'50s TV News
TV                 News
Hugh                 O'Brian, actor who played Wyatt Earp, has died                 aged 91 (5 September 2016)
Hugh OBrian was one of the first American                 actors to achieve television celebrity in 1950s                 Britain as the marshal of Dodge City in The Life                 and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
More than 200 black-and-white episodes of the                 series were shown on the fledgling ITV network                 between 1956 and 1962. Handsome and square-jawed,                 OBrian landed the starring title role                 because he resembled the real Wyatt Earp                 (1848-1929) as a young lawman in late                 19th-century Kansas and later in Tombstone,                 Arizona.
It was the first television western to be aimed                 specifically at adults. Series appealing to                 children such as The Cisco Kid and The Lone                 Ranger had been scheduled for late afternoon                 slots. Inspired by the legendary events of the                 real-life frontier marshal, Earp played in                 after-dinner prime time and transformed OBrian                 into one of televisions first sex symbols.
O'Brian was a one of the founders of the                 Thalians, a show-business charitable organization                 formed in 1955 to raise money for children with                 mental health problems. In 1964, he established                 the Hugh O'Brian Acting Awards competition at                 UCLA. more....
Sir                 Antony Jay, writer, broadcaster and director, has                 died aged 86 (23 August                 2016)
After National Service in the Royal Signals,                 Antony Jay joined BBC Television in 1955, and was                 a member of the team that launched the current                 affairs programme Tonight, which he edited from                 1962 to 1963. After a further year as head of                 Television Talk Features, he left the BBC to work                 as a freelance writer and producer.
From 1981, Jay was co-author, with Jonathan Lynn,                 of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, the                 political comedies which kept the nation laughing                 through the Thatcherite 1980s. Yes, Minister ran                 for three series, before the advancement of Jim                 Hackers career (due to his valiant defiance                 of a new Euro directive redefining the British                 banger as an emulsified offal tube),                 led to its relaunch as Yes, Prime Minister, with                 the same cast (Sir Humphrey promoted to Cabinet                 Secretary), in 1986. The series ran until 1988.                 However, not many, perhaps, were aware that the                 serial was commissioned with a serious political                 purpose: to popularise public choice theory. It                 is because it succeeded spectacularly that Jay                 received a knighthood in 1988.
Jay also wrote the BBC TV documentaries Royal                 Family and Elizabeth R, for which he was                 appointed CVO in 1993 for personal services to                 the Royal Family. more....
Brian                 Rix, Lord Rix, brilliant comic actor, manager and                 dedicated campaigner for people with learning                 disabilities, has died aged 92 (20 August                 2016)
Brian Rix devoted his life almost equally to                 stage farce  as one of the most brilliant                 comic actors in the postwar years  and to                 campaigning for people with learning                 disabilities. He was successful at both. In the                 theatre, both in management and on stage, his                 name became synonymous with the Whitehall                 farces, named after the London venue and                 with plotlines usually involving a lie, a comic                 deception and someone being caught with his                 trousers around his ankles. Rix also ran                 repertory companies and presented more than 90                 farces on television in the 1960s  to huge                 audiences  starring the big names of the                 day, such as Dora Bryan, Sid James, Sheila                 Hancock and John Le Mesurier.
In 1952 Reluctant Heroes became one of the first                 West End plays to be partly televised. As a                 result, there were huge queues outside the                 Whitehall. Rix negotiated a contract with the BBC                 that lasted 17 years. The TV work included a                 number of Sunday Night Theatre productions under                 the Brian Rix Presents banner in the late 50s and                 early 60s.
Management was the art that mattered to him. For                 years he put on and appeared in the most noted                 farces of the West End, including Dry Rot by John                 Chapman, who had understudied him in Reluctant                 Heroes. Rix also appeared in the film of Dry Rot                 (1956), one of 11 film credits.
In 1949 he had married the actor Elspet Gray; the                 first of their four children, Shelley, was born                 with Downs syndrome.
He threw himself into fundraising for learning                 disability charities, and in 1978 he began the                 Lets Go! TV programmes for people with                 learning disabilities  he made 40 of them.
In 1979 a job advert in the Guardian caught                 Rixs eye, for the position of Mencaps                 secretary general. He applied and was initially                 turned down, but was later accepted and started                 work in 1980. more....
Sylvia                 Peters, actress and BBC continuity announcer, has                 died aged 90 (26 July 2016)
Sylvia Peters, who has died aged 90, was one of                 the faces of BBC Television during the 1950s;                 having introduced the historic broadcast of the                 Queens Coronation in 1953, she later helped                 to teach the Queen the skills she needed for the                 annual royal Christmas message.
As well as becoming the youngest of three                 in-vision announcers (Mary Malcolm and McDonald                 Hobley were the others), she presented Come                 Dancing between 1954 and 1958. She also fronted                 the BBC Television programme For Deaf Children in                 1956. With her refined accent and crisp, elegant                 manner, she became one of Britains first                 big television stars.
The turning point for television came in 1953                 with the Coronation. At 10?am on Coronation Day,                 Sylvia Peters went on the air live and continued                 to provide linking material until 11.30 that                 night.
In 1954, Peters was chosen to host Come Dancing                 and was also the compere for Television Dancing                 Club, which featured the bandleader Victor                 Silvester.
After leaving the staff of the BBC in 1958, she                 became a freelance, and covered such events as                 Lady's Day at Royal Ascot and Come Dancing, and                 made less frequent appearances on screen and                 fronted Jims Inn, an advertisement magazine                 for the ITV.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/29/sylvia-peters-obituary
William                 Lucas, television actor, has died aged 91 (8 July                 2016)
William Lucas' big television break came with the                 part of the blackmailing car dealer Reg Dorking                 in Portrait of Alison (1955), a crime thriller                 serial written by Francis Durbridge.
He was a regular as David Graham in The Strange                 World of Planet X (1956), Charlton Bradbury in                 The Crime of the Century (1956-57), Jim Pereira                 in the second series (1958) of the hotel saga The                 Royalty, Jonathan Briggs in the serialisation of                 Frank Tilsleys novel Champion Road (1958)                 and Durea in the London underworld thriller Solo                 for Canary (1958).
He starred in The Infamous John Friend (1959), in                 the title role of the smuggler and spy for                 Napoleon, and was Detective Inspector Mitchell in                 the crime dramas The Days of Vengeance (1960) and                 Flower of Evil (1961), and Eddie Prior in the                 thriller serial The Prior Commitment (1969).
He even took the title role in a TV production of                 Rigoletto (1958), recalling: Happily, the                 singing was dubbed. more....
Ray                 Lakeland, outside broadcasting pioneer, has died                 aged 95 (8 July 2016)
After the war Ray lakeland joined the British                 Forces Network, and on demobilisation transferred                 to BBC North, initially as a freelance reporter.                 He joined its radio studios in Newcastle                 full-time in 1947.
It was with his move to television in 1956 that                 Ray found his natural creative home, producing a                 wide range of programmes, including the first                 televised coverage of the launching of a liner  RMS Windsor Castle, named in 1959 by the                 Queen Mother  a broadcast from Blackpool                 illuminations, the BBCs first pop                 programme, Six-Five Special, and the ballroom                 contest Come Dancing.
He is perhaps best remembered for his innovative                 coverage of the 1960 Grand National, for which he                 developed the system, still used today, of                 attaching a camera to the top of a vehicle to                 keep pace with the runners and riders and give                 viewers a greater sense of the speed and noise of                 the race. more....
Noel                 Neill, actress, has died aged 95 (5 July                 2016)
Neill was the original big screen Lois Lane, the                 crack investigative reporter on the Metropolis                 Daily Planet who never quite figures out that                 that the Man of Steel who keeps                 rescuing her from the jaws of death  or                 worse  is really her slightly nerdy                 colleague Clark Kent. She took the role in two                 movie serials and 78 episodes of the hit                 television series, between 1948 and 1958.
Neill remained with Superman until the programme                 was cancelled in 1958 after Reevess death.
Her last film role was in Lawless Rider (1954),                 and she played in many of the early TV programmes                 that were extensions of the B-movie and serial                 factories, including The Lone Ranger and The                 Cisco Kid. more....
Gordon                 Murray, producer and puppeteer, has died aged 95 (1 July                 2016)
Gordon Murray created Camberwick Green, Chigley and Trumpton, three of the best-loved series for                 younger children on BBC Television, first                 screened in the 1960s.
In 1953 he launched his own professional puppet                 company, Murray Marionettes in Broadstairs.
Audiences were disappointingly small but he                 invited Freda Lingstrom, head of BBC                 childrens television, to see the show and                 so impressed her that she offered him a job                 pulling the strings of Spotty Dog in a new series                 for toddlers called The Woodentops.
In 1955, Murray took a BBC production course and                 was officially taken on as a contract producer in                 childrens television. As well as The                 Woodentops he worked on The Flowerpot Men before                 creating a television version of the radio series                 Toytown.
Initially his shows were broadcast live, but                 Murray became frustrated by the hazards of live                 transmission and he developed his own film studio                 to record his films. In 1958 he created The                 Rubovian Legends, an early collaboration with                 Bura and Hardwick.
Murray devised new puppet techniques for                 television, wrote scripts, built puppets and                 trained a team of puppeteers to use rod and glove                 puppets as well as marionettes worked by strings.                 He worked with John Ryan on the popular Captain                 Pugwash series, and also produced the Sketch Club                 series with the artist Adrian Hill. more....
Ronnie                 Corbett, comedian, has died aged 85 (1 April                 2016)
Ronnie Corbett achieved such fame as one of the                 Two Ronnies that his solo career was often                 eclipsed; as his fans knew well, he worked on his                 own for many years, exploiting to the full both                 his lack of height  he was only 5ft 1in  and his undoubted talent as a comic                 performer.
After National Service with the RAF, Corbett                 moved to London, he endured eight lean years,                 taking occasional engagements but mostly living                 on his earnings as a caretaker, house-sitter,                 tennis-court superintendent and advertising                 salesman.
For some years he lived in grimy digs, working in                 nightclubs or on the halls, and teamed up with                 Anne Hart, a singer whom he met at a club, who                 became his stooge and whom he later married.
He appeared with Eamonn Andrews on the children's                 TV programme, Crackerjack, as its resident                 comedian for many episodes.
But Corbett's big chance came when he was spotted                 by David Frost at Winston's, Danny La Rue's West                 End night club, and cast in his BBC show The                 Frost Report (1966-67), followed by Frost on                 Sunday for ITV (1968-69).
It was with Frost that he first teamed up with                 Ronnie Barker. Television extended Corbetts                 appeal. Although he had become a star in his own                 right before meeting Ronnie Barker, The Two                 Ronnies (1971-1987) remained the zenith of a                 television career that lasted more than 40 years. more....
Adrienne                 Corri, actress, has died aged 85 (28 March                 2016)
Adrienne Corri was an actor of considerable range                 and versatility whose career ranged from the high  with Shakespearean roles alongside Ralph                 Richardson and Alec Guinness  to the                 decidedly low, including appearances in many                 quota quickies and low-budget horror movies that                 showcased her striking red-haired beauty.
Among her dozens of television parts were Milady                 de Winter in the BBC series of The Three                 Musketeers (1954) and various appearances in                 episodes of ABCs Armchair Theatre                 (1956-60). She featured in several BBC Plays of                 the Month, in one of which she was Violet in                 George Bernard Shaws Man and Superman                 (1968), alongside Maggie Smith, and she played                 Olivia in ITVs Twelfth Night (1969). In                 Measure for Measure (1979) she was the                 cheroot-smoking bawdy-house keeper Mistress                 Overdone, and she was last seen in two episodes                 of Lovejoy (1992). more....
Robert                 Horton, star of the Wagon Train western series,                 has died aged 91 (20 March 2016)
Robert Horton won legions of female fans in the                 role of frontier scout Flint McCullough on Wagon                 Train (1957-65), a television western series that                 became a massive hit on both sides of the                 Atlantic.
In 1945 a chance encounter with a talent scout                 led to an uncredited part in the Second World War                 film A Walk in the Sun. After taking a degree in                 Theatre Arts at the University of California, Los                 Angeles, he appeared in (among others) Apache War                 Smoke (1952) and on television shows such as The                 Lone Ranger and The Public Defender before                 winning his part on Wagon Train.
The role turned him into an international idol                 and he was especially popular in Britain, where                 Wagon Train was shown on ITVs Monday                 teatime slot. When he appeared at the London                 Palladium, a reviewer reported that he had drawn squeals and shrieks from his                 mainly female audience. more....
Cliff                 Michelmore, television and radio broadcaster, has                 died aged 96 (17 March                 2016)
Cliff Michelmore was one of the most familiar                 faces on British television in the 1950s and                 1960s, notably as presenter of Tonight, which ran                 for some 1,800 editions between 1957 and 1965. In                 the late 1950s and early 1960s he was appearing                 in as many as 300 programmes a year and on screen                 he invariably appeared confident, calm, unhurried                 and unflappable.
In 1935 he joined the RAF and underwent initial                 training at RAF Halton, in Buckinghamshire.                 Having survived the war and on the strength of                 having done some radio commentaries on                 inter-service games, he was sent to Hamburg as                 Officer Commanding Royal Airforce Element, the                 British Forces Network in Germany. His rank was,                 by now, squadron leader.
When the regular Hamburg presenter of Two-Way                 Family Favourites, the Sunday lunchtime link                 between the forces in Germany and their families                 in Britain, was taken ill, Michelmore was drafted                 in to replace him. Before the programme began he                 used to chat on the closed line to the presenter                 at the London end, Jean Metcalfe, in whom he                 detected a distinctly flirtatious tone. She                 helped him through the early programmes, and                 when, in the spring of 1949, he came to London                 and met her, romance immediately blossomed. They                 married in 1950.
Michelmores breakthrough to evening                 television came in 1955 when Donald Baverstock                 asked him to join his topical programme                 Highlight, which pioneered a grittier style of                 interviewing. Michelmore also worked for Panorama                 and as a reporter on Saturday Sport. He had                 therefore served a thorough apprenticeship by                 time he was offered his big chance on Tonight.
In no time, Michelmore was rivalling Richard                 Dimbleby as the BBCs leading current                 affairs specialist, less heavyweight no doubt,                 but still scrupulously well informed, and a good                 deal less pompous. more....
Sylvia                 Anderson, co-creator of Thunderbirds, has died                 aged 88 (16 March 2016)
With her then husband, Gerry, Sylvia Anderson                 brought to television some of the best-loved childrens puppet series of the 1960s,                 remembered for their groundbreaking animation and                 spectacular special effects. While he produced                 the programmes, she was responsible for character                 development, storylines, costume design,                 providing voices and directing other voice                 actors dialogue. Her most famous creation                 was Lady Penelope, International Rescues                 London agent in Thunderbirds (1965-66), whom she                 gave not only the daring and panache of a                 secret agent, but also the poise of a cool and                 beautiful aristocrat.
They had established AP Films in 1957, with                 Sylvia as a company director and production                 assistant, and were commissioned by ITV to make                 The Adventures of Twizzle (1957-59), from Roberta                 Leighs childrens stories, followed by                 the first run of Leighs Torchy the Battery                 Boy (1958-59). Both featured traditional                 marionettes, but Gerry devised innovative filming                 and puppetry techniques.
Sylvia and Gerry married in 1960 while making the                 western puppet series Four Feather Falls.                 Supermarionation began with Supercar (1961-62)                 and Fireball XL5 (1962-63), then Stingray, the                 Andersons first effort to be filmed in                 colour. more....
Vlasta                 Dalibor, puppeteer, has died aged 94 (21                 February 2016)
Vlasta Dalibor, who has died aged 94, was the                 co-creator, with her husband Jan, of the                 unmelodious porcine puppets Pinky and Perky.
The couple began performing during the 1956                 summer season at Heysham, for ï¿½25 a week. Trevor                 Hill (producer of The Sooty Show) saw them there                 and gave them their own BBC television series,                 featuring the pigs in both string and glove                 puppet form, manipulated by Jan and Vlasta.
Their debut was in Pinky and Perkys                 Pop Parade in October 1958, set in the                 mythical radio station POP (later PPC                 TV), with Roger Moffat as the station                 announcer.
The BBC granted the Dalibors the light                 entertainment slot before the six oclock                 news, and grown-up audiences warmed to the                 pigs gently subversive humour and                 high-pitched renditions of speeded-up pop songs                 (with opening theme We Belong Together).
Pinky and Perky joined The Beatles and Marlene                 Dietrich onstage for the 1963 Royal Variety                 performance, and the following year they appeared                 in America on The Ed Sullivan Show alongside                 Morecambe and Wise.
In 1968 the Dalibors accepted an offer from                 Thames Television, but in the event only two more                 series made it to air, though they were                 frequently repeated. The Dalibors retired from                 the small screen in 1973. more....
Conrad                 Phillips, stage and screen actor, has died aged                 90 (13 January                 2016)
One of ITVs first action heroes, notable                 for his expertise with a crossbow, was William                 Tell, played by Conrad Phillips. Swashbucklers                 were hugely popular in ITVs early years and                 William Tell (1958-59), set in 14th-century                 Switzerland under the tyrannical rule of Emperor                 Rudolph of Austria, was one of the most memorable                 series.
He had worked in repertory theatre, and acted in                 more than 30 films, including The Battle of the                 River Plate (1956), Sons and Lovers (1960) and                 Heavens Above! (1963). Phillips was often cast as                 police officers and military types.
The role of Tell came after the actor made guest                 appearances in other swashbuckling television                 series, such as The Scarlet Pimpernel (1956), The                 Count of Monte Cristo (1956), The Adventures of                 Robin Hood (1957) and The Buccaneers (1957).                 Apart from the detectives he played in the crime                 dramas Silent Evidence (1962) and A Game of                 Murder (1966), most of his subsequent television                 roles were one-offs. However, Phillips had runs                 as Robert Malcolm in the final year of the BBC                 soap opera The Newcomers (1969) and the NY                 Estates managing director Christopher Meadows in                 Emmerdale Farm (on and off between 1981 and                 1986). more... .
Anthony                 Valentine, actor, has died aged 76 (3 December                 2015)
Anthony Valentine was one of Britains best                 known television baddies, the suave villain of                 numerous drama series from the 1960s to the                 1990s.
He made his acting debut as a 10-year-old as a little boy in the film No Way Back                 (1949), and aged 12 was a youthful sleuth in The                 Girl on the Pier (1953). Children's TV kept                 Valentine busy, casting him as Humphrey Beverley                 in The Children of the New Forest (1955), JO                 Stagg in Rex Milligan (1956) and Lord Mauleverer                 (1955), then Harry Wharton (1956-57), in Billy                 Bunter of Greyfriars School. He also sang in the                 children's magazine show Whirligig  accompanied by Steve Race on the piano  and                 for two seasons in operas at Sadler's Wells                 Theatre.
But he came into his own as Edward                 Woodwards fellow Secret Service agent and                 rival Toby Meres in the first two series of                 Callan (ITV, 1967-69), a character he brought to                 life as a supercilious upper-class thug whose                 urbane demeanour somehow fails to conceal his                 total lack of moral compass.
He became a household name as the sadistic German                 Luftwaffe officer Major Horst Mohn in the BBC                 series Colditz (1972-74) and was the gentleman                 jewel thief and ladies man in the Yorkshire                 Television hit series Raffles (1977).
Valentines other television credits                 included Dr Finlays Casebook, Softly                 Softly, Lovejoy, The Detectives, Tales of the                 Unexpected and Robin of Sherwood (ITV 1984-86). more....
Redvers                 Kyle, television announcer, has died aged 85 (27                 November 2015)
Redvers Kyle arrived in England in 1952 from his                 native South Africa, and spent a year teaching in                 a south London school before becoming a freelance                 radio and television broadcaster for the BBC.
With the arrival of Independent Television in                 1955 he switched to ATV London as a presenter and                 also joined ITN News. The following year he moved                 to Associated-Rediffusion (until 1968). In                 addition to Looking and Seeing, he worked on                 several other programmes including the                 childrens show Tuesday Rendezvous.
In 1968 he moved as chief announcer to the new                 Yorkshire Television in Leeds, becoming one of                 the best-known voices on the station, where he                 remained until his retirement in 1993. more....
Hazel                 Adair, writer of Crossroads and other television                 and radio soap operas, has died aged 95 (23                 November 2015)
Hazel Adair was a pioneer of soap opera on                 British television. She was the co-creator of                 Sixpenny Corner, Britains first daily soap;                 Compact, the first serial to feature a regular                 black character; and, most famously, Crossroads.
Adair wrote scripts for two series, At Your                 Service, Ltd (1951), with Robert Tronson, and                 Stranger from Space (1951-53), with her husband                 Ronald Marriott.
She also became a scriptwriter on the weekday                 radio serial Mrs Dales Diary, alongside                 others such as Peter Ling and its lead writer, Jonquil Antony. This led her to create, with                 Antony, ITVs first soap opera, Sixpenny                 Corner (1955-56): the first on British television                 to run five days a week.
From 1957, when the hugely popular Emergency  Ward 10 was launched, Adair wrote episodes                 of the hospital serial. She also co-wrote the                 spin-off film, Life in Emergency Ward 10 (1959),                 and the 1961 comedy Dentist on the Job.
Also a writer for magazines, Adair was sitting in                 the offices of Womans Own waiting to                 deliver a feature when she had the idea for                 Compact (1962-65), a serial based in the world of                 magazine publishing.
In 1967, Adair and Peter Ling devised Champion                 House (1967-68), a BBC drama series about a                 family-run textile firm. more....
Peter                 Dimmock, TV broadcaster and producer, has died                 aged 94 (22 November 2015)
Peter Dimmock became the face of BBC Sport in the                 1950s, having already made his reputation as a                 gifted television producer by organising coverage                 of the Queens Coronation in 1953, the                 moment the fledgling medium came of age. Dimmock                 had spent a year planning coverage of the day                 and, with technical skill and stylish aplomb, had                 succeeded in capturing the majestic drama as it                 unfolded live in front of a watching audience of                 more than 20 million in Britain  nearly                 half the population  and many millions more                 worldwide.
No television broadcast had been so prepared and                 so polished, and for this Dimmock deserved a                 large share of the credit. As the director as                 well as the producer, he displayed an intuitive                 eye for delivering pictures that he knew the                 public wanted to see.
In 1948 Dimmock had helped to organise the BBCBBC                 record. After s coverage of the London                 Olympics. In the course of 15 days he oversaw 70                 hours of television coverage, a commentating on                 the 1949 Boat Race, he produced the BBCpictures                 to Britain s first televised Test match                 from Trent Bridge in 1950, and organised the                 first relay of live television from Calais in the                 same year.
In February 1952 Dimmock arranged television                 coverage of the funeral of King George VI. The                 sombre images of Queens at the door of                 Westminster Hall were three black-veiled more                 eloquent of the passing of an era than any spoken                 commentary.
Dimmock began to carve out a parallel on-screen                 career as the anchorman of the BBCprogramme                 switched from Thursday to a peak slot on                 Wednesday nights in August 1955, 21 per cent of                 the adult population regularly tuned in. In the                 lahost of Grandstand, before handing over the reins to David Coleman. Sportsview ran until                 1964. s first the first regular sports                 magazine programme Sportsview, launched in April                 1954.
In the meantime Dimmock had produced and directed                 the State Opening of Parliament in 1958 and, two                 years later, the first televised Grand National.                 In the same year Dimmock supervised television                 coverage of the wedding of Princess Margaret to                 Anthony Armstrong-Jones, later Lord Snowdon. From                 1963 until the Queens silver jubilee in                 1977, he was the BBCs liaison executive                 with the Royal family.
More than any other individual, he could be said                 to have single-handedly created the                 corporations outside broadcast department,                 having produced, directed and commentated on                 virtually every important event in the 1940s and                 early 1950s . Dimmock was also a great discoverer                 of television talent, and launched the                 broadcasting careers of Harry Carpenter, Peter                 OSullevan and Eddie Waring, among others.
In 1972 he was appointed general manager of BBC                 Enterprises, the corporations commercial                 arm.
He was wounded and disappointed when the BBC                 failed to invite him to the service at                 Westminster Abbey in June 2013, attended by the                 Queen, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the                 Coronation.
He was appointed OBE in 1961 and CVO in 1968. In                 1977 he was made a Freeman of the City of London,                 and the following year was elected a Fellow of                 the Royal Television Society. more....
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/nov/22/peter-dimmock
Joy                 Beverley, singer, has died aged 91 (1                 September 2015)
Joy Beverley was the eldest of the Beverley                 Sisters, the close-harmony trio whose novelty                 songs became hits in the 1950s who found fame in                 the pre-rock and roll era with novelty songs such                 as I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and Little                 Drummer Boy.
During the war, the girls were evacuated together                 to Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, where                 they amused themselves by singing close harmony.                 Spotted by a man recruiting for the Ovaltinies, the harmony-singing                 advert for Ovaltine on Radio Luxembourg, they                 soon caught the eye of Glenn Miller and went on                 to record with his orchestra. Having signed their                 first contract, with Columbia Records, in 1951,                 by 1952 they were starring at the London                 Palladium. The following year they had their                 first Top 10 hit with I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa                 Claus, which reached No 6 in the charts.
As well as pop hits, for seven years during the                 1940s and 1950s they had their own BBC television                 series , and they frequently topped the bill at                 the London Palladium, alongside such stars as                 Danny Kaye, Bob Hope and Max Bygraves, taking                 part in several Royal Command performances. more....
George                 Cole, actor, has died aged 90 (6 August                 2015)
George Cole was a comic actor who excelled at                 playing shifty 'spivs such as the roguish                 Arthur Daley in Minder.
He appeared in a couple of films before joining                 the RAF in 1943. After the war Cole returned to                 acting, appearing in a variety of mediocre films                 including My Brothers Keeper (1948), The Spider and the Fly (1949) and Gone to Earth                 (1950). He had greater success with Alastair Sim                 in the classic comedies Laughter in Paradise                 (1951) and Scrooge (1952).
Over the next decade, Cole and Sim repeated their                 screen partnership in a string of films, the most                 successful of which were the St Trinians                 series, directed by Frank Launder. In the first,                 The Belles of St Trinians (1954), Cole (as                 the spiv Flash Harry) received third billing                 after Sim and Joyce Grenfell. The film was                 extremely successful and was followed by five                 more, including Blue Murder at St Trinians                 (1958) and Coles only film in the series                 without Sim, The Pure Hell of St Trinians                 (1961).
Between films, Cole starred as the bumbling                 bachelor David Bliss in the long-running BBC                 radio series A Life of Bliss (118 episodes,                 1952-67). The show was broadcast on Sunday                 afternoons. Cole recalled it as wholesome                 to the point of nausea, and insisted that                 the best part of the show had been Percy                 Edwardss performance as Psyche the dog.                 more....
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/06/george-cole
Val                 Doonican, singer, has died aged 88 (3 July                 2015)
Val Doonican, the Irish singer who has died aged                 88, rose to fame in the early 1960s when he                 appeared in Sunday Night at the London Palladium;                 his relaxed manner and easy charm made him                 extremely popular with family audiences, who                 appreciated his whimsical renditions of folk                 songs such as Paddy McGintys Goat,                 ORaffertys Motor Car and                 Delaneys Donkey.
Doonican distinguished himself from other                 performers at that time by sporting a range of                 knitwear more usually seen in Lapland and by                 performing many of his songs while sitting in a                 rocking chair.
In 1951 Val Doonican moved to London and made his                 radio debut as a member of the Four Ramblers on                 Riders of the Range. He played one of a number of                 bunk-house boys who were heard crooning cowboy                 songs in the gaps between the action. At the same                 time he was supplementing his income by writing                 musical accompaniments for Tex Ritter.
When not performing as cowboys, the group toured                 Britain, appearing at various variety venues. By                 1953 they were working regularly in cabaret,                 performing at American Air Bases.
In 1959 Val Doonican auditioned as a solo                 performer with BBC radio and was offered a spot                 on Dreamy Afternoon which led to his own show,                 Your Date with Val. Doonicanss mix of songs                 and stories proved popular and the following year                 he was touring the country with his own show. In                 1964 Val Doonican was offered a spot on                 ITVs Sunday Night at the London Palladium                 and was acclaimed as an overnight                 star. Within a year he was appearing on BBC                 television in The Val Doonican Music Show and was                 voted BBC Personality of the Year (an award he                 won three times altogether). more....
Marguerite                 Patten, food writer and broadcaster, has died                 aged 99 (10 June 2015)
Marguerite Patten helped the nation to feed                 itself through the war years and for the next                 half century taught the British how to cook "sensible food in an appetising                 manner".
As a home economist with the Ministry of Food                 during the war, Marguerite Patten showed                 housewives how to get by with a tin of Spam and a                 ration book. She rose to prominence in the                 post-war years, becoming one of the BBCs                 first food broadcasters, on Kitchen Front and                 then on Womans Hour.
Marguerite Patten predated Philip Harben, the                 Cradocks and Elizabeth David and endured for                 decades longer. She was the most prolific cookery                 writer ever, the author of more than 165 cookery                 books, which sold over 17 million copies                 worldwide. She was also one of the few people                 ever to have been decorated for their services to                 cookery.
From 1947 Marguerite Patten was the BBCs                 first regular television cook, on Kitchen Front.                 She gave recipes on Womans Hour from its                 second day, and even starred in cookery shows at                 the Palladium. In 1952, she wrote a regular                 column for The Daily Telegraph called Merry-go-round of Meals.
Over the next 40 years, as Britain moved from                 being the nation with the reputation for the                 worst cooking in Europe to the most cosmopolitan                 food culture on earth, Marguerite Patten played a                 full part in showing the amateur cook how to get                 to grips with the huge new range of ingredients                 and fashions. more....
Peter                 Howell, stage and screen actor, has died aged 95 (11 May                 2015)
Peter Howell found himself catapulted into the                 spotlight  and up to 24 million                 viewers homes  when he played Dr                 Peter Harrison in British televisions first                 medical soap, Emergency  Ward 10. Howell                 joined the twice-weekly serial in 1958, a year                 after it began, and appeared in 111 episodes                 through most of its 10-year history. Although he                 left in 1964, when audience figures were starting                 to slip, he returned for a short run two years                 later and a special appearance in the final                 episode, in 1967.
His West End stage plays included The Affair                 (Strand theatre, 1961), The Doctors Dilemma                 (Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 1963), Little Boxes                 (Duchess theatre, 1968) and Conduct Unbecoming                 (Queens theatre, 1969).
Among Howells dozens of television roles                 were Lord Howard in Elizabeth R (1971), Julius                 Caesar in Heil Caesar! (1973), Francis Knollys in                 Edward the King (1975), Uncle Glegg in The Mill                 on the Floss (1979) and Sir William Lucas in                 Pride and Prejudice (1980), as well as various                 priests, detectives, lawyers, judges, headmasters                 and army officers. more....
Pamela                 Cundell, actress, singer and comedian, has died                 aged 95 (8 May 2015)
She was best known on television for her regular                 appearances as the spoony, matronly-built Mrs Fox                 in Dad's Army, smothering American soldiers with                 her affections and flirting her way into getting                 an extra sausage off the ration from the meek                 butcher Corporal Jones (Clive Dunn).
Full of life, and habitually bursting into                 rehearsals with a flourishing "hello                 darlings!", Pamela Cundell's music-hall                 sense of showmanship cast her first and foremost                 as a comedy player.
In the final days of music hall she appeared as a                 singer and comedian alongside such stars as Jimmy                 Jewel, Terry Scott and Sid Millward and His                 Nitwits. Throughout the 1950s, alongside Dick                 Emery, she was a regular on BBC Radio's Workers'                 Playtime.
She appeared regularly in seaside revues such as                 Between Ourselves, which toured the east coast in                 1955, and began her association with the                 gloriously bovine Bill Fraser, through whom she                 made her first television appearances in 1961 in                 the sitcom Bootsie and Snudge, a civvy street                 spin-off from The Army Game that starred Fraser                 and Alfie Bass. more....
Ronnie                 Carroll, Eurovision singer, has died aged 80 (14 April                 2015)
After Carroll appeared in a BBC television talent                 show, Camera One in 1956, positive reaction to                 his warm baritone led to a recording contract                 with Philips and to frequent radio appearances on                 the Light Programme and Radio Luxembourg. Carroll                 was also a guest on the television shows of                 Morecambe and Wise, Bruce Forsyth, Kathy Kirby                 and others.
Also in 1956 his first hit record, Walk Hand in                 Hand, reached No 13 and the following year The                 Wisdom of a Fool entered the top 20. Further                 records were less successful, until in 1962                 Carroll had a top 10 hit with Roses Are Red (My                 Love).
In 1962 Carroll was also chosen as the national                 standard bearer for that years Eurovision                 song contest. His song, Ring-a-Ding Girl, came a                 creditable fourth, a good enough position to                 ensure that Carroll became the first vocalist to                 represent Britain in the contest for two years                 running. His 1963 entry, Say Wonderful Things,                 composed by Norman Newell, also achieved fourth                 place. more....
Shaw                 Taylor, television presenter, has died aged 90 (18 March                 2015)
After the War, a London County Council grant                 afforded him two years at Rada, where a heavy                 Cockney accent was ironed out of him. Work on                 stage in the West End and small parts in films                 and television dramas followed throughout the                 1950s.
After standing in for six weeks as a relief                 announcer at ATV in the summer of 1957 Taylor was                 offered a staff job at the station. Tired of the                 thespian life and describing himself as an actor of no consequence, he decided on a                 change of direction and began his career in                 broadcasting.
He quickly became one of the stations                 best-known faces, and was in demand as a                 quizmaster on shows like Tell the Truth, Pencil                 and Paper and Password and Dotto. He also                 commented on royal occasions and on ITVs                 coverage of the Cenotaph ceremony, and worked as                 a sports commentator for the channel.
But it was as the host of Police 5 that Taylor                 found sustained success. The show was the                 brainchild of Steve Wade, the head of outside                 broadcasts at ATV. It was commissioned by the ATV                 boss Lew Grade in June 1962 and devised to fill a                 gap left by an American import that ran for 55                 minutes instead of the required 60 minutes. more....
Gerry                 Wells, radio enthusiast, has died aged 85 (December                 2014)
Gerry Wells was a self-confessed obsessive whose                 life was dominated by his fascination with radio                 apparatus.
By the time of his death he had amassed a                 collection of more than 1,300 radio and                 television sets and associated equipment,                 covering the entire pre-transistor history of                 broadcasting. This had become the British Vintage                 Wireless and Television Museum, and today it                 occupies his lifelong home, a substantial                 Edwardian house in Dulwich, south-east London.                 The collection contains many working examples,                 most of them found and brought back to life by                 Wells himself. Visitors can have the unique and                 somewhat unsettling experience of watching live                 television programmes in the old 405-line,                 black-and-white format, abandoned in 1984. more....
http://bvwm.org.uk/
Pauline                 Yates, stage and screen actor, has died aged 85 (21 January                 2015)
Pauline Yates was a spirit of domestic calm when                 she played his wife in the mayhem led by Leonard                 Rossiter as the erratic Reggie Perrin, whose                 bizarre behaviour she treated as normal and in                 need of no explanation.
Yatess looks and ability to learn lines                 quickly, a trick perfected during her years in                 rep, made her a popular choice for TV casting                 directors. In 1957 she appeared in one of the first hospital soap operas, ITVs Emergency                 Ward 10, and she appeared in the BBC police                 series Z Cars and Softly Softly, and, on a number                 of occasions, in ITVs Armchair Theatre, for                 which her husband Donald Churchill wrote several                 plays.
Yatess career path was almost like a route                 map through British TV comedy in the 70s and 80s.                 She was a consummate comic foil, appearing in The                 Ronnie Barker Playhouse on ITV in 1968, but also                 taking on central roles as the Tory MP in the                 BBCs My Honourable Mrs (1975), opposite                 Derek Nimmo, and the divorcee finding a new life                 after marriage in Thames TVs Harriets                 Back in Town (1972). more....
Lotte                 Hass, model and undersea film-maker, has died                 aged 86 (14 January 2015)
Lotte Hass was an underwater photographer and                 model who, with her husband Hans, produced                 pioneering films of the sea depths during the                 1950s.
Shot on early watertight cameras, the                 Hasses footage offered viewers a glimpse of                 an underwater world unparalleled in its intimacy  at considerable personal risk to Lotte,                 who dived using a lightweight rebreather and a                 fashionable swimsuit that afforded her little                 protection from aquatic predators.
The couples commercial success allowed Hass                 to purchase a 170-foot hull, the Xarifa, and                 Lotte accompanied him on expeditions to the                 Caribbean and Galapagos islands, where they shot                 Under the Caribbean (1953).
Diving To Adventure, the couples 1956 BBC                 series, was the first of its kind for British                 television, proving a great hit with critics and                 viewers alike. more....
Ronnie                 Ronalde, artiste famous for his whistling and                 yodelling, had died aged 91 (13 January                 2015)
In 1950 the EMI record producer Norman Newell was                 in a pub on the Edgware Road when Ronalde                 performed "If I Were A Blackbird" on                 the radio. As the customers were silent as he                 performed, Newell realised that this could be a                 hit record. That and "In A Monastery                 Garden" became best-selling records and                 favourites on the BBC programme Housewives'                 Choice.
He recorded the songs of the day, singing and                 whistling his way through "Hair Of Gold,                 Eyes Of Blue" and "Mocking Bird                 Hill". He discussed bird song with the                 ornithologist Percy Edwards and when he recorded "Ballad Of Davy Crockett" he made sure                 that his choice of birds was right for the area.                 He could mimic flutes and violins, while his                 version of "I Believe" highlighted his                 commanding tenor voice.
Ronalde was a major attraction and audiences                 marvelled at his lightning-fast versions of "Tritsch Tratsch Polka" and "Can-Can". He hosted variety series for                 the BBC and ITV, but in the late 1950s there was                 a decline in variety acts and he was seen as an                 anachronism. more....
Roberta                 Leigh, Children's author and puppeteer, has died                 aged 87 (27 December 2014)
Roberta Leigh wrote romantic novels and                 childrens stories under a variety of noms                 de plume and in the 1960s was successful as a                 creator and producer of popular puppet series on                 ITV.
After the publication of her first romantic                 novel, In Name Only, by Harlequin books in 1950,                 Roberta Leigh published more than 10 novels over                 the next decade and branched out into                 childrens writing, magazines, newspaper                 columns and television.
Roberta Leigh began her television career with                 The Adventures of Twizzle in 1957, which was                 turned into her first childrens book in                 1960. She created, produced, scripted, and wrote                 the music and lyrics for the puppet series (and                 then for a further seven puppet film series), all                 shown on ITV.
As well as Sara and Hoppity (1962-63), a                 50-episode television series about a little girl                 and her mischievous doll with one leg shorter                 than the other and Space Patrol (1963, Planet                 Patrol in America), a 39-episode science fiction                 series incorporating elements of Gerry                 Andersons Supermarionation techniques,                 these included Torchy the Battery Boy; Wonder Boy                 and Tiger; Send for Dithers; and Picture the Word                 (52 animations for a Fun to Learn series).
To make the films, she acquired the Soho-based                 National Interest Pictures and a second film                 studio in Harlesden, becoming the first woman                 producer in Britain to have her own film company. more....
John                 Freeman, Soldier, MP, diplomat and broadcaster                 best known for his series of interviews, Face to                 Face, has died aged 99 (20                 December 2014)
John Freeman was offered work by the BBC, first                 as a freelance current affairs reporter on                 Panorama, then on Press Conference, a political                 discussion programme. On Panorama he conducted a                 merciless interview with Frank Foulkes, the                 Communist President of the Electrical Trades                 Union, who had been accused of rigging the union                 ballot.
Cross-examination was his forte  a skill he                 may have acquired from his father. It reached its                 flowering in Face to Face, a series that began in                 1959. Until then, there had been few instances of                 the hard-hitting, confrontational TV interview.                 Public figures were given a fairly easy ride by                 broadcasters, with any hint of potential                 embarrassment scrupulously avoided.
Freeman recognised that provocation would                 generally draw out more truth from interviewees                 than politeness. Sitting with the back of his                 head towards the camera, and with the                 victims face in close-up, he turned the                 programmes into gladiatorial contests. In an                 unemotional, forensic style, he would nag away at                 any weaknesses he perceived in his subjects defences. In one notorious programme, the game                 show panellist Gilbert Harding was reduced to                 tears during a relentless interrogation about his family history. The series was immensely popular                 and in 1960 Freeman was named television                 personality of the year. more....
Rex                 Firkin, television producer, has died aged 88 (7 December                 2014)
The producer and director Rex Firkin described                 himself as being "in the engine room of                 commercial television" at its inception in                 Britain. Starting in 1955, when Lew Grade's ATV                 opened, he spent more than 30 years at ITV, made                 some of its biggest popular and critical                 successes and brought others to the screen                 himself after becoming head of drama at LWT.
In 1953, Firkin looked for work in television,                 but a string of job applications to the BBC were                 rejected. A meeting with Norman Collins, who                 became a founder of ATV, led to his becoming a                 trainee programme director in 1955 when the                 commercial channel opened. His first work was                 directing The Adventures of Noddy, Theatre Club,                 the live drama serial One Family and the                 advertising magazine Home with Joy Shelton.
He directed (1957-60), then produced (1959-60),                 Emergency  Ward 10, television's first                 occupational soap, following the lives of doctors                 and nurses at the fictional Oxbridge General                 Hospital. It was watched by up to 24 million                 viewers and won a 1957 Society of Film and                 Television Arts Merit Award.
While continuing to direct occasionally, he spent                 the next quarter of a century as a producer. He                 began with the Ward 10 spin-off Call Oxbridge                 2000 (1961-62), then made the second and third                 series (1961) of the newspaper drama Deadline                 Midnight and the final run (1962) of Probation                 Officer.
As a producer, Firkin then created, with Wilfred                 Greatorex, another drama set in the workplace.                 Against the wishes of ATV's casting department he                 hired Patrick Wymark to star in The Plane Makers                 (1963-5) as the bullying aircraft factory boss                 John Wilder, locked in battles with unions on the                 shop floor and management in the boardroom. more....
Cherry                 Wainer, pianist hailed as the female                 Liberace, has died aged 78 (14                 November 2014)
Wainer first appeared on ITVs Lunch Box,                 the lightest of light entertainment shows.
It was through one such appearance that along                 with her future husband, Don Storer a highly paid                 jobbing drummer, she came to the attention of                 Jack Good, who had been commissioned to produce                 the first series of Oh Boy!
During live broadcasts of Oh Boy! on ITV in the                 late 1950s, screams became cheers for Cherry                 Wainer, seated at an upholstered Hammond organ as                 part of the programmes house band, Lord                 Rockinghams XI.
Jack Good also brokered a recording contract for                 Wainer. Her output was to include Money (1960),                 historically the first Tamla-Motown number to be                 covered in the UK.
While chart entries proved elusive for Wainer in                 her own right, a maiden Rockingham single, Fried                 Onions, made the US Hot 100. Hoots Mon, the                 follow-up, was a domestic No 1  and was                 heard on a section of Oh Boy! featured in the                 1959 Royal Command Performance. Wainer became the                 focal point of the band  publicised as the female Liberace  with solo                 spots as both a singer and instrumentalist.
After the final edition of Oh Boy! in 1959,                 Wainer went on to star in another ITV series, Boy                 Meets Girls, which was aimed at a wider audience. more....
Angus                 Lennie, actor, has died aged 84 (14                 September 2014)
On television, he was in Armchair Theatre, "The Mortimer Touch" (ABC, 1957),                 during its earlier, less adventurous period, in                 this case a stage play by Eric Linklater. By                 contrast, Lennie appeared in Mario (BBC, 1959),                 for the experimental drama movement the Langham                 Group, employing montages and still photography                 in adapting a short story by Thomas Mann. More in                 character was Para Handy  Master Mariner                 (BBC, 1959-60), as Sunny Jim, deckhand on the                 Vital Spark, commandeered by lean, craggy-faced                 Duncan Macrae in the title role.
After The Great Escape, Lennie stayed in RAF                 uniform for 633 Squadron (1964), chiefly                 remembered for Ron Goodwin's stirring score, and                 was directed by Attenborough in the panoramic Oh!                 What A Lovely War (1969). more....
Sir                 Donald Sinden, actor, has died aged 90 (12                 September 2014)
Donald Sinden joined the Shakespeare Memorial                 Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon for the 1946-47                 season. In October 1947 he made his West End                 debut as Aumerle in Richard II, and in 1948                 joined the Bristol Old Vic. He left Bristol to                 appear as Arthur Townsend in The Heiress, an                 adaptation of Henry Jamess Washington                 Square. Sinden had nine lines and appeared in all                 644 performances of the show.
During the 1950s, he immersed himself in cinema                 work, appearing in more than 20 films, including                 The Cruel Sea (1953), in which he shared                 top-billing with Jack Hawkins, and Mogambo                 (1954), a huge safari epic in which Sinden                 received fourth billing after Clark Gable, Ava                 Gardner and Grace Kelly, as Kellys                 cuckolded gorilla-hunting husband.
After playing Tony Benskin, a womanising medical                 student in Doctor in the House (1954), Sinden                 began to find himself being typecast in comic                 roles. He played Benskin and characters like him                 for the next eight years.
When the British film industry began to falter in                 the early Sixties, Sindens film career                 ended.
Sinden went on to make a name for himself as a                 comedian and farceur. He appeared as Robert                 Danvers in Theres a Girl in My Soup at the                 Aldwych in 1966, and won Best Actor awards for                 his appearances in the Ray Cooney farces Not Now,                 Darling (1967), Two into One (1984) and Out of                 Order (1990). In 1976 he was nominated for a Best                 Actor Tony Award for his performance on Broadway                 as Arthur Wicksteed in Alan Bennetts Habeas                 Corpus. more....
Bill                 Kerr, Australian actor, has died aged 92 (30 August                 2014)
Bill Kerr made his name on the radio in Britain                 in the 1950s, becoming particularly well-known                 for his role (alongside Sid James and Hattie                 Jacques) as one of Tony Hancocks three                 cronies in Hancocks Half Hour.
But Kerr was also a character actor of                 distinction, giving memorable performances as a                 racketeer in My Death is a Mockery (1952); as the                 bomber pilot Micky Martin in The Dam Busters                 (1955); and as a mentally disturbed crook in Port                 of Escape (1956), co-starring Googie Withers and                 Joan Hickson. His other films of this period                 included Appointment in London (1952), You Know                 What Sailors Are (1954) and The Night My Number                 Came Up (1955).
In 1954 he joined Hancocks Half Hour, which                 ran on the radio for six series and later moved                 on to television. As Hancocks Australian                 lodger at the dilapidated 23 Railway Cuttings,                 East Cheam, Kerr appeared as the gormless,                 slow-on-the-uptake butt of his landlords                 humour. The role made Kerr a household name in                 Britain, and he later resumed his partnership                 with Sid James in the first series of the                 television comedy Citizen James (1960). more....
Lord                 Attenborough, actor and director, has died aged                 90 (24 August                 2014)
Richard Attenborough was one of the pillars of                 British cinema, originally as an actor and                 subsequently as an Oscar-winning director; his                 1982 biopic, Gandhi, won best film of the year in                 the annual Academy Awards, Attenborough himself                 being named best director and Ben Kingsley best                 actor in the title role.
Having first made his name on screen in his                 student days, playing a Navy stoker, terrified                 under fire, in the war film In Which We Serve                 (1942), Richard Attenborough was just 24 years                 old at the time of filming his standout role as                 Pinkie Brown, the adolescent gangster of Brighton                 Rock.
In later years his own warmth of personality came                 to the fore, and with Jurassic Park (1993) he                 endeared himself to a whole new generation of                 fans, playing an avuncular professor whose                 naivety almost proves fatal when things go awry                 at his dinosaur-filled island theme park.
But it was Gandhi that was the apex of Richard                 Attenboroughs career and displayed a                 facility, unsuspected in his acting days, for                 handling large casts and epic, sweeping                 narratives. more....
Juno                 Alexander, actress, broadcaster and local                 politician, has died aged 88 (2 August                 2014)
Juno Alexander was the older sister of the                 Conservative politician Lord St John of Fawsley                 (Norman St John Stevas) and the first wife of the                 actor Terence Alexander; she made a name in her                 own right as an actress, broadcaster and local                 politician - and as a woman of idiosyncrasy and                 verve.
During the war she joined the Free French and                 worked with the Resistance; later she served as a                 Conservative councillor on Richmond council,                 south-west London.
From the late 1940s to the 1960s, Juno Alexander                 made frequent appearances on television, in                 programmes such as The Alfred Marks Show, The Max                 Miller Show and The Eamonn Andrews Show. After                 the births of her children, she did less work,                 but still had small parts in films and in                 television series, among them Compact and Garry                 Halliday (a precursor to Dr Who in which she                 appeared with her husband as his air stewardess                 girlfriend), and also appeared in series such as                 Harpers West One (1961) and Love Story (1963),                 She also appeared on television and radio panel                 shows including Petticoat Line, with Anona Wynn,                 Just A Minute and Going for a Song. more....
Neal                 Arden, actor and one of the voices behind                 Housewives Choice, has died aged 104 (1 August 2014)
Neal Arden was for more than 20 years one of                 Britains favourite presenters on                 Housewives Choice, the popular record                 request programme broadcast every morning, six                 days a week, from 1946 to 1967 on the BBC Light                 Programme.
In a long and varied career in theatre, film,                 radio and television, Arden worked with many of                 the leading stars of their day, from Richard                 Tauber, Leslie Henson, Trevor Howard and Dulcie                 Gray to Roger Moore, Harry Secombe, Prunella                 Scales, Donald Sinden and Doris Day. He was an                 assiduous fundraiser for charity and, as an actor, took numerous supporting roles both on                 stage and in television series such as Maigret,                 Ivanhoe, Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green and I,                 Claudius. He also wrote songs, plays and film and                 television scripts.
He made his screen debut in the 1934 film                 Princess Charming. Other film credits over the                 years included the wartime anti-Nazi thriller Pimpernel Smith (1941); John Wesley                 (1954); and The Shakedown (1960). His most                 substantial role was in Norman Walkers Life                 of St Paul (1938), in which he played the saint                 from beardless youth to bewhiskered old age.
His early theatrical credits included Toad of                 Toad Hall (Royalty, 1933); Blossom Time (1942,                 with Richard Tauber, Lyric); Night of the Garter                 (Strand, 1942); and The Lilac Domino (His                 Majestys, 1944).
In the 1950s Arden wrote many scripts for the new                 Independent Television and record reviews for                 newspapers and magazines. more... .
Dora                 Bryan, actress and comedienne, has died aged 91 (23 July                 2014)
Dora Bryan was one of Britains most versatile performers; she was at home in revues,                 restoration comedies and musicals and equally                 comfortable in dramatic roles, most notably in                 the film A Taste of Honey (1961), in which she                 played Rita Tushinghams slatternly mother                 and for which she won a Bafta award for best                 actress.
With her tiny frame, round, friendly and mobile                 face, her warm-hearted grin and Lancashire                 gurgle, Dora Bryan had the gift of appealing to                 every audience as soon as she appeared. To all                 her work she was able to bring a breezily                 adaptable and engaging personality.
She starred in several television series designed                 to showcase her talents, including Our Dora                 (1968), According to Dora (1968) and Dora (1972),                 in all of which she played various hapless,                 apparently simple-minded characters.
Dora Bryan made her screen debut in the late                 Forties, appearing in a variety of films,                 including Odd Man Out (1947), The Fallen Idol                 (1948) and in The Cure for Love (1949), in which                 she co-starred with Robert Donat. Her versatility                 was demonstrated by her taking roles in films as                 diverse as the old-fashioned police thriller The                 Blue Lamp (1950) and the madcap comedy Mad About                 Men (1954). more....
James Garner, actor and producer, has died aged 86 (20 July                 2014)
James Garner made his reputation in the late                 1950s as the shrewd, anti-heroic gambler Bret                 Maverick in the iconoclastic Western series of                 the same name  and sealed it as the 1970s                 private investigator Jim Rockford in The Rockford                 Files.
In 1955, Warner Brothers hired him for small                 roles in Cheyenne, one of the western series                 infesting television, and advanced him to Marlon                 Brando's buddy in the movie Sayonara (1957).
Then, after appearing in Towards the Unknown in                 1957, Garner was offered the lead in a new                 television Western series, Maverick. He accepted                 because he was eager to play characters that                 upset traditional models: At that time all                 cowboys were tough and spent their time shooting                 one another. Maverick was different because he                 avoided trouble wherever possible. He hardly shot                 anyone and he was always on the look-out for a                 fast buck. The series was an immediate                 success and prompted one critic to claim that                 James Garner defined 'cool for a                 whole generation.
"We nearly killed the cowboy shows," said Garner. "It was hard after Maverick to                 see those guys go around being brave without                 laughing." Maverick was the hottest show                 from 1957 to 1959; it reinforced ABC when the                 network was struggling, and won a 1959 Emmy. more                 ....
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jul/20/james-garner
Frank                 Mumford, master marionettist, has died aged 95 (13 July                 2014)
Frank Mumford, who has died aged 95, was a master                 of marionettes whose career in variety spanned                 eight decades.
After the Second World War, he and his wife,                 Maisie, created a speciality act featuring                 2ft-tall puppets with large heads and scaled-down                 bodies. Their line-up included hippos, skating                 cats, skeletons, dancers , a matador and bull  and their most famous creation,                 Mademoiselle Zizi, a diminutive chanteuse based                 on Lana Turner and Gypsy Rose Lee.
The Mumfords played top London nightspots -                 including the Coconut Grove, Grosvenor House,                 Ciros, the Embassy and the Dorchester - and                 variety shows and cabarets around the world .
The Mumfords made many television appearances in Britain, working at Alexandra Palace in the early                 days of childrens television . Mumford                 carved the early versions of the Watch with                 Mother puppet character Andy Pandy and also                 featured in Time for Tich (1963-4) alongside the                 ventriloquist Ray Alans dummy Tich and his                 pet duck Quackers.
Mumfords last public appearance was in 2004                 - 72 years after he had first appeared on stage                 with his creations aged 14. more....
Dickie                 Jones, child star of cowboy films and rodeos, has                 died aged 87 (9 July 2014)
Richard 'Dickie' Jones hit the big time - aged 13                 - when he voiced Pinocchio for Disneys 1940                 classic animated feature film.
Jones excelled as the voice of the mischievous                 marionette whose dreams of becoming a real boy                 are hampered by a propensity for telling tall                 tales - until, that is, his nose points him in                 the right direction.
Jones began working at rodeos at the age of six,                 billed as The Worlds Youngest Trick                 rider and Roper. He was soon discovered by                 Hoot Gibson, an actor and rodeo champion. Film work followed. He played opposite Al Jolson in                 Wonder Bar (1934) and James Stewart in Mr Smith                 Goes to Washington and Destry Rides Again (both                 1939).
In the Forties and Fifties he appeared in a                 series of film and television westerns (including                 a number of Gene Autry features). He had his own                 short-lived series, Buffalo Bill Jr, from 1955 to                 1956. He also starred as sidekick Dick West in                 The Range Rider western series alongside Jock                 Mahoney. more....
Francis                 Matthews, glamorous star of the BBC's Paul Temple                 and voice of Captain Scarlet, has died aged 86 (14 June                 2014)
Francis Matthews' television debut, for the BBC                 in its single-channel days, was in Prelude to                 Glory (1954). For Durbridge, he first did My                 Friend Charles (1956), as a seemingly affable                 fellow revealed in the last episode to be a                 drug-dealing villain.
Tall, slender and with a quietly amused                 expression, Francis Matthews was ideally suited                 to play Francis Durbridge's gentleman sleuth Paul                 Temple, in the popular television adaptations of                 the 1960s and 70s. But his 60-year career also                 spanned horror films, comedy and modern classics,                 and as the voice of Captain Scarlet he reached a                 new generation of admirers.
Matthews's first film was the Raj tale Bhowani                 Junction (1956). His clean-cut qualities were                 also at work in several horror movies. He was an                 eager assistant to Peter Cushing in Hammer's The                 Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), then played Boris                 Karloff's son in Corridors of Blood (1958), with                 Christopher Lee. Matthews grappled with Lee, on                 the same sets, in Dracula: Prince of Darkness                 (1965) and Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966).
Paul Temple, which started in 1969 and ran for 64                 episodes, was one of BBC1's first colour series.                 It enabled extensive film sequences and overseas                 locations, the glamour of which transferred to                 Matthews and his co-star Ros Drinkwater, playing                 his wife, Steve. The couple appeared almost                 impossibly elegant to television audiences of the                 day, George Sewell as their down-at-heel sidekick                 helping to underline their suavity.
Overhearing an interview in which Matthews did a                 jokey impression of Cary Grant, the producer                 Gerry Anderson cast him in his puppet saga                 Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (ATV, 1967-68). more....
Joy                 Laurey, puppet maker and puppeteer, has died aged                 90 (2nd June 2014)
Joy Laurey was born the great grand daughter of                 the famous Drury Lane clown Sam Laurey.
She started her professional career with E.N.S.A.                 during the Second World War with her sister and                 mother making up the Laurey Puppet Company. They                 entertained  troops with puppet shows up and                 down the country in a wide variety of locations                 from Balloon sites on the mainland, to H.M.S.                 Bulldog at the time of the official announcement                 that it had liberated Guernsey.
At the end of the war, Joy continued entertaining                 with puppets, although concentrating the focus on                 children's entertainment, performing regularly at                 such venues as the Lord Mayor's Children's Party                 held at the Mansion House London, appearing with                 the Laurey Puppet Company regularly for                 summer  seasons at seaside resorts, and                 representing Britain in puppet festivals in                 countries such as Rumania.
During the early 50's Joy Laurey was offered an                 opportunity to make a puppet character for a                 one-off television show called "Whirligig".  She made a puppet                 based on a vegetable, and it was  named "Mr Turnip".  The pilot show                 proved so successful that it went on to run for                 over 6 years and Mr Turnip was one of the very                 first television puppets ever to become a                 celebrity in his own right.  Mr Turnip was                 so popular in his day that there was great demand                 for Mr Turnip toys, dolls, games and even                 toiletries such as Mr Turnip soap.  Cardboard cut outs were printed on the back of                 cereal boxes and even fleecy material was printed                 with Mr Turnip on it for  making                 children's pyjamas. The programme "Whirligig" was the first "magazine" type children's  programme ever to be produced  by the B.B.C.                 and featured appearances from many famous names                 such as: Humphrey Lestocq, Steve Race, Peter                 Butterworth, Francis Coudrill with his                 puppet "Hank", and Rolf Harris. more....
http://www.essexcountystandard.co.uk/news/11262630.Creator_of_Whirligig_s_Mr_Turnip__Ardleigh_s_Joy_Laurey_died_aged_90/
Sir Jack                 Brabham, World champion racing driver and                 constructor, has died aged 88 (19                 May 2014)
Jack Brabham was three-time Formula One World                 Champion Driver and two-time Formula One World                 Champion Constructor, becoming the first driver                 to win the title in a car of his own making.
Black Jack Brabham, an Australian,                 proved that the pre-requisites of the racing star  quick judgment, lightning reflexes and                 exuberant dash  are not exclusive to youth.                 He was past 30 when he started to race Formula                 One cars, making his debut at the British Grand                 Prix in 1955 at Aintree, driving a Cooper that he                 had built himself, before returning home where he                 won the Australian Grand Prix. The next season,                 he was signed by John Cooper for his Cooper Car                 Company team.
Over the next few years, Brabham shone in minor                 formula races while gradually gaining experience                 in Formula One. He won his first three World                 Championship points in 1958, and then at the                 start of the 1959 season won the Monaco Grand                 Prix in a works Cooper car, setting a                 new course record. He followed this with a second                 place in Holland, a third in France and Italy,                 and victory in the British Grand Prix.
He was in his 34th year when, in 1959, he first                 won the World Championship. When, the next year,                 he won the World Championship again, he told his                 family that he might give the sport a further two                 years. However, he was still racing as hard as                 ever, and successfully, after becoming World                 Champion for a third time in 1966, when he had                 turned 40. more....
Eli                 Woods, comedian who was a stuttering stooge to                 the great Jimmy James, has died aged 91 (16 May                 2014)
Eli Woods was one of the last links to the great                 era of twice-nightly British variety theatre. A                 stooped and gangling figure with a long,                 lugubrious face and permanently gaping mouth,                 clad in flapping trousers, too-tight jacket and                 deerstalker hat, he had a stammer which he                 exaggerated to tremendous comic effect. Woods                 spent his early career as a stooge for his uncle,                 Jimmy James, the innovative music-hall comedian                 who eschewed traditional jokes in favour of                 elaborate and surreal flights of fancy and was                 revered in the business as "the comedian's                 comedian".
Jimmy James, a Northumberland comedian, was                 renowned for his drunk routines  "The                 Spare Room", "His First Night", "Sober as a Judge". The most enduring                 was "In the Box": James was the vaguely                 inebriated gent who falls into conversation with                 two idiots named Hutton Conyers and Bretton                 Woods. The lanky Woods, inhabiting a suit that                 had long ago parted company with sartorial logic,                 would stand next to James as though in a stupor,                 jaw agape, struggling to follow a bizarre                 exchange about the contents of a shoe box.
"In the Box" evolved through several                 changes of personnel. Jimmy James' real surname                 was Casey, and it was his nephew James (Jack)                 Casey who became the definitive Bretton (later                 Eli) Woods. From 1948 the young Casey was                 employed as James' driver, until they arrived in                 Preston to find that one of the stooges would not                 be able to make the performance. Casey became                 Woods, and was persuaded to stay.
Hutton Conyers was first played by James'                 brother-in-law Jack Darby, later by Dick Carlton,                 and for three years (1956-59) by Roy Castle, who                 had temporarily abandoned his own act to perfect                 his comic timing under the acknowledged master. more....
Efrem                 Zimbalist, star of 77 Sunset Strip, has died aged                 95 (2 May 2014)
Efrem Zimbalist played leading roles in two of                 American televisions most celebrated crime                 dramas, 77 Sunset Strip (1958-64) and The FBI                 (1965-74).
The first of these featured a pair of former                 government agents (Zimbalist as Stu Bailey, Roger                 Smith as Jeff Spencer) who set up as private                 detectives with an office on Sunset Boulevard in                 Los Angeles. They were assisted in their                 investigations by Kookie (played by                 Edd Byrnes), a hip car-parking valet. Introduced                 by a catchy theme song, the series had a breezy,                 light-hearted edge that prefigured similar                 television dramas that would become popular                 throughout the Sixties.
During summer breaks between 77 Sunset Strip and                 The FBI, Warner Bros cast Zimbalist in several                 feature films, including Too Much Too Soon, Home                 Before Dark, The Crowded Sky, The Chapman Report                 and Wait Until Dark (in which he appeared                 alongside Audrey Hepburn). His other films                 included By Love Possessed and Airport 1975. In                 the 1990s he recorded the voice of Alfred, the                 butler, in the cartoon Batman series. more....
Sir                 Christopher Chataway, record-breaking athlete,                 broadcaster and government minister, has died                 aged 82 (19 January 2014)
In the 1952 Helsinki Olympics he tripped going                 for the lead in the 5,000 metres, recovering to                 finish fifth, 12 seconds behind Emil Zatopek. In                 his last year at Oxford, in the Varsity match, he                 cut his best for the mile to 4 mins 8.4 sec, then                 the third fastest by a Briton. In May 1953                 Bannister set his record of 4 mins 3.6 sec, paced                 by Chataway.
For Chataway, the bridge from athletics to                 politics was television. Chataway joined ITN two                 months before ITV went live. The reader of                 ITNs first bulletin on October 11 1955, he                 was one of a cluster of contemporaries who became                 household names: Robin Day (with whom he shared                 ITNs debut), Ludovic Kennedy and Geoffrey                 Johnson Smith. He excelled, but wanted to do more                 reporting  and in 1956 he moved to the BBC                 as an interviewer with Panorama.
After winning the June 1970 election, Heath made                 Chataway, not yet 40, Minister for Posts and                 Telecommunications. He came under immediate                 pressure from Mary Whitehouse to "clean                 up" programmes, and from colleagues to stop                 jamming pirate stations such as Radio Caroline                 and to legalise commercial radio. Setting up                 commercial radio as Minister for Posts and                 Telecommunications, he spent 12 years with the                 medium as chairman of LBC. more....
Geoffrey                 Wheeler, presenter of Songs of Praise and Top of                 the Form, has died aged 83 (2 January                 2014)
Geoffrey Wheeler began making radio programmes                 for the BBC while studying Law at Manchester                 University and in 1954 was appointed the                 Corporations radio producer for the                 northern region.
He cut his teeth on variety shows, working with                 such entertainers as Ken Dodd, Benny Hill and                 Morcambe and Wise.
As the smartly-blazered, avuncular question                 master on Top of the Form from the early 1960s to                 1975, Wheeler earned a place in the cultural                 hinterland of a generation of vaguely bookish,                 mostly middle-class, viewers of the sort who now                 do sterling service as members of pub quiz teams.
The show began in 1948 on the BBCs Light                 Programme and Wheeler joined as co-question                 master with Paddy Feeny. Each would present his                 half of the show from a different school hall,                 the two being connected by a then state-of-the  art (for the BBC) landline.
In 1962 the show transferred to television,                 slimmed down to a single location and with                 Wheeler as its sole presenter.
Wheeler went freelance in 1963 and as well as                 presenting Top of the Form, appeared as a                 panellist on Call my Bluff, as a story teller on                 Jackanory, and spent 21 years as a regular                 presenter of Songs of Praise, now the                 worlds longest-running television religious                 programme. more....
David                 Coleman, Sports |Commentator, has died aged 87 (21                 December 2013)
David Coleman was the face and voice of BBC                 Television sport for 40 years, the anchorman for                 the flagship Grandstand programme on Saturday                 afternoons and later the affable host of the                 popular quiz A Question Of Sport.
In 1953 he started freelance radio work in                 Manchester and the following year joined the BBC                 in Birmingham as a news assistant. Having made                 his first television broadcast on Sportsview in                 May 1954 on the day Roger Bannister became the                 first runner to break the four-minute mile,                 Coleman was appointed sports editor, Midland                 Region, in November 1955. After the editor of                 Sportsview, Paul Fox, had seen him interview the                 footballer Danny Blanchflower on regional                 television, Coleman transferred to London. In                 1958 the BBCs Head of Sport, Peter Dimmock,                 offered Coleman the frontmans job on the                 new sports magazine programme, Grandstand.
He made his name on the programme where his ad                 libs and mastery of football trivia standing                 alongside the teleprinter as the football results                 came in revealed remarkably acute and detailed                 research. But he became frustrated by being                 always studio-bound and yearned for a new                 challenge. In 1967, however, after repeated                 wooing by ITV, he signed a new seven-year BBC                 contract at ï¿½10,000 a year, making him the                 highest-paid broadcaster in television sport. more....
Jean                 Kent, actress, has died aged 92 (1 December                 2013)
Jean Kent adopted a variety of stage names. At                 different times she was Peggy Summers and Jean                 Carr, finally adopting the name Jean Kent in 1943                 in Its That Man Again, a film version of                 the popular radio show ITMA, starring Tommy                 Handley.
Her big break came when she was hired as a dancer                 and understudy in the Max Miller show Apple Sauce                 (1941) at the Palladium. During rehearsals one of                 the leading ladies was sacked and Jean was asked                 to replace her at short notice. She was then                 spotted by Weston Drury, casting director at                 Shepherds Bush studios, and signed to a                 contract with Gainsborough Pictures.
She landed her first leading role, in Caravan                 (1946). In the interim, she had played supporting                 parts in such pictures as Champagne Charlie                 (1944), a Tommy Trinder musical about the heyday                 of music hall, Madonna of the Seven Moons (1944)                 and The Wicked Lady (1945).
Through much of the Fifties, Jean Kent                 concentrated on the theatre, appearing in plays                 and pantomimes (notably a Prince Charming in                 Cinderella) for which she had hitherto had little                 time.
In later years she was seen more frequently in                 television. She played Good Queen Bess in a 1962                 series based on the life of Sir Francis Drake and                 subsequently appeared in such long-running series                 as Emergency Ward 10, Up Pompeii, Crossroads,                 Lovejoy and Shrinks. more....
Stan                 Stennett, comedian, actor and pantomime veteran,                 has died aged 88 (26 November 2013)
With his doleful face, good-natured smile and                 ever-gleaming teeth, the stalwart entertainer                 Stan Stennett was a favourite in pantomimes and                 seaside shows around the UK for decades. After                 starting out as a musician, he found success at                 the BBC, cracking jokes on the radio series Welsh                 Rarebit and compering The Black and White                 Minstrel Show on television in the 1960s.
Stennett's period with The Black and White                 Minstrel Show did not endear him to the younger                 and more politically correct generation of TV                 comedy producers who later took charge. Stennett                 argued that when the clever satirists took over,                 audiences tended to stay away. He revered                 comedians such as "Laurel and Hardy, Mack                 Sennett, Buster Keaton  these were the gods  We are trying feebly to imitate these                 people." more....
Jack                 Alexander, singer and musician, has died aged 77 (13                 November 2013)
Jack Alexander was the singer and pianist with                 the Alexander Brothers, the duo he formed with                 his elder brother Tom. They were two of                 Scotlands best-loved entertainers, and                 during a career lasting five decades they toured                 the world with their versions of traditional                 Scottish songs, releasing more than 50 albums.
Their big break came in 1962, when the songwriter                 and producer Tony Hatch saw them perform at the                 Metropolitan Theatre, Edgware, and suggested that                 they record an album. Hatch, who had begun his                 career working with Petula Clark, immediately                 understood the potential for an act playing                 traditional Scottish tunes.
Their first album, Highland Fling, was recorded                 in London, and included favourites such as A Scottish Soldier and Scotland                 the Brave, becoming an enormous success.                 They followed the success of Highland Fling with                 the single Nobodys Child, which                 topped the charts in Scotland in 1964, outselling                 the Beatles that year.
The following year, inspired by the reception of                 the single, Andy Stewart invited the brothers to                 tour with him in Canada and the US. They                 performed alongside Shirley Bassey on the                 television variety show Sunday Night at the                 London Palladium and by 1965 had been given their                 own show on STV and had become a mainstay of The                 White Heather Club, the yearly televised Hogmanay                 celebrations. more....
Graham                 Stark, actor who was frequently cast in                 supporting roles in comedy films starring his                 close friend Peter Sellers, has died aged 91 (31                 October 2013)
After the war Stark joined the bohemian coterie                 frequenting the ornate Grafton Arms pub in                 Victoria where up-and-coming entertainers like                 Terry-Thomas, Jimmy Edwards, Tony Hancock, Dick                 Emery and Alfred Marks held court. It was in the                 Graftons back bar that Stark renewed an RAF                 friendship with Peter Sellers while Sellers and                 Spike Milligan experimented with material that,                 in 1951, would metamorphose into The Goon Show.
As well as providing madcap voices for The Goons,                 Stark also appeared in other popular radio shows                 of the day, notably Educating Archie, with the                 ventriloquist Peter Brough, and Rays A                 Laugh, starring the Liverpool comedian Ted Ray.
Whenever Spike Milligan failed to turn up for a                 Goon Show recording, Stark would stand in for                 him; and when Milligan and Sellers moved into television with A Show Called Fred in 1956, Stark                 joined the cast.
In 1964 Stark starred in his television comedy                 sketch series, The Graham Stark Show, which  although written by Johnny Speight, later                 to create Till Death Us Do Part  proved a                 flop. more....
Singer                 Joan Regan, who had chart success in the late 50s                 and early 60s, has died aged 85 (15                 September 2013)
Joan Regan had a number of hit records, including                 Ricochet, May You Always and If I Give My Heart                 to You.
Regan also had her own BBC television series, Be                 My Guest, for several years.
The singer starred on both sides of the Atlantic                 with artists such as Perry Como, Max Bygraves and                 Cliff Richard.
Regan, who was born in 1928 in Romford in Essex,                 was one of the most popular British singers of                 her era and appeared regularly on radio and TV.
Her career took off after theatrical impresario                 Bernard Delfont heard her recordings and signed                 her up with his agency.
Regan soon won a recording contract with the                 British record label, Decca Records, although                 only for a trial period of three records, which                 by her own admission "didn't exactly set the                 hit parade alight".
However, Decca released a recording she had made                 some months earlier of a song called Ricochet.
The record paved the way for theatre, radio and                 television engagements.
Regan was later to feature on American television                 with major performers including Eddie Fisher,                 Tennessee Ernie Ford and Perry Como.
She appeared at the London Palladium many times,                 with other entertainers such as Max Bygraves,                 Cliff Richard, Russ Conway and Edmund Hockridge.
In 1984, she hit her head in the shower causing a                 blood clot on the brain which left her paralysed                 and without speech.
But after therapy she made a complete recovery,                 singing again in Britain on radio and in                 concerts. more....
David                 Jacobs, actor and radio and TV broadcaster, has                 died aged 87 (3 September 2013)
David Jacobs' first acting role was as Laurie in                 the BBC's first TV adaptation of Little Women (1950-51). When Charles Chilton's Journey into                 Space proved to be a great radio hit in the                 1950s, Jacobs introduced it and took 22 roles.
After a period on Radio Luxembourg he was offered                 the freelance job of disc jockey on the radio                 programme Housewives' Choice, on which Jacobs had                 to play record requests and punctuate them with                 anodyne chat.
He was perfect for the job. It was a natural                 progression when he took over Juke Box Jury on                 TV, chairing a celebrity panel as they assessed                 likely chart hits  hailed with a                 hotel-reception-counter bell  or misses  dismissed with a hooter. At one time                 Jacobs seemed to be always on television whenever                 the on-switch was turned, with appearances on                 What's My Line, Top of the Pops, the Eurovision                 Song Contest, Come Dancing, Miss World and many                 more.
When a senior BBC executive advised him that it                 was all too much, he reinvented himself as a                 player with more gravitas, to succeed Freddy                 Grisewood on Any Questions? Having conceded that                 he was "too square for the pop scene",                 Jacobs became a stalwart of Radio 2, presenting                 music programmes in a succession of formats right                 up until a few weeks before his death. more....
Mike Winters, straight man to his goofy-toothed                 brother Bernie, has died aged 82 (27 August                 2013)
The brothers were pioneers of television comedy,                 first appearing on Britains screens in 1955                 on the BBC show Variety Parade after which they                 moved to ITVs Sunday Night at the London                 Palladium, supporting Shirley Bassey.
In 1965 they won their own comedy show on ITV                 which ran for eight years, regularly reaching the                 top three in the ratings and attracting guest                 stars such as Tom Jones and The Beatles, who                 appeared on the programme three times. They did                 pantomimes in Cardiff, cabarets in Sheffield and                 summer seasons in Yarmouth where, in 1967,                 despite the resort also boasting Rolf Harris,                 Morecambe and Wise and Val Doonican, each in                 their own their rival shows, Mike and Bernie                 broke all box-office records for the season  an achievement that still stands. In 1962                 the brothers starred at a Royal Variety                 Performance and the following year they starred                 with Frankie Howerd and Tommy Cooper in Michael                 Winners film The Cool Mikado.
But in 1978 they fell out, and Mike abandoned                 showbusiness and emigrated to Florida where he                 became a successful Miami nightclub owner, did                 much work for charity and wrote several books                 including a memoir, The Sunny Side Of Winters                 (2010). He eventually retired to Gloucestershire. more....
Jeremy                 Geidt, presenter of Childrens's TV Caravan in the                 1950s, has died aged 83 (17 August                 2013)
Jeremy Geidt acted in London, moving to the USA                 in 1961 where he acted at Yale Repertory Theatre                 before helping to start the American Repertory                 Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also                 taught at Harvard University.
The Children's Television Caravan was an Outside                 Broadcast unit which traversed the British Isles                 during the summer for five years starting in                 1956. It utilised a very large vehicle which, by                 letting down one of its sides, formed a miniature                 stage on which a team made up of a compere and                 master of ceremonies, two clowns, a pianist, and                 a drummer provided continually changing                 entertainment. Local children, chosen for their                 talent, appeared in this caravan theatre as a                 regular part of the programme. It was compered by Jeremy                 Geidt with resident artists Clive Dunn (as Mr.                 Crumpet) and Elton Hayes.
more....
Alan                 Whicker, interviewer and documentary maker, has                 died aged 87 (13 July 2013)
Alan Whicker was the quintessence of the glory                 days of British television, the time between the                 late 1950s and the late 1970s when there were no                 more than two or three channels and any notable                 programme would be seen by more than half the                 population.
He was doing odd jobs for BBC radio when Alasdair                 Milne, then working for its flagship current                 affairs programme Tonight, spotted his ability to                 ask "impertinent" questions without                 giving offence.
In 1957 Whicker was invited to join the                 BBCs early evening magazine programme                 Tonight, presented by Cliff Michelmore. His first                 story was about Ramsgate landladies. Nine reports                 from Northern Ireland about the uneasy truce                 between Catholics and Protestants went unused                 after vociferous complaints about his deadpan,                 even-handed approach from the local BBC                 controller and the Bishop of Derry. From then on                 Whicker insisted on seeing the footage first,                 then writing his own commentary. The technique                 served him well as he looked all over the world                 for kinks in human character and behaviour for                 Whicker's World.
In the 1960s he got his own show, Whickers                 World, which allowed him to travel continually                 around the globe from Alaska to the Outback and                 turned him into a household name. By the 1970s                 Whickers World was coming top in the                 ratings, beating Coronation Street. He worked                 seven days a week, meeting luminaries such as                 John Paul Getty, Papa Doc Duvalier, Peter                 Sellers, Luciano Pavarotti, Sean Connery,                 Salvador Dali and the Sultan of Brunei. It was a                 frenetic pace, belied by the smooth, dapper and                 unruffled persona on screen.
In 1993 Whicker was the first to be named in the                 Royal Television Society's Hall of Fame for an                 outstanding creative contribution to British TV.                 A fanclub was formed, consisting of members who                 dressed up as Whicker and discussed their hero                 once a month. His singular style also gave rise                 in 1972 to Monty Python's celebrated Whicker                 Island sketch, with all of the team doing                 impressions.
Whicker remained active into old age, continuing                 to make TV and radio series until recently, and                 publishing volumes of memoirs. He had become                 wealthy, with a Nash flat in Regent's Park and a                 handsome home in Jersey. In 2005 he was appointed                 CBE. more....
Hans                 Hass, marine biologist, oceanographer and                 zoologist, has died aged 94 (25 June 2013)
Hans Hass was                 a pioneer - with his wife Lotte - of spectacular                 films of the sea depths, and in the mid-1950s                 shot the first underwater footage for the BBC.
The Hasses first BBC series, Diving To                 Adventure, largely filmed in the Aegean, was                 screened in 1956. The programmes proved hugely                 popular and the couple returned to the screen two                 years later with another series, The Undersea                 World of Adventure, shot in the Caribbean, Indian                 Ocean and the Red Sea.
The couples exploits beneath the sea,                 filmed on comparatively primitive cameras and                 broadcast in black and white, thrilled television                 audiences throughout the late 1950s and 1960s by                 opening a window on to a breathtaking and                 hitherto unseen world. Rivalled only by Jacques                 Cousteau, Hass and his wife managed - often in                 perilous circumstances - to capture the habits                 and activities of a range of deep-sea creatures                 including dangerous sharks, barracuda and giant                 manta rays.
The pictures he brought back also helped to                 inject the emerging sport of scuba-diving with                 some much-needed glamour, as did the television                 series Sea Hunt, launched in 1958 and starring                 the actor Lloyd Bridges. more....
Frank                 Thornton, actor, has died aged 92 (18 March                 2013)
Frank Thornton was conscripted into the air force                 as a navigator in 1943 and, after the end of the                 war, remained in the RAF entertainment unit                 where, among his charges, were Dick Emery, Peter                 Sellers and Tony Hancock.
He appeared in the Edgar Lustgarten-hosted series                 The Silent Witness in 1954 and, a year later, was                 credited in the part of Inspector Finch in the                 British film Radio Cab Murder.
The next 15 years saw him appearing in a wide                 range of small character parts in films and TV                 series including The Avengers and Danger Man.
He also appeared in various comedy programmes                 such as It's a Square World, Hancock's Half-Hour,                 The Benny Hill Show, Sykes and Steptoe And Son,                 as well as movie spin-off Steptoe And Son Ride                 Again.
But it was in 1972 when he took the role of the                 officious Captain Stephen Peacock in the comedy                 series, Are You Being Served? that he became                 known to millions. Frank Thornton played the                 lugubrious, disdainful and immaculately tailored                 Capt Peacock in the long-running BBC Television                 sitcom for 12 years. more....
Dale                 Robertson, Western film and TV actor, has died                 aged 89 (27 February 2013)
Dale Robertson was a skilled rider at the age of                 ten and training polo ponies by the time he was a                 teenager. He often said that the only reason he                 acted professionally was to save money to start                 his own horse farm in Oklahoma, which he                 eventually did.
In the movies he was a ruggedly handsome                 counterpart to leading ladies like Betty Grable,                 Mitzi Gaynor and Jeanne Crain. On television he                 had starring roles in popular westerns like                 'Tales of Wells Fargo' which appeared from 1957                 to 1961; 'Iron Horse' from 1966 to 1968; and                 'Death Valley Days' which he hosted from 1968 to                 1972.
He developed, owned and starred in the Wells Fargo series, playing Jim                 Hardie, a troubleshooter for the stagecoach                 company. To make the character distinctive, he                 had the right-handed Hardie draw his gun and                 shoot left-handed.
Wells Fargo was originally shown in                 black and white and in half-hour episodes. In                 1961, however, the producers wanted to turn it                 into a full-hour show, broadcast it in color and                 expand the ensemble of characters. Mr. Robertson                 refused and sold the show to them.
In 1981 he played an oil wildcatter in early                 episodes of 'Dynasty'. The next year he had a                 recurring role in another glitzy nighttime soap                 opera, 'Dallas'. more....
Reginald                 Turnill, the BBCs former air and aerospace                 correspondent, has died aged 97 (13                 February 2013)
Turnill covered the golden age of post-war                 aviation from jet power to the Space Shuttle;                 though he reported on the success of the first                 Moon landing, his most celebrated story was the                 scoop that Apollo 13 was in difficulties.
Turnill joined the BBC in 1956. There he became                 assistant industry correspondent. After covering                 Sputnik in 1957, however, he was so enthralled                 with space that, in 1958, he agreed to become the                 corporations air and space correspondent,                 with a brief to cover defence. As a result he                 covered bombing raids over Vietnam  only to                 irritate the US Air Force by pointing out their                 inaccuracy.
As the public enthusiasm for the Moon declined                 after the first landing, the BBC grumbled about                 Turnill still wanting to go to America. But he                 proved his value with the Apollo 13 trip in 1970.                 After the astronauts safe return, there                 were no more demands that he remain in London,                 and his wife received $75 for being his editorial                 assistant.
On October 4 1957, Turnill was on hand to                 announce the starters pistol for the                 race to the Moon  the Soviet launch                 of Sputnik. He covered the space race in its                 entirety, travelling first to Moscow to describe                 Yuri Gagarins guarded press conference                 after the cosmonaut became the first man in orbit                 in 1961, and then to Cape Canaveral for Alan                 Shepherds account of his 15-minute                 sub-orbital lob.
During the periods between launches Turnill found                 plenty to occupy him, notably the joint                 development of Concorde by Britain and France,                 with its mixture of scientific difficulties,                 national pride and astronomic costs. But it was                 undoubtedly the pictures beamed from the surface                 of the Moon in 1969 that proved the most                 intoxicating story of all. more....
Peter Gilmore, actor and star of The Onedin Line, has                 died aged 81 (9 February 2013)
Gilmore began his stage career as a vocalist,                 appearing with the George Mitchell Singers in                 summer seasons with Harry Secombe and the                 comedian Al Read. Between 1954 and 1956 he played                 in the popular Crazy Gang revue Jokers Wild                 (Victoria Palace). From the mid-1950s he also                 made television commercials in Germany, Ireland                 and the United States.
After working in provincial stage productions,                 with occasional London dates, stardom beckoned in                 1958 when he was cast as Freddy Eynsford Hill in                 the West End production of My Fair Lady (Theatre                 Royal, Drury Lane). At the last minute, however,                 he was replaced because he was a baritone and the                 score called for a tenor.
His big television break came the same year in                 the ITV series Ivanhoe, in which he worked with                 the executive producer Peter Rogers, later to                 develop the Carry On comedy canon. Gilmore made                 several appearances in Carry On films, including                 Carry On Jack (1963) and Carry On Cleo (1964),                 both of which afforded him seaborne roles, as                 well as Carry On Up The Khyber (1968) and Carry                 On Henry (1971). more....
Robert                 Kee, writer and broadcaster, has died aged 93 (12                 January 2013)
Robert Kee was well known as the presenter of                 such programmes as Panorama, This Week, Yorkshire                 Televisions Various Faces of Communism, and                 ITNs lunchtime news programme, which he                 launched in 1972; he was, however, probably most                 famous, both as a presenter and writer, as a                 historian of Irish nationalism.
In 1958 Kee joined the BBC to report on the                 Algerian war for Panorama, helping to set new                 standards for television reportage. In a series                 of vivid on-location reports, he gave the viewers                 a sense of being in the thick of the action.
In 1962 he left the BBC to become one of the                 founders of a freelance agency, Television                 Reporters International. When that did not get                 off the ground, he accepted Jeremy Isaacss                 invitation to join Associated Rediffusions                 This Week. For the next 14 years he worked on and                 off for various other independent television                 companies, most notably, from 1972, as presenter                 of First Report, ITNs first lunchtime news                 programme, for which he won the Bafta Richard                 Dimbleby Award. In 1978 he returned to the BBC to                 work on the Ireland series. Three years later he                 replaced David Dimbleby as presenter of Panorama.
Kee specialised in strife. For television he                 reported on conflicts in Algeria and the Congo,                 as well as the Prague Spring; as a historian, he                 also chronicled the key years of the Second World                 War. His interest in the troubled history of                 Ireland developed in the 1950s, when he embarked                 on a three-volume study which eventually saw the                 light of day in 1972 as The Green Flag: A History                 of Irish Nationalism. more....
Alasdair                 Milne, the only Director-General of the BBC to be                 dismissed from office, has died aged 82 (9                 January 2013)
Alasdair Milne joined the BBC as a general                 trainee in 1954, being one of two selected from                 1,110 applicants (the other was Patrick                 Dromgoole, later managing director of HTV).
By February 1957 he was one of the architects                 (later he became editor) of BBC Televisions                 nightly news and current affairs flagship                 Tonight, in charge of a team which included such                 future stars as Cliff Michelmore, Alan Whicker,                 Geoffrey Johnson Smith, Macdonald Hastings, Fyfe                 Robertson, Derek Hart and Kenneth Allsop. It went                 on air every weeknight at 6.05pm.
The vigorous, young Tonight team aimed for a new,                 more incisive style of interviewing that, in                 Milnes words, would test the ability of                 politicians to think on their feet. When ITV                 presented the Corporation with its first-ever                 competition, the BBCs overall audience                 share plunged to an all-time low of 28 per cent;                 Tonight, however, succeeded in maintaining its                 nightly viewing figure of between eight and 10                 million.
When his boss, Donald Baverstock, was promoted to                 Assistant Controller of Programmes, Milne took                 his place. Under his editorship, the programme                 spawned Tonight Productions, a stable which                 included Whicker Down Under and the memorable                 26-part documentary series The Great War. more....
Daphne                 Oxenford, Radio presenter and actress, has died                 aged 93 (4 January 2013)
Known to millions as the voice of Listen With                 Mother, Daphne Oxenford would open each programme                 by asking: "Are you sitting comfortably?                 Then I'll begin."
She was also one of the original cast members of                 Coronation Street, playing Esther Hayes, and was                 a cast member of Midsomer Murders until 2008.
Debuting in 1950, Listen With Mother consisted of                 stories, songs and nursery rhymes for children                 under the age of five. It began at 1:45pm every                 weekday, to coincide with the end of children's                 lunchtime meal. At its peak, it had an audience                 of more than a million.
Oxenford narrated the programme from 1950 to                 1971, and her meticulously modulated opening                 phrase was eventually included in the Oxford                 dictionary of quotations.
But regular listeners will also recall the words                 that would precede her arrival: "And when                 the music stops Daphne Oxenford will be here to                 tell you a story". more....