... TERRY GARDENER One of the most redoubtable female impersonators of his generation and a link between post-war variety to present day club entertainment, Terry Gardener died on August 15 at the age of 80. Best known for his onstage partnership with Barri Chatt, they were a classic drag partnership and in pantomime were a formi dable pair of Ugly Sisters. Gardener was bom on December 13, 1919 ...

... Sylvia Young writes: Peter's talent, energy and enor mous kindness will be sadly missed. The affection he had for our students was ocean deep and this was mutual. He was an inspirational and skilled teacher who instilled an enthusiasm for dance even in those students who did not see their future in dance. Peter was unique. He was special. In the years that I knew him, I never heard him say a ...

... CARMEN DILLON Carmen Dillon, who has died aged 91, was the first woman art director in the British film industry. During a career spanning more than 40 years, she worked with many of the country's leading actors, directors and technicians, and won an Oscar in 1948 for her contribution to Laurence Olivier's Hamlet. Bom in Cricklewood, north west London, Dillon was the youngest of six children. ...

... JEREMY JAMES Jeremy James' sudden death at the age of only 38 deprives the world of dance, both classical and modem, of an immensely gifted performer and choreographer. Bom in Perth, Australia on August 4, 1961, James trained at the Royal Ballet School before going on to perform with the London City Ballet, the Australian Ballet and the Western Australian Ballet. Although acclaimed for his ...

... Flautist Rampal dies of heart attack Paris, France World-renowned flautist Jean- Pierre Rampal has died in his Paris home at the age of 78, following a heart attack. Even at the height of his celebrated career as a soloist, Rampal never let his crowded international schedule prevent him from continuing to give master classes at the Paris Conservatoire (from 1969 to 1980), nor from holding his ...

... DENIS GIFFORD Denis Gifford, author, scriptwriter, film historian and comic-strip artist, has died aged 72. He began collecting comics when he was three, and produced his own publications while attending Dulwich College at the same time as another fanatical film and comic fan, Bob Monkhouse. They published their own comic and, at only 14 years of age, Gifford was drawing for Dandy and then ...

... MARGARET HARRIS Margaret Harris, who died aged 95 on May 10, was one of the most distinguished and influ ential theatre designers of her time, whose remarkable output spanned nearly 70 years. Her name immediately brings to mind John Gielgud, who not only helped her in her early career but starred in the many produc tions that she designed at his request. In 1931, together with her sister ...

... BARBARA CARTLAND Barbara Cartland. who died on May 21 at the age of 98, was the world's best-selling novelist and penned 721 romances from 1923 onwards. She was also associated with the theatre, particularly in the twenties, when she num bered many of the noted players of the day among her friends. Some of them, such as Noel Coward and Douglas Byng, featured in her books, along with bygone ...

... BILLY MUNN biiiy Munn. wno oiea oniy a Tew days before his 89th birthday, was a true pioneer of British jazz and one of those Scottish musicians who made such an impact on the London scene in the thirties. Glasgow-bom, he learned the piano as a child and by the age of 11 was playing for Saturday children's matinees at a local cinema. By the time he was 14, still at school, he was gigging with ...

... Moira Heath It is particularly sad that Moira Heath's death on January 24, at the age of 89, came less than a year before the band which bears her late husband Ted's name plays its final concert at London's Royal Festival Hall. What a reception she would have received this remarkable woman who has been the driving force and inspiration behind this fine outfit since Heath passed away in 1969. ...

... KAY CAVENDISH Kay Cavendish, who has died aged 89, had a career in radio that was astonishingly varied, and then went into television. She then retired to concentrate on her numerous sporting interests, which included tennis (she played at Wimbledon), fencing (she was an international), lacrosse and golf, which she played off a handicap of six. She was bom in Hong Kong, the daughter of an Army ...

... THELMA ROGERS Actress Thelma Rogers, who for nine years played the leading role of Peggy Archer in BBC radio's long-running serial The Archers, died recently aged 75. Bom and raised in Coventry, Rogers studied to be a teacher before spending four years with the Leicester Repertory Company. In the early fifties she came to the notice of Archers producer Tony Shryane, who cast her first as ...