Rod McKuen, 81, poet

NEW YORK - Rod McKuen, 81, the husky-voiced "King of Kitsch" whose music, verse and spoken-word recordings in the 1960s and '70s won him Oscar nominations and made him one of the best-selling poets in history, died Thursday at a rehabilitation center in Beverly Hills, Calif.

He had been treated for pneumonia and had been ill for several weeks and was unable to digest food, said his half-brother, Edward McKuen Habib.

Until his sabbatical in 1981, Mr. McKuen was an astonishingly successful and prolific force in popular culture, turning out hundreds of songs and poems and records, including the Academy Award-nominated song "Jean" for the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Sentimental, earnest and unashamed, he conjured a New Age spirit world that captivated those who didn't ordinarily like "poetry" and those who craved relief from the war, assassinations and riots of the time.

"I think it's a reaction people are having against so much insanity in the world," he once said. "I mean, people are really all we've got. You know it sounds kind of corny, and I suppose it's a cliche, but it's really true; that's just the way it is."

His best-known songs, some written with the Belgian composer Jacques Brel, include "Birthday Boy," "A Man Alone," "If You Go Away," and "Seasons in the Sun," a chart-topper in 1974 for Terry Jacks. He was nominated for an Oscar for "Jean" and for "A Boy Named Charlie Brown," the title track for a Peanuts movie.

Frank Sinatra, Madonna, Dolly Parton, and Chet Baker were among the many artists who recorded his material, although Mr. McKuen often handled the job himself in a hushed, throaty style he honed after an early life as a rock singer cracked his natural tenor.

His Lonesome Cities album won a Grammy for best spoken word recording.

Mr. McKuen is credited with more than 200 albums - dozens of which went gold or platinum - and more than 30 collections of poetry. Worldwide sales for his music top 100 million units while his book sales exceed 60 million copies.

When not writing or recording, he appeared on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson and other talk show programs, formed a film production company with Rock Hudson and toured constantly until he took an extended break in 1981.