Shu Uemura, the Japanese makeup artist who won acclaim in Hollywood and built an international cosmetics brand under his name, has died. He was 79. Uemura, who gained acclaim working with actress Shirley MacLaine on the 1962 Hollywood film "My Geisha," died of pneumonia in Tokyo on Dec. 29, according to a statement released by his company, also called Shu Uemura. Its products were mentioned in the film "The Devil Wears Prada."

Dr. P.K. Sethi, an Indian physician who developed an inexpensive, durable and culturally appropriate artificial leg that restored mobility to millions of poor people injured in accidents and by land mines, died of cardiac arrest Sunday in Jaipur, India, where he lived much of his life. He was 80.

Polish cinematographer Edward Klosinski, who worked with Oscar-winning director Andrzej Wajda, died Saturday. He was 65. Klosinski died at his home in Milanowek, near Warsaw, after being found during the summer to have lung cancer, the Association of Polish Filmmakers said. Klosinski worked on about 70 movies.

He was the favorite cinematographer of Wajda, who was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2000 for his lifetime achievement. Their work together included "Man of Iron," which chronicled the development of the Solidarity freedom movement and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1981.

Ken Nelson, a longtime talent scout at Capitol Records who produced dozens of No. 1 country music hits and helped push Buck Owens and Merle Haggard to country stardom in the 1960s, has died. He was 96.

Nelson died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Somis, his daughter, Claudia Nelson, told the Los Angeles Times.

A co-founder of the Nashville-based Country Music Association who spent more than two decades in charge of Capitol's country music division, Nelson produced upward of 100 No. 1 country hits, including Hank Thompson's landmark 1952 hit "The Wild Side of Life,"

NEWS SERVICES