John Shalikashvili, 75, a retired Army general and the first foreign-born chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has died. Shalikashvili, who counseled President Bill Clinton on the use of troops in Bosnia and other trouble spots, suffered a severe stroke on August 2004 that paralyzed his left side.
The native of Poland held the top military job at the Pentagon in the Clinton administration from 1993 to 1997, when he retired.
Linda Christian, 87, the Hollywood starlet of the 1940s who married heartthrob Tyrone Power and went on to become the first Bond girl, has died. Her daughter, Romina Power, says Christian died Friday in Palm Desert after battling colon cancer.
Christian’s famous curves led Life magazine to nickname her the “anatomic bomb.” In 1954 she starred as James Bond’s love interest in the television adaptation of the novel “Casino Royale.”
Elliot Handler, 95, who with his wife grew Mattel Inc. from a small picture-frame business into the largest U.S. toy maker and created the Hot Wheels brand, died Thursday.
Mattel’s success took off after it bet its entire net worth — $500,000 — on a sponsorship of Disney and ABC’s “The Mickey Mouse Club.” Handler’s wife, Ruth, created the Barbie doll in 1959. Handler was born in 1916, the second of four brothers, and grew up in Denver. The Associated Press
