Notable deaths last week

• Chuck Bednarik, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the last great two-way NFL players, has died at 89.

Known as "Concrete Charlie," Bednarik epitomized the tough-guy linebacker and also was an outstanding center for the Eagles from 1949 to 1962. He is best remembered for a game-saving tackle at the 9-yard line on the final play of the 1960 title game, and it was typical Bednarik. He threw Green Bay running back Jim Taylor to the ground and refused to let him up while the final seconds ticked off as the Eagles held on for a 17-13 win.

"Everybody reminds me of it and I'm happy they remind me of it," Bednarik once said. "I'm proud and delighted to have played in that game."

Two of his daughters said Bednarik had dementia, an affliction common in former professional football players.

The tackle on Taylor actually was the second hit that season that drew headlines. Earlier in 1960, he knocked out New York Giants running back Frank Gifford with a blow so hard that Gifford suffered a concussion and didn't play again until 1962.

Bednarik, whose gnarled fingers in retirement stood as a reminder of the ruggedness of his profession, said he never made more than $27,000 in a season and supplemented his income by selling concrete, earning his nickname. At one point, he pawned his championship ring and his Hall of Fame ring.

• Bob Kastenmeier, a liberal Democrat from Wisconsin whose 32 years in Congress were marked by his early and staunch opposition to the Vietnam War, has died at 91.

Kastenmeier, a World War II veteran who represented the liberal Madison area starting in 1959, had been suffering from heart problems and died at his home in Arlington, Virginia, said his wife Dorothy. She said her husband's main interest had always been world peace, "and I think the people will remember him for that."

Kastenmeier's incessant pursuit of civil rights, nuclear disarmament and openness in government became a symbol of Madison's political climate during the 1960s and 1970s. He was an early critic of the Vietnam War, and even brought a House subcommittee to Madison to hold hearings on how the war was affecting his constituents.

"He was one of very few in Congress who took a firm stand initially," said state Sen. Fred Risser, 87, a longtime friend who campaigned with Kastenmeier. "He underwent considerable criticism for it from a number of people."

Kastenmeier maintained his anti-war stance after he left office. He opposed the U.S. invading Iraq, saying that had President George W. Bush been president during the Cold War, his policies would have led to a nuclear holocaust.

"Let me be very clear: I do not support the war against Iraq," he said in 2002. "I am appalled by President Bush's obsession with it."

• The son of a Mexican wrestling legend died early Saturday from a blow suffered in the ring, the Baja California state prosecutor's office said.

Pedro Aguayo Ramirez, known as Hijo del Perro Aguayo, fell unconscious on the ropes, apparently after receiving a flying kick from fellow wrestler Oscar Gutierrez, known as Rey Misterio Jr., according to video of the match in a municipal auditorium in Tijuana.

The match continued for almost two minutes before other participants and the referee realized Aguayo was seriously injured and tended to him.

• A. James Clark, the publicity-averse billionaire who owned one of the country's largest general contracting conglomerates and whose construction projects - including Washington sports landmarks FedEx Field, Nationals Park and the Verizon Center - affected the work and leisure life of hundreds of millions of people, has died at 87.

• A.J. Pero, the drummer for the heavy-metal band Twisted Sister, has died at age 55.

The band said Anthony Jude Pero died of an apparent heart attack while touring with Adrenaline Mob, a group with which he played in between engagements with Twisted Sister.

Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French said Pero was on a tour bus Friday morning when Adrenaline Mob band members tried unsuccessfully to awaken him, then called an ambulance. He was taken to a hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he was declared dead shortly after 11 a.m.

"His drive was the heart and soul of the band's sound, the engine that drove us," French said. "We lost a friend and a legend."

Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider called Pero "the final piece in a band that would become an international sensation and one of the greatest live rock acts to ever hit the stage."

"His sledgehammer assault on the drums helped drive Twisted Sister and I to greatness, and inspired me to rock every single show," Snider said. "My heart breaks knowing I will never feel the power of his beat behind me, or turn to see his face smiling broadly from the sheer joy he got from doing what he loved."

• Songwriter and keyboardist Michael Brown has died at his home in Englewood, New Jersey. He was 65.

Born Michael Lookofsky, Brown grew up in Brooklyn. A keyboardist and songwriter for the band The Left Banke, he co-wrote the 1966 hit "Walk Away Renee" - The Left Banke's biggest hit, which rose to No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart - and composed "Pretty Ballerina," which rose to No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

• Samuel Charters, a vital historian of American blues, folk and jazz who helped introduce a generation of music lovers to Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell and other performers, has died. He was 85.

Along with such musicologists as Alan Lomax and Harry Smith, Charters helped bring mainstream attention to once-obscure musicians from the South and Appalachia and make possible the blues revival of the 1960s. His first book, "The Country Blues," came out in 1959 alongside an album of recordings by Johnson, McTell, Sleepy John Estes and others that reached a small, but influential base of fans. Bob Dylan would include versions of two songs compiled by Charters, Bukka White's "Fixin' to Die Blues" and Tommy McClennan's "New Highway 51," on his debut album, and later wrote a song about McTell.

Charters' first book, "The Country Blues," came in 1959. His last, "A Trumpet Around the Corner: The Story of New Orleans Jazz," was published six years ago.

• Allen Jerkens, the Hall of Fame trainer who pulled off some of horse racing's biggest upsets and was affectionately known as "The Chief," has died at 85.

Horses from Allen Jerkens' barn twice pulled off memorable upsets of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, first with Onion in the '73 Whitney Handicap and then with Prove Out in the Woodward Stakes. In the 1960s, his Beau Purple upset five-time Horse of the Year Kelso three times, which led to Jerkens' other nickname, "The Giant Killer."

Among other horses he trained were 1994 champion older female Sky Beauty, Devil His Due, Missy's Mirage and Emma's Encore. He trained 3,859 winners of nearly $104 million, and was still actively training before entering the hospital.

• Eugene Patton, the stagehand who became "Gene Gene the Dancing Machine" on television's "The Gong Show" in the late 1970s, has died.

A veteran stagehand, Patton worked on shows like "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," "The Flip Wilson Show" and "The Richard Pryor Show." He moved onstage for a shuffling dance to Count Basie's "Jumpin' at the Woodside" on "The Gong Show," the absurdist talent show hosted by Chuck Barris.

Patton's first appearance was an attempt to kill time on the show, but he soon became a regular feature, twisting his feet and dodging objects thrown onstage as the studio audience cheered.

• Bernhard "Buddy" Elias, the first cousin and last close relative of teenage Holocaust diarist Anne Frank, has died at age 89.

Anne Frank became famous for a diary she kept while her family went into hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam when she was 13. The Jewish teenager died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945.

The son of Anne's aunt, Elias presided over the Basel-based Anne Frank Fonds, which holds the rights to her diary. The book, describing the family's life in hiding, has been read by millions since it was first published in 1947.

• Jack Haley, who played nine seasons in the NBA including a reserve role on the Chicago Bulls' 1996 championship team, has died. He was 51.

Haley's family confirmed his death, saying the cause was heart disease.

Haley played for the Bulls, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs during his career, when he averaged 3.5 points and 2.7 rebounds mostly as a reserve. He sat out the entire 1992-93 season because of injury.

The Bulls drafted the 6-foot-10 forward-center as the 97th pick overall in 1987 out of UCLA, where he played three seasons and helped the Bruins with the NIT championship in 1985.

Haley had two different stints with the Bulls, starting his career with them and then returning to the team in 1995-96. He appeared in only the final game of the regular season, scoring five points in seven minutes. He didn't make the playoff roster, and the Michael Jordan-led Bulls set a record for victories in a season, going 72-10 on their way to winning the NBA title.

Former Bulls star Scottie Pippen tweeted, "Very sorry to hear my old teammate, Jack Haley, has passed away. Great guy who I stayed in touch with over the years. RIP."

• Andy Fraser, who co-wrote the rousing rock anthem "All Right Now" when he was the teenage bassist for the British rock band Free, has died in California at age 62.

At age 15, the London-born Fraser briefly became a member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. The group functioned as a training ground for young British rockers including Eric Clapton and Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.

Within a year, Fraser became a founding member of Free. The band's most prominent member was singer and guitarist Paul Rodgers, who would also go on to front Bad Company and The Firm.

The band's biggest hit by far was 1970's "All Right Now," which remains one of the defining hits of classic rock radio. Fraser also produced the track and plays a bass solo on it.

• Valentin Rasputin, a revered Russian writer who was a prominent member of a literary movement in the 1960s and 1970s known as Village Prose that focused on peasants in the Soviet Union, has died. He was 77.

• Mike Porcaro, who was the son and brother of prominent musicians and carved out a long, successful career as the bass player for the Grammy-winning pop group Toto, has died at age 59.

No cause was given, but he had suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease for several years. He left the group in 2007 because of declining health.

The album "Toto IV" won the Grammy for album of the year in 1982. The song "Rosanna" won record of the year.

• Curtis Gans, a political activist who helped upend the 1968 presidential election with his role in the "Dump Johnson" movement that pushed incumbent Lyndon Johnson from the race, and who interpreted many subsequent campaigns as a leading scholar of voter turnout, has died at 77.

Gans spent nearly his entire adult life in the thick of elections, first as a Democratic organizer and later as a go-to guide for political reporters. For years, journalists and junkies relied on the analyses he produced as founder and director of the Washington-based Center for the Study of the American Electorate.

• Al Rosen, a muscular third baseman for the Cleveland Indians who won the 1953 AL MVP and later worked in the front offices of several teams, has died at 91.

Rosen was a member on the Indians' 1948 title team, the last Cleveland squad to win the World Series.

Rosen played his entire career with Cleveland from 1947-56. Although he was a member of the '48 team, he played only five games that season and got one at-bat in the win over the Boston Braves.