Notable deaths last week

• Emmy-winning actress and singer Polly Bergen, who in a long career played the terrorized wife in the original "Cape Fear" and the first woman president in "Kisses for My President," has died at 84.

A brunette beauty with a warm, sultry singing voice, Bergen was a household name from her 20s onward. She made albums and played leading roles in films, stage musicals and TV dramas. She also hosted her own variety series, was a popular game show panelist, and founded a thriving beauty products company that bore her name.

In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman's mother on "Desperate Housewives" and the past mistress of Tony Soprano's late father on "The Sopranos."

Bergen won an Emmy in 1958 portraying the tragic singer Helen Morgan on the famed anthology series "Playhouse 90." She was nominated for another Emmy in 1989 for best supporting actress in a miniseries or special for "War and Remembrance."

Talking to a women in business group in 1968, she said her definition of success was "when you feel what you've done fulfills yourself, makes you happy and makes people around you happy."

Bergen was 20 and already an established singer when she starred with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in her first movie, "At War With the Army." She joined them in two more comedies, "That's My Boy" and "The Stooge."

In 1953, she made her Broadway debut with Harry Belafonte in the revue "John Murray Anderson's Almanac." In 1957-58 she starred on the musical-variety "The Polly Bergen Show" on NBC, closing every broadcast with her theme song, "The Party's Over."

Also during the 1950s, she became a regular on the popular game show "To Tell the Truth."

Bergen published the first of her three advice books, "The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion and Charm" in 1962. That led to her own cosmetics company, which earned her millions.

Bergen became a regular in TV movies and miniseries, most importantly in the 1983 epic "The Winds of War" and the 1988 sequel, "War and Remembrance." She appeared as the troubled wife of high-ranking Navy officer Pug Henry, played by Robert Mitchum.

Mitchum also had the key role in the landmark 1962 suspense film, "Cape Fear," as the sadistic ex-convict who terrorizes a lawyer (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Bergen) and daughter because he blames Peck for sending him to prison. The film was remade in 1991 by Martin Scorsese.

When she was refused an audition for the 2001 Broadway revival of "Follies," she contacted composer Stephen Sondheim. He auditioned her and gave her the role of a faded star who sings of her ups and downs in show business. The show-stopping song, "I'm Still Here," was reminiscent of Bergen's own saga. She was nominated for a Tony award for her role.

• Will Radcliff, who built a multimillion-dollar global business from flavored, icy Slush Puppie drinks, has died in Cincinnati. He was 74.

Radcliff was a natural salesman who once peddled vacuum cleaners door to door and earned a six-figure income from selling peanuts.

"He had a bigger-than-life personality," his daughter said Friday. "He could sell anything to anybody."

Radcliff had spotted a slush machine at a 1970 Chicago trade show and saw the possibilities of icy sweet drinks that could be made for a few pennies. He thought the sound of icy crystals hitting the cup, the smell and taste of flavorings and the texture pleased all the senses.

The family story goes that he, sister Phyllis and their mother, Thelma, sat on a front porch drinking beer and writing down possible names on a brown paper bag before agreeing that Slush Puppie was the best candidate. It would become represented by a toboggan-wearing, floppy-eared dog.

Cherry, grape, orange and lemon-lime were among the earliest flavors. Sales boomed and business spread, with Slush Puppie machines becoming a staple in many convenience stores. Distributorships from Australia to Africa made Slush Puppie global, and London-based Cadbury Schweppes PLC bought the Slush Puppie Company in 2001.

• Grand Ole Opry Member George Hamilton IV, who was one of country music's first international ambassadors, has died. He was 77.

Hamilton had been an Opry member since 1960, when he made the switch from pop music to country. He said the decision came after catching a performance of the Opry at Ryman Auditorium. Hamilton worked with producer Chet Atkins on a number of hits and scored his first country No. 1 with "Abilene" in 1963.

• Andriy Gusin, a former Ukraine midfielder who helped his country reach the 2006 World Cup quarterfinals, has died, the Ukrainian football federation said Wednesday. He was 41.

Gusin made 71 appearances for Ukraine, including in all five matches at the World Cup in Germany.

• Lonnie Lynn, known to hip-hop fans for his soulful spoken-word poems on rapper son Common's albums, has died at age 71.

Lynn was a star high school basketball player in Chicago and played in the 1969-1970 season in the American Basketball Association. He struggled with drug addiction and with being a father to six children, topics he addressed in poignant, sometimes regretful poems that concluded many of Common's albums.

"He was truly a natural poet and master of words. His personality and soul shined through his work," Common, whose real name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., said.

Common is also an actor, appearing in films including "Terminator: Salvation" and "LUV" and as a regular on the AMC series "Hell on Wheels."

Lynn, known as "Pops" on Common's albums, recorded his last poem for the rapper's 2011 release, "The Dreamer/The Believer."

• Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., a son of congressional royalty who evolved into a top-tier lobbyist and prolific Democratic fundraiser and embodied what it meant to have Washington clout, has died at 73.

Boggs was a driving force in transforming the law firm now known as Squire Patton Boggs into one of Washington's most influential and best-known lobbying powerhouses. A Washington lifer with an encyclopedic list of Democratic contacts, he was also known for constantly hosting fundraisers and relentlessly persuading friends and family to contribute to Democratic candidates.

• Bob Crewe, co-writer of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and many other pop hits, died last week. He was 83.

Crewe's brother, Dan Crewe, said Monday in an email that the producer, songwriter and "Jersey Boys" lyricist died Sept. 11 in Scarborough, Maine.

Crewe co-wrote a number of memorable but minor hits, including Freddy Cannon's "Tallahassee Lassie" before helping put together The Four Seasons and meeting future collaborator Bob Gaudio. Songs written by the two helped The Four Seasons define an era in music with radio hits like "Sherry," "Walk Like a Man," "Rag Doll" and "Ronnie" that not only resonated at the time, but also continue to pop up in film, television and as historic markers for the baby boomer generation.

The Newark, New Jersey-born Crewe was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992.

Crewe teamed with Frank Slay while living in Philadelphia on a number of minor hits before issuing two solo albums of his own. He first met The Four Seasons when he hired them to provide backing vocals for demo recordings in the early 1960s.

• Alpha Ibraham Diallo, a former IOC member from Guinea and African Olympic head, has died. He was 82.

Diallo joined the IOC in 1994 and served on the policy-making executive board from 2002-06. He retired from the IOC in 2012 and became an honorary member.

• Bengt Saltin, a Swedish professor of human physiology and a leading anti-doping expert, has died. He was 79.

Saltin was head of the anti-doping program at the International Ski Federation, mapping the blood values of cross-country skiers from 2001-07. He was also a researcher in high altitude training, helped the Swedish cross-country team and was adviser to the national Olympic committee for 10 years.

• Yitzhak Hofi, a former Israeli general and Mossad chief who played a key role in the country's daring 1976 commando rescue raid in Uganda, has died. He was 87.

Hofi fought in Israel's War of Independence in 1948 and rose through the ranks to become head of the northern command during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. He was regarded as one of the few top officers who warned of the threat of a surprise Arab attack on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.

He headed Israel's Mossad spy agency from 1974 to 1982.

• Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Tony Auth, whose sharp and creative commentary appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 40 years, died of cancer at age 72.

Auth had worked for the past two years as the artist-in-residence at NewsWorks/WHYY, which announced his death.

"Tony Auth was a great cartoonist, a fine journalist and an even better friend," said Chris Satullo, WHYY's vice president for news and civic engagement. Satullo previously served as the Inquirer's editorial page editor, where he also worked with Auth.

Auth worked at the Inquirer for 41 years starting in 1971. He won the Pulitzer for editorial cartoons in 1976 and was a finalist twice after that.