NOTEWORTHY DEATHS

— Longtime British soap opera actor

LONDON - Actor

Bill Tarmey, who for 30 years played lovable rogue Jack Duckworth on the British soap opera Coronation Street, died Friday at the age of 71, the show’s producers said.

Tarmey died on the Spanish island of Tenerife. He hadbeen in poor health for many years with heart problems and other ailments.

“I could make it easier on myself. I could give up smoking. I could go and sit in a rocking chair,” Tarmey once said. “But that wouldn’t be me. That would killme sooner than the old ticker would.”

Work-shy, pigeon-fancying Jack and his tart-tongued wife Vera, played by Liz Dawn, were among the longest-running characters on the soap, which is set in a working-class town in northwest England. Their rocky but enduring relationship was at the emotional heart of the fictional community of Weatherfield.

Tarmey was a former laborer and nightclub singer who first appeared on CoronationStreet in 1977 as an extra. He was made a regular two years later and stayed until 2010. About 11 million people watched his final episode, in which Jack died peacefully in his armchair.

Coronation Street has fans around the globe - including rapper Snoop Lion,who recorded a message to mark its 50th anniversary in 2010.

Tarmey is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Tuskegee Airman, educator, 95

TUSKEGEE, Ala. - Retired Lt. Col.

Herbert Eugene Carter, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen who broke color barriers in World War II, has died after a long career in aviation and education.

Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford said Carter died Thursday afternoon at East Alabama Medical Center in nearby Opelika. He was 95.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black aviators in the U.S. military. During World War II they were trained as a segregated unit in central Alabama at Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University. Carter was in the first group that trained for the 99th Fighter Squadron.

After being admitted tothe Army Air Corps, they were prohibited from fighting alongside white counterparts and faced severe prejudice, yet went on to become one of World War II’s most respected fighter squadrons.

Carter flew 77 missions and crashed-landed only once.

After the war, Carter served as a professor of air science and Air Force ROTC commander at Tuskegee University from 1950-1955 and as professor of aerospace studies from 1965-1969.

Last year, Carter was one of the Tuskegee Airmen who helped producer George Lucas celebrate the opening of his movie about the pilots, Red Tails.

Carter’s wife, Mildred Hemmons Carter, also was a pilot. She died in October 2011.

Arkansas, Pages 11 on 11/10/2012

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