In passing

Bill Brownell, creator of anti-crime hotline

Los Angeles Bill Brownell, founder of WeTip, a hotline that helped pioneer toll-free crime-fighting, has died. He was 71.

He died of complications related to emphysema on May 13 at his home in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., said his wife, Miriam Brownell.

Brownell, a retired deputy, and his wife created WeTip in 1972 after hearing their teens talk about how easy it was for friends to buy drugs.

The idea for a telephone tip line, (800) 78-CRIME, which required callers to remain anonymous, was born. WeTip assigns code names and numbers to identify those interested in receiving rewards. Over 33 years, almost $1 million has been awarded.

WeTip stands for We Turn in Pushers, but the hotline expanded to handle other crimes. It was joined by another informant network, Crime Stoppers International, in 1976.

Henry Corden, voice of Fred Flintstone

Los Angeles Henry Corden, a veteran character actor and voice-over artist who in the late 1970s became the voice of Fred Flintstone, has died. He was 85.

Corden died of complications of emphysema Thursday in a hospital in the Los Angeles area, his agent said.

The Montreal-born Corden, who moved to New York as a child, was a radio actor when he arrived in Hollywood in the 1940s. He made his screen debut playing a menacing character in the classic 1947 comedy “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”

Corden moved into voice-acting in the 1960s, supplying voices on cartoons such as “Jonny Quest” and “The New Tom & Jerry Show.” He was the voice of Paw Rugg on “The Atom Ant Show” and did voice- overs in commercials including a bit as a fish for StarKist tuna and in commercials for Pebbles cereal.

Frank Gorshin, noted actor, impressionist

Hollywood Frank Gorshin, an impressionist and character actor who received an Emmy nomination for his role as the villainous Riddler in the 1960s “Batman” television series, and more recently brought comedian George Burns to life in a one-man Broadway show, has died. He was 72.

Gorshin died Tuesday at Provi- dence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. He had just finished a national tour of his one-man show “Say Goodnight, Gracie” before he was hospitalized with pneumonia. The show opened on Broadway in 2002 with 364 performances.

With a repertoire of some 50 celebrity voices ranging from Kirk Douglas to Sydney Greenstreet, Gorshin was a frequent guest on television variety shows in the ‘60s.

George Dantzig, father of linear programming

Washington, D.C. George B. Dantzig, 90, a mathematician who devised a formula that revolutionized planning, scheduling, network design and other functions integral to business, industry and government, died May 13 at his home in Palo Alto, Calif.

The cause of death was compli- cations from diabetes and cardio- vascular disease, his daughter said.

Dantzig was known as the father of linear programming and inventor of the “simplex method,” an algorithm for solving linear prog- ramming problems. His work allows airlines to schedule crews and make fleet assignments. It’s the tool shipping firms use to determine how many planes they need and where delivery trucks should be deployed.

The oil industry uses linear programming in refinery planning. It’s used in manufacturing, revenue management and many other areas.

Paul Keene, pioneer in organic farming

Washington, D.C. Paul Keene, 94, one of the founders of the U.S. organic food movement, died April 23 at Messiah Village Nursing Home in Mechanics- burg, Pa., not far from the farm where he launched the modern commercial market for natural foods.

No cause of death was reported.

Keene, owner of Walnut Acres Farm in Penns Creek, Pa., turned from teaching math to coaxing earthworms and beneficial insects back into the depleted soil. In the rich organic earth that resulted, he grew crops he processed and sold through a mail-order catalog. Before it was sold in 2000, the business had annual sales of $10 million.

While the Department of Agriculture was urging U.S. farmers to use new chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides, Keene spread animal manure, confident that healthy soil begets healthy food.