Engaged. Jeremy Thorpe, 43, witty leader of Britain's minute Liberal Party (The House of Lords, he once said, is proof of "life after death"); and Marion, Countess of Harewood, 46, shy, studious concert pianist who was divorced six years ago from the Queen's cousin, Lord Harewood. It will be the second marriage for both.

Married. Elaine Stritch, 47, vodka-voiced star of a clutch of Broadway musical comedies (Sail Away, Pal Joey, Company), not to mention more serious plays (Bus Stop) and the TV series My Sister Eileen; and John M. Bay, 45, Dublin-born actor who met the lady briefly in New York 15 years ago, then again in January while they were rehearsing for the London production of Tennessee Williams' Small Craft Warnings; both for the first time; in London.

Separated. John V. Tunney, 38, shock-haired Democratic junior Senator from California and son of Onetime Heavyweight Boxing Champion Gene Tunney; and Mieke Tunney, 38, blonde, Dutch-born beauty who dabbled briefly as a recording artist; after 14 years of marriage, three children. The Tunneys first separated last May but had quietly reconciled in September.

Died. Tito Rodriguez, 50, the "Frank Sinatra of Latin Music" who made his singing debut on Puerto Rican radio at the age of 13, sang during the '40s with the band of Xavier Cugat, then sold more than 12 million recordings of softly rendered, romantic love songs; of complications following a bleeding ulcer; in Manhattan.

Died. Walter Reade Jr., 56, movie-theater mogul and part-time producer (A Taste of Honey, 1962; Ulysses, 1967), who helped build his family's original 1908 investment in a Port Chester, N.Y., vaudeville house into the Walter Reade Organization, Inc., that now owns 80 U.S. movie theaters; of suffocation, after falling headfirst into a snow bank while skiing; in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Died. Guy M. Gillette, 94, former Senator from Iowa and one of President Roosevelt's most troublesome critics during the '30s and '40s; in Cherokee, Iowa. A successful Democrat in a Republican farm state, Gillette opposed Roosevelt's plans to pack the Supreme Court, extend Lend-Lease aid to European Allies and serve for more than two terms. He overcame his reputation as an isolationist by helping to draft the United Nations Charter, but despite his apparent popularity and staunch pro-farmer politics, he was defeated for a fourth Senate term in 1954 at the age of 75.

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