Joe Turkel, a gaunt-faced character actor who appeared in scores of movies but is best known for two of his final performances — as Lloyd the bartender in “The Shining” and Dr. Eldon Tyrell in “Blade Runner” — died on June 27 in Santa Monica, CA. He was 94.

He made three movies with Stanley Kubrick and was also a prolific television actor, with roles on popular shows like “Bonanza,” “Ironside” and “Fantasy Island.”

“I’ve had a hell of a career,” he told Blade Zone, a “Blade Runner” fan site.

Monty Norman, the British composer who composed the theme tune for the James Bond films died July 11. He was 94

Mr. Norman got his first guitar when he was 16. He performed with big bands and in a variety act with comedian Benny Hill before writing songs for early British rockers Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele. He also composed for stage musicals.

Mr. Norman was hired by producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli to compose a theme for the first James Bond film, “Dr. No,” released in 1962. The result was a twangy, propulsive theme that has been used in all 25 Bond thrillers.

Werner Reich was a 16-year-old imprisoned at Auschwitz, when he learned a card trick from Herbert Levin, a fellow inmate who sought to distract the young man from the horrors of the camp. That act of kindness and the instructions for the magic trick helped young Werner survive.

He survived Auschwitz, a death march, and a final few months of imprisonment at Mauthausen before U.S. Army troops liberated the camp on May 5, 1945. He never lost his love of magic, which had distracted him from where he was and what he saw. He would perform close-up tricks with cards and coins for the rest of his life. Mr. Reich died July 8 at his home in Smithtown, NY. He was 94.

“Mr. Reich never forgot Mr. Levin nor the gift of a simple card trick that provided a frightened boy with a momentary escape and a touch of humanity,” The New York Times said.

“It isn’t the value or the size of a gift that truly matters,” Mr. Reich said in a TED talk. “It’s how you hold it in your heart.”

Bruce Katz, who with his father started the Rockport Shoe Company in 1971 and established walking shoes as a vibrant footwear category, died on June 26 in Greenbrae, CA. He was 75.

In the late 1970s, Mr. Katz developed a comfortable, casual shoe that became the foundation of Rockport’s business. The company was a pioneer in the use of features like cushioned, removable orthotics (foot beds) to provide internal comfort and structure. In 1986, Reebok acquired the company for $118.5 million.

Then, 27 years away from the shoe business, he returned, starting the Samuel Hubbard Shoe Company, this time using more luxurious European leathers and advanced technology, with a continued emphasis on lightweight, casual comfort.

Bob Rafelson, an iconoclastic director and producer, was a central figure in the New Hollywood movement that jump-started American cinema in the 1960s. He died on July 23 at his home in Aspen, CO. He was 89.

Mr. Rafelson was best known for “Five Easy Pieces,” his 1970 movie about a classical pianist, played by Jack Nicholson, who spurns the bourgeois life to drift through California working as an oil rigger. Nominated for four Academy Awards, the film embodied the era’s anti-establishment mood and cemented Mr. Nicholson’s position as a Hollywood leading man.

Mr. Rafelson was also the man behind the success of “Easy Rider,” about road-tripping bikers who, as the tag line put it, “went looking for America and couldn’t find it anywhere.”

Even after he retired from moviemaking, he was often called upon to reminisce about the mythic days of the New Hollywood. In a 2010 video interview, Mr. Rafelson described his production company, BBS, as “a company that could go out and say, all right, now let’s get the maddest creatures we can find on the planet. They turned out to be some really first-grade wackos.”

The Shofar joins the membership in mourning the death of Charles Bogen, father of synagogue board member Nancy Torchio, on June 9, in Manhattan. He was 91. May the family be comforted by their many years of togetherness. Contributions to the shul in honor of Charles Bogen will be acknowledged to the family.

Morton L. Janklow, the New York literary agent who struck megadeals with publishers for best-selling authors, ghostwritten celebrities, several presidents, and a pope, and who influenced international book lists and the reading habits of millions for decades, died on May 25 at his home in Water Mill, NY. He was 91.

Mr. Janklow represented Barbara Taylor Bradford, Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steel, Judith Krantz. His agency also represented Presidents Richard M. Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, as well as Pope John II, whose collection of essays, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, was published around the world in 1994. Representing moneymakers as well as literary talents, Janklow & Nesbit (his professional partner Lynn Nesbit), eventually established a client list of 1,100 novelists and nonfiction writers, including the winners of Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, Academy Awards and other accolades. Many were well-known politicians, entertainers, historians, journalists and leaders of the arts and sciences.