Obituaries - Oct. 17, 1999

Louis Claiborne; Federal Lawyer

Louis F. Claiborne, 72, former deputy solicitor general who argued more than 60 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Claiborne served in Washington in the solicitor general’s office, which represents the federal government in court cases, from 1962 to 1970 and again from 1978 to 1985. In the intervening eight years, he moved to England to teach at the University of Sussex. He became one of the few American lawyers to be admitted to practice as a barrister in England. Born in Brussels to an American banker, Claiborne and his family returned to the United States in 1939 when the Nazis invaded Belgium. He was educated at the University of Louvain in Belgium, the Ecole de Sciences Politiques in Paris and Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. In the 1980s and 1990s, Claiborne practiced with the San Francisco law firm of Washburn, Briscoe & McCarthy. On Oct. 6 in Wivenhoe, England, of lung cancer.

* Josef Locke; Reclusive Irish Tenor

Josef Locke, 82, an Irish tenor whose colorful life inspired the offbeat 1991 film “Hear My Song.” Born Joseph McLaughlin in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Locke served with the British army in North Africa during World War II. After the war, his lush romantic tenor voice made him a superstar in Britain during the 1940s and ‘50s with such songs as “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen,” “Tobermory Bay” and “Hear My Song, Violetta,” which became his signature piece. In 1958 he was threatened with prosecution for tax evasion by British authorities. He fled to the Irish Republic, but rumors abounded that he actually had remained in England and was performing under the name “Mr. X.” Police arrested “Mr. X” for tax evasion, only to discover that he was not Locke but an impersonator. The “Mr. X” confusion inspired the well-reviewed film starring Ned Beatty as Locke. The tax-fugitive singer eventually paid his debts and returned to Britain in the late 1960s to resume his singing career. The film’s release launched a revival of Locke mania. He was flooded with requests to perform around the world and an album of his greatest hits catapulted into the British top 10. Locke turned down the offers to reignite his career and remained in retirement in the small Irish village he had moved to in 1971. On Friday in County Kildare, Ireland, after a long illness.

* Richard B. Shull; Stage, Film, TV Actor

Richard B. Shull, 70, a veteran character actor who was appearing in the current Broadway production “Epic Proportions.” Shull had a hangdog, Walter Matthau-like face made familiar through a long acting career in television, film and the theater. He was noted for his comedic ability. New York Times theater critic Frank Rich, in a review of “The Front Page,” described him as “that amusing character actor who looks like a bloated fish.” The same critic also singled out Shull’s performance as a priest in Christopher Durang’s dark comedy “The Marriage of Bette and Boo,” noting in particular the moment on stage when the actor fell on the floor to impersonate a strip of frying bacon. Shull received an Obie Award for his performance. His other stage credits included “Victor/Victoria,” “Minnie’s Boys,” “Oh, Brother!,” “Ain’t Broadway Grand” and “Goodtime Charley,” for which he received a Tony nomination. He appeared in such films as “Private Parts,” “Splash,” “HouseSitter” and “Garbo Talks.” On television he co-starred with Diana Rigg in the 1973-74 series “Diana” and played the klutzy Det. Alexander Holmes in the 1976 ABC sitcom “Holmes and Yoyo.” He died just two weeks after the opening of the Broadway comedy “Epic Proportions,” a spoof on the making of an extravagant biblical movie in the 1930s. On Thursday in Manhattan of a heart attack.