Obituaries

-- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/5/2001

By P. Llanor Alleyne and Beatrice Williams-Rude

Dick Whittinghill, radio disk jockey, died Jan. 24 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 87.

Whittinghill's career was firmly established with KMPC-FM Los Angeles from 1950 to 1979. Best-known for his brash and inventive on-air personality, he was not only the most popular disc jockey of morning drive-time radio but also one of the highest-paid in Southern California during that period. In recognition of his celebrity, Whittinghill received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and his likeness is displayed in the Hollywood Wax Museum.

He retired from KMPC-FM in 1979 and went on to KPRZ(AM) and KIIS-FM in the'80s, but he never struck sonic gold again.

He is survived by two daughters and two grandchildren.

Sandy Baron, Seinfeld regular, died Jan. 21 in Los Angeles. He was 64.

Baron, a versatile performer who had extensive movie and Broadway credits including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (the original stage production with Kirk Douglas), had running roles in TV sitcoms Walter and Emily (with Brian Keith and Cloris Leachman) and Hey Landlord . He was a regular on NBC's pioneering That Was the Week That Was as well as on the Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin shows. The stand-up comic played Jack Klompus, the nemesis of Jerry Seinfeld's father Morty, on Seinfeld. He also appeared on The Defenders, Naked City, Crime Story, Starsky & Hutch, and Law & Order.

He is survived by a sister.

Monique James, 74, talent agent, died in Los Angeles of cancer on Jan. 18.

She started out in the CBS casting department in 1948. A year later, she left with her co-worker and mentor, Eleanor Kilgallen, to create her own agency, Casting Consultants, whose clients included Leslie Neilsen and Grace Kelly. Lew Wasserman, president of MCA, bought the company and hired James and her partner to work with him.

Among those who were represented and groomed by James: Susan St. James, Lindsay Wagner, James Brolin, David Hartman, Susan Clark, Judd Hirsch, Jan-Michael Vincent, Sharon Gless, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Her daughter, Pam Prince, survives her.