Milestones

DIED From childhood on, disability-rights lawyer Harriet McBryde Johnson was adamant about defending what she thought was right--even if that meant leading the charge as a young teen to oust a teacher she considered abusive. Suffering from a congenital neuromuscular disease and bound to a wheelchair, Johnson resented assumptions about her quality of life. She railed against the "pity-based tactics" of the Jerry Lewis muscular dystrophy telethon, challenged a prominent Princeton professor on the ethics of euthanizing disabled infants and spoke out in defense of the brain-damaged Terri Schiavo when her case polarized the nation on the right-to-life debate. An accomplished writer who punctuated her arguments with sardonic humor, Johnson penned numerous articles and a 2005 memoir, Too Late to Die Young. She died in her sleep at age 50.

Known as "mad dog" by his fans, the 6-ft. 4-in., 250-lb. defensive end Dwight White was an instrumental, if often unsung, contributor to the "Steel Curtain" defense throughout his nine-year career, taking the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl victories and appearing in two Pro Bowls. A fiercely dedicated athlete, White proved his mettle in 1975 when he emerged from a serious bout of pneumonia to help his team defeat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX. As Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said in a statement, "Dwight White was one of the greatest players to ever wear a Steelers uniform." He was 58.

Best known as the young George Bailey in the holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life, actor Robert Anderson appeared in other films, including A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Bishop's Wife, after playing the childhood version of Jimmy Stewart's now beloved character. But by the time the Frank Capra film--not an immediate hit--became ubiquitous on holiday television in the 1970s, Anderson was well into the next phase of his career: behind the lens, working as a photographer, assistant director and producer. He was 75.

Prime Minister of Egypt from 1978 to 1980, Mustafa Khalil was instrumental in the negotiations between Israel and Egypt at Camp David that ultimately resulted in a peace accord in 1979, the first such agreement between Israel and an Arab nation. A government official for more than 50 years, Khalil paid a visit to Jerusalem in 1977, which set in motion the later meetings in the U.S. orchestrated by President Jimmy Carter. Following the historic peace process, Khalil stayed politically active until last fall, when he retired from his role as deputy chairman of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party. He was 88.

Many of his more than 50 films depicted the rebirth of Italy in the wake of World War II, a theme that director Dino Risi explored with nuance, carefully balancing tragedy and humor. With his breakout film, 1962's Il Sorpasso, about the unlikely friendship between a law student and a gregarious con artist, Risi became one of Italy's most accomplished directors, earning two Oscar nominations for 1974's Profumo di Donna, the tale of a blind war veteran able to distinguish women by their perfume. It was remade in 1992 as Scent of a Woman, starring Al Pacino. Risi was 91.