Obituaries of note

FLORENCE STANLEY, 79, an actor who played the gravelly voiced Bernice Fish on the sitcom Barney Miller and in the show's spinoff series, Fish, died Oct. 3 in Los Angeles. In Barney Miller, she played the wife of Abe Vigoda's character, Detective Phil Fish. Her other TV appearances included Judge Margaret Wilbur on the late 1980s sitcom My Two Dads and guest roles on numerous shows, including Malcolm in the Middle and Dharma & Greg.

JAMES WILEY, 75, the developer of Fantastik household cleaner, died Thursday in Tulsa, Okla. He developed the cleaner in a bathtub at his home in the 1960s and marketed the product door-to-door in Tulsa. He later sold the formula, which is produced and marketed by SC Johnson & Son.

ELEANOR LAMBERT, 100, the publicist who put American designers alongside their Paris counterparts on the fashion map, died Oct. 7 in New York City. In her decades-long career, she presided over the International Best-Dressed List. She helped create many of America's most important fashion institutions, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute and the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

VICTORIA HORNE OAKIE, 91, who appeared in dozens of films, including the Jimmy Stewart classic Harvey, and was the widow of comedic film star Jack Oakie, died Friday in Beverly Hills, Calif. After her husband's death in 1978, she established a lecture series in his name at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and wrote four books about their life together.

SHIRLEY P. GLASS, 67, a psychologist dubbed "the godmother of infidelity research," died Oct. 8 in Baltimore of breast cancer. She was the author, with Jean Staeheli, of the 2003 book, Not "Just Friends."

CHARLES COURTNEY SEABROOK, 94, who with his family developed a technique for freezing produce that revolutionized the food industry, died Oct. 4 in Woodstown, N.J. In 1930, he, his father, Charles F. Seabrook, and his two brothers experimented with freezing vegetables by packing them in wooden boxes with dry ice. The concept worked and led to a partnership with Clarence Birds-eye in marketing a line of frozen vegetables.

VICTOR BUELOW, 94, who made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-serving community band director, died Oct. 6 in Jefferson, Wis. He directed the Jefferson American Legion Band for 72 years. After retiring in 2002 he returned to the band to play the alto horn.

RONNIE DAWSON, 64, a rock singer known as the "Blonde Bomber," died Sept. 30 in Dallas. He was diagnosed in 2002 with throat cancer but continued to perform. One of his last gigs was an emotional performance at the Rockabilly Rave festival in England in February.

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