ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 10, 1996 TAG: 9607100077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
DUBBED "the king of torts," Belli represented famous clientele, but faced financial problems of his own toward the end of his life.
Melvin Belli, the feisty barrister whose clients ranged from Mae West and Errol Flynn to Jack Ruby and Jim and Tammy Bakker, died Tuesday at his San Francisco home. He was 88.
Belli had a stroke last week, brought on by pancreatic cancer, and he developed pneumonia three days ago, said his fifth wife, Nancy Ho Belli. They had married March 29.
``He was very happy, at peace,'' she said. ``In the beginning he was fighting. We finally told him to let go.''
Belli, who specialized in personal injury cases, was dubbed the ``King of Torts.'' His law firm grew to have offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Sacramento, the Monterey area, San Diego, Stockton and Orange County, Calif.
In recent years, he was hurt financially by his long fight over his 1991 divorce as well as Dow Corning's decision to file bankruptcy amid lawsuits over silicone breast implants.
Belli filed for personal bankruptcy last December, and his firm was being managed by an examiner, appointed last month by a bankruptcy judge who declared Belli ``unfit to run the store.''
``The Belli firm was to receive over $200 million prior to Dow Corning filing bankruptcy,'' Belli told the judge. ``That's the case that got us into trouble.''
Belli's client list also included Lana Turner, Tony Curtis and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
To admirers, the flamboyant attorney was a fighter for the little people against the moneyed interests. To detractors, he was a shameless self-promoter who inflated his own importance.
There was no disputing his potency in a courtroom, reflected in six- and seven-figure damage awards, or his impact on the law.
Belli was an innovator in the field of ``demonstrative evidence.'' His breakthrough came as a young lawyer representing an injured cable car gripman in the late 1930s. Over insurance lawyers' objections, he brought a large model of a cable car intersection and the gear box and chain involved in the accident to show jurors what had happened. His client got a big award.
To admirers, the flamboyant attorney was a fighter for the little people against the moneyed interests. To detractors, he was a shameless self-promoter who inflated his own importance.
Belli practiced at his elegant Belli Building, a renovated landmark erected during the Gold Rush. On the roof are a flagpole and cannon. When Belli would win a case, up went a Jolly Roger and the cannon boomed over the street, telling the neighborhood Belli had done it again.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB