Passages

Movie director Daniel Mann. 79, whose 23 films included I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955), Butterfield 8 (1960) and Willard (1971), died in Los Angeles on Nov. 21 of heart failure. In recent years he had concentrated on made-for-TV movies, including the Emmy-winning Auschwitz drama Playing for Time (1980) with Vanessa Redgrave….

Sonny Werblin, 81, the man who brought Joe Namath to professional football, died of a heart attack on Nov. 21 in Manhattan. Werblin, both a top-rank show-business agent and professional-sports executive, was a co-owner of the New York Jets in 1965 when he signed the 22-year-old University of Alabama quarterback for a then record $427,000 for Namath’s first year….

Eric Carr, 41, drummer for hard-rock supergroup Kiss—famous for their elaborate cartoon makeup and theatrical stage shows—died of cancer on Nov. 24 in Manhattan. Carr replaced original drummer Peter Criss in 1980 and recorded eight albums with the band….

Klaus Kinski, 65, the intense Polish-born actor best known for the maniacal characters he portrayed in films directed by Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo; Nosferatu, the Vampyre) died, apparently of natural causes, on Nov. 23 at home in Marin County, Calif. Kinski, father of actress Nastassja, also appeared in such mainstream hits as Dr. Zhivago and The Little Drummer Girl.

Singer Cyndi Lauper, 38, she of the rainbow tresses and Martian-inspired party dresses, opted for a short, unicolor hairdo and a more traditional look for her Nov. 24 wedding, in Manhattan, to actor David Thornton. Patti LaBelle serenaded the wedding guests.

Randy Jackson, 30, the younger brother of Michael, was sentenced on Nov. 20 in Los Angeles to a month in jail for violating his probation. Jackson—who had pleaded no contest last January to charges of beating his wife, Eliza Shaffy Jackson, 28, and their 14-month-old daughter, Steveanna—had been put on two years’ probation, which included his entering a rehabilitation program for domestic violence. He had failed to comply with the order and had allegedly continued to beat his wife.

On Nov. 20 rocker Billy Idol turned himself in to the West Hollywood police, who charged him with misdemeanor assault-and-battery. Model Amber Nevel, 23, alleges that shortly after she met him in a restaurant on the night of Oct. 11, Idol, 35, punched her in the face twice. The singer was released pending a Dec. 18 arraignment.

Emma Samms, 31, who played Fallon on Dynasty and The Colbys, is divorcing attorney Bansi Nagji, 26, after eight months of marriage….

British actress Sian Phillips, 58, best known to American audiences as treacherous matriarch Livia on PBS’s I, Claudius, and actor Robin Sachs, 40, have split after 12 years of marriage. Phillips had previously been wed to Peter O’Toole, who said in 1979 about the end of their 20-year marriage, “Of course it hurt—she left me for this young geezer.”