... 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 ...

... PHYLLIS ASHTON Matriarch of Australia's most celebrated circus family, Phyllis Ashton, died on August 26, aged 84. Although the dynasty was originally founded in Britain, Ashton's was one of the pioneering circuses of Australia, dating back to 1832. However, over a period of many years, its members appeared extensively in leading theatres and circus venues throughout the UK, and in Royal ...

... ROD GRIFFITH It will no doubt come as quite a surprise to many former viewers of Tyne Tees Television news programmes that one of the company's most welHiked and genial presenters, Rod Griffith, was the inspiration for Viz magazine's blase, foul-mouthed Roger Mellie ('The Man on the Telly'). But there can be no question that it was so. Apparently, Chris Donald, co-founder of Viz, heard ...

... ROBERT DOOLIN Informed sources differ as to whether he was aged 33 or 35, but there is no dispute about the acting abilities of Robert (Robbie) Doolin, who died recently in Dublin. Although probably best known for playing the role of dim- witted Willy in three seasons of RTE sitcom Upwardly Mobile, Doolin also appeared on stage and in feature films, as well as directing and producing. Bom in ...

... GODFREY TALBOT His was one of the voices most familiar to BBC radio listeners during the Second World War, and in peacetime he brought immense enthusiasm and integrity to his position as the first broad caster to be accredited to Buckingham Palace. Godfrey Talbot, who has died at the age of 91, was bom in Walton, near Wakefield in York shire. Educated at Leeds Grammar School, he became ...

... LORELY DYER I should like to add a few words of my own to John Martland's obit uary (August 24) of my mother, the beautiful soprano Lorely Dyer. I use the word beautiful because her voice had a quality of such sweetness and warmth that she was able to interpret a great variety of music from pantomime to grand opera. Everything she sang came straight from the heart. Combined with her ...

... Gary Olsen He will be remembered mostly as Ben Porter, the reluctant self- employed central heating engineer in the popular BBC television sit com, 2 Point 4 Children, although Gary Olsen continually demon strated his comic skills in several other series on the small screen, as well as appearing frequently on stage and in feature films. He died recently in Australia at the age of only 42, ...

... JANICE SMITH Best known as one half of the dance duo Kenet Jani, dancer Janice Smith has died. Bom in Tasmania, Janice, nee Ingles, went to school in Launceston where, to the surprise of her teachers, she achieved the distinction of 'dux' (leader) and a scholarship to Melbourne University to study physical edu cation. It was there at the age of 18 that she first discovered ballet and through ...

... Desmond Wilcox He was renowned for producing and writing award-winning televi sion documentaries which dealt with the problems and tragedies of ordinary people's lives. So vivid are some of those images, that they still linger in the mind years after the original programmes have been shown. Desmond Wilcox, who has died aged 69, was a truly innovative film-maker. He had a sensitive, human touch ...

... BILL WADDINGTON rui if id Mdi ui vuiumciuuii oncei, Bill Waddington, has died aged 84. Although already 67 when he established himself on the prog ramme, Waddington's character of Percy Sugden became an impor tant one, and lasted for 14 years. Bom in Oldham, Lancashire, as a boy worked in one of his mother's butcher's shops, and had several other jobs before serving in the Army during the ...

... TERENCE FEELY Author and television scriptwriter Terence Feely, whose work ranged from the violence of Callan to adapting the romantic novels of Barbara Cartland, died recently aged 72. Born in Liverpool, he was educated by Jesuits before gaining a First in English from Liverpool University. He went on to work as a journalist in regional, and then Fleet Street newspapers. During the fifties he ...

... REG WILLIAMS Reg Williams, journalist and publi cist, died recently at his home in Los Angeles, aged 69. Reg was well-known in London in the seventies as a press and publicity manager for EMI with special responsibility for the Talk of the Town. He vyorked enthusiastically on the Spec tacular floor shows and with the many stars who appeared there. He also assisted David Jones at EMI with his ...