Los Angeles (AP) -- The Director of the U.S. Information Agency under Ronald Reagan has died at age 90.

Charles Z. Wick was born in Cleveland. He died Sunday of natural causes at his Los Angeles home.

Wick expanded American Broadcasts to Cuba and Russia while serving from 1981 to 1989 as head of the USIA, which runs the voice of America Broadcasting Service.

Wick took heat in 1984 when it was revealed that the usia had a list of 84 people who were barred from agency-sponsored speaking engagements overseas.

They included television Anchorman Walter Cronkite; Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader; and Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr.

Wick denied any personal involvement in the list, but said "political bias" might have had a small role in its compilation.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)