S. Mark Taper, Housing Developer

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - S. Mark Taper, a financier and developer who built thousands of homes for soldiers returning from World War II and later donated millions to the arts, has died of a heart attack. He was 92.

Mr. Taper, who died Thursday at his home, contributed the money that built the Los Angeles Music Center's Mark Taper Forum, a theater-in-the-round.

He also funded the first gallery for modern works at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and was a major contributor to the University of California at Los Angeles.

Mr. Taper was born in Poland in 1901 and began his business career in England with a chain of five shoe stores.

He later became a successful home developer and investor, and in the late 1930s brought his family to California. Mr. Taper later became a U.S. citizen.

The Tapers devoted some of their wealth to bringing hundreds of Catholic and Jewish children out of Nazi Germany.

During Southern California's post-World War II housing boom, Mr. Taper built suburban housing for returning GIs in Long Beach and the Los Angeles area. In all, he built 35,000 low- and middle-income homes.

Mr. Taper's wife, Amelia, died in 1958. He later married actress Roberta Gale. They divorced within eight months.

Funeral plans weren't immediately announced.