herbert Ross’ “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution.”
