Eric Sykes was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Tommy Cooper, Peter Sellers, John Antrobus and Johnny Speight. Sykes first came to prominence through his many radio credits as a writer and actor in the 1950s, most notably through his collaboration on The Goon Show scripts. He became a TV star in his own right in the early 1960s when he appeared with Hattie Jacques in several popular BBC comedy television series.
Frank Morrison Spillane, better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally. Spillane was also an occasional actor, once even playing Hammer himself in the 1965 film The Girl Hunters.
John Michael Bird was an English actor, director, writer and satirist. He performed in the television satire boom of the 1960s, appearing in That Was the Week That Was. His television work included many appearances with John Fortune. Bird had an acting career in film, television, theatre and radio for over 55 years. He appeared in films including Take A Girl Like You (1970) and Jabberwocky (1977) as well as in television shows such as Joint Account, Marmalade Atkins, El C.I.D. and Chambers. He also featured in the long-running Bremner, Bird and Fortune (1999–2010), on Channel 4, which was nominated for BAFTA TV Awards.
David Edward Leslie Hemmings was an English actor and director. He is best remembered for his roles in British films and television programmes of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, particularly his lead role as a trendy fashion photographer in the hugely successful avant-garde mystery film Blowup (1966), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Early in his career, Hemmings was a boy soprano appearing in operatic roles. In 1967, he co-founded the Hemdale Film Corporation. From the mid-1970s on, he worked mainly as a character actor and occasionally as director.
Hywel Thomas Bennett was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in The Family Way (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom Shelley (1979–1992).
Anthony Samuel Selby was an English actor. He was best known for his roles as Clive Mitchell in EastEnders, Corporal Percy Marsh in Get Some In!, and Sabalom Glitz in Doctor Who.
Francis Bernard Heptonstall better known by the stage name Bernard Hepton, was an English theatre director and actor. He is known for his stage work and television roles in teleplays and series, he also appeared briefly on radio and in film.
Michael Anthony Robbins was an English actor and comedian best known for his role as Arthur Rudge in the TV sitcom and film versions of On the Buses (1969–73).
Peter Collinson was a British film director probably best remembered for directing The Italian Job (1969).
Rupert Lisburn Gwynne Davies FRSA was a British actor best remembered for playing the title role in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of Maigret, based on Georges Simenon's novels.
Michael Alan Gothard was an English actor, who portrayed Kai in the television series Arthur of the Britons and the mysterious villain Emile Leopold Locque in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
James Arthur Thomas Jewel Marsh, known professionally as Jimmy Jewel, was an English comedian and actor whose long career in stage, radio, television and film productions, included a 32-year partnership with his cousin Ben Warriss.
Nanette Newman is an English actress and author. She appeared in nine films directed by her husband Bryan Forbes, including Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), The Whisperers (1967), Deadfall (1968), The Stepford Wives (1975) and International Velvet (1978), for which she won the Evening Standard Film Award for Best Actress. She was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for another Forbes-directed film, The Raging Moon (1971).
Jack Watson was an English actor who appeared in many British films and television dramas from the 1950s onwards.
Alexis Kanner was a French born-Canadian film and television actor, based in England. His most notable role was the "Living in Harmony" episode of The Prisoner.
Norman Rossington was an English actor best remembered for his roles in The Army Game, the Carry On films and the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night.
Robert Dorning was a musician, dance band vocalist, ballet dancer and stage, film and television actor. He is known to have performed in at least 77 television and film productions between 1940 and 1988.
Stanley Harvey Lebor was an English actor. He was best known for his roles as Howard Hughes in the 1980s BBC TV comedy series Ever Decreasing Circles, the Mongon Doctor in Flash Gordon (1980), and as RSM Lord in A Bridge Too Far (1977). Before this he was better known for villainous roles in series such as Jason King and The Tomorrow People.
Peter Stephens was an English stage, film and television supporting actor, notable for his appearances in various BBC television shows throughout the 60s, most famously for his portrayal of the Bunteresque character Cyril in the Doctor Who serial The Celestial Toymaker. He was also the director of one film during his career.
Harry Lockwood West was a British actor. He was the father of actor Timothy West and the grandfather of actor Samuel West.
