Milestones

DIED Six months before the premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, one of the film's young actors became the latest victim of an alarming rise in deadly violence among British teens. Former child actor Robert Knox, who was cast as the minor character Marcus Belby in the sixth Harry Potter movie and had signed on to appear in the seventh and final film, was stabbed to death while defending his younger brother in a brawl outside a pub in Kent. He was 18.

Leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) since it was formed in 1964, Pedro Antonio Marin was known to his comrades-in-arms by his nom de guerre, Manuel Marulanda--or by the nickname Tirofijo, "Sureshot," which he earned for his marksmanship. The son of a peasant farmer, and a rebel fighter since his teens, Marulanda lived much of his life in Colombia's mountains and jungles. There, despite having only a sixth-grade education, he directed FARC's antigovernment operations, kidnapping and, later, drug trafficking. He was believed to be 80.

The inspiration for the good-natured, endlessly patient Mommy in the syndicated comic Family Circus, Thelma Keane first met her cartoonist husband Bil Keane during World War II while the American artist was stationed in her native Australia. After they married and returned to the U.S., Thelma managed all her husband's business affairs throughout his career. She is immortalized in Bil's work--which gets an assist from their son, Jeff Keane, and now appears in some 1,500 newspapers. She was 82.

The zany half of the comedy duo that glued Americans to their TV sets with catchphrases like "Sock it to me!," Dick Martin and his partner, Dan Rowan, turned their hilarious and unhinged routine into a smash hit with Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. The variety show debuted in 1968 and ran for five years. Before that, the duo had spent a decade honing their act in clubs from Miami to Las Vegas. "We were raw," Martin once said of that period, "but we looked good together, and we were funny." He later directed sitcoms, helming episodes of Family Ties and The Bob Newhart Show, among others. He was 86.

Though he originally hoped to be a doctor, Cornell Capa followed his elder brother, famed war photographer Robert, into the family business, taking photographs from South America to the Soviet Union and giving birth to the idea of socially aware "concerned photography." His most enduring contribution came after he laid down his camera. In 1974 he founded the International Center of Photography, a museum chronicling the medium's history--in which Capa played a seminal role. He was 90.

Modern agribusiness owes a debt to J.R. Simplot, who left home at age 14 and went on to dominate the American potato business. He supplied U.S. troops with dried food during World War II and sold French fries to fast-food chains, but the Idaho native also invested in cattle, fertilizer plants and timber--not to mention computer-chip pioneer Micron Technology. The oldest billionaire in the world last year, according to Forbes, Simplot remained ambitious--and proud--driving around Boise in a white Lincoln Town Car with mr. spud vanity plates. He was 99.