ILL. Hubert H. Humphrey, 66, indefatigable Minnesota Senator, former Vice President, and 1968 standard-bearer of the Democratic Party; with inoperable pelvic cancer; in Minneapolis. Doctors discovered a malignant tumor on Humphrey's pelvic bone during a four-hour operation to remedy a bowel obstruction. The Senator's cancerous bladder was removed last October. Although his condition is described as terminal because it is inoperable, doctors refused to say how long he might live. They plan to treat the tumor with chemotherapy to slow its growth, and expect that Humphrey will be able to return to the Senate by early September.

DIED. Mark Schorer, 69, respected novelist, literary critic and biographer whose definitive work, Sinclair Lewis: An American Life, became a bestseller in 1961; of a blood infection following bladder surgery; in Oakland, Calif.

DIED. Lou Walters, 81, father of TV newswoman Barbara Walters and a nightclub impresario who founded New York's famed Latin Quarter in 1942; of a heart attack; in Miami. Impish and softspoken, the London-born Walters made and spent millions on his lavish supper clubs in Boston, New York and Miami. His cavalcade of performers included Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Milton Berle and Mae West. A hit-and-miss Broadway producer, Walters went bankrupt in 1966 when his deals started to sour. In his glory days, his celebrity circle surrounded Daughter Barbara, who was never awed by stars in her later-life role of interviewer.

DIED. Julius Henry ("Groucho") Marx, 86, doyen of American comedy; of pneumonia; in Los Angeles. A wizard of wisecracks and a prince of puns, Groucho began his nearly seven-decade-long career in vaudeville with his zany brothers Harpo, Chico, Gummo and Zeppo. They reached the pinnacle of Broadway in the mid-1920s and went on to hilarious movies, such as Horse Feathers (1932) and A Night at the Opera (1935), that still enjoy a huge cult following and invariably feature Groucho as an appealing rogue capable of fast-talking his way out of any difficulty. On his radio and TV quiz show You Bet Your Life, he was able to deploy all his famous trademarks: the loping gait, arched eyebrows, lecherous leer and emotive cigar. He was, above all, the master of the rapid-fire wisecrack. Examples: While accepting a medal from France, he quipped, "Can it be hocked?" When asked why he was always accompanied by beautiful women, he retorted, "They're very useful at night and frequently during the day." When being wooed by a club, he sniped, "I wouldn't want to belong to a club that would have me for a member." Observed Steve Allen: "You can start laughing at Groucho when you're very young, and never stop."

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