OBITUARY

Paula Ertz, a popular singer and actress in musical circles of

Southern California and New Mexico, died Sept. 8 in a traffic accident in

Costa Mesa. She was 74.

Her beloved husband, Julian, also a popular performer and Newport

Beach lawyer who was a passenger in the car, suffered minor injuries.

A true Renaissance woman, Mrs. Ertz was a gifted actress, soprano,

artist, sculptor, inventor, health researcher and most recently a

co-producer of biographical documentaries. She was working on the life

stories of both the great jazz musician Lionel Hampton and Broadway

producer Hal Prince for Timeline Films. She was also putting the final

touches on her second invention.

Mrs. Ertz’s book on paper toling was years in the making and ready to

be published. She was also excited about returning to another love --

sculpting. Her sculpture of her noted father, Isidor Goldberg, is admired

daily by thousands of scientists and visitors to the Isidor Goldberg

Electronics Wing of Technion University in Haifa, Israel. Mrs. Ertz took

after her accomplished father as an inventor, always experimenting,

always researching, but early on took her curious mind, compassionate

heart and hauntingly beautiful voice into another world -- the theater.

Leaving New York in the 1950s, the Ertzes settled in Albuquerque,

N.M., and soon became popular performers in theater and musical theater

circles. Mrs. Ertz was known for her tremendous emotional range,

meticulous research and comedic timing, which enabled her to transform

herself into characters.

The Ertzes moved to Newport Beach in 1969, and Mrs. Ertz is perhaps

best remembered at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse for her starting role

in “Woman of the Year,” for which she received the Leading Lady of the

Year award.

Mrs. Ertz and her husband both served on Costa Mesa theater’s board.

Director Patti Tambellini said about her, “As an actress, she was a

charm, an absolute charm, also one of the most joyful and cooperative

actors I ever had.”

John Flynn, the Timeline Films director of “The Lionel Hampton Story”

that Mrs. Ertz was helping to produce, called her “a person of great

passion and persistence and clarity of vision that energized everything

she touched.”

Mrs. Ertz is survived by her husband, daughters Beth Ertz and Bera

Dortoni, sons Gary and Scott Ertz, and grandchildren Christopher, Jarron

and Ashley Ertz.

A musical celebration of her life and a reception will be held at 3

p.m. today at Golden Circle Church, 600 Golden Circle Drive, Santa Ana.

Memorial donations may be made to the BASTIS Foundation, P.O. Box

2712-344, Huntington Beach, CA 92647, and will help to continue her

charitable work.