Notable deaths last week

• When Minnie Minoso broke into major league baseball, the "Cuban Comet" was part of a wave of black players who changed the game forever. By the time he played in his final game 35 years ago, he was a beloved figure with the Chicago White Sox.

It was one amazing ride for the seemingly ageless slugger, who died after helping clear the way for generations of minority ballplayers, including a long list of stars from his home country.

"I know we're all going to go at some time, but I had gotten to the point where I really thought Minnie was going to live forever," White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf said. "There has never been a better ambassador for the game or for the White Sox than Minnie."

Minoso, who made his major league debut just two years after Jackie Robinson and turned into the game's first black Latino star, died of natural causes, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. There is some question about Minoso's age, but the medical examiner's office and the White Sox said he was 90.

Minoso played 12 of his 17 seasons in Chicago, hitting .304 with 135 homers and 808 RBIs for the White Sox. The White Sox retired his No. 9 in 1983 and there is a statue of Minoso at U.S. Cellular Field.

Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta was selected for nine All-Star games and won three Gold Gloves in left. He was hit by a pitch 192 times, ninth on baseball's career list, and finished in the top four in AL MVP voting four times.

• Cardinal Edward Egan, the former archbishop of New York who oversaw a broad and sometimes unpopular financial overhaul of the archdiocese and played a prominent role in the city after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, has died at 82.

Egan, who retired in 2009 after nine years as archbishop, died of cardiac arrest at a New York hospital, the archdiocese announced. As a child he survived polio, which affected his health as an adult, and he also used a pacemaker. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the current archbishop of New York, asked for prayers for Egan and for his family. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Egan "was a generous man who committed his life to serving others."

In 2000, Egan was chosen by Pope John Paul II for the difficult job of succeeding larger-than-life Cardinal John O'Connor, who was a major figure not only in the city, but in the country. From him, Egan inherited an annual deficit of about $20 million. Egan cut spending and laid off staff - and said he wiped out the shortfall within two years.

A native of Oak Park, Illinois, Egan earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, then completed studies for the priesthood at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and was ordained there in 1957. He eventually earned a doctorate.

• Albert Maysles, the revolutionary documentary filmmaker who helped pioneer nonfiction movies by turning a keenly observant eye on both the famous and the ordinary in films like "Gimme Shelter" and "Grey Gardens," has died. He was 88.

Maysles was best known for a handful of documentary classics he made with his brother, David, in the 1960s and 1970s. The Maysles Brothers - as many referred to them - chose subjects as ordinary as the struggles of Bible salesmen and as glamorous as Marlon Brando, Orson Welles and the Beatles, whom the pair followed in 1964 during their first trip to the United States.

One of their films, "Gimme Shelter," about The Rolling Stones' Altamont Speedway concert on Dec. 6, 1969, captured on film the killing of a fan and the darkening of the hippie dream. The Altamont concert was the Stones' disastrous effort to stage a festival like the Woodstock gathering a few months earlier.

The Maysles and others worked without scripts, sets or lighting. The resulting works had no narration, no filmed interviews and gave audiences a fly-on-the-wall feeling.

"Our films aren't the conventional kind, locked down and scripted before shooting begins," David Maysles once said of their films. "We shoot life as it's lived."

A technical revolution had made such films possible - the arrival of lightweight, portable sound and film equipment - and gave them the opportunity to observe their subjects with as little effect on events as possible. "The natural disposition of the camera," Maysles said, "is to seek out reality."

In 1966, using the new equipment, they filmed Truman Capote shortly after he finished "In Cold Blood." Capote explained that his book was his idea of the "nonfiction novel" - "a synthesis of journalism with fictional technique."

"We wanted to experiment in film the way Capote had experimented in literature," Maysles said in "Hand-Held and From the Heart," the filmmaker's autobiographical documentary. That led them to make the feature-length "Salesman" in 1968, following Bible salesmen from house to house as they try to convince people to buy what one of them calls "still the best-seller in the world."

• Retired Air Force Col. Dean Hess, who helped rescue hundreds of orphans in the Korean War and whose exploits prompted a Hollywood film starring Rock Hudson, has died at age 97.

Hess died Monday at his home in Huber Heights, a suburb of Dayton, after a short illness.

Hess, an ordained minister, was a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel when he helped arrange evacuation of Korean orphans from their country's mainland to safety on a coastal island, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. He was a significant figure in Air Force history, and his efforts to help Korean children are a "shining example" of the Air Force's humanitarian airlift capabilities, museum historian Jeff Underwood said.

"What is less well-known is the instrumental role he played in training the fledgling South Korean Air Force," Underwood said in a statement.

Hudson, one of Hollywood's top leading men, portrayed Hess in the film "Battle Hymn" in 1957, a year after he starred alongside Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean in "Giant."

"Battle Hymn" also was the title of Hess' autobiography. He used the movie and book proceeds to build an orphanage in South Korea, his son said.

• M. Stanton Evans, an influential writer and a guiding force behind the modern conservative movement who helped promote the political career of Ronald Reagan and, in more recent years, sought to rehabilitate the reputation of Sen. Joseph McCarthy with a sympathetic biography, died March 3 at a nursing facility in Leesburg, Virginia. He was 80.

• Jerome Kurtz, a tax lawyer who served as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service under President Jimmy Carter and sought to reverse long-standing policies that he considered disproportionately beneficial to the rich, has died at 83.

• Daniel von Bargen, who played George Costanza's dim-witted boss Mr. Kruger on "Seinfeld," has died. He was 64.

In addition to his "Seinfeld" role, von Bargen portrayed Commandant Edwin Spangler on "Malcolm in the Middle." His film credits include "The Silence of the Lambs," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Lord of Illusions." He also had appearances on "Law & Order," "The West Wing" and "NYPD Blue."

• Alex Johnson, who played 13 years in the majors and won the AL batting title with the then-California Angels in 1970, has died. He was 72.

The elder Johnson played for eight teams in a career that began in 1964 with Philadelphia, batting .288 with 78 homers and 525 RBIs. The left fielder was an All-Star for the Angels in 1970, and his final season was in 1976 with his hometown Detroit Tigers.

Johnson spent just two seasons with the Angels, but became the only batting champion in the 55-year-old franchise's history when he hit .329 in 1970. Johnson beat out Carl Yastrzemski for the crown on the final day of the season, going 2 for 3 and inching .0003 percentage points ahead of the Boston star.

• Bill Schweitzer, a lawyer for the American League and Major League Baseball for more than two decades, died Tuesday. He was 70.

• Mal Peet, an irreverent, award-winning British writer of books for children and young adults, has died aged 67.

Peet wrote young-adult novels, as well as educational children's books co-authored with his wife Elspeth Graham. He won the 2005 Carnegie Medal for "Tamar," a historical novel set during World War II.

His first novel for adults, "The Murdstone Trilogy," was published last year.

• Dave Mackay, a former Tottenham captain who also won the English league and FA Cup double with the club in 1961, has died. He was 80.

Mackay joined Tottenham in 1959 from Scottish club Hearts and became "one of the most influential players of his era," Tottenham said on its website.

• Ed "Big Mo" Modzelewski, a former star fullback who led the University of Maryland to an unbeaten season in 1951 and later won an NFL championship with the Cleveland Browns, has died. He was 86.

Modzelewski retired after the 1959 season, having gained 1,292 yards and 11 touchdowns over his six-year pro career.

• Jeff McKnight, a versatile player who spent six seasons with the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles, has died. He was 52.

McKnight had leukemia for 10 years. His father Jimbriefly played for the Chicago Cubs in the early 1960s.

Jeff McKnight made his big league debut in 1989 with the Mets and hit .233 overall with five home runs and 34 RBIs in 218 games. He singled in his final at-bat, for the Mets in August 1994 on the final day before a players' strike wiped out the rest of the season.

• Maxee Maxwell, a member of the 1990s girl group Brownstone - best known for the hit "If You Love Me" - has died after cutting herself in a fall at home, a representative said Monday.

Courtney Barnes said Maxwell, 46, was at her home in Los Angeles on Friday when she fell and cut her neck on a drinking glass. Her husband, producer Carsten "Soulshock" Schack, found her sometime later and called 911. She was rushed to a hospital where she died, Barnes said.

The R&B trio Brownstone was signed to Michael Jackson's label imprint, MJJ Music. They made their debut in 1995. Their hits also included "Grapevyne."

• Gordie Gillespie, one of the winningest coaches in college baseball history who also had success coaching football and basketball, has died. He was 88.

The University of St. Francis said Gillespie died at his home in Joliet. He spent a quarter-century of his 59-year career as the baseball coach at the NAIA school.

Gillespie had 2,402 wins in four sports, though he is most remembered for his accomplishments on the baseball diamond.

In football, Gillespie coached Joliet Catholic High School to five state titles and 222 wins during his 27-year tenure even though he never played the game.