DIED. Tommy ("Hurricane") Jackson, 50, windmill-style heavyweight-boxing contender whose ability to endure massive pain wore down opponents more than his flailing punches; of a stroke; in Queens, N.Y. With 17 wins, four losses and one draw on his record, Jackson, a strong favorite of TV fight fans in the '50s, was forced from the ring in 1958 when the New York State athletic commission said he had suffered brain damage. Friends claimed Jackson had been exploited financially during his ring career, and he spent many of the remaining years of his life shining shoes and driving a cab.

DIED. Nestor Chylak, 59, former dean of American League baseball umpires who won respect for his accurate calls and skill in handling irascible players; of an apparent heart attack; in Dunmore, Pa. Chylak, who would tolerate a player's profanity but not his physical abuse, once summarized his credo: "Put the words on me, but don't touch me or spit at me."

DIED. Thelonious Monk, 64, brilliant and eccentric jazz pianist and founding father of bebop; of a stroke; in Englewood, N. J. As a teenager, Monk honed his highly personal style--skewed melodies, oblique harmonic progressions--in Harlem during the Depression with Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and Alto-Saxman Charlie ("Bird") Parker. He developed an angular breakaway from conventional jazz that came to be known as bebop and, finally, bop. His asymmetrical ideas had a powerful influence on modern jazz musicians and a whole generation of horn players, but Monk himself lapsed into virtual obscurity in the 1950s. Rescued by a series of inspired recordings with such jazz giants as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, Monk eventually achieved both celebrity and steady work. But he remained an enigma. He wore skullcaps and dark sunglasses, and during performances, when the spirit moved him, he would arise from his piano to dance about, tapping his foot to the beat of the music. "Jazz is my adventure," said Monk. "I'm after new chords, new figurations, new runs." Some of his most noteworthy pieces, now part of standard repertory, include 'Round About Midnight, Blue Monk, Hackensack, Epistrophy and Straight, No Chaser.

DIED. Lee Strasberg, 80, guiding guru of the Actors Studio who redirected both the training of actors and theatrical performance in the U.S.; of a heart attack; in New York City. Over five decades, the Polish-born Strasberg, a discerning but caustic pedagogue, helped shape such future stars as Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, John Garfield, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Eli Wallach, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Strasberg's technique, the so-called Method, was inspired by a system developed by the Russian director Konstantin Stanislavsky. Through the use of physical and emotional exercises, Strasberg taught his pupils to forgo external acting tricks and "internalize" roles, drawing on reservoirs of their own experience and feeling. Strasberg's disciples called him "Rabbi," "Pope" and "the ultimate shrink," and swore by him. His detractors, who accused him of starting "the torn T shirt school of acting," swore at him. Said Producer David Merrick: "You can always tell Lee's students--they're the ones you can't hear beyond the third row." Artistic director of the Actors Studio since 1948, Strasberg also directed such Broadway hits as Clash by Night (1941), The Big Knife (1949) and the Pulitzer-prizewinning Men in White (1933). After coaching and directing for 38 years, he resumed his acting career in 1974, when he made his movie debut in Godfather II. His portrayal of an aging underworld boss won him an Oscar nomination. Strasberg subsequently appeared in And Justice for All and Going in Style.

DIED. Rene Jules Dubos, 81, microbiologist and environmentalist; of cancer; in New York City. Dubos won fame in 1939 for research that led to the first commercially produced antibiotics. He expounded the idea in several of his 20-odd books that a favorable environment is necessary to human physical, mental and social development; So Human an Animal won a Pulitzer Prize in 1969.

DIED. Ngaio Marsh, 82, New Zealand author of 33 mystery novels over a career of 48 years; in Christchurch, New Zealand. Marsh belonged to the classic school of British writers who preferred gentleman detectives -- like her own Roderick Alleyn--and who reveled in complicated puzzle plots. A director and producer in both Britain and New Zealand, Marsh used her theater experiences as background in such books as Night at the Vulcan (1951) and Killer Dolphin (1966).

DIED. Noah Dietrich, 92, sagacious financial adviser and accountant who masterminded the operations of Howard Hughes' billion-dollar empire for more than 30 years; in Palm Springs, Calif. Dietrich joined Hughes in 1925 and molded the wealthy scion's $10 million Hughes Tool Co. into a major corporation. Hughes fired Dietrich 32 years later in a dispute about money. In 1972 Dietrich co-wrote Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes, believed to be the principal source for a counterfeit Hughes autobiography written by Clifford Irving.

DIED. Gluyas Williams, 93, former New Yorker magazine and syndicated cartoonist whose drawings satirized suburban life in America; in Boston. Williams' airy, unadorned pen-and-ink drawings depicted the minor crises of the middle class--weddings, difficulties with children, and cocktail parties. A career-long associate of Humorist Robert Benchley, Williams illustrated such Benchley books as From Bed to Worse and The Treasurer's Report.

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