Obituaries
Sir Bernard Feilden: Dynamic architect who led the post-war conservation of British cathedrals
Bernard Feilden was an outstanding leader in the post-war conservation movement. St Paul's Cathedral, St Giles' High Kirk in Edinburgh, York Minster and Norwich Cathedral, all complex buildings, owe their continuing power to inspire in part to the courage and skill of Feilden and his partners in the firm he created, Feilden and Mawson of Norwich, London and Cambridge.
Inside Obituaries
Irving Brecher: Prolific comedy writer who scripted two films for the Marx Brothers
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Known in comedy circles as the "undisputed king of all gag men, living or dead", Irving Brecher was admired by such figures as S.J. Perelman and Groucho Marx for his lightning wit. A prolific writer for radio and television, he also worked on classic screen musicals including Meet Me in St Louis, and wrote, unaided, two films for the Marx Brothers.
Sir John Page: Loyal Conservative backbencher known for his trenchant views
Thursday, 20 November 2008
John Page spent more than a quarter of a century in the House of Commons as a Conservative MP, and in 1984 he was rewarded for his loyalty to successive leaders with a knighthood. Apart from a brief spell as PPS to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Home Office, from 1961 to 1963, he seemed to content to remain on the back benches. Throughout, he voiced the kind of right-wing attitudes that went down well with Tory activists in the suburbs, but did so with a good humour that made him popular in the House.
Jonathan Bates: Award-winning sound editor who became closely associated with the films of Lord Attenborough
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Jonathan Bates was a brilliant sound editor who won two Bafta awards and an Oscar nomination for his outstanding contributions to cinema.
Nigel Plews: Police officer, international umpire and expert on the laws of cricket
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Nigel Plews, who has died aged 74, was an extraordinary character whose colourful life encompassed two successful careers. Following 25 years in the police force, he later found considerable fame as an international cricket umpire and, in the process, became one of the foremost authorities on the laws of the game. What made his achievements all the more remarkable was the fact that, unlike almost all of his colleagues, Plews had never played cricket beyond club level.
Marjorie Thomas: Contralto who sang under Sargent, Barbirolli and Beecham
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
The name of Marjorie Thomas is inextricably linked musically with that of the conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent, who is said to have regarded her as his favourite contralto. The number of occasions they appeared together – including the Proms – seems to bear witness to this. She certainly had high opinions of him: "His interpretations always had such elasticity', she told Sargent's biographer Richard Aldous in 1999. "He was always prepared to give soloists a great deal of freedom in interpretation and one never felt rushed or dragged back; with Sargent everything was so fluid."
Reg Varney: Comic actor and entertainer who found fame in 'On The Buses'
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
The bus driver Stan Butler in On The Buses was the former variety artist Reg Varney's most famous screen role. The cheery-faced, 5ft 5in star, who steered the No 11 to the cemetery gates and through 73 television programmes, made Stan one of the small screen's most popular comedy characters at the turn of the 1970s.
Charley Fox: Spitfire pilot credited with wounding General Rommel
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Charley Fox was one of the foremost Canadian air aces of the Second World War, who in particular is credited with taking Germany's most celebrated general, Erwin Rommel, out of the war. It is highly likely that it was one of his attacks which badly injured the field marshal and ended his military career some weeks after D-Day. But such was Fox's reticence that he did not publicly disclose his involvement in the attack until many years later. By coincidence his death, at the age of 88, was the result of a car accident.
Paritosh Sen: Painter and illustrator who co-founded the Calcutta Group
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
When Paritosh Sen sat down with Pablo Picasso in the 1950s, the master had only promised the younger artist 15 minutes of his time. The two men talked for five hours, and the meeting left a deep and lasting impression on Sen. "Picasso's works and methods taught me more than what I was prepared for and it took me some time to assimilate the concepts and integrate them with my own work," he recalled.
Edgar Holloway: Artist best known for his etched portraits
Monday, 17 November 2008
Edgar Holloway’s story is the stuff of which myths and artistic reputations are made.
Fred Newman: Founder of ‘Publishing News’ and the British Book Awards
Monday, 17 November 2008
Enigmatic and audacious, acerbic, unconventional and often very charming, Fred Newman, the co-creator and managing director of the UK trade paper Publishing News and the British Book Awards, has died of cancer at the age of 76.
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