Linguist Michel Thomas dies

Michel Thomas, a linguist whose rapid-learning method for teaching foreign languages attracted some of Hollywood’s most glamorous names, has died. He was 90.

Thomas, who in July was awarded the Silver Star for bravery during World War II, died Saturday night of heart failure at his New York home, said his publicist, Bruce Bobbins.

Thomas, who said he spoke 11 languages, arrived in the United States soon after World War II. He moved to Beverly Hills, Calif., and built a reputation as an unorthodox but successful teacher of foreign language.

Saying that he could teach basic command of a language in a matter of days or a week, he attracted a who’s who of Hollywood clients over the years including Barbra Streisand, Mel Brooks, Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Bill Murray and Warren Beatty.

Thomas himself was an enigmatic figure who over the years recounted a number of astonishing exploits during World War II.

In July, the citation that accompanied his Silver Star stated that he fought with American troops as an attached member of the Army’s 45th Infantry Division. The medal was given to Thomas for his bravery in leading patrols in enemy territory.

According to a biography on his Web site, he left Poland as a child to live with his aunt in Breslau, Germany, graduated from the University of Bordeaux and went to Austria to study psychology at the University of Vienna. He was caught in the German occupation, however, and his passport was confiscated. He left Austria a stateless Jew and found his way to France. During the war, the official biography states, he volunteered for the French Army and served in the intelligence corps in Nice.

According to his Web site biography, Thomas was a U.S. counterintelligence agent toward the end of the war, was present at the liberation of Dachau and began collecting data on Nazi war criminals. The biography said Thomas infiltrated a group of Nazis who were planning a terrorist campaign and brought the leaders to U.S. Army justice in Germany.