Obituaries - Jan. 16, 1996

* James E. Breslin; Biographer, Department Head at UC Berkeley

James E. Breslin, 60, biographer and chairman of the Art Practice Department at UC Berkeley. Breslin graduated from Brooklyn College and earned postgraduate degrees at the University of North Carolina and the University of Minnesota before joining the Berkeley faculty as an English teacher in 1964. He wrote numerous essays and biographies, including a study of modern American poetry and a critically acclaimed biography of artist Mark Rothko. At the time of his death, Breslin was working on a biography of jazz great John Coltrane. Of a heart attack at his home in Berkeley on Jan. 6.

* William J. Clothier; Cinematographer, Friend of John Wayne

William J. Clothier, 92, cinematographer best known for his work on Westerns. Born in Decatur, Ill., Clothier started his career as a set painter at Warner Bros. in 1923 and soon became an assistant cameraman. He was part of the aerial photography crew for Paramount’s “Wings” in 1926, going on to work with some of Hollywood’s biggest directors, including John Ford and William Wellman. During World War II, Clothier flew 25 combat missions over Germany with the 8th Air Force. Forming an enduring friendship with actor John Wayne after the war, Clothier worked on many of the Western superstar’s most popular pictures, retiring after filming “The Train Robbers” in Mexico in 1972. On Jan. 7 in Los Angeles after complications from a broken hip.

* Kenneth S. Halpern; Architect and Urban Planner in New York

Kenneth S. Halpern, 51, architect and urban planner. A native of Chicago and a product of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Halpern designed numerous private homes and office buildings and served as the first director of the Manhattan office of New York’s Department of City Planning. He created design plans and developed zoning guidelines for several New York neighborhoods and was a leading promoter of an unsuccessful effort to convert Times Square into a mall. In 1993, he renovated the former ABC studios in Los Angeles to create the Geffen Center, one of the largest AIDS service facilities in the nation. Of AIDS on Saturday at his home in New York.

* Eric Hebborn; Self-Proclaimed Forger of Old Master Drawings

Eric Hebborn, 61, self-described forger of Old Master drawings who claimed that his fakes ended up in some of the best museums in the world. Born in London, he was incarcerated for arson at the age of 9 and passed through a series of foster homes before his skills as a draftsman led him to the Royal Academy Schools in England and the British Academy in Rome. He claimed that in the years that followed, his forged works--bearing the names of Bruegel, Corot, Piranisi and Van Dyck--ended up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum and the Pierpont Morgan Library. That he forged some works is not debated, but his claims that he faked hundreds, perhaps thousands, is now disputed. Graham Smith, his former lover, was proven correct when he debunked Hebborn’s claim to have forged a Bruegel etching in the Metropolitan. Despite his acknowledged forgeries, Hebborn was never prosecuted. In recent years, he produced some critically acclaimed original drawings and taught painting. In Rome on Thursday.

* Robert A. Rowan; Developer, Republican Leader and Art Patron

Robert A. Rowan, 85, real estate developer, art collector and patron of the former Pasadena Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Born in Pasadena, Rowan took over the helm of R. A. Rowan & Co.--the real estate development firm founded in 1904 by his late father, R. A. Rowan Sr.--after the stock market crash in 1929. A successful developer of extensive farming and vineyard properties in the San Joaquin and Imperial valleys, he also helped rebuild the quiet community of Aspen, Colo., as a major international ski resort. Long interested in contemporary art, Rowan was an avid collector of works by Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, Frank Stella, David Hockney, George Rodart and Judith Vogt. He was a sustaining force behind the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, which subsequently was taken over by multimillionaire art collector Norton Simon, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Rowan also was active in Republican politics, serving at various times as treasurer of that party’s state central committee, chairman of its Los Angeles County finance committee and director of the California Republican League. On Dec. 29 of heart failure in San Gabriel.

* Father James E. Royce; Studied Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Father James E. Royce, 81, expert on alcohol and drug abuse. A native of Spokane who graduated from Gonzaga University with a doctorate in psychology from Loyola University in Chicago, Royce was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1947 and went on to become a professor emeritus at Seattle University, where he founded the Alcohol Studies Program. His publications included “Personality and Mental Health” and “Alcohol Problems and Alcoholism: A Comprehensive Study.” Of a heart attack on Jan. 6 in Seattle.

* Red Thunder Cloud; Last Known Speaker of Catawba Language

Red Thunder Cloud, 76, the last known speaker of the Catawba Native American language. Although not an official member of the tribe, Thunder Cloud spent much of his youth on the Catawba reservation in South Carolina and became familiar with the language, which has no written form. During the 1940s, he recorded all he knew of the language for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and recorded some Catawba songs for the Smithsonian Institution. Although as many as 1,000 Catawbas are believed to still be living, none are thought to speak the language, which is one of about 300 Native American tongues no longer spoken. In Worcester, Mass., on Jan. 8 after a stroke.