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OBITUARIES
NATION
Richard Libertini, 82, The In-Laws actor
BY FRANK LOVECE
Special to Newsday
Prolific character actor
Richard Libertini, whose
black-bearded visage graced
dictators, rabbis, Polonius and
priests, died Jan. 7 at 82, his fam-
ily announced yesterday. A vet-
eran trouper who fought can-
cer for two years, he worked as
recently as two episodes of
NBCs Aquarius this summer,
playing the father of star David
Duchovnys character.
Among Libertinis best-known
roles are the manic Central
American dictator Gen. Garcia
in the 1979 comedy classic The
In-Laws, attorney Barry Slot-
nick in PBS 1988 American Play-
house production The Trial of
Bernhard Goetz and three roles
WORLD
Fashion designer Andre Courreges Billionaire Bob Oatley,
BY MARTIN WEIL
The Washington Post
Andre Courreges, the innova-
tive French fashion designer
whose creations spoke of the fu-
ture, symbolized stylistic free-
dom and provoked hot dispute
over whether he was first with
the miniskirt, died Thursday at
his home outside Paris, in
Neuilly-sur-Seine. He was 92.
According to the Courreges
firm, he had suffered from
Parkinsons disease for 30 years.
One of the most influential
couturiers of his time, Courreges
won fame for fitting out his mod-
els in attire that seemed to sug-
gest not past eras or conven-
tions, but a new up-to-date aes-
thetic, representative of the
Space Age.
In his most productive and cre-
newsday.com
ative years, the 1960s, he garbed
women in clothing that sug-
gested slipping the surly bonds
of earth and boldly going where
few costume creators had gone
NEWSDAY, MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016
before. He was also interested in
providing high-quality
ready-to-wear clothing, and at
one time, his name adorned
more than 120 shops across the
globe.
In the rarefied world of
high-end fashion, partisans took
sides as to whether Courreges or
British designer Mary Quant de-
served more credit for creating
the miniskirt in the mid-1960s.
According to the British
as part of the informal repertory
company of ABCs Barney
Miller. A member of the improv
company The Second City, Liber-
tini was a cast member of the
groups acclaimed 1970-71 Broad-
way production Paul Sills Story
Theatre.
He played characters ranging
from Mafia don The Godfather
in the satirical sitcom Soap,
to alien poet Akorem Laan in
an episode of Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine, to a Middle East-
ern sheik on Columbo to
Shakespearean roles in three
Joseph Papp productions.
Richard Joseph Libertini was
born May 21, 1933, in Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts, the son
of Esther and Rocco Libertini.
He graduated from Emerson
College in nearby Boston, and
Courregess clients included former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy,
and actresses Catherine Deneuve and Brigitte Bardot.
newspaper the Independent,
Courreges was the inventor of
the miniskirt: at least in his
eyes and those of the French
fashion fraternity . . . The argu-
ment came down to high fash-
ion vs street fashion and to
France versus Britain theres
no conclusive evidence either
way.
In either case, brevity was all.
While famous for baring the
knee, Courreges also encased
it, along with the rest of the leg,
in trousers. He was among the
first designers to popularize
pants for women and make
them a high-fashion item, ap-
propriate for formal and busi-
ness attire.
Another of his best-known
with MacIntyre Dixon and William Friedkins The Night
Linda Segal formed the coffee- They Raided Minskys (1968)
house act Stewed Prunes, and appeared in The Out of
which went on to play 280 per- Towners (1970), Catch-22
formances off-Broadway at Cir- (1970), Days of Heaven (1978),
cle in the Square beginning No- All of Me (1984), Fletch
vember 1960. That led to him (1985) and Fletch Lives (1989),
and Dixon being invited to join as Chevy Chases boss, Awaken-
The Second City, where he met ings and The Bonfire of the
future Oscar nominee Melinda Vanities (both 1990) and other
GETTY IMAGES / MICHAEL N. TODARO
Dillon. The two were married movies. His countless TV roles
from 1963 to 1978. covered comedies like The Bob
Billed as Dick Libertini, he Newhart Show, Murphy
made his Broadway debut in Brown and The Drew Carey
1966 playing Father Drobney in Show, dramas such as L.A.
Woody Allens Dont Drink Law and Numb3rs and genre
the Water. His other Broadway fare like Supernatural.
work includes Conversations His survivors include his son
With My Father, Sly Fox and Richard, with Dillon; a sister,
Honeymoon Hotel, one of Alice Langone; and a brother, Al-
three one-act plays in Allens bert. Libertini and Dillon had a
2011 Relatively Speaking. second child who died during Character actor Libertini
He made his film debut in childbirth. appeared on stage, film and TV.
WORLD
Wild Oats yacht owner
The Asscoiated Press
SYDNEY Bob Oatley, an
Americas Cup Challenger of
Record aspirant in 2014 and
AFP / GETTY IMAGES / PIERRE GUILLAUD
owner of eight-time Sydney
to Hobart-winning yacht Wild
GETTY IMAGES / BRENDON THORNE
Oats XI, has died. He was 87.
His death was announced
in separate statements yester-
day by Matt Allen, president
of Yachting Australia, and
John Cameron, Commodore
of the Cruising Yacht Club of
Australia. Oatley died at his
home yesterday of an unspeci-
fied illness. Oatley made a fortune
He began his working life as estimated at $1 billion as a
designs was the go-go boot, a 15-year-old office boy without coffee bean exporter.
which bespoke the joyous, qualifications and went on to
kicky enthusiasms of the 1960s. make a fortune estimated at $1 a series of Wild Oats and the
Although not all of them billion as an exporter of coffee impact of the Hamilton Island
chose the same styles, Cour- beans, a winegrower and the regatta has been unbeliev-
regess clients reportedly in- owner of the Hamilton Island able.
cluded former first lady Jacque- resort. Oatleys entrepreneurial suc-
line Kennedy and actresses His success allowed him to cess began in the 1950s and 60s
Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte indulge a passion for sailing when he exported coffee and
Bardot and Audrey Hepburn. A which began in small sailboats cocoa beans around the world
1969 photograph showed before he bought the 100-foot from Papua New Guinea. In
Nancy Reagan in a Courreges Wild Oats in 2005. 1969 he planted the first vine-
coat. Oatley became a generous yards in Australias Hunter Val-
patron of sailing, supporting ley, which grew into Rose-
the Australian Olympic sail- mount Estate. He sold the es-
LEGACY ing team. tate in 2001 for $1.4 billion.
Bob contributed so much In 2003, the Oatley family
Read recent obituaries, to Australian sailing over so bought Hamilton Island,
in memoriams. many decades, Allen said. which won the Cond Nast
newsday.com/obituaries He introduced many to the Travelers Best Resort in the
sport via his campaigns with World title.