In Passing

Daniel Bell, social scientist

Cambridge, Mass. – Daniel Bell, a leading sociologist of the past half-century who wrote groundbreaking books about the demise of revolutionary politics and about the economy and lifestyle of what he helped label a “post-industrial” society, has died. He was 91.

Bell died Tuesday at his Cambridge, Mass., home after a short illness.

Bell was a teen radical who in middle age became an apostle of pragmatism. He is credited with at least two seminal works: “The End of Ideology,” which predicted a post-Marxist, post-conservative era, and “The Coming of the Post-Industrial Society,” in which he prophesied the shift from a manufacturing economy to one based on technology.

“Many people would testify to his influence, and I am one of those,” said Nathan Glazer, his longtime friend and fellow sociologist.

“He always had large ideas. He was enormously energetic and had an amazing memory of names and dates. And some of his ideas about what was happening to society were very much on target.”

Charlie Callas, comedian

Las Vegas – Charlie Callas, the veteran comedian who punctuated his zany, character-oriented comedy routines with a bizarre array of facial expressions and sound effects, has died. He was 83.

Callas, a resident of Las Vegas, died Thursday of natural causes in a hospice.

A former drummer for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and other big bands who switched to comedy in the mid-1960s, Callas once described himself as being “like a little kid running loose in the living room.”

The whippet-thin Callas, whose visually oriented brand of humor included celebrity impressions, was a regular guest on TV variety and talk shows in the 1960s and ’70s, including “The Merv Griffin Show,” Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” and the “Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.”

On television, Callas played Malcolm Argos, a reformed small-time thief and con man who helped with cases on “Switch,” the 1975-78 detective drama starring Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert.

Charlie Louvin, country singer

Nashville, Tenn. – Charlie Louvin, half of the Louvin Brothers duo whose harmonies inspired fellow country and pop singers for decades, died early Wednesday due to complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 83.

The unique sound of Charlie and his brother, Ira, was highly influential in the history of both country and rock and they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

Among their hits were “I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby,” which was No. 1 in 1956, “When I Stop Dreaming,” “Hoping That You’re Hoping” and “You’re Running Wild.” The brothers decided to disband their duo in 1963.

The Louvins influenced harmony acts from the Everly Brothers onward. Emmylou Harris had a hit with their “If I Could Only Win Your Love” in 1975.

Interest in his music resurged as Louvin reached his 80s. In 2007, his first studio album in years, “Charlie Louvin,” boasting appearances from artists like George Jones and Elvis Costello, was nominated for a Grammy as best traditional folk album.