Barbara Campbell Cooke, 85, Widow of the Slain Sam Cooke, Is Dead

They were teenage sweethearts, but their marriage turned tragic, and when she married the protégé singer Bobby Womack, the publicity was intense and the boos were loud.

Gira Sarabhai, Designer Who Helped Shape Modern India, Dies at 97

The youngest daughter of an influential family of industrialists, she trained with Frank Lloyd Wright before returning to India and founding design institutions.

Melvin Van Peebles, Champion of New Black Cinema, Dies at 89

A fertile creative force, he wrote fiction and musicals but is best known for a breakthrough movie that heralded the genre known as blaxploitation.

Melvin Van Peebles, Champion of New Black Cinema, Dies at 89

A fertile creative force, he wrote fiction and musicals but is best known for a breakthrough movie that heralded the genre known as blaxploitation.

Sarah Dash, the ‘Glue’ of the Vocal Trio Labelle, Is Dead at 76

She brought her church-rooted soprano and high harmonies to the rock and funk powerhouse best known for the No. 1 hit “Lady Marmalade.”

Yolanda López, Artist Who Celebrated Working-Class Women, Dies at 78

She was celebrated for recasting the Virgin of Guadalupe in her own image as a feminist superhero — a young, strong, brown woman in running shoes.

Anthony Johnson, Actor Known for ‘Friday,’ Dies at 55

Mr. Johnson, whose other film credits include “House Party” and “Menace II Society,” died on Sept. 6, his agent said.

Reuben Klamer, Creator of the Game of Life, Dies at 99

He developed an estimated 200 toys and other items, including a phaser rifle for “Star Trek.” But his best-known product was a game for “literally everyone on earth.”

Jean-Claude van Itallie, ‘America Hurrah’ Playwright, Dies at 85

He was a central figure in the experimental theater movement for decades. His best-known work, a trilogy of one-acts, opened in 1966 and ran for more than 630 performances.

Bennie Pete, Bandleader Who Kept the Beat After Katrina, Dies at 45

A tuba player and the leader of the Hot 8, one of New Orleans’s high-profile brass bands, he brought music to his fellow citizens in the difficult days after the storm.

Peter Williams, 69, Dies; His Art Evoked Black Lives, Including His

His colorful works could be quite personal, or they could be blunt responses to police brutality or other news of the day.

Joan Washington, Dialect Coach to the Stars, Dies at 74

She taught Penélope Cruz, Jessica Chastain and countless other performers how to sound like someone else.

Ida Nudel, ‘Angel’ to Soviet Jews Seeking to Flee, Dies at 90

During the Cold War, she fought for the rights of others and waged a 16-year fight of her own for an exit visa to Israel. She finally won in 1987.

Cho Yong-gi, Who Spread Christianity in South Korea, Dies at 85

His mammoth Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul symbolized the explosive growth of the religion in the once war-torn country.

Antony Hewish, Astronomer Honored for the Discovery of Pulsars, Dies at 97

He received a Nobel Prize for his finding. Some criticized the prize because it was a graduate student in his lab who had first detected the signals.

Kaycee Moore, Actress in Black Directors’ Seminal Films, Dies at 77

She explored her characters’ inner lives in movies like “Killer of Sheep” and “Bless Their Little Hearts,” independent works that grew out of the L.A. Rebellion movement.

Jane Powell, Hollywood’s Girl Next Door, Is Dead at 92

Typecast from the outset, she was a star of movie musicals before she was out of her teens. But her big-screen career peaked when she was in her 20s.

Norm Macdonald, ‘Saturday Night Live’ Comedian, Dies at 61

Acerbic and sometimes controversial, he became familiar to millions as the show’s “Weekend Update” anchor from 1994 to 1998.

George Wein, Newport Jazz Festival Trailblazer, Is Dead at 95

He brought jazz (and later folk music) to Rhode Island, and made festivals as important as nightclubs and concert halls on jazz musicians’ itineraries.

Carl Bean, Gay Singer Who Turned to Preaching, Dies at 77

After recording “I Was Born This Way,” a club favorite, he entered the ministry and founded a church for the L.G.B.T.Q. community.