2007 deaths

Henry David “Bud” Molin, A.C.E., (May 26, 1925 – May 21, 2007) was an American film editor and television director.

Peter G. Ossorio (4 May 1926 – 24 April 2007) was an American psychologist best known for his development of descriptive psychology, a pragmatic and theory neutral pre-empirical approach to the study of behavior. Ossorio in his 2006 volume, The Behavior of Persons, explicated the concept of "Persons" by creating a conceptual map of the interdependent concepts of "Individual Person", "Language", "Action", and "Reality". He described persons as individuals whose history is, paradigmatically, a history of Deliberate Action in a dramaturgical pattern.

Richard Scott Prather (September 9, 1921 – February 14, 2007) was an American mystery novelist, best known for creating the "Shell Scott" series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms David Knight and Douglas Ring.

Alexander H. Leighton (July 17, 1908 – August 11, 2007) was a sociologist and psychiatrist of dual citizenship (United States, by birth, and Canada, from 1975). He is best known for his work on the Stirling County (Canada) Study and his contributions to the field of psychiatric epidemiology. Leighton died at the age of 99 at his home in Digby, Nova Scotia.

Michael Blodgett (September 26, 1939 – November 14, 2007) was an American actor, novelist, and screenwriter. Of his many film and television appearances he is best known for his performance as gigolo Lance Rocke in Russ Meyer's 1970 cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. He retired from acting in the late 1970s and began a writing career.

Ruth McCue Bell Graham (June 10, 1920 – June 14, 2007) was a Chinese-born American Christian author, most well known as the wife of evangelist Billy Graham. She was born in Qingjiang, Jiangsu, Republic of China, the second of five children. Her parents, Virginia Leftwich Bell and L. Nelson Bell, were medical missionaries at the Presbyterian Hospital 300 miles (480 km) north of Shanghai. At age 13 she was enrolled in Pyeng Yang Foreign School in Pyongyang, Korea, where she studied for three years. She completed her high school education at Montreat, North Carolina, while her parents were there on furlough. She graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
The Grahams met at Wheaton College and were married in the summer of 1943, shortly after their graduation. Ruth Graham became a minister's wife for a brief period in Western Springs, Illinois. She lived out the rest of her life in Montreat, North Carolina. The Grahams have five children: Virginia (Gigi), Anne, Ruth, Franklin, and Nelson Edman (Ned), 19 grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren.
Graham wrote a number of books, including some co-authored with her daughter Gigi Graham.

Alfredo Ripstein (Alfredo Ripstein Aronovich) (December 10, 1916, Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico — January 20, 2007, Mexico City) was a Mexican film producer of European-Jewish descent. He is credited with helping shape Mexico's film industry in the period surrounding World War II.Ripstein also helped start the careers of several contemporary Mexican actors such as Gael García Bernal and Salma Hayek.

Chuck Cabot (né Carlos Guillermo Cascales; 16 May 1915 Querétaro, Mexico – 27 December 2007) was an American saxophonist and big band leader. The Chuck Cabot Orchestra launched in 1937 while Cabot (Cascales) was a student at the University of Southern California. He later transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles where he became a member of the legendary UCLA 1939 football team along with Jackie Robinson, Kenny Washington, and Woody Strode. In the early 1940 he was athletic coach at El Monte, Jefferson, and Hamilton High Schools.
His orchestra played to capacity crowds in the 1940s and 1950s in ballrooms such as Roseland in New York, the Palladium in Hollywood, and the Catalina Island Casino.
He co-partnered with Arthur Benson in the forming of Hollywood International Talents. He was instrumental in discovering and securing recording contracts for 'Los Nomadas,' the first inter-racial rock and roll band. He recognized the individual talents of the band's lead guitarist Bill Aken. (Adopted son of Cabot's friends Francisco & Lupe Mayorga) Changing Aken's name to 'Zane Ashton,' he was instrumental in launching the young singer/guitarist's solo career. He lived long enough to see his young protege inducted into the Musician's Hall of Fame as a member of 'The Wrecking Crew' in November, 2007.
Beginning in the 1960s until shortly before his death, Cascales booked performances for The Coasters, The Drifters, and The Shirelles. He also organized the Rolling Stones' first West Coast concert tour.Cabot and His Orchestra recorded on the Atomic label in Hollywood in the 1940s.
His brothers, Johnny Richards, Jose Luis Cascales (Joe), and Juan Adolfo Cascales (Jack) were also professional musicians.

Alfredo Zuany (21 July 1934 – 19 February 2007) was a Mexican professional boxer who competed from 1955 to 1961. and the former Mexican National Heavyweight Champion.

Silvestre Santana Herrera (July 17, 1917 – November 26, 2007) was a private first class of the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Mertzwiller, France, during World War II.
After he mounted a one-man charge on an enemy stronghold which resulted in the solo capture of eight enemy soldiers, his unit was again attacked by a machine gun placement across another minefield. Herrera again that day single-handedly took on the enemy. While crossing the second minefield, he lost one of his legs to a land mine explosion then the other leg to a second explosion. Unable to continue his 1-man advance and despite a severe loss of blood, he single-handedly held the forward position to provide covering fire pinning down the enemy with his M1 Garand. His accurate rifle fire allowed his comrades to overrun the enemy position in a flanking action clear of the minefield.Born in Mexico of Hispanic heritage, Herrera was the only living person authorized to wear both the Medal of Honor and Mexico's Order of Military Merit (First Class) at the time of his death. A legend in the state of Arizona, he was honored by the city of Phoenix officially renaming the portion of 3rd Street that runs from Indian School Road North into the park, "S. Herrera Way".