253 stories by "Richard Anthony Baker"
An invaluable figure in the smooth running of showbusiness charity the Grand Order of Water Rats, John Adrian endeared himself to all who met him. He was a charming, courteous, helpful man, …
The days of the summer show, especially those staged on seaside piers, are almost over. One who championed their cause in the latter years was Robert Marlowe, who became particularly associa…
With superlative performances at the National Theatre and for the English Stage Company at the Royal Court, the work of actress Elizabeth Bell garnered such adjectives from critics with The …
All old-time variety acts had so-called 'bill matter' " short slogans that described them. Jackie Allen and Barbara chose Xylophonically Yours, an appropriate epithet for a fast-moving act t…
Widely respected among his peers, magician Alan Shaxon cruised the world presenting his act on luxury liners. In Britain, he was invited four times to stage shows at Buckingham Palace and wa…
When independent television arrived in Britain in 1955, Brian Cobby quickly established himself as a leading voice-over artist in commercials. He was heard extolling Surf washing powder and,…
Seeking neither fame nor fortune, Michael Marra was one of Scotland's most influential singer-songwriters. His talents were so eclectic that it was impossible to classify him. He once said t…
As well as composing music for radio and television, Peter Cork was an inspirational teacher who became a close friend of his most famous pupil, Dudley Moore. When he was a boy, his parents …
After adapting his style to many different forms of jazz, the trombonist Eddie Harvey took to teaching, first at the London College of Music and then at the Guildhall School of Music and the…
In an extensive range of acting work, John Clive is best remembered for a cameo scene in The Italian Job (1969), playing the manager of a garage at which Michael Caine's Charlie Croker store…
An underrated actor, perhaps on account of his modesty, Joe Melia was part of the original casts of two of Peter Nichols' wittiest plays, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1967) and Privates...
Clive Dunn, best known for playing Corporal Jones in the long-running BBC Television comedy series, Dad's Army, advising those around him "don't panic", has died in Portugal at the age of 92…
The actress Dorinda Stevens died on October 25, at the age of 80. Born in Southampton on August 16, 1932, she appeared in many well-known television series, including Fabian of the Yard, No …
Frequently lavished with praise by Kenneth Tynan, the most influential critic of his day, the actress Daphne Slater divided her career between Shakespearean roles and appearances in televisi…
One of the main presenters of TV-am's breakfast programme Good Morning Britain, from 1987 until it lost the franchise five years later, was Mike Morris. He had been with TV-am since the brea…
In one of television's most famous commercials, an elderly man is seen going from one second-hand bookshop to another trying to buy a copy of Fly Fishing by JR Hartley. He succeeds only when…
Before the days of BBC Radio 1, the appetite of youngsters for pop and rock music was supplied during the 1960s by pirate radio stations off the east coast of England, one of them, Radio...
After marrying into a circus family, Ken MacManus, with no previous experience as an entertainer, quickly established himself as a bareback rider, clown, animal trainer and master of ceremon…
Switching careers in midstream, Bernard Hunter started out as a singer and then learned to dance before becoming an agent, representing some of his clients into his late 80s. Along the way, …
The weekly television show hosted by the silky-voiced crooner Andy Williams was as popular in Britain as it was in America. Throughout the 1960s, Williams had a string of hits in the British…
In a film career spanning more than 65 years, Herbert Lom played an extraordinarily wide range of characters. But he will forever be remembered as the French police chief Charles Dreyfus, wh…
The fortunes of the little known BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra were transformed under the leadership of the conductor George Hurst. During his ten years at the helm, he turned the orchestr…
Almost as if to prove it did not bear a grudge, the BBC turned Derek Jameson into a national celebrity after he lost a libel action against a Radio 4 show. He was given television...The post…
American composer Marvin Hamlisch has died in Los Angeles after a brief illness, aged 68.
Television actor Geoffrey Hughes, known for his work on Keeping Up Appearances and Coronation Street, has died of prostate cancer at the age of 68.
