LAT: Ed Masry, Brockovich Mentor, Dies at 73

Ed Masry, Brockovich Mentor, Dies at 73
By Myrna Oliver, Times Staff Writer


Ed Masry
(Kim D. Johnson / AP)



Ed Masry, the flamboyant, crusading environmental lawyer portrayed by actor Albert Finney in the movie "Erin Brockovich," which was based on Masry's landmark $333-million settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for groundwater contamination in California's High Desert, has died. He was 73.

Masry died Monday night at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks from the complications of diabetes. On dialysis for several years, he had his right leg amputated above the knee in September.

Masry had been repeatedly hospitalized since March and a week ago resigned his seat on the Thousand Oaks City Council, on which he had served for five years, because of ill health....The lawyer sprang to national prominence when the 2000 motion picture chronicled his remarkable legal achievement along with that of his legal assistant, the real-life Erin Brockovich, portrayed by Julia Roberts. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards — best picture, director (Steven Soderbergh), actor (Finney), actress and screenplay. Roberts won the Oscar for best actress. Masry and the real Brockovich watched her accept it at Oscar ceremonies at the Shrine Auditorium.

The brash New Jersey-born lawyer and the brassy twice-divorced mother who wangled a job as his file clerk and later became his legal assistant were a perfect match. Together they waged the class-action lawsuit on behalf of 648 residents of Hinkley, Calif., near Barstow, who claimed that PG&E tanks contaminated their water supply and caused them to get cancer and other illnesses.

The film depicted some of the fierce arguments between Masry and Brockovich about the financial ability of Masry's small law firm to take on such a gigantic case. Both the lawyer and the clerk were known for their loud and frequent use of sexual epithets and four-letter words....


http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-120605masry_lat,0,4433579.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=morenews

was pretty amazing.

Glad he lived long enough to see his and Erin's work honored.

Rest in Peace, Ed.