Engaged. Major General Walter R. Tkach, 56, President Nixon's physician since 1969; and Cheryle Ann Gaillard, 27, conference director at the Western White House. It will be the second marriage for Tkach (pronounced Ta-kosh), the first for Gaillard.

Married. Gordon Parks, 60, photographer, novelist, poet, composer and film director (Shaft); and Genevieve Young, 42, executive editor at the publishing house of J.B. Lippincott and daughter of a Chinese diplomat who was killed during World War II; he for the third time, she for the second; in Pound Ridge, N.Y. A LIFE photographer from 1949 to 1970, in 1969 Parks became the first black producer-director of a major film when he brought his autobiography The Learning Tree to the screen for Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. Among those at the ceremony: V.K. Wellington Koo, the renowned Chinese diplomat (who is Young's stepfather), Photographer David Douglas Duncan, Dancer Sono Osato and Novelist Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Died. Michael Dunn, 38, a 3-ft. 10-in. actor of considerable stature on both stage and screen; in London. Born with a rare form of dwarfism, Dunn was determined to act; after a slow and painful start, he went on to receive a Tony nomination in 1964 for his portrayal of Cousin Lymon in Edward Albee's Ballad of the Sad Cafe and an Academy Award nomination in 1965 for his role as the hunchback in Ship of Fools.

Died. Carl Lerner, 61, film director (Black Like Me) and editor of Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Swimmer, and most recently Klute; of a brain tumor; in Manhattan.

Died. Eugene B. McDermott, 74, co-founder of Texas Instruments, the leading manufacturer of semiconductors, which revolutionized the electronics industry; of cancer; in Dallas. In the '30s, McDermott developed instruments used in oil exploration and remained on the geophysical side of Texas Instruments even after it moved into the military electronics field. A multimillionaire, he contributed generously to the arts and to educational institutions.

Died. Robert W. Dowling, 77, Manhattan real estate developer; following a long illness; in Manhattan. Heir to a large fortune, Dowling was president and then chairman of the $3 billion City Investing Co., laid out the basic design for a number of huge building complexes, including Parkchester in The Bronx and Pittsburgh's Gateway Center, and planned the 20,000-acre Sterling Forest cultural, scientific and residential community near Tuxedo, N.Y.

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