Milestones

By Harriet Barovick, Ellin Martens, Janice Min, Sora Song, Heather Won Tesoriero and Deirdre Van Dyk

MARRIED. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, 40, Clinton adviser turned ABC pundit, to actress ALEXANDRA WENTWORTH, 36; at a Greek Orthodox church in New York City. Absent among the guests: the groom's former boss, with whom Stephanopoulos fell out after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

DIED. CHARLES CRENSHAW, 68, one of the doctors who treated John F. Kennedy's gunshot wounds; of natural causes; in Fort Worth, Texas. In his controversial 1992 book, JFK: Conspiracy of Silence, Crenshaw argued that the President was shot twice from the front in addition to having been shot from behind--suggesting the involvement of more than one gunman. The Warren Commission had found that a lone Lee Harvey Oswald fired from behind.

DIED. GARDNER MCKAY, 69, TV heartthrob who left show business to become a successful playwright; of prostate cancer; in Oahu, Hawaii. When his South Seas series, Adventures in Paradise, ended in the early '60s, he turned down Marilyn Monroe's plea that he appear in her never finished film Something's Got to Give. After living in the Amazon, McKay wrote dozens of plays, including Sea Marks, and the well-received 1999 novel Toyer.

DIED. TOMMY FLANAGAN, 71, refined, influential jazz pianist who accompanied Ella Fitzgerald for more than a decade; of an arterial aneurysm; in New York City. Born in Detroit, Flanagan developed his signature fluid yet concise style in the house band of that city's storied Blue Bird Inn before playing with Fitzgerald for the first time in 1956. In the late '80s he formed his own trios, recording the acclaimed albums Let's and Jazz Poet.

DIED. HARRISON WILLIAMS, 81, New Jersey's only Democratic Senator to have been elected to four terms, who lobbied for labor and education before going to prison for involvement in the 1981 Abscam scandal; of heart disease; in Denville, N.J. Last year President Clinton rejected his pardon request.

DIED. MARY KAY ASH, 83, flashy, homespun cosmetics executive who helped push Mary Kay Inc. to sales of more than $1.2 billion last year; of natural causes; in Dallas. She started her company in 1963 with $5,000, after her male assistant at a direct-sales company was promoted at twice her salary. "I couldn't believe God meant a woman's brain to bring 50[cents] on the dollar," she said. Famously generous, Ash rewarded her loyal sales force of 40,000 with minks, diamonds and her trademark pink Cadillacs.