Milestones

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Janice Horowitz, Sora Song, Rebecca Winters And Yi Zhou

DIED. ADOLPH GREEN, 86, lyricist, writer and actor who formed, with Betty Comden, left, Broadway's most enduring creative duo; in New York City. Born in the Bronx, he first teamed with Comden (the two were not married to each other) in a Greenwich Village satirical revue. Leonard Bernstein (Green's old summer-camp buddy) asked them to write the book and lyrics for On the Town, a Broadway musical about sailors on leave in New York City that became their first hit. They later brought sophistication and wit to such shows as Wonderful Town, Bells Are Ringing and, most memorably, Singin' in the Rain, the 1952 film musical about the early days of talking pictures, cherished by many as the best of all Hollywood musicals.

ARRESTED. ABU QATADA, 42, Islamic cleric believed to be a key figure in the al-Qaeda network; during an armed raid on his hideout in London. Often described as Osama bin Laden's ambassador in Europe, he has been linked to shoe bomber Richard Reid and accused 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

DIED. PAUL WELLSTONE, 58, Democratic Senator from Minnesota, along with his wife, daughter and five others; in a plane crash in northern Minnesota. (See page 30.)

DIED. RICHARD HARRIS, 72, hell-raising Irish actor; of Hodgkin's disease; in London. He first won acclaim for his starring role as a rugby player in This Sporting Life (1963) and later starred in such films as Camelot and A Man Called Horse. A new generation knew him as the kindly wizard Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a role he reprises in next month's sequel.

DIED. RICHARD HELMS, 89, former CIA director who presided over some of the agency's most controversial operations during the Vietnam War and Watergate eras; in Washington. The famously secretive spy master plotted to overthrow Chilean President Salvador Allende and assassinate Cuba's Fidel Castro with, among other things, poisoned cigars. Domestically, Helms headed a legally dubious scheme to spy on anti--Vietnam War activists. Fired by President Nixon for refusing to block an FBI probe into the Watergate break-in, he was later found guilty of covering up spy operations in Cuba and Chile to congressional investigators. The conviction, Helms said, was "like a badge of honor."

DIED. HARRY HAY, 90, pioneering gay activist who founded the Mattachine Society, the first support network for homosexuals; in San Francisco. At a time when few men or women dared to identify themselves publicly as homosexual, Hay pioneered the notion that the group was a minority facing prejudice and entitled to equal rights. An ardent American communist, he authored the gay-rights movement's first political manifesto, later known as The Call.

DIED. AILEEN RIGGIN SOULE, 96, springboard diver who at age 14 became America's youngest Olympic gold medalist; in Honolulu. The 4-ft. 7-in., 65-lb. athlete won her first gold in 1920; got a silver and bronze in swimming and diving four years later; and late in life became the nation's oldest living female gold medalist.

DIED. MANUEL ALVAREZ BRAVO, 100, father of Mexican photography who, along with painters Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco, helped lead Mexico's cultural renaissance in the early 20th century; in Mexico City.