... RONNIE COLLIS Ronnie Collis, who died on October 9, discovered tap dancing as a three-year-old child. He was born within the sound of Bow Bells on August 5, 1928, and at the age of six, encouraged by his father, he joined Tom Squires' dancing school. Tom spotted great potential and vowed to make him a champion, which he did. Ronnie was All England champion in 1937, again in 1939, followed by ...

... Tony Doyle He was at the peak of his career, winning plaudits and awards on both sides of the Irish Sea. But Tony Doyle acknowledged his acclaim with wry, self-effacing humour. Some 30 years in the busi ness, and after collecting his latest award at a ceremony in Dublin some months ago, he said: I feel like a very old racehorse who has suddenly found himself on his feet so long that he starts ...

... DOROTHY JOAN NESBITT DAVEY Following a short illness, Dorothy Joan Nesbitt Davey, also known as both Carol Davey and Carol Gray, has died at the age of 72. Bom in 1927, she was the first incubator baby to survive at Birmingham Hospital. By the age of four, she was performing cabaret dance spots in Beetle under the name of Little Joan. At nine, she guested with Hughie Green's touring Children's ...

... JACK LE WHITE One of the most versatile of all performers in the heyday of variety, Jack Le White died on December 21, two weeks before his 88th birthday. He had lived in a nursing home for the last four years of his life. Le White was a member of a great circus family, the Whiteleys, being taught the business by his father Henry and making his debut in variety at the age of eight. By the time ...

... HARRY WEBSTER Harry Webster, who has died aged 84 and was a last link with the original Abbey Theatre company, was an Irish actor who spent much of his life in London. Webster was a Dubliner whose father worked for Guinness, and his childhood playmates on the beach at Dalkey included Cyril Cusack and Denis O'Dea. In his youth he even shared a small house in Dalkey with these two noted actors ...

... LEA PARKINSON Choreographer and dancer Lea Parkinson, who was also regarded as an outstanding teacher of movement and dance, has died as a result of a fall, aged 34. Born in Manchester, he studied at the Dartington College of Arts and Manchester University before becoming a founder member of the CandoCo Dance Company, an integrated contemporary ensemble of physically disabled and non-disabled ...

... GHISLAINE ALEXANDER Best known to the British public as a panellist on the hit televi sion snow What's My Line? in the fifties, Ghislaine Alexander has died at the age of 77. She was a society beauty whose chic style of dressing set fashions. Her natural, composed charm made her a hit with the viewers, and was in stark contrast to the grumpy demeanour of fellow panellist Gilbert Harding. Once ...

... FREDDIE HOLMES bole survivor of the close-harmony quartet the Radio Revellers, popular from the thirties to the fifties, Freddie Holmes died on May 24, aged 86. The group began when guitarist/vocalist Art Reed placed an advert in Melody Maker in August 1934 which read: Two boys and a guitar wish to meet two others to form a Mills Brothers style close-harmony quartet. Reed and his friend ...

... Peter Jones Although he will perhaps be remembered mostly for his role as the harassed boss of Fenner Fashions in the sixties BBC televi sion series The Rag Trade, Peter Jones, who died earlier this week at the age of 79, was an accom plished and witty all-round comedy actor and author. Bom in Wem in Shropshire, he attended the local grammar school before spending two horrific years at a ...

... HEINZ The pop singer and sixties idol Heinz died on April 7 after a long battle with motor neurone dis ease at the age of 58. In his heyday he was regularly mobbed by hysterical teenage school girls and was noted for his famous peroxide blond hair. Born in Germany on July 24, 1942, as Heinz G Burt, his family moved to Britain when he was seven years of age. He took up bass guitar at an early ...

... JIMMY BLUE One of Scotland's best-known musicians and bandleaders. Jimmy Blue, died recently at Perth, aged 70. He broadcast on radio and television and appeared in theatres throughout Britain as well as overseas. Very popular, he had a long association with the late Scottish singer and comedy performer Andy Stewart, working with him in recorc4>reaking seasons at the Glasgow Empire in the ...

... PATRICIA OWENS raincia tjwens, me unusn actress who moved in 1956 to Hollywood, where she had a successful screen career, has died in Antelope Valley Hos pital, Lancaster, California after a long battle with cancer. She was 75. Born in Vancouver, she moved with her family to London in 1937 and was trained at the London School of Arts. A strikingly pretty girl, she was spotted for J Arthur ...