BETO CARRERO, 70 Latin American country singer

Beto Carrero, a former country singer who built what is billed as Latin America's biggest theme park, died Friday.

Mr. Carrero, whose given name was Joao Batista Sergio Murad, died of heart problems while undergoing related surgery, Sirio Libanes Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, announced.

Beto Carrero World, which includes an amusement park and a zoo with 700 animals, opened in 1991. It covers more than five square miles in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

Mr. Carrero was born into a poor family in the southeastern city of Sao Jose do Rio Preto and worked as a country musician, radio announcer and ad salesman before starting an advertising agency and, eventually, his theme park.

LOVIE YANCEY, 96

Founder of restaurant chain

Lovie Yancey, founder of the popular Fatburger restaurant chain known for huge burgers and music blasting from jukeboxes, has died.

Ms. Yancey, who started with a hamburger stand in Los Angeles and saw it expand to more than 90 locations across the country and overseas, died Jan. 26, Fatburger's parent owner Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc. said in a statement.

In 1947, Ms. Yancey opened her first stand with a partner, calling it Mr. Fatburger. They parted ways five years later, and Ms. Yancey changed the business name to Fatburger with sights on expanding it. For her efforts, Ms. Yancey was recognized as a trailblazing black businesswoman of her time.