Milestones

DIED Former civil rights attorney Revius Ortique Jr. was a serial pioneer: the first African-American justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court, he was also the first black member of the Louisiana house of delegates; president of the National Bar Association, an organization of black attorneys; and chief judge on Louisiana's civil district court. Ortique, a New Orleans native, also served on commissions and boards at the pleasure of five U.S. Presidents. He was 84.

He designed costumes for renowned ballet choreographer George Balanchine for more than four decades, but it was Kermit Love's contribution to the Sesame Street cast that he is best remembered for. Love helped create the beloved characters Cookie Monster, Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird--complete with molting yellow feathers. Though many believe Jim Henson's Kermit the Frog was named after him, Love maintained that it was merely a coincidence. He was 91.

Though he fell out of favor with critics--and the public--in the 1960s, French filmmaker Jean Delannoy directed nearly 50 films during his career, including critical successes such as L'Eternel Retour and Dieu a Besoin des Hommes. In 1954 he was famously felled by a scathing review in Cahiers du Cinema by critic (and later filmmaker) Franc,ois Truffaut, who accused Delannoy of clinging to an antiquated and pedestrian style. Yet in 1946, before Truffaut's time, Delannoy earned a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his most notable work, La Symphonie Pastoral, the tragic love story of a blind orphan. He was 100.