Funeral plans are pending for world-famous sculptor Robert Graham, who died Saturday at age 70.
Graham was based in Venice and married to Academy Award-winning actress Anjelica Huston. He died at Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital from an undisclosed illness.
Graham made the 25-ton bronze doors on the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, and his monumental sculptures graced the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.
"Robert was an amazing sculptor who forever shaped the presence of sculpture art throughout California and the world. His work was truly influential and he will forever remain an icon in this state," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stated.
Born in Mexico City in 1938, Graham was educated at San Jose State College and the San Francisco Art Institute.
In addition to his well-known public works in Los Angeles and Washington, Graham created the Joe Louis Memorial in Detroit, honoring the boxer with a 24-foot bronze monument in the shape of a massive fist and forearm, suspended from a pyramid structure. Jazz giants Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker were memorialized with bigger-than-life sculptures in New York City and Kansas City, Mo., respectively.
Earlier this month, Graham was inducted into The California Museum's California Hall of Fame for his sculpture.
