This week: a big-screen baddie, the diplomat who oversaw the handover of Hong Kong to China and the Russian Robert Redford

THE actor Powers Boothe, who has died aged 68, was a veteran of Hollywood who was best known for playing villains in the hit television show Deadwood, in which he played the ruthless saloon owner Cy Tolliver.

He also appeared in successful films such as Tombstone, Sin City and The Avengers. In Tombstone, he was the rustler Curly Bill Brocius; in Sin City, he was the corrupt politician who controls the city; and in The Avengers, he was Gideon Malick, one of the leaders of a criminal organisation.

He was born in Texas where his father was a rancher and first became interested in acting while still at high school. After studying the subject at university, his first experience was in Shakespearean roles on stage.

His first movie role was in The Goodbye Girl in 1977, but the following year he had a bigger role in Cruising, in which Al Pacino plays a detective going undercover in gay bars to find a serial killer.

On television, Boothe then found success playing the cult leader Jim Jones in the TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story Of Jim Jones, for which he won an Emmy. He said he always preferred to play the bad guys because they last longer in people's minds.

Boothe, who died of natural causes at home in Los Angeles, is survived by his wife and four children.

THE Chinese diplomat and politician Qian Qichen, who has died aged 89, was a former foreign minister and vice premier who oversaw the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China.

The Shanghai-born veteran diplomat was chairman of a committee China appointed to prepare for Hong Kong's change of sovereignty in 1997.

Qian was also the country's top foreign affairs official in 2001 when relations with the United States took a steep downturn after a US Navy surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea. The Chinese plane crashed, killing the pilot.

Qian's diplomatic career started in 1955 when he worked in the Chinese Embassy in Moscow, returning home in 1963. He then worked his way up through the ranks and was appointed foreign minister in 1988 when |China was making efforts to build bridges with the West and the Soviet Union. After the brutal suppression of protest in and around Tiananmen Square, it was Qian who led negotiations with the United States in an attempt to normalise relations.

He was promoted to vice premier in 1993 and in 1998 joined the Politburo, a rare honour for a career diplomat.

THE actor Oleg Vidov, who has died aged 73, was a matinee idol in the Soviet Union who defected to the United States at the height of the Cold War and then enjoyed a long acting career in Hollywood. He was sometimes referred to as the "Russian Robert Redford".

The blond, blue eyed film star's movie hero roles made him a top Russian box office draw through the 1970s.

In 1985 he orchestrated an escape to the West through Yugoslavia and landed in California.

He appeared in films including Red Heat with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wild Orchid with Mickey Rourke.

Later he became a producer and restored Russian animated films dating back to the 1930s.

His wife Joan Borsten Vidov said he died at their home near Los Angeles of complications from cancer.