Final Chapters: Glen Campbell, Barbara Cook, Haruo Nakajima, Don Baylor, Darren Daulton

▪ Glen Campbell, the affable superstar singer of “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Wichita Lineman” whose appeal spanned country, pop, television and movies, died at 81. Campbell announced in June 2011 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and that it was in its early stages at that time. “Glen is one of the greatest voices there ever was in the business and he was one of the greatest musicians,” said Dolly Parton in a video statement. “He was a wonderful session musician as well. A lot of people don’t realize that. But he could play anything and he could play it really well.”

▪ Barbara Cook, 89, the Tony Award-winning soprano who in 1957 originated the career-making Broadway role of Marian the librarian in “The Music Man” and whose later concert and cabaret performances clinched her reputation as one of the world’s leading performers of theater songs, died Aug. 8 at her home in Manhattan. Cook’s life and career were marked by extremely sharp reversals. Early success as a pert blond Broadway ingenue were followed by years of near-unemployability as she battled weight issues and alcoholism. A professional life that seemed washed up for good turned around with a 1975 comeback concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

▪ Haruo Nakajima, the Japanese actor who played the movie monster Godzilla in a dozen films and whose booming steps in a 200-pound rubber suit sent the denizens of Tokyo running into cinematic history, died Monday. He was 88. In 1954, Nakajima, then a 25-year-old stunt actor who had previously appeared in just four movies, was cast in what are perhaps Japan’s two most famous films of that era. In Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, “Seven Samurai,” Nakajima had only a bit part. But in “Godzilla,” he played the titular character: a gigantic, irradiated lizard whose mutated form and destructive power symbolized the potency of nuclear weapons. Godzilla kicked off Japan’s golden age of tokusatsu, or “special-filming” movies, in which rubber-costumed actors typically destroyed scale-model sets.

▪ Don Baylor, 68, a respected outfielder and designated hitter who won the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1979 and mastered the peculiar art of being hit by a pitch, died on Monday in Austin, Texas. Baylor played for six teams over 19 seasons, including the 1987 World Series champion Minnesota Twins. He also managed the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs.

▪ Darren Daulton, 55, a three-time All-Star catcher who led a ragtag Philadelphia Phillies team to an improbable pennant in 1993, died Sunday at his home in Clearwater, Florida. Daulton, who was given a plaque on the Phillies’ Wall of Fame in 2010, started his major league career with Philadelphia in 1983 and stayed with the organization until 1997, when he was traded to the Florida Marlins. He helped the Marlins beat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series that year, hitting .389 in the Series.

This story was originally published August 12, 2017 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Final Chapters: Glen Campbell, Barbara Cook, Haruo Nakajima, Don Baylor, Darren Daulton."