Obituary: John Shalikashvili, retired U.S. general

SEATTLE – Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, the first foreign-born chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who counseled President Bill Clinton on the use of troops in Bosnia and other trouble spots, has died, the Army said in a statement. He was 75. Shalikashvili died Saturday morning at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma following complications from a stroke suffered on August 2004 that paralyzed his left side. President Barack Obama said Saturday that the United States lost a “genuine soldier-statesman,” adding in a statement that Shalikashvili’s “extraordinary life represented the promise of America and the limitless possibilities that are open to those who choose to serve it.” He spent his later years living near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Elliot Handler, Mattel co-founder

LOS ANGELES – Elliot Handler, a pioneering toy maker who co-founded Mattel and invented Hot Wheels, has died. He was 95. Handler died Thursday from heart failure at his home west of Los Angeles, according to his daughter, Barbara Segal, after whom the iconic Barbie doll was named. In 1945, Handler and his wife, Ruth, founded Mattel Creations out of a garage workshop in Los Angeles with their friend Harold “Matt” Matson. They called it Mattel, a name fashioned from Matson and Elliot. After the Handlers bought out Matson, they turned Mattel’s focus to toys. The company’s biggest hit was Ruth’s invention of Barbie, a teenage doll who debuted in 1959 wearing a black-and-white striped swimsuit.

Linda Christian, the first Bond girl

PALM DESERT, Calif. – Linda Christian, the Hollywood starlet of the 1940s who married heartthrob Tyrone Power and went on to become the first Bond girl, has died. Her daughter, Romina Power, said Christian died Friday in Palm Desert after battling colon cancer. She was 87. Christian’s famous curves led Life magazine to nickname her the “anatomic bomb.” In 1954 she starred as James Bond’s love interest in the television adaptation of the novel “Casino Royale.”

Charles T. Manatt, former Democratic official

WASHINGTON – Charles T. Manatt, who founded one of the biggest and most influential law firms in Los Angeles and then became a political power as chairman of the state and national Democratic parties in the 1980s, died Friday night. He was 75. Manatt died at Kindred Hospital in Richmond, Va., of complications from a stroke suffered after surgery in November, according to his daughter, Michele A. Manatt. In 1992, Manatt served as national co-chairman of Bill Clinton’s winning presidential campaign, and in 1999, during Clinton’s second term, he became U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Manatt was born June 9, 1936, in Chicago.