SERVICE SET FOR EDITOR EUGENE VIER.Byline: - Staff and Wire Services A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday for Eugene Vier, a copy editor, author and tennis-loving denizen An inhabitant of a particular place. A "denizen of the Internet" is a person who frequently uses the Web or other Internet facilities. of the Hollywood celebrity scene, who was rumored to be an inspiration for Peter Falk's TV detective ``Columbo.'' Vier died Monday night at age 80 of cancer of the esophagus. He had been admitted 11 days earlier to a Hollywood hospice. Vier worked as a copy editor for the Los Angeles Daily News The Daily News of Los Angeles, also known as the Los Angeles Daily News, is the second largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is published by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which owns eight other Southern California newspapers , Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Morning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). , Guardian of London, New York Daily News New York Daily News Morning daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson and his cousin Robert McCormick as a subsidiary of the Tribune Co. of Chicago. The first successful tabloid-format newspaper in the U.S. and New York Times (Paris Edition). He also did occasional film, theater and book criticism for the Los Angeles Daily News. ``He was the smartest person I knew,'' said his niece, Minerva Vier. ``He was a social butterfly. It amazed me in the beginning how many friends he had.'' A one-time tennis coach, he also wrote the book ``Tennis: Myth and Method,'' with former tennis champion Ellsworth Vines. Falk has alternately denied and affirmed that Vier was a model for Columbo, but Columbo's dress, mannerisms and speech patterns were vintage Vier. Vier was born June 10, 1925, to a wealthy Detroit family that later lost its money in the Great Depression. Vier was also a fixture on the coffeehouse scene in 1960s Hollywood and became part of the circle around Doug Weston, founder of The Troubadour, from which much of the music scene in Los Angeles evolved. He was an inveterate inveterate /in·vet·er·ate/ (-vet´er-at) confirmed and chronic; long-established and difficult to cure. in·vet·er·ate adj. 1. Firmly and long established; deep-rooted. 2. conversationalist con·ver·sa·tion·al·ist also con·ver·sa·tion·ist n. One given to or skilled at conversation. conversationalist Noun a person with a specified ability at conversation: and intellectual - a trait inherited from his father and grandfather, who had taught philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris. According to friends, he once whispered in gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown's ear at Dan Tana's, a favorite hangout of both men, ``Listen, you got it wrapped up. Just keep your mouth shut and you can't lose.'' Brown supposedly acknowledged this wisdom with a nod. ``He was part of the family here,'' Craig Susser, the maitre d' at Dan Tana's, said Wednesday. ``He knew everybody and everybody liked him. The reason he had such a depth of knowledge is because he was always asking questions and always interested in other people.'' Services are scheduled at 11 a.m. Friday at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. It is adjacent to the north wall, or back, of Paramount Studios, who, with RKO Studios, bought 40 acres by 1920. , 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. He is survived by his 89-year-old sister, Melanie of Dearborn, Mich., who shared his love of tennis. ``He was my baby brother,'' she said. ``He was my favorite.'' |
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