... Rudolf Nureyev By ANN NUGENT The death of Rudolf Nureyev at 54 is a tragic end to a life as celebrated in its rise as in its decline. His unique combi nation of gifts and theatricality com bined to make him the most widely known of any dancer this century, and at the height of his fame he seemed unstoppable. But the same demon that pulled him to the realm of superstar- dom, and turned him into ...

... Lord Ted Willis LIKE ;ill great outsiders in the world of British Comedy, CARDEW ROBINSON, who died at the age of 75 on December 27. was like Gerard Hoffnung and Terry Thomas, one of those classic performers that you couldn't put into a pigeon hole. There was no comparison to be made with any other performer Quite simply they were themselves. Cardew 'The Cad' was without doubt one of Britain's ...

... It would be forgivable for younger members of the theatrical profession to have ever known or seen the actress and impersonator FLORENCE DES MOND who died on January 16 aged 87 or to have known what her status was in the world of variety and revue between the twenties and fifties. She was a legend and quite simply a comic genius. Long before Janet Brown or Pamela Stephenson came along, there ...

... Alan Hockey We were much saddened today to hear of the demise of our much loved friend and client, ALAN HOCKEY. Until last year before he became ill, Alan worked in seven successive Christmas shows in Newcastle. He played the Emperor in Aladdin, the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz, Gentleman Sharkey in Peter Pan at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House and the pre vious three shows were at the Newcast ...

... DUDLEY STEVENS, the actor, director and playwright, who for 25 years was one of the most popular performers at London's Players' Theatre, died at Hove General Hospital on January 23 from an AIDS related illness. He was 57. Born in llford on August 8, 1935, he made his New York debut in 1960 in the play. Ten Nights In A Bar Room, and his London debut in 1962 with Elaine Stritch in Sir Noel ...

... which he bore with the courage and cheerfulness he displayed all his life. After a wartime career as an armaments instructor in the RAF, his theatre debut was with a pro duction of Flarepath. Numerous musical tours including Old Chelsea, King's Rhapsody and Perchance To Dream for Ivor Novello, Salad Days and Hooray For Daisy For Julian Slade. Lock Up Your Daughters, and the post- London tour ...

... Sydney. He was 60 years old. His battle against cancer was over. For many years he was well known throughout Clubland in the UK and an outstanding artist. He was a Yorkshireman from Hems- worth, near Barnsley and played all the clubland circuits for many years. He also appeared later in his career at many variety theatres throughout the land and performed on many cruises around the world for P ...

... Bernard Braden BERNARD BRADEN. who has died aged 76, made a contribution to radio, and later television, which is often underestimated. With years of experi ence on Canadian radio, as engineer, announcer, singer and actor, under his belt, he arrived in London in 1949 with his wife, the actress Barbara Kelly, in an endeavour to break into British show business. Within a relatively short time, ...

... He was 62. Michael was a former student at the College and returned as a staff member in 1962 after working in repertory theatre. He became Vice Principal in 1964. In 1969 he took over as Acting Principal during a very difficult time for the College and it is recognised that it was his integrity and moral courage that enabled it to sur vive during this period. He retired from office in 1983 ...

... a history teacher but his love of music and ability to entertain soon took over. He joined the De Groot Orchestra as pianist then came ENSA when he entertained troops at home and overseas, and after this came much cabaret and theatre work. It was in the mid fifties that the late Harold Clark engaged him as Musical Director at the first Theatre Club in the country, this being the Continental ...

... he joined the Old Vic Company during Michael Benthall's regime and stayed for three years. He appeared in produc tions of As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Macbeth and St Joan with casts includ ing Judi Dench, Alec McCowen, John Neville, Barbara Jefford and John Stride, and he went on the Company's 1961 tour to Russia and Poland. These were very happy times for Martin, whose love of Shakespeare, ...

... major roles, but will be best remembered for many television and film appearances. On television, he played sec ond lead in Arthur Of The Britons and Jack The Ripper. In film he was the Prosecutor in Ken Russell's The Devils and the villain in For Your Eyes Only. He had recently finished working in Frankenstein for director David Wickes. ...