Jay Kanter, whose long career as an agent to the stars — including Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly — and later as a studio executive made him one of the last of the generation of power brokers who dominated Hollywood in the late 20th century, died on August 6 at his home in Beverly Hills, CA. He was 97.

Among Mr. Kanter’s close friends was Mel Brooks. He joined Mr. Brooks, the director Paul Mazursky and a small group of other film industry insiders for a regular Friday lunch. The repast became legendary around Hollywood. He was there the Friday before his death, for a meal at Porta Via in Beverly Hills. Getting up after the meal, Mr. Kanter told his old friends, “See you guys next  week.”

Rabbi Shmuel Butman, who was the public face of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic sect during the antisemitic riots in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 1991, and who every Hanukkah for decades saw that possibly the world’s largest menorah was illuminated in Central Park, died on July 22 in Manhattan. He was 81.

The announcement of his death on the Chabad community website recalled that Rabbi Butman had written The Rebbe in Paris, a book about Rabbi Menachem Schneerson’s three visits to the French capital; published a weekly pamphlet called “L’Chaim”; written a weekly column for The Jewish Press; and hosted a weekly program for COL-live.com, the Chabad-Lubavitch website.

Charlie Moss, the visionary advertising executive who produced the stunningly successful “I ❤ NY” tourism campaign in the mid-1970s, died on August 5 at his home in Wainscott, NY. He was 85. By 1983, the New York Times said that $3 billion in spending by tourists was directly attributed to the campaign.

Mr. Moss also conceived Alka-Seltzer’s popular “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz” jingle and the “Flick your Bic” slogan for Bic lighters. He helped Braniff International Airways bring about “the end of the plain lane” and declared Tic Tac “the original mouth whack.”

Richard Simmons, the eccentric fitness guru known for his sunny demeanor and positive attitude, died on July 13 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 76.

His concept of fitness exploded in popularity in the 1980s, along with a nationwide fitness craze that included aerobics and Jazzercise. His videos became some of the most popular videos of the era. He also made regular TV appearances on talk shows. He also hosted his own talk and fitness show “The Richard Simmons Show,” from 1980 to 1984. The show won four Daytime Emmy Awards.

Audrey Flack, a pioneer of photorealism who became known for oversize still lifes crowded with color and detail, died on June 28 in Southampton, NY. She was 93.

In the early 1960s, Ms. Flack began painting from photographs. She went on paint directly over projections. She also bought a square-format Hasselblad camera, turned her bathroom into a darkroom, and learned to paint with an airbrush. In the early 1980s, she switched to sculpture.

Her “Leonardo’s Lady” (1974) was the first photorealist painting acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, and her work has been collected by numerous other museums. She and Mary Cassatt were the first two women to be included in the comprehensive textbook Janson’s History of Art.

Kinky Friedman, a singer, songwriter, humorist and sometime politician who with his band, the Texas Jewboys, developed an ardent following among alt-country music fans with songs like “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore,” and whose biting cultural commentary earned him comparisons with Will Rogers and Mark Twain, died on July 27 at his ranch near Austin, Texas. He was 79.

He toured widely in the 1970s with his band and solo. When the band broke up, he turned to writing detective novels. He also wrote a column for Texas Monthly magazine in the 2000s.

He founded a ranch for rescue animals, and ran Echo Hill Camp, inherited from his parents, offering it free of charge to children of parents killed while serving in the U.S. military. In 2004, he announced a run for Texas governor, also ran unsuccessfully for state agriculture commissioner in 2010 and 2014. He returned to music and writing at his ranch until his death.

Elaine Schwartz, who in 1982 was a founder of the Center School, a public middle school in Manhattan, as a way to introduce bold classroom innovations, then remained its principal for four decades — long enough to see many of those innovations become common practice in schools nationwide — died on June 24 at her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She was 92.

Many of her once-radical ideas are today the norm in education — students receiving narrative report cards rather than number grades, and being included in parent-teacher conferences rather than having to sit outside expectantly. One of her biggest innovations is its emphasis on theater arts: Every student is required to participate in two schoolwide shows a year. to help preteenagers learn to become comfortable with their bodies. “The confidence they gain is amazing,” she said.