Obituaries

Timothy West, one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile actors, has died at the age of 90, his family have announced.

He was known for roles on stage and screen including in TV sitcoms Not Going Out and Bedtime, dramas such as Bleak House and Gentleman Jack, and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.

A statement released by his children said the actor died "peacefully in his sleep" and was "with his friends and family at the end".

The actor is also survived by his wife, Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years.

In recent years, the couple had been followed in 10 series of Channel 4's Great Canal Journeys.

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West was born in 1934 in Bradford, the son of actors Lockwood West and Olive Carleton-Crowe.

He attended Bristol Grammar School, where his contemporaries included Julian Glover and Dave Prowse, who would later play Darth Vader in Star Wars.

West began his career in entertainment as an assistant stage manager at the Wimbledon Theatre.

He made his name on stage and screen in the 1960s, and BBC adaptations of Richard II and Edward II in the 1970s saw him reprise roles he had already played to critical acclaim in the theatre.

On the big screen, he played a member of the French intelligence service in the 1973 film adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal.

His lead TV roles included 1980s comedy-drama Brass, in which he played ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre.

He starred in Lynda La Plante's 1992 crime drama Framed, and was film-maker Frank Sheringham in 1994 children's TV series Smokescreen.

In Not Going Out, the British sitcom created by Lee Mack which has been running since 2006, West played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams (played by Sally Bretton).

West also appeared in seven episodes of Coronation Street in 2013 as Eric Babbage, while in EastEnders he played Stan, the patriarch of the Carter family, in 2014 and 2015.

Dick Pope, the legendary two-time Oscar nominated British cinematographer and longtime collaborator of auteur Mike Leigh, has died at the age of 77. News of Pope's passing was confirmed by the British Society of Cinematographers in a statement shared on their website earlier today.

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A keen still photographer during his youth in Bromley, Kent, Pope cut his cinematographic teeth on documentarian fare, including ITV current affairs programme World In Action, Pope first made a name for himself as the videographer responsible for shooting some of the most iconic music videos of the 80s. Having lensed everything from Iron Maiden's 'Women In Uniform' and The Specials' 'Ghost Town' to Madness' 'It Must Be Love' and Queen's 'I Want To Break Free', Pope's keen eye for visual storytelling and versatility behind the camera made him an obvious candidate to make the leap from shooting for the box to the big-screen.

In 1990, Pope shot two movies that changed the course of his career. The first was Philip Ridley's The Reflecting Skin, a beguiling, nightmarish, Lynchian coming-of-age movie about a young boy tormented by his own imagination in rural 50s America that remains perhaps the most evocative demonstration of Pope's painterly approach to lighting and ability to map out the psyche of a subject in the spatial composition of a frame. The other was Life Is Sweet, a richly textured and reverently shot slice-of-life drama about a working class northern family that marked the beginning of a fruitful, life-long creative partnership between Pope and auteur Mike Leigh.

Together, Leigh and Pope's symbiotic working relationship — both fierce artists committed to capturing the elasticity, electricity, and colour of life as it's lived on film — yielded a slew of landmark works. Naked, Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Happy-Go-Lucky, cinematography Academy Award nominee Mr. Turner, the extraordinary historical epic Peterloo... the list goes on. And, most recently, the duo made the critically acclaimed and sumptuously shot Hard Truths together, a movie which gave Pope and Leigh a long-awaited reunion with acting powerhouse Marianne Jean-Baptiste after almost three decades apart.

In between those many unmissable Leigh collaborations, Pope also worked with Neil Burger on The Illusionist, for which he gained his first Oscar nomination, Barry Levinson on Man Of The Year, and on many more movies made by the likes of Richard Linklater, Christopher McQuarrie, John Sayles, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gurinder Chadha, and Edward Norton amongst others.

Janey Godley, who has died aged 63, turned an early life full of pain and tragedy into a successful comedy career.

A tough upbringing in the east end of Glasgow was the thread which ran through her humour. Often angry, she specialised in wringing laughs out of the most unlikely material.

Her act mirrored the city that shaped her: working-class, foul-mouthed, simultaneously angry and sentimental. She delivered her comic broadsides at high speed, jabbing her points home like a street-fighter.

For her fans, she was one of them - and as her reputation grew so did her influence. The former pub landlady became close friends with Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister, after her videos voicing-over the FM's Covid press conferences became a viral sensation.

Geoff Capes, who competed for Great Britain in the shot put at three Olympic Games, won two Commonwealth titles and twice won the World’s Strongest Man competition, has died aged 75.

A family statement said: “The family of Geoffrey Capes would like to announce his sad passing today, 23rd October. Britain’s finest shot-putter and twice world’s strongest man.”

Capes was at the height of his sporting prowess in the 1970s, competing in the Great Britain team for 11 years, and racking up the largest number of athletics caps in history for his country. He became a household name after his track and field career was over, starring in the hugely popular Superstars TV programme which attracted 10 million viewers at its height and then winning the famous World’s Strongest Man title in 1983 and 1985.

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Guinness World Records posted on X: “In 1978, Geoff threw a standard 2.27 kg (5 lb) building brick 44.54 m (146 ft 1 in) at Braybrook School in Cambridgeshire, UK. His record has never been broken.”

The strongman was not limited in his pursuits by brawn and muscle as the other world title he held was the unexpected one of breeding budgerigars. He told the Guardian in 2003 of his passion for the birds.

“It all began in 1969,” he related, “when I was a policeman and went to deliver a warrant for non-payment of a fine. As I knocked on the recipient’s door, I saw lots of cages in the front room, full of birds of an incredible array of colours. I was intrigued.

“I went in and had a cup of tea with the owner, and spent an hour talking to him about his hobby. It was a shame that at the end of it I had to tell him I was arresting him.

Paul Di’Anno, an English singer who was an early frontman for the popular heavy metal band Iron Maiden in the 1970s and ’80s, has died at his home in Salisbury, England. He was 66.

Conquest Music, a label that represented Mr. Di’Anno, announced his death in a statement on social media on Monday. No additional details were given.

Mr. Di’Anno, whose legal name was Paul Andrews, gained popularity on the heavy metal scene in the late 1970s after he joined Iron Maiden as the band’s lead singer. He performed with the band from 1978 through 1981.

After leaving Iron Maiden, Mr. Di’Anno performed with other bands such as Battlezone and Killers and also played solo. He released his first career retrospective album, “The Book of the Beast,” in September.

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Mr. Di’Anno said in a recent interview with Metal Hammer magazine that he didn’t blame the band for replacing him with Bruce Dickinson, who would go on to lead Iron Maiden during its most successful years.

“In the end I couldn’t give 100 percent to Maiden anymore and it wasn’t fair to the band, the fans or to myself,” he said.

In his autobiography, “The Beast,” which was published in 2010, Mr. Di’Anno wrote that he also thought his band members had grown worried about his partying habits, a topic he wrote openly about.

“That was just the way I was,” he wrote. “I’d let off a bit of steam, have a few drinks and generally act as if I was taking part in a 24-hour party, which I honestly felt I was.”

Mr. Di’Anno suffered from health issues in the past few years, but he continued to perform shows in a wheelchair. He played more than 100 shows since 2023, according to his label.

Paul Andrews was born in Chingford, East London, on May 17, 1958. In “The Beast,” he wrote that he had an interest in music since he was young. He remembered skipping school once to see the band AC/DC, which he described as “just on the verge of becoming really big then.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17959083

RIP professor McGonagall

Kenneth Cope, who starred in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Coronation Street and the Carry On films, has died aged 93.

The actor made his name as the ghost detective Marty Hopkirk in the ITV supernatural detective series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), and he played Jed Stone in Britain’s longest-running soap opera.

Cope’s former agent Sandra Chalmers, of the Artists Partnership, shared a statement from his family that read: “Ken passed away yesterday peacefully in his sleep with his wife and family by his side.”

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A character actor, proud Liverpudlian and a loyal supporter of Everton, Cope began his career in theatre before his natural talent for comedy made him a regular fixture in the acting industry and a name across film and TV.

Speaking to the PA news agency in 1994, Cope said he had “happy times” making Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). He added: “I used to think people liked it because they were happy times when we made it. The sun was always shining.

“As a kid you wanted to be Superman, you wanted to be able to do things, to find the magic stone and rub it and a genie would appear. Randall and Hopkirk was quite escapist. There was a nice guy there who could do magical things.”

But it was Cope’s earlier breakout role as Jed Stone in Coronation Street that pushed him into the limelight during the 1960s. A thief and a charmer, Jed became the lodger and occasionally helpful friend of Minnie Caldwell, played by Margot Bryant – whom Cope would go on to present a tribute programme to in 1988.

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Cope went on to star in two Carry On films, Carry On at Your Convenience and Carry On Matron, and he also appeared in 1964’s Carry On Jack in an uncredited role.

James Earl Jones, the distinguished and prolific actor in films, TV and theater known for providing the voice of Darth Vader in "Star Wars," has died.

Trueman spent 20 years at Granada TV and while there he wrote and presented the TV series Cinema and conceived, produced, wrote and presented House for the Future.

However, he was best known for his work writing for the animation company Cosgrove Hall Films, particularly Chorlton and the Wheelies, some of the scripts for Count Duckula, and the original Danger Mouse episodes, which were voiced by Sir David Jason.

Cosgrove Hall Films Archive paid tribute to Trueman on Instagram, saying: “We’re very sad to hear of the passing of Brian Trueman.

“For many years Brian worked for Cosgrove Hall Films as writer, voice actor and narrator.

“Brian’s writing and humour had the unique ability to appeal to both adults and children, which contributed to the success of Cosgrove Hall series such as Danger Mouse, The Wind in the Willows, Jamie and the Magic Torch.

Tributes have been shared to a ‘great and splendid’ former SAS officer who helped free hostages in the siege of the Iranian Embassy. Warrant Officer John Thompson, originally from Liverpool, died yesterday, Saturday August 31, aged 82 following a period of ill health, The Mirror reports.

Mr Thompson began his military career with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers. He went on to serve with the United Nations before being transferred to a new role in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps for the Parachute Brigade back in 1969.

Half a decade later, having spent a year working in Korea, he was awarded the Republic of Korea Service Medal during a ceremonial parade. A pivotal role in his military career came when he joined Operation Nimrod, the SAS-led effort to free hostages being held by terrorists at London's Iranian embassy.

The soldier was part of the SAS A squadron that stormed the building in 1980 after being flown in by helicopter, firing gas canisters during a successful mission that killed five of the terrorists holding hostages inside.

Mr Thompson joined Boat Troop G Squadron the following year, and aided troops participating in the Falklands War for three weeks ahead of the Argentine invasion by gathering intelligence. Through the rest of the conflict, he helped target enemy troop patrols, and later retired from the service to work as a bodyguard in the Middle East.

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An ex-colleague remembered the soldier as an "all-round nice man" in a post on Facebook after his death was confirmed. They said: "John was the former regimental chief clerk at Hereford before he passed SAS selection. A great guy, splendid soldier, all-round nice man and a friend to many. RIP Always a little further."

Born in the small town of Sunne in Värmland, a province of western Sweden noted for its lakes and streams, he was brought up in the nearby and even smaller town of Torsby by his parents: Sven, a bus conductor, and Ulla, who worked in a textile shop. At 16 he made his debut at right-back for Torsby IF before moving to study electronics in Säffle, where he played for SK Sifhalla. Aged 25, and now working as a PE instructor in Örebro, he joined Karlskoga, in the Swedish second division. There he was coached by Tord Grip, who later become one of his assistants with England.

Grip passed on the lessons he had absorbed from two managers, Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson, who had successfully brought English tactics to Swedish football – particularly the 4-4-2 formation, with four defenders, four midfielders and two forwards. When the 29-year-old Eriksson was given his first coaching job, with Degerfors, he took that influence with him. After winning a divisional title, he was hired by IFK Göteborg, whom he took to league and cup victories before beating Hamburg in the two-legged final of the Uefa Cup in 1982, the first such success for a Swedish club.

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A few weeks into the following season, he resigned from Lazio to join England. His appointment, on an annual salary of £4.5m, was announced by Adam Crozier, the new chief executive of the FA. A moderniser, Crozier had been guided towards Eriksson by David Dein, a member of the FA council. As co-owner and vice-chairman of Arsenal, Dein had previously brought the French manager Arsène Wenger from Japan to revive the north London club.

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In January this year he announced that he had received a diagnosis of terminal cancer. In March he realised an early ambition to manage Liverpool when he was invited to lead a team of the club’s former stars in a 4-2 win over an Ajax team at Anfield. “Absolutely beautiful,” he said of the experience, at which he received a standing ovation.

He is survived by his partner, Yaniseth Bravo Mendoza, and her son, Alcides; by the son, Johan, and daughter, Lina, from his marriage to Ann-Christine, which ended in divorce in 1994; a granddaughter, Sky; and his father, Sven, and brother, Lars-Erik.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/20192096

His voice is still burned into my brain even now all these years later. Good childhood memories.

Roger Corman, the writer and director who helped turn out such low-budget classics as Little Shop of Horrors and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died aged 98.

Corman died on Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, his daughter Catherine Corman said on Saturday in a statement.

“He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” the statement said. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a film-maker, just that.’”

Across a career spanning more than 60 years, Corman developed a cheap and cheerful style that led some to refer to him as the “king of the B-movies”. His films were notable for their low-budget special effects and attention-grabbing titles such as She Gods of Shark Reef (1958) and Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957). Yet he also played a significant role in developing the talents of a number of acclaimed directors, including James Cameron and Martin Scorsese, and launching the careers of actors such as Peter Fonda, Robert De Niro and Sandra Bullock.

Bernard Hill, the stage, television and film actor who first became famous for his unforgettable portrayal of Yosser “gizza job” Hughes, has died at the age of 79.

Hill played the character in Alan Bleasdale’s 1982 BBC series Boys from the Blackstuff.

It helped launch a stellar career that included playing the captain of the Titanic in James Cameron’s 1997 film, and Théoden, king of Rohan, in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Field, who died on Tuesday aged 81, is perhaps best known for his decades campaigning to end poverty. But on the Wirral it seems almost everyone has other lasting memories of him.

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In 2017 he reduced other MPs to tears when he described how one resident said they had had a “lucky week” because their family had been invited to a funeral and so they could eat the food left over after the wake.

Three years earlier, Field had established Feeding Birkenhead, which brings together churches, food banks, community groups and other organisations to try to eliminate hunger in the town, one of the UK’s poorest.

A decade later, that pioneering initiative has grown to become Feeding Britain, which now feeds 100,000 children during the school holidays.

“We thought this was going to be a stopgap for people but it’s getting worse,” said Judy Mellor, 67, a volunteer at the community centre. “There are more people coming through our doors now than there have ever been. It’s horrendous.”

On a day when Birkenhead is in mourning, it seems impossible to quantify the number of people helped by Field during his four decades in parliament. The thought of where the town – and Britain – might be if it wasn’t for their former MP was almost too much for Mellor to bare.

“I wouldn’t like to think about that because it’s a frightening thought,” she said, close to tears. “Where would we be if it wasn’t for Frank? Where would thousands and thousands of people be if it wasn’t for Frank? It’s a sad day. We could do with hundreds more like Frank down there.”

The more standard obit.

Peter Higgs, the Nobel prize-winning physicist who proposed a new particle known as the Higgs boson, has died.

Higgs, 94, who was awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 2013 for his work in 1964 showing how the boson helped bind the universe together by giving particles their mass, died at home in Edinburgh on Monday.

After a series of experiments, which began in earnest in 2008, his theory was proven by physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern in Switzerland in 2012; the Nobel prize was shared with François Englert, a Belgian theoretical physicist whose work in 1964 also contributed directly to the discovery.

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Prof Peter Mathieson, the university’s principal, said: “Peter Higgs was a remarkable individual – a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us.

“His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come.”

Prof Fabiola Gianotti, the director general at Cern and former leader of the Atlas experiment, which helped discover the Higgs particle in 2012, said: “Besides his outstanding contributions to particle physics, Peter was a very special person, a man of rare modesty, a great teacher and someone who explained physics in a very simple and profound way.

“An important piece of Cern’s history and accomplishments is linked to him. I am very saddened, and I will miss him sorely.”

The London-born screenwriter, who had a stammer as a child, was inspired to write about the true story of how King George VI, on the eve of the Second World War, overcame his speech impediment.

Seidler died on Saturday during a fly-fishing trip in New Zealand, according to his manager Jeff Aghassi - US media reported.

Mr Aghassi said: "David was in the place he loved most in the world - New Zealand - doing what gave him the greatest peace, which was fly fishing.

"If given the chance, it is exactly as he would have scripted it."

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His other work included the 1988 biopic Onassis: The Richest Man In The World - starring Raul Julia as the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis - for which Seidler won his first Writers Guild award.

The same year Seidler co-wrote Francis Ford Coppola's comedy drama Tucker: The Man And His Dream.

Other projects included writing for the animated children's musicals The King And I, Quest For Camelot and Madeline: Lost in Paris.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13224427

One of the UK's most under-rated songwriters, in my opinion. RIP, enjoy the Death Trip

"Singer whose idiosyncratic performances helped the German band Can stretch the limits of experimental rock"

Saw him sing/speak/make noise at a 2 hour long improv set in a small gig venue in Yorkshire about 10-20 years ago, supported by a handful of local improv musicians.

After they finished the set, he individually thanked (and optionally hugged) every single audience member.

Science Fiction author Christopher Priest has died of cancer, aged 80, working until his final days on a biography of J G Ballard. The trade has paid tribute to the "humour, mischief and intelligence" of the multi-award winning novelist, journalist and critic whose work spanned half a century.

The 80-year-old died on Friday (2nd February) following a diagnosis of small-cell carcinoma in the summer of 2023.

Priest was the author of 18 novels, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and World Fantasy Award-winning The Prestige (Simon & Schuster (UK) in 1995 which was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film of the same name, directed by Christopher Nolan. He was published by several major publishers over his half-century career, across both fiction and non-fiction.

The Dad's Army actor Ian Lavender, who played Private Pike in the hit TV series, has died at the age of 77.

Birmingham-born Lavender was just 22 when he was cast as the guileless platoon member, in what was then a new BBC sitcom.

But it made him a household name, and he ended up spending 10 years as part of the comedy classic.

Lavender, who died on Friday, was the last surviving main cast member of the series.

Away from Dad's Army, he also acted in other TV comedies such as Yes Minister, and appeared on stage, including in The Merchant of Venice.

He also had a stint on EastEnders as Derek Harkinson, a role he reprised in 2016 for a festive storyline.

Carl Weathers, the actor whose credits include Rocky and Predator, has died at 76.

His family released a statement through his agent to announce that he died “peacefully in his sleep” on 1 February.

“Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life,” the statement continued. “Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner and friend.”

Weathers was best known for playing Apollo Creed alongside Sylvester Stallone in the first four Rocky films. Footage of Weathers was also used in the Creed films led by Michael B Jordan.

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Weathers then took roles in the next three Rocky movies, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1987’s Predator and the lead in 1988’s Action Jackson.

In the following decade he acted with Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore and went on to appear in Arrested Development as an acting coach and the voice of Combat Carl in Toy Story 4.

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His most recent roles included Greef Karga in The Mandalorian which scored him an Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a drama series. He also directed two episodes.

“I’ve loved my time on the show; it has given me an opportunity to be creative in a much more complete way than I had been prior to in other projects,” he said in 2021. “It has been a great experience, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.”

He is survived by two sons.

Benjamin Zephaniah, the British poet whose work often addressed political injustice, has died aged 65.

Zephaniah died in the early hours of Wednesday morning after being diagnosed with a brain tumour eight weeks ago, a post on his Instagram page stated.

“Benjamin’s wife was by his side throughout and was with him when he passed,” the post read. “We shared him with the world and we know many will be shocked and saddened by this news. Benjamin was a true pioneer and innovator, he gave the world so much. Through an amazing career including a huge body of poems, literature, music, television and radio, Benjamin leaves us with a joyful and fantastic legacy”.

More to come