Milestones

SANCTIONED. The Rev. Marcial Maciel, 86, powerful Mexican-born founder of the conservative Legionaries of Christ, one of the fastest-growing orders in the Roman Catholic Church; after an inquest into his alleged sexual abuse of seminarians dating to the 1940s, which he denies; in the first major abuse case to be handled by Pope Benedict XVI; in Vatican City. The Holy See declined to say if the allegations proved true, but called on Maciel to live a life of "prayer and repentance" and restricted him from publicly celebrating the sacraments.

RESIGNED. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 36, prominent Somali-born Dutch parliament member and outspoken opponent of Islamic extremism; after officials, citing a TV report detailing Hirsi Ali's misrepresentation of her name and birth date on her 1992 asylum application, declared her passport invalid, despite Hirsi Ali's previous public acknowledgment of the falsifications; in The Hague. Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk was widely criticized for her treatment of the women's advocate and forced to back down, but Hirsi Ali, who has endured death threats because of her views, said she planned to leave the Netherlands. She is expected to join Washington's conservative American Enterprise Institute.

DIED. Lew Anderson, 84, jazz saxophonist most famous for his six-year stint as Clarabell the Clown, Buffalo Bob Smith's sidekick on TV's seminal '50s children's hit, The Howdy Doody Show; in Hawthorne, N.Y. The popular, seltzer-squirting clown was mute until the show's final episode in 1960, when a teary Anderson turned to the camera and uttered the now famous, often replayed sign-off: "Goodbye, kids."

DIED. Frankie Thomas, 85, curly-haired actor who shot to fame in the '50s as the hero of TV's Tom Corbett, Space Cadet; in Los Angeles. The live, often cheesy show--it once employed a turtle to portray an evil dinosaur--followed the 24th century exploits of Tom and his fellow Space Academy trainees, who aimed to ensure "universal peace." Airing three times a week, it spawned idioms ("Don't blow your jets!") and dozens of Tom Corbett products. After the show ended in 1955, Thomas quit acting--"After Tom, where else could I go?" he said--and became a successful pro bridge player.

DIED. Joyce Ballantyne Brand, 88, commercial artist who created the now iconic Coppertone suntan-lotion ad featuring a young girl whose bathing suit is being pulled down by a dog, exposing tan lines, accompanied by the slogan, "Don't be a paleface"; in Ocala, Fla. The illustrator, who did campaigns for Pampers and Coca-Cola and also painted pinup girls, employed her daughter Cheri, then 3, as the model for the famous ad. Cheri "worked cheap and was convenient," Brand said.

DIED. Cy Feuer, 95, legendary producer, with partner Ernest Martin, of Broadway musicals that defined the genre, including Guys and Dolls and the Tony-winning How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; in New York City. Known during the musical's golden age as the creative half of "the King and Cy," Feuer oversaw every detail of his shows, sometimes taking the director's seat. Famously tough--he feuded with George S. Kaufman, Bob Fosse and Frank Loesser--he discovered Julie Andrews, whose career he launched with 1954's The Boy Friend, and helped turn I Love Paris and C'est Magnifique--from Cole Porter's critically panned hit show Can-Can-- into standards.

DIED. Stanley Kunitz, 100, acclaimed poet whose stark language and metaphysical bent earned him a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award and two terms as U.S. poet laureate; in New York City. He produced a dozen books over 75 years, culminating with last year's The Wild Braid, an homage to his lifelong passion of gardening. The longtime Columbia University professor hammered out dense, restrained gems on a manual typewriter, tackling both the personal (his father's suicide) and the universal (life, death, rebirth). "The deepest thing I know is that I am living and dying at once," he said, "and my conviction is to report that self-dialogue."

With reporting by Melissa August, Harriet Barovick