Famous In Life, Noted In Passing

Liz Claiborne, 78 She called them "Liz Ladies"—often the first female executives in their companies, with no time to shop. Claiborne was one herself: a mother who toiled in other designers' back rooms until launching her own line in 1976. Within 10 years, she had the first Fortune 500 company founded by a woman.

Merv Griffin, 82 No contestant ever took home as much money from a game show as he did. The ex nightclub crooner, talk-show host and hotelier, Griffin created "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" Congratulations! You've won more than a billion dollars.

Paul Tibbets Jr., 92 After dropping the first atom bomb, on Hiroshima in 1945, he returned a hero. But according to his granddaughter, he chose to be cremated so no one could deface his headstone. "I viewed my mission as one to save lives,'' he said. Many World War II vets agreed.

Beverly Sills, 78 The Brooklyn-born coloratura soprano could have been, you know, a diva. But her warmth, humor and acting ability made her a star that a wide public could embrace—in part, through her ebullient TV appearances with Johnny Carson, Carol Burnett and the Muppets. Long a fixture at the New York CityOpera, she finally made her Met debut in 1975. After retiring, she became a powerful arts administrator, fund-raiser and cultural ambassador.

Evel Knievel, 69 The no-wires Peter Pan made his first motorcycle jump over rattlesnakes and a mountain lion; then came rows of buses, the fountains at Caesars Palace and Idaho's Snake River Canyon. (Lucky he had a parachute.) The self-styled "last gladiator in the new Rome" retired in 1980, still denied permission for the Grand Canyon.

Ike Turner, 76 What's love got to do with it? Not much, when most people think about Tina's ex. But Ike was a world-class musician: instrumentalist, bandleader, promoter, songwriter, talent scout and blues-rock innovator who paved the way for Elvis and Chuck Berry, to name a few. And yes: he was a world-class jerk, too.