Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister co-creator Sir Antony Jay has died aged 86. The broadcaster, who (with Jonathan Lynn) created the classic 1980s political TV series starring Paul Eddington and Sir Nigel Hawthorne, passed away earlier this week. His representative said: “Sir Antony Jay CVO CBE died peacefully on Sunday evening after a long illness. He […]
Read moreCaroline Aherne, the co-creator/writer and star of the brilliant late 90s British situation comedy, The Royle Family, has died at the age of 52. Aherne, who played Denise Royle, co-created and wrote all three series of the critically-acclaimed comedy with co-star, Craig Cash. Centered around the lives of a blue collar, television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, comprised of family patriarch Jim […]
Read moreCarla Lane, one of the first female television sitcom writers in an era dominated by her male counterparts, has died at the age of 87. Through her series, The Liver Birds, Butterflies and Bread, Lane gave women a voice while delving into serious subjects not normally dealt with in situation comedy. Her four decades of comedy established her as […]
Read moreBest known for playing alongside Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther films, Burt Kwouk has passed away at the age of 85. While his international fame came from his recurring role as Inspector Clouseau’s sidekick, Cato, in the Pink Panther films from 1975-1993, Kwouk was a small-screen fixture from 2002-2010 starring as electrical and mechanical engineer Entwistle in Last Of The […]
Read moreGareth Gwenlan, a name you may not be familiar with but whose work you have seen and enjoyed for decades on countless British situation comedies, has died at age 79. Gwenlan, who joined the BBC Comedy department in 1967 as a producer, helped create some of the world’s most beloved British sitcoms, notably The Fall And Rise […]
Read moreSadly, this is no April Fools joke. Ronnie Corbett, the co-star of The Two Ronnies, one of the most successful and long running light entertainment shows on British television, has died at the age of 85. At its peak, over 17 million viewers each week watched the legendary sketch comedy show, which ran from 1971-1987 on […]
Read moreVeteran stage and screen actor, Frank Kelly, best known for playing the elderly, ranting, foul-mouthed alcoholic priest, Father Jack Hackett in the comedy sitcom Father Ted, has died at the age of 77. Kelly, most recently seen in Emmerdale and Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie, spent years working as a subeditor at Irish newspapers before beginning an acting career that spanned […]
Read moreWhen I read the news about Alan Rickman’s passing yesterday, my initial reaction was to channel Howard Beale, open the window and shout, “I’m mad as hell and not going to take it any more!” First David Bowie and now Alan Rickman. In just a few short days, Planet Earth lost two incredibly talented and […]
Read moreThe last surviving member of the original Are You Being Served? cast, Nicholas Smith, has died at the age of 81. Smith starred as Cuthbert Rumbold, the manager of the fictional Grace Brothers Department Store, having appeared in every episode from 1972 to 1985. Created and written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, the series was […]
Read moreWarren Mitchell, best known for his controversial role as Alf Garnett, a working-class bigot in the TV series Till Death Us Do Part, died early Saturday at the age of 89. Mitchell, who served in the Royal Air Force and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, jumped at the chance to portray the ‘likable bigot’. “The script […]
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