... STEVE EASEY i riDutes nave oeen paia to stage director of the Orchard Theatre, Dartford, Steve Easey, who died suddenly on April 19, aged 47. Known as the Gentle Giant, Steve was one of the most familiar and popular backstage faces at the venue. He started his career as a casual stagehand at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne, and after reaching the dizzy heights of head flyman, Steve moved to ...

... DAVID MERRICK Legendary Broadway theatre producer David Merrick died recently in London, aged 88. His birthdate is believed to be November 27. 1911, but Merrick always used to say that he was born on November 4, 1954, the opening night of his first hit show, Fanny, which launched his flamboyant career. Merrick attended Washington University in his hometown of St Louis, and studied at St Louis ...

... SARA NEIGHBOUR Sara Neighbour, actress, musician, dancer, choreographer and director, was horrifically run down and killed in the Whitechapel Road on April 10. Bom on February 2, 1955 in Muswell Hill, Sara's first performance was at the age of three at the Rudolph Steiner Hall, playing a penguin who ate paper fish. Deciding that this was the career for her, she embarked on dancing lessons and ...

... Nora Swinburne Nora Swinburne, who died on May 1, aged 97, was one of Britain's most distinguished character actresses. She was equally at home in light comedy and the works of W Somerset Maugham, in which she excelled. Her career spanned more than 70 years on stage and over 50 appearances in films ranging from British comedies to interna tional epics. Among her many television roles was that ...

... LYNDA JAYNE CAMPBELL One of Northern Ireland's best-loved radio personalities, Lynda Jayne Campbell, has died suddenly at the age of 45. She had been a mainline presenter with Downtown Radio, located just outside Belfast, for 22 years. For most of that time, she was concerned with a broad range of programmes, but for the past two years had presented Keep It Country on Sunday evenings. Recently ...

... Sir John Gielgud John Barber, former theatre critic of The Dally Telegraph (196SS6) writes: There were giants in the earth in those days. Of the great ones lately among us. the longest lived has now departed, and surely the greatest of them all. John Gielgud dominated the British stage for 70 years, and as actor-manager, director and controller of design, contributed more to the theatre than ...

... SYLVIA THORLEY Popular Isle of Wight-based agent Sylvia Thorley died on May 15. following a brave fight against illness, at the age of 64. Such was her total enthusiasm and dedication Sylvia was still conducting business from her hospital bed just a few days before her death. Sylvia had many friends in showbusiness from stars like the Beverley Sisters, Tony Adams, Arthur Bostrom and the late ...

... TONY VAN DEN BERGH Television presenter, commentator, author and business executive Tony Van den Bergh died recently at the age of 83. Born in London on July 4, 1916, he attended Repton School and then studied at RADA before going into rep. He began broad casting for BBC Radio in 1948, working on programmes such as Mid-Morning Stories and Mrs Deacon and scripting They Weren't So Tough and ...

... JOE PARKER Joseph Roy Parker, known as Joe to his friends, died on May 2. He was a man with a passion for theatres both old and new. An architect, he became a partner in a Liverpool practice in 1955 and continued as a theatre consultant until his recent illness. He was involved in numerous organisations, societies and professional bodies, including the Association of British Theatre ...

... Actress Joy Shelton, who worked on stage, screen and radio for more than 50 years, has died at the age of 77. Early success in two classic films of the Second World War years, Millions Like Us and Waterloo Road, was followed in 1947 by a five years as Joan Carr in BBC radio crime series PC 49. Subsequently, she limited her appearances, preferring to devote herself to her husband Sydney Tafler ...

... Douglas Fairbanks Jr Debonair actor, producer, author and businessman Douglas Fair banks Jr has died in New York at the age of 90. His dashing good looks and charm, supplemented by no small degree of skill, enabled him to carve out a career on the American stage and in silent movies, despite constant compar isons to his swashbuckling father. Born in Manhattan, the only son of Douglas ...

... SID EDWARDS One of the most respected names in magic, Sid Edwards, who for many years worked with his wife Eve under the stage names Sy and Isa Lyn, died in Glyn-Neath, West Glamorgan, on May 6, at the age of 79. He had been a chorister in Coventry and a noted ballroom dancer before discovering magic by sheer chance. After forgetting to buy his eight-year-old daughter a birthday present, the ...