From PEOPLE Magazine Click to enlarge
Track star Abel Kiviat, 99, the oldest living American Olympian, died of prostate cancer on Aug. 24 in Lakehurst, N.J. Kiviat, a silver medalist in the 1,500 meters in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, lived most of his life in obscurity. But in 1984, at age 91, he became a minor folk hero running the second one-kilometer leg of the Olympic torch relay from New York City to Los Angeles. When, for a photo op, he ran a block several years later, Kiviat said, "But what do you expect from a 95-year-old geezer?"...

Sofabed king Bernard Castro, 87, who patented the convertible couch in 1942, died of cardiac arrest on Aug. 24 in Ocala, Fla. An Italian immigrant, Castro converted a $300 investment into a $50 million dollar fortune by creating a sofa that could unfold into a bed....

Leonore Strunsky Gershwin, widow of lyricist Ira Gershwin and a popular Hollywood hostess, died on Aug. 20 at age 90 in Beverly Hills.

Dana Plato, 26, who played sugary Kimberly Drummond on the situation comedy Different Strokes (1978-84), was given a six-year suspended sentence on Aug. 20 for stealing $164 from a Las Vegas video store last February. Plato will be on probation for five years and must perform 200 hours of community service.

Joseph Simmons, 25, a member of the rap group Run-DMC, has been charged with raping a 22-year-old woman in his Cleveland hotel room after a concert last Aug. 9. The woman told police that she went to Simmons's room seeking an autograph. Simmons's rep said he plans to plead not guilty.

Give that man a yellow ribbon: Tony Orlando, 47, and wife Francine, 34, had their first child, an 8-lb., 11-oz. baby girl named Jenny Rose on Aug. 14 in Los Angeles. Orlando has a son, John, 20, from an earlier marriage....

Entertainment Tonight's Leeza Gibbons, 34, and her new husband, actor Stephen Meadows, 39, expect their first child next Valentine's Day. Gibbons has a daughter, Alexandra, 2, from an earlier marriage.

Tough guy Joe Pesci, 48, who won an Oscar last spring for GoodFellas and who played the short, watch-capped burglar in Home Alone, is being divorced from wife Martha after nearly three years of marriage. The reason—surprise!—is irreconcilable differences....

Julie Hagerty, 36, the flighty stewardess in Airplane! and soon to be seen in CBS's Princesses series, is reportedly divorcing her husband of five years, computer businessman Peter Burki.