Milestones

DIED. ROD STEIGER, 77, who won an Academy Award in 1967 for his portrayal of a bigoted Southern sheriff in the movie In the Heat of the Night; in Los Angeles. Over a 57-year career in film and TV, Steiger played a variety of memorable characters, including Marlon Brando's hoodlum brother in On the Waterfront and historical figures such as Napoleon, Rasputin and Mussolini.
DIED. JOHN FRANKENHEIMER, 72, director of 1960s film classics like Birdman of Alcatraz and The Manchurian Candidate; in Los Angeles. Frankenheimer's troubles with alcohol caused his career to suffer in the 1970s and '80s, but he made a comeback in TV movies.
DIED. WARD KIMBALL, 88, the Disney animator who first drew Jiminy Cricket; in Arcadia, California. Kimball began his Disney career in 1934 and was part of the team that designed a more expressive Mickey Mouse. He also worked on Pinocchio, Fantasia and Mary Poppins.
DIED. JOACHIM EGON FUERST ZU FUERSTENBERG, 79, a member of one of Germany's oldest noble families; in southwestern Germany. Fuerstenberg helped manage family businesses, including a brewery founded in 1470. Known for his passion for art and rare books, he sold a portion of his collection in 1992 for $24.5 million.
DIED. DHIRUBHAI AMBANI, 69, rags-to-riches founder of India's largest business empire Reliance Industries; in Bombay. Ambani amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune first through textiles, then petrochemicals and oil refining, now Reliance's core business.
SENTENCED. MOHAMMAD KHORDADIAN, 46, Iranian-born American dancer, to a 10-year suspended jail term, for showing videotapes of his dance courses to Iranian youths; in Tehran. Khordadian, who had been living in the U.S. since 1981, had traveled to Iran to see his ailing father. Islamic hard-liners condemn dance as a sin and a crime, and the authorities have barred Khordadian from leaving the country. U.S. officials made no public comment.
SENTENCED. IVAN NIKOLIC, 30, a former Yugoslav soldier, to eight years in prison for war crimes during the Kosovo war, in the first trial of its kind held in Serbia since President Slobodan Milosevic's ouster; in Prokuplje, Serbia. Nikolic pleaded not guilty, calling the proceedings a "political trial."
MARRIED. KING MOHAMMED VI, 38, to commoner and computer engineer SALMA BENNANI, 24; in Rabat, Morocco. In contrast to past royal nuptials, which were held secretly, the King announced his wedding publicly amid much celebration. The marriage to a commoner is a first for a Moroccan ruler and could help modernize the monarchy and lift the status of women in the country.
DIVORCED. RUDOLPH GIULIANI, 58, former New York City mayor heralded for his leadership following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, from actress Donna Hanover; in New York. As part of the settlement, Hanover will receive $6.8 million.