253 stories by "Richard Anthony Baker"
A female impersonator of the first order, Ken Gibson appeared regularly in theatres and clubs all over Britain. He was a stalwart of summer shows and the mainstay of countless pantomimes as …
An actress whose television career lasted for nearly 50 years, Iris Russell made her most notable impact in the pioneering medical soap Emergency " Ward 10 (1957-67), in which she played a m…
The longest-serving presenter on BBC Newcastle, the radio station covering Tyne and Wear, Frank Wappat won two Sony awards, the first for a documentary uncovering the truth about the popular…
In a diverse career that combined acting, writing and theatre management, Margery Mason made acclaimed appearances in television and film, toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company and ran h…
In the dying years of the variety theatre, the Singing Scott Brothers were a popular Glaswegian-based close harmony act, the eldest of whom was Harry. Although they were brothers in real lif…
The cult musical The Rocky Horror Show dominated the career of Christopher Malcolm. He played Brad Majors in the original production in 1973, singing Dammit it, Janet!; Over at the Frankenst…
Both glamorous and versatile, the actress Anna Nicholas was almost constantly in demand. She was particularly suited to musicals and appeared in a number of West End productions. The daughte…
A reviewer with The Stage, Hugh Homan came to writing after directing plays at a grammar school in Chelmsford. His love of theatre began when he was a schoolboy in north London. In school dr…
As one of the most prominent faces of the Swinging Sixties, Samantha Juste gained her fame through the unlikeliest of tasks. On BBC Television's Top of the Pops, she sat alongside DJs includ…
After starting her career in a starring cinema role, the actress Lisa Daniely went on to play crucial parts in two television series and write a one-woman show that she presented at the Edin…
After directing the much-derided soap opera Crossroads, Alan Coleman helped to launch the careers of a number of television writers. Once he had emigrated to Australia, he produced the hit s…
Working for both television and the cinema, the director and producer Alan Bridges reached the pinnacle of his career with the feature film The Hireling (1973), based on a novel by LP Hartle…
As the founder of broadcasting campaigner Voice of the Listener and Viewer, Jocelyn Hay was admired as much by producers of programmes on radio and television as she was by her association's…
Although a highly respected Shakespearean actor, Jerome Willis will be chiefly remembered as the deputy governor of the fictional Stone Park prison in Within These Walls (1974-78), a London …
The first lady of musical theatre in South Africa, Joan Brickhill was nominated for a Tony award for the 1990 Broadway adaptation of the Judy Garland movie Meet Me in St Louis. In her native…
After playing the lead in Lennon " a Legend Reborn (1985) at the old Astoria theatre in London, Jonathan Barlow went on to be cast two years later as a boyfriend of the much-married Coronati…
The one-time principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado, also served at different times as the director of music with two of the world's most famous opera houses, L…
In spite of making countless appearances in films and on television, John Horsley was destined to be remembered for just one role, that of the incompetent medic Doc Morrissey in Leonard Ross…
A master of the talent show, Rex Graham became known as Mr Giveaway for comedy shows he presented in which distributed goods, including Dewar's whisky, Double Diamond beer, Weetabix, Ridgway…
The scope of Geoffrey Wheeler's talents as a broadcaster is best exemplified by his presentation of two very different television shows " Songs of Praise, the world's longest-running religio…
A one-time hairdresser who went on to win plaudits for producing the controversial musical Jerry Springer " The Opera, Allan McKeown was one of the wealthiest men in showbusiness. He and his…
From the satire boom of the 1960s to the heyday of the impressionist Rory Bremner 40 years later, John Fortune was a leading figure in television comedy. He was at his best working with John…
John Fortune, the comedian and satirist best known for his television work with Rory Bremner and John Bird, has died at the age of 74. His agent, Vivienne Clore, said he passed away on New...
Television and theatre producer Allan McKeown has died of prostate cancer in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve at the age of 67. His production company, Witzend, made the cinema adaptation of Ron…
A man of many talents, Austin John Marshall was crucial to the revival of English folk music during the 1960s. He was best known as the producer of several albums by his wife, Shirley Collin…
