Monday, Dec. 05, 1983

MARRIED. George Abbott, 96, legendary Broadway author-director (On Your Toes); and Joy Moana Valderrama, 52, a

Philadelphia furrier; he for the third time, she for the first; in Miami Beach.

DIED. Carolyn Leigh, 57, lyricist of such spirited pop standards as Witchcraft, Hey Look Me Over, and The Best Is Yet to Come; of a heart attack; in New York City. By the age of 25 Leigh had penned more than 200 unpublished song lyrics. In 1954, after visiting her father in a hospital where he was recovering from a heart ailment, she wrote Frank Sinatra's hit Young at Heart (with Composer Johnny Richards). Later she created the lyrics to the Broadway musicals Peter Pan and Little Me.

DIED. Michael Conrad, 62, gravel-voiced actor who won two Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Sergeant Phil Esterhaus, the garrulous, gruffly avuncular police officer, who cautioned his patrolmen each week to "be careful out there" on television's Hill

Street Blues; of complications stemming from urethral cancer; in Los Angeles. Conrad, whose career began with stock tough-guy roles, once explained his sudden success as the gentle cop by saying, "I think I can show softness in a male."

DIED. Leonard Wibberly, 68, witty Irish journalist and author of more than 100 books, including the 1955 political satire The Mouse That Roared (the basis of the 1959 Peter Sellers movie), in which a tiny European nation invades the U.S., anticipating defeat and generous postwar American aid; of a heart attack; in Santa Monica, Calif. In explaining his remarkable prolificacy, Wibberly said, "I couldn't reasonably recommend myself for employment to any company seriously in business, and so I have to write books."

DIED. William (Billy) Baldwin, 80, one of

America's most influential interior decorators; in Nantucket, Mass. A onetime architecture student at Princeton, the ur bane, diminutive Baldwin emphasized elegance without sacrificing comfort. His clients included Cole Porter, Jacqueline Onassis and Diana Vreeland.

DIED. Marcel Dalio, 83, demitasse-size comic and dramatic actor in French and Hollywood films; in Paris. Born Israel Moshe Blauschild of Rumanian Jewish parents, Dalio made his movie debut in 1933 and came to prominence in Pepe le Moko (1937). For Director Jean Renoir he anchored two great films, playing Rosen-thai, the reluctantly heroic clown in Grand Illusion, and the Marquis, a sweet cuckold dancing under the war clouds in The Rules of the Game. With his photograph posted by the Nazis on Paris street corners as the "typical Jew," Dalio fled occupied France for Hollywood in 1940, where Renoir, Charles Boyer and other emigres taught him English. Soon he was enlivening character roles in more than a dozen U.S. movies (the croupier in Casablanca, Clemenceau in Wilson). This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.