Howard Brodie | Combat, court artist, 94

Howard Brodie, 94, a noted combat artist during World War II who went on to sketch some of the most famous courtroom dramas of the postwar era, including the trials of the Chicago Seven, Charles Manson, and Patty Hearst, died last Sunday at his home near Parkfield, Calif.

Mr. Brodie was a staff artist at the San Francisco Chronicle when he enlisted in the Army during World War II. He was sent to the South Pacific as a combat artist and covered the last days of the Guadalcanal campaign.

After being assigned to the European theater, he sketched his way with the troops through France, Belgium and Germany. His work was featured prominently in Yank, the Army weekly.

He never carried a weapon, but he came under fire on several occasions and worked as a medic when necessary. He was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor.

After the war, Mr. Brodie established himself as one of the top news artists in the United States, working primarily for the CBS Evening News, which he joined in 1964.

His loose, spontaneous line communicated to newspaper and television audiences the high points in dozens of notable trials. He sketched Jack Ruby at his trial for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald and Sirhan Sirhan at his trial for the murder of Robert F. Kennedy.

He maintained a close connection to the military throughout his career. His last assignment, in the late 1990s, was at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert, where he sketched recruits undergoing training. While at the base, he suffered a debilitating stroke and could no longer draw.

- N.Y. Times News Service