Performing Arts Obituary 2009

							                                                   “There’s a great spirit gone!”
                                                      (Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra)


                                    Performing Arts Obituary 2009
                                                  Compiled by John Thaxter
                                                     (Age at death shown in brackets)


Terence Alexander          (86) British screen actor, rarely on stage, a debonair English villain in Bergerac              28 May
Ken Annakin OBE            (94) British film director who proudly claimed, “I make films for audiences.”                   22 Apr
Bea Arthur                 (86) Sassy comedy actress, Dorothy in The Golden Girls hit television show                      25 Apr
David Ashmole              (59) Star dancer with the Royal Ballet, Sadler’s Wells and Australian Ballet                    25 Jul
Jill Balcon                (84) Distinguished actress on stage and radio; film mogul’s daughter, wife to C Day-Lewis       18 Jul
Ray Barrett                (82) Australian tough-guy actor whose face was familiar on British television in the 1960s       8 Sep
Gene Barry                 (90) American actor, star of Burke’s Law and the Broadway La Cage aux Folles (1983)              9 Dec
Timothy Bateson            (83) British actor, ‘Lucky’ in Peter Hall’s English premiere of Waiting for Godot (1955)        16 Sep
Pina Bausch                (68) Creative German dancer and choreographer, founder of the Wuppertal Dance Theatre           30 Jun
Colin Bean                 (83) Provincial rep player, television and radio actor, ‘Pte Sponge’ in Dad’s Army              20 Jun
Dame Heather Begg          (76) New Zealand born mezzo-soprano, Royal Opera House and Opera Australia stalwart             12 May
Hildegard Behrens          (72) German operatic soprano, notably as Brünnhilde in The Ring Cycle at Bayreuth (1983)        18 Aug
Derek Benfield             (82) Rix farceur, television character actor and successful English comedy playwright           10 Mar
Claude Berri               (74) French director and screenwriter including Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources          12 Jan
Betsy Blair                (85) Actress, liberal democrat, Gene Kelly’s w ife, gentle screen star of Marty (1955)          13 Mar
Augusto Boal               (78) Brazilian theatrical visionary, Unesco ambassador for the theatre                           2 May
Kathleen Byron             (88) Vibrant English screen actress, notably Sister Ruth in Black Narcissus (1947)              18 Jan
Douglas Campbell           (87) Scottish actor, Stratford Ontario leading light and founder of the Canadian Players         6 Oct
David Carradine            (72) Hollywood actor in martial arts movies                                                      4 Jun
Jack Cardiff OBE           (94) British Technicolor cinematographer, famed for his work with Powell and Pressburger        22 Apr
Sydney Chaplin             (82) Broadway actor, son of Carlie Chaplin who carved out his own niche in the theatre           3 Mar
Sam Cohn                   (79) New York talent agent with Vanessa Redgrave and Woody Allen among his clients               6 May
Ann Collins                (65) Sumptuous contralto actress with ENO, whose cello skills supported her ‘Lady Jane’         15 Jul
Merce Cunningham           (90) Magnetic dancer and choreographer, inventive guru who pioneered the use of video           26 Jul
Iain Cuthbertson           (79) Tall and powerful Scottish screen actor, notably in Budgie and Sutherland’s Law             4 Sep
Blossom Dearie             (82) Enchanting New York jazz singer, pianist, composer and witty lyricist                       7 Feb
Simon Dee                  (74) British disc jockey and chat-show host for BBC                                             29 Aug
Peter Denyer               (62) Actor and ‘most performed playwright’ with a canon of 12 pantomimes to his credit          18 Sep
Sir Edward Downes CBE      (85) Versatile opera conductor and a great Verdian specialist                                   10 Jul
Terence Edmond             (69) British television actor, ‘Ian Sweet’ in 78 episodes of Z-Cars for BBC television          14 Mar
Farrah Fawcett (-Majors)   (62) Glamorous blonde pin-up model and television star of Charlie’s Angels                      25 Jun
Flemming Flindt            (72) Royal Danish Ballet dance who went on to greatness as a choreographer and director          3 Mar
Keith Floyd                (65) Flamboyant British television chef with a glass of wine always within reach                14 Sep
Horton Foote               (92) American stage and screenwriter, including To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)                     4 Mar
Ruth Ford                  (98) Mercury Theater troupe member, Hollywood actress and literary hostess                      12 Aug
Moyra Fraser               (86) Tall, trim actress in a variety of comedy roles including No Sex, Please, We’re British    13 Dec
Stephen Gately             (33) Hit-maker and co-lead singer with Boyzone, the Irish boy band                              10 Oct
Larry Gelbart              (81) Comedy scriptwriter whose many credits included M*A*S*H and City of Angels                 11 Sep
Jade Goody                 (27) London-born, reality television celebrity                                                  22 Mar
Pearl Hackney              (92) Comedy actress, wife of Eric Barker, in the 1930s a Windmill Theatre principal dancer      18 Sep
Tony Hart                  (83) Artist and children’s television presenter, creator of Morph and the Blue Peter logo       18 Jan
Hanne Hiob                 (86) Brecht’s actress daughter and his most loyal standard bearer on stage and in politics      23 Jun
Edmund Hockridge           (89) Canadian-born singer, star of West End musicals, cabaret and the touring circuit           15 Mar
Diane Holland              (78) English television comedy actress who played the snooty dance teacher in Hi-de-Hi!         24 Jan
Michael Jackson            (50) Singer, songwriter and performer                                                           25 Jun
Maurice Jarre              (84) Oscar-winning French composer of more than 150 film scores                                 29 Mar
Maggie Jones               (75) Stage and screen actress, Deirdre’s candid mother Blanche in Coronation Street              2 Dec
Brenda Joyce               (92) Hollywood actress who found fame as Jane to two different Tarzans from 1945 to 1950         4 Jul
Edward Judd                (76) British character actor who featured in many sci-fi films and television thriller series   24 Feb
Jack Lawrence              (96) New York songwriter whose hits included All or Nothing at All and Beyond the Sea           15 Mar
Danny La Rue               (81) Flamboyant British transvestite comedian and actor                                         31 May
Dilys Laye                 (74) Versatile London-born comedy actress, Carry On star whose first love was the stage         13 Feb
Jan Leighton               (87) New York actor and impersonator who played 3,372 roles [Guinness Book of Records]          16 Nov
Hugh Leonard               (82) Dublin playwright, author of Da and the James Joyce adaptation Stephen D                   12 Feb
Robert Luff                (94) English theatrical agent, impresario and philanthropist                                    18 Feb
Karl Malden                (97) American actor who memorably played opposite Brando in Streetcar and Waterfront             1 Jul
Anna Manahan               (84) Irish actress, star of The Beauty Queen of Lenane in Dublin, London and on Broadway         8 Mar
Zena Marshall              (83) Actress, one of the first Bond girls in Dr No (1962) as a double agent                     10 Jul
Jean Martin                (86) French stage interpreter of Beckett roles, a political actor with left-wing leanings        2 Feb
Troy Kennedy Martin        (77) Screenwriter whose credits include Z-Cars, Edge of Darkness and The Italian Job            15 Sep
Ekaterina Maximova         (70) Acclaimed Russian ballerina, wife of the Bolshoi artistic director Vladimir Vasiliev       28 Apr
Patrick McGoohan           (80) Irish American actor, writer and director, star of The Prisoner and Danger Man             13 Jan
Tom McGrath                (68) Founder of the Tron theatre, Scottish playwright, poet and performing arts polymath        29 Apr
Hugh Millais               (79) Tall British screen actor, raconteur and adventurer                                         4 Jul
Ricardo Montalban      (88) Sophisticated Mexican actor who played Latin lovers and Indian chiefs in Hollywood         14 Jan
Angela Morley          (84) Film composer and arranger who, as Wally Stott, was The Goon Show musician                 14 Jan
Steward Morris         (78) Television showman-producer, head of variety at the BBC                                    10 Jan
Sir John Mortimer QC   (85) Playwright, novelist and defence barrister, creator of (Horace) Rumpole of the Bailey      16 Jan
Brittany Murphy        (32) Busy Hollywood actress who featured in more than 60 films and television shows             20 Dec
Peter Needham          (76) English actor, stalwart of Olivier’s National Theatre then with Cheek by Jowl               7 Aug
Patrick Newley         (54) Showbiz pundit, columnist and obituarist for The Stage                                     29 May
Tom O’Horgan           (84) Radical New York theatre director, producer of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar             11 Jan
Norman Painting OBE    (85) English actor and scriptwriter, for 59 years Phil Archer in BBC radio’s The Archers        29 Oct
Georgina Parkinson     (71) Royal Ballet star, ballet mistress of American Ballet Theatre for more than 30 years       18 Dec
Laurence Payne         (89) London-born Shakespearean actor at Stratford and the Old Vic; prolific crime novelist      23 Feb
Roger Planchon         (77) Director, producer and actor, a left-wing, innovative force in post-war French theatre     12 May
Michael Polakovs       (86) Circus clown (son of Coco) with Bertram Mills, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey            6 Dec
André Prokovsky        (70) French born ballet star who enjoyed success with London Festival Ballet                    15 Aug
Harve Presnell         (75) Handsome and imposing Broadway actor, an MGM baritone ‘star discovery’                     30 Jun
Edmund Purdom          (84) Minor English star in Hollywood who found his niche as a journeyman actor in Rome           1 Jan
Steve Race             (88) Jazz pianist, television personality, journalist and Telegraph cruciverbalist              22 Jun
Trevor Rhone           (69) Jamaican dramatist who co-wrote The Harder They Come film (with Perry Henzell)             15 Sep
Wendy Richards         (65) Much loved English television actress, star of Are You Being Served? and EastEnders        26 Feb
Natasha Richardson     (45) English actress, an outstanding member of the Redgrave acting dynasty                      18 Mar
Patrick Robertson      (86) British theatre and opera stage designer, collaborator with his wife Rosemary Vercoe        9 Apr
Budd Schulberg         (95) NY novelist and Hollywood screenwriter. His On the Waterfront hit was also staged           5 Aug
Mike Seeger            (75) Folk musician: on third of the Seeger ‘folk music royalty’                                  7 Aug
Ron Silver             (62) Successful American screen actor, who starred as Bruno Gianelli in The West Wing           15 Mar
Elisabeth Söderström   (82) Swedish soprano, Glyndebourne star and Drottingholm Festival artistic director             20 Nov
Marianne Stone         (87) Highly effective British character actress, wife of the late film critic Peter Noble       21 Dec
Gale Storm             (87) Texan actress, star of the golden age of TV, who made her name in Westerns                 27 Jun
Mollie Sugden          (88) Comedy actress, blue-rinsed co-star of the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?                 1 Jul
Patrick Swayze         (57) Gymnast, ballet dancer and versatile American actor, star of Dirty Dancing                 14 Sep
Richard Todd OBE       (90) British stage and screen actor, star of The Hasty Heart and The Dam Busters                 3 Dec
Harry Towb             (83) Ulster-born Jewish character actor with a sad face made for comedy                         24 Jul
Harry Alan Towers      (88) Charismatic London screen producer and scriptwriter who made more than 100 films           31 Jul
Mary Allin Travers     (72) Folk singer, songwriter and political activist: member of the Peter, Paul and Mary tr io   16 Sep
Ian Wallace            (90) Bass-baritone, the first English singer to bridge the gap between opera and musicals       12 Oct
Keith Waterhouse       (80) British journalist, playwright and novelist, frequent collaborator with Willis Hall         4 Sep
Paul Wendkos           (84) Prolific American tv and film director, including The Untouchables and Hawaii 5-0          12 Nov
James Whitmore         (87) Tony-winning actor and Oscar nominee most often cast as a warm-hearted curmudgeon           6 Feb
John Willmer           (80) Forthright theatre critic for The Stage and The Lady, theatre archivist                    12 Jun
Joseph Wiseman         (91) Canadian-born, US-based stage and screen actor, 007’s infamous oriental Dr No              19 Oct
Peter Zadek            (83) Populist German stage director whose productions fared less well in London                 30 Jul
Lyudmila Zykina        (80) Russian folk singer with a mellow, melancholy voice                                         1 Jul




                              Compiled with acknowledgements to The Times and The Stage