This week: the founder of Taco Bell, a paratrooper whose story was told in Band Of Brothers, and Robert De Niro's landlord
ROBERT L McKay, who has died aged 86, was an architect who helped establish Taco Bell, the American Tex-Mex fast food chain which now has branches around the world.
It was McKay who designed the very first Taco Bell restaurant and, with founder Glenn Bell, turned it from a quirky food stand into a fast-food empire.
Bell opened his first Taco Bell in Downey, California in 1962, selling hard-shell tacos and other Mexican-inspired fast food. McKay designed the Spanish-style arched and tiled building that became the chain's signature look.
McKay eventually became president of Taco Bell, which had some 900 restaurants when it was sold to PepsiCo in 1978.
He went on to finance other businesses that invested in technology, consumer products, real estate and banking.
DONALD Malarkey, who has died aged 96, a Second World War US paratrooper who was awarded the Bronze Star after parachuting behind enemy lines at Normandy to destroy German artillery on D-Day. He was one of several members of Easy Company to be widely portrayed in the HBO miniseries, Band Of Brothers.
Malarkey fought across France, the Netherlands and Belgium and with Easy Company fought off Nazi advances while surrounded at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.
He was often praised for his actions during the war, and was presented with the Legion of Honour Medal, the highest honour awarded by the French government, in 2009.
Malarkey was haunted by memories of combat and the devastation of losing fellow soldiers and friends, although the release of the Band Of Brothers miniseries was cathartic for him and helped him come to terms with the emotional scars of the battle.
Malarkey was born on July 30 1921 in Astoria, Oregon.
He was a fresher at the University of Oregon when he was drafted into the Army in 1942 and volunteered to become a paratrooper.
He returned to the University of Oregon after the war, receiving a bachelor's degree in business in 1948.
Malarkey met with historian Stephen Ambrose in 1987, and in 1989 travelled with other members of Easy Company to Europe to provide oral histories of their war experiences.
Those recollections became the basis for Band Of Brothers and an earlier book with the same name written by Ambrose.
Malarkey was frequently asked to speak about his experiences and he lectured at West Point and made trips to Kuwait and Germany to meet with wounded soldiers from the Iraq War.
He remained close to the other surviving members of Easy Company and attended his final reunion in Portland, Oregon in August.
"You could look back and with great pride realise that you had done a very significant thing and acted responsibly in what amounted to saving the world," Malarkey said in 2012.
CHARLES Low, who has died aged 89, was a real estate developer whose friendship with Robert De Niro led him to an acting career that included a notable appearance in Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese's 1990 film about The Mob.
Low and De Niro developed a friendship after the actor became a tenant in a building Low owned in New York City. Low went on to act in several films, including Scent of a Woman, 'The King of Comedy and Once Upon a Time in America, and also appeared on the HBO series The Sopranos.
Low's most notable role came in Goodfellas, where he played wig salesman Morris "Morrie" Kessler. The character was stabbed in the back of his head
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