MARRIED. Burt Bacharach, 53, master songwriter (Alfie, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head); and Carole Bayer Sager, 36, singer-lyricist (They're Playing Our Song); he for the third time, she for the second; in Beverly Hills, Calif. They collaborated on this year's Oscar-winning song, Arthur's Theme.

DIED. Brenda Benet, 36, who played the scheming, neurotic Lee Dumonde in the TV soap opera Days of Our Lives, and was the ex-wife of Actor Bill Bixby (The Incredible Hulk); of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head; in Los Angeles.

DIED. Warren Gates, 53, earthy character actor whose laconic manner and menacing Kentucky drawl landed him numerous roles as a moody, alienated cowboy or gangster; of a heart attack; in Hollywood. Besides appearing in the TV series Have Gun, Will Travel, Gates was in 40 films, including The Wild Bunch (1969) and the recently released The Border.

DIED. Abe Fortas, 71, prominent Washington lawyer, shrewd political adviser and former Justice of the Supreme Court; of a ruptured aorta; in Washington, D.C. Fortas was noted for his superlative legal craftsmanship, which also became a hallmark of the influential law firm he helped found, now known as Arnold & Porter. He argued the landmark Gideon vs. Wainwright case, in which the Supreme Court found in 1963 that poor defendants are entitled to free lawyers. President Lyndon Johnson, of whom he was a confidant, appointed him to the court in 1965. Four years later Fortas became the first Justice to resign under public criticism, amid disclosures that he had accepted $20,000 from a foundation controlled by former Client Louis Wolfson, who had been convicted of violating securities laws.

DIED. Helen Lawrenson, 74, saucy, acerbic journalist and memoirist (Stranger at the Party; Whistling Girl), best known for her notorious 1936 article in Esquire magazine, "Latins Are Lousy Lovers"; of an apparent heart attack; in New York City.

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