253 stories by "Richard Anthony Baker"
After starting out as a singer, the agent Malcolm Feld went on to organise major concert tours both in Britain and the rest of Europe. Over the past 30 years, he was associated with someR…
First as controller of BBC Radio 4 and then in a similar position overseeing Radio 3, Ian McIntyre stirred up enormous controversy. Changes he introduced earned him the nickname Mack the Kni…
As a stooge to his uncle, the brilliant comedian Jimmy James, Eli Woods played a part in arguably the most hilarious sketch in the variety theatre, the "animals in the box" routine. Stammeri…
A provocative revolution in British theatre in the 1960s was the aim of the American-born director and playwright Charles Marowitz. He helped to establish the experimental Open Space theatre…
Almost until the very end, the quickfire comedian Joe Goodman had his audiences roaring with laughter. One of his last jobs was to stand in for Freddy "Parrot Face" Davies at the British Mus…
A man of many theatrical talents, Chris Harris is best remembered by West Country audiences as a pantomime dame. During the 1990s, he wrote, directed and starred in pantos for the Bristol Ol…
Explaining the intricacies of classical music to a worldwide audience in a form of language that any layman could understand seemed just the job for Antony Hopkins. To undertake the task fro…
Although she trained as a classical ballerina, one of the favourite shows that April Olrich appeared in was the revue Wait a Minim!, which was staged at the Fortune in London from 1964 to 19…
Adopting an internationalist approach to ballet training, the Royal Ballet School director Gailene Stock was at the centre of controversy on more than one occasion. Although she produced gra…
It was typical of the mayhem they wrought that the opening night of BBC Two in 1964, in which Tony Gray and his brother Douglas were to appear as the Alberts, was blacked out by…
Undaunted by a serious road accident that left him confined to a wheelchair as a young man, Richard Broke carved himself an enviable niche as a television director, winning BAFTAs for his tw…
Angels investing in a new comedy, No Sex Please, We're British, written by Tony Marriott and Alistair Foot, must have groaned when they read the opening night's notices in London in 1971. On…
After being highly praised for her portrayal of the Jewish heroine in The Diary of Anne Frank (1956-57), Perlita Neilson was invited to star in Hollywood's film version of the play. But she …
Television viewers who assiduously follow EastEnders will recall the battleaxe Mo Butcher, played by Edna Dore between 1988 and 1990. Dore was highly praised for her delicate treatment of Bu…
He may not have been born in a trunk, but, as a baby, the American screen actor, singer and dancer Mickey Rooney slept in one. Although only 5ft 2in, he was far larger than life….
The star of the unlikeliest hit musical of the mid-1950s, Eleanor Drew soon came to realise that this was to be the high point of her career. The show was Salad Days, which ran for…
In turn both actor and dramatist, Roger Milner saw his best known play, How's the World Treating You? (1965) provide Patricia Routledge with her West End debut before it transferred to Broad…
An inquest into the death of the young actor Richard Gent has concluded that he committed suicide. Coroner Andrew Walker recorded that Gent, who was 27, had killed himself against a backgrou…
Compared with the cosy television police series Dixon of Dock Green, the gritty realism of Z-Cars, with James Ellis playing one of its leading roles, came as something of a shock. But within…
One of Blackpool's favourite entertainers, Richard de Vere presented magic shows at the resort's Pleasure Beach for 21 consecutive seasons. During the winter, he was a popular villain in pan…
One of the most respected and admired of agents, Morris Aza represented Roy Hudd for 50 years, helping him develop from a struggling young comedian to a leading comic actor with a huge perso…
One of the most successful pop lyricists of the 1960s, Peter Callander created hits for Cliff Richard, Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black and many other recording stars of the day. He worked mos…
A concert pianist who helped to establish the Leeds International Piano Competition, Marion Thorpe saw her fame based on her two marriages, first to the Queen's cousin, Lord Harewood, and th…
One of the longest-serving directors on Doctor Who, Christopher Barry oversaw the introduction of the doctor's arch-foes, the Daleks. Directing 43 episodes in all, he also worked with the fi…
Illusionist Richard de Vere, who ran his own show called Mystique on Blackpool's Pleasure Beach for the past thirteen years, has died while on holiday in Thailand. He was 46 and is believed …
