Died. Antonino Rocca, 49, flamboyant wrestler who claimed that he knew "the secret of life" (good blood circulation) and would live to be 150; of a urinary tract infection; in Manhattan. Born in Italy, Rocca grew up in Argentina and became one of its most popular wrestlers. He moved to the U.S. in 1949, delighting millions of fans around the ring and on TV with his barefoot dropkick, in which he leaped into the air, pummeling his opponent with both feet.

qed

Died. Al Bramlet, 59, powerful boss of the Las Vegas local of the Culinary Workers Union since 1952; found shot, in a rock pile in the desert, 30 miles from Las Vegas. A wheeler-dealer with enemies even in his own union, Bramlet ran into trouble when he brewed up a new scheme with the Mob to skim money from the union's pension fund. Two weeks after the fund's trustees vetoed the idea, Bramlet disappeared (TIME, March 14).

Died. Fannie Lou Hamer, 60, former Mississippi sharecropper who became a leader in the civil rights movement; of cancer; in Mound Bayou, Miss. At a Baptist rally in 1962, Mrs. Hamer heard civil rights workers urge blacks to use their ballots. "I never knew we could vote before," she later recalled. "Nobody ever told us." Two years later she electrified the Democratic National Convention with her graphic tales of being brutally beaten by police while trying to register black voters. She continued to organize voters, unions and farm cooperatives, eventually helping to integrate the Mississippi Democratic Party.

qed

Died. Jan Patocka, 69, senior spokesman for the Czechoslovak Charter 77 group of more than 600 intellectuals, which calls on the Prague government to protect the human rights of its citizens; of a brain hemorrhage; in Prague. A former professor of philosophy, Patocka was hospitalized for exhaustion earlier this month after prolonged questioning over a two-day period at the Interior Ministry.

qed

Died. Cecil Woodham-Smith, 80, British historian and biographer who combined assiduous research and graceful writing to make the 19th century come alive; of heart disease; in London. A former advertising copywriter and novelist, Mrs. Woodham-Smith knew so much about Florence Nightingale that in 1942 she was urged to write her biography by a publisher friend. She spent six years working on her book, which earned unanimous critical acclaim. She also wrote about the charge of the Light Brigade (The Reason Why, 1953), the Irish famine and the early years of Queen Victoria. Of the long hours she spent digging into musty archives, Woodham-Smith explained: "Writing history is nervous work, thanks to the vigilance of other historians."

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