Mr. Crocker said there was no conflict of interest in taking the Robert post because he did not deal with the company in his capacity as Western regional director.

"As a policy we do not like to see Armenians leave the Soviet Union," said Lori Titizian, the group's Western regional director.

"He was fantastic," said Sky Gallegos, who was Mr. Gore's Western political director in 2000.

Akira Kurosawa's samurai movies were an inspiration to many Western directors.

"We've had some surprises," said Rolph Wallenstrom, the Western regional director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

They hailed Peckinpah as a worthy successor to classic Western directors such as John Ford.

During the next few years, Rousselot worked as a management consultant and also served as Western regional director of the ultraconservative John Birch Society.

He became the Screen Actors Guild's Western regional director in 1966.

"A blown ligament is a blown ligament," Dave Meggyesy, the union's Western director, said yesterday.

According to Kavneet Singh, the fund's Western regional director, 75,000 to 100,000 live in California, though some estimates put the number at twice that.