... PETER MYERS Peter Myers, who died on June 3, aged 71, was a playwright of note, but will be remembered mostly for being the co-founder of Abbey Records. The company, which flourished from the sixties until two years ago when it was disbanded, was not to be con fused with the pop label of the same name, but was known for its choral and spoken word recordings. Myers was bom in London on December ...

... BARBARA HOWES WIESHOFF Animal trainer Barbara Dorothy Wieshoff, known as Barbara Howes, died on July 25 from cancer at the age of 67. Together with her brother Gordon, and parents 'Captain' Sydney Howes, the late wild animal trainer, and his wife Jessie, early in her career she worked for Chapman's Circus, famous for its two units which played the British music hall circuit, the Robert ...

... DESMOND GRAHAM Desmond Graham, who arrived in London from his home in South Africa in 1950, died on December 31 after a short illness. He got a job as a dancer in Oklahoma! at the Theatre Royal, Dairy Lane, soon after coming to Britain, and from then on danced and appeared in many shows and television productions after joining the George Carden Dancers at the London Palladium. Graham, who was ...

... BARBARA BLEACH A woman of prodigious energy who put her heart and soul into everything she did, Barbara Bleach has died aged 74. Bom and brought up in North London, she started work at the Queen's Head, Hornsey, but received an invitation from a Major Sims Hilditch to help him develop a caravan site he had bought at St Leonards, Sussex, called Combe Haven. At the time, in the early fifties, it ...

... RICHARD JACQUES Actor and director Richard Jacques has died in Canada, aged 68. He had been suffering from cancer for a long time. Bom in Southport, Lancashire, Richard began his career as a child actor in 1949, playing Ronnie Winslow in The Winslow Boy at the Grand Theatre, Halifax. After training with Esme Church for three years at the Northern Theatre School in Bradford, he spent his ...

... JENNIFER MAFFINI It is with sadness that we report the passing of Jennifer Maffini, aged 54, who was associate to Max Bygraves for around 35 years. Bom in Pimlico, London, where she lived for much of her life, Jennifer left school when she was 16, and her first and only employment was with the Jock Jacobsen Office. She became per sonal assistant to Max Bygraves and, when Jacobsen died in 1976, ...

... ADELAIDE COOKE For eight or more generations the Cooke family was renow ned both as circus proprietors and equestrians of the highest standard. Titles like Cooke' s Circus Royal, Cooke Brothers' Circus and John Henry Cooke' s Royal Circus were synonymous with excellence in the circus ring. At one time there were more than 200 descendants of the original founder of the dynasty work ing in ...

... BRIAN SHELTON Brian Shclton. who has died in hospital in Sunderland. was associated with Pitlochry Festival Theatre for a period of 24 years from 1958 to 1982. He was 69. Born in Sunderland and trained at RADA, he acted with several repertory compa nies before joining the Ipswich Arts Theatre, where he graduated to general man ager. In 1958 he arrived in Pitlochry to be stage manager and was ...

... ELIZABETH TYRRELL Actress Elizabeth Tyrrell, whose acting career spanned 60 years, died recently at the age of 85. Born on June 25, 1915, Elizabeth Tyrrell-Gray was the second daughter of a Harley Street surgeon. While her three siblings demonstrated considerable musical talent, Elizabeth's primary interest was drama. Known as Elizabeth Tyrrell, she trained at the Central School of Speech and ...

... Greville Poke One of the most respected figures in the theatre industry, Greville Poke, who was chairman of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court and later became its president, acting in an advisory capacity, died on March 4 at the age of 88. Although his family's back ground was in the newspaper business, theatre was Poke's first love, as a performer and director in amateur shows and ...

... EILEEN FARROW Eileen Farrow, who died on March 12 at the age of 89, had a glorious singing voice which she used to remarkable effect in musical comedy and revivals of Ivor Novello shows. She had known the composer in her youth, and was determined to keep his lavish and patriotic music alive. The mother of producer Alexander Bridge (also known as Peter), she was an inspiration to him, and he ...

... Nancy Evans For many years closely associated with Benjamin Britten and the Aldeburgh Festival, Nancy Evans died on August 20, aged 85. A mezzo-soprano of great distinction, she was born in Liverpool on March 19. 1915. Most of her family were amateur musicians, but her first leanings were to ballet. However, by the age of 14 she was taking singing lessons and three years later made her debut ...