Milestones

DIED

LIFE MAY IMITATE ART, but sometimes so does death. South African reggae icon Lucky Dube--who wrote the lyrics "Do you ever worry about leaving home and coming back in a coffin with a bullet through your head?"--was fatally shot by carjackers in a Johannesburg suburb, caught up in the rampant street crime that has plagued his country since the end of apartheid. Dube sang in three languages--Zulu, English and Afrikaans--and recorded 22 albums, some of which were banned under apartheid. Inspired by Bob Marley to use reggae as a vehicle for tackling social injustice and inequality, Dube was honored by thousands at a Johannesburg memorial service. He was 43.

EVERYONE WAS EXPECTING him to sit and watch from the sidelines. But moments after the Green Bay Packers' first-string receiver separated a shoulder, Max McGee was forced to borrow a teammate's helmet before racing onto the field. The former Air Force pilot made history that day, catching the first touchdown pass in Super Bowl history--leading the Packers to a 35-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967. After 12 seasons, McGee retired, refocusing his energy on Chi-Chi's, the Mexican-restaurant chain he co-founded, which operated throughout the U.S. until 2004. He died after falling off his rooftop. He was 75.

AFTER HE WAS APPOINTED Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, Admiral William Crowe Jr.'s esteemed counsel and leadership helped placate difficult situations with the Soviet Union, Iran and Libya, leading the New York Times to call him the "most powerful peacetime military officer in American history." The nonconformist Vietnam vet with three advanced degrees openly condemned the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy as anti-gay and sharply criticized the buildup to the first Gulf War. He served as U.S. ambassador to Britain during the Clinton Administration. Crowe was 82.

HER FAMOUS HAWAIIAN-beach kiss with co-star Burt Lancaster in the wartime drama From Here to Eternity introduced sex appeal, however tame it may seem by contemporary standards, to 1950s moviegoers. Previously cast for roles that accentuated her genteel English demeanor, Deborah Kerr gave a sultry performance that earned her a spot in history as one of Hollywood's premier sex symbols. Too tall to pursue her first love, ballet, Kerr also made her mark in roles like the starched governess in The King and I and a hopeless romantic in An Affair to Remember. She was nominated for six Oscars but never won. The Academy finally granted her an honorary Oscar in 1994 in recognition of her "perfection, discipline and elegance." She was 86.

LIBERATED HOUSEWIVES adored her. Hungry husbands, presumably, couldn't stand her. Peg Bracken, a former advertising copywriter, parlayed her disdain for wifely chores into the snarky best-selling 1960 recipe manual The I Hate to Cook Book, a guide for quick, easy meals. It became a staple of baby boomers' kitchens, and she followed up with popular sequels about housekeeping and etiquette. Her beef stew would "cook happily all by itself," she once wrote, on "days when you're en negligee, en bed with a murder story and a box of bonbons." She was 89.

LEAVE IT TO THE COMEDIAN to have the last laugh. Joey Bishop outlived all the more famous--and more raucous--Rat Packers. By the 1960s he had earned stardom alongside buddies Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr. But he was never completely overshadowed by the better-known members of his cohort. In 1960 TIME wrote, "Theoretically, Joey has bottom billing, [but] as soon as he starts talking he is recognized as top banana in a newly assembled comedy act that is breaking up Vegas." Bishop later appeared in his own sitcom and filled in about 200 times as host of the Tonight Show. He was 89.

PHILADELPHIA HAS ITS cheesesteak, Chicago has its bratwurst, and, thanks to Vincent DeDomenico, San Francisco has Rice-A-Roni. The sons of Italian immigrants, DeDomenico and his brothers began experimenting with food recipes at their parents' pasta business during the 1930s, mixing ingredients like long-grain white rice, pieces of vermicelli and chicken broth. Eventually they hit the jackpot, creating packaged, easy-to-make rice and pasta dishes. In 1986 they sold their company to Quaker Oats for about $300 million. DeDomenico was 92.

With reporting by Gilbert Cruz, Elisabeth Salemme, Carolyn Sayre, Tiffany Sharples, Alexandra Silver, Kate Stinch