Peter Falk

Peter Falk 

Peter Falk, the American actor most famous for his role as scruffy TVdetective Columbo, has died aged 83.

The actor died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills on Thursday night, his family said in a statement.
He had been suffering from dementia for a number of years.
Peter Falk won four Emmys for his cigar-chomping role as the deceptively bumbling Columbo, and was nominated for Oscars in 1960 and 1961 for Murder Inc and Pocketful of Miracles.
In the 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride, he played a kindly old man regaling his sick grandson with a fairytale combination of swordplay, giants, a beautiful princess and fearsome rodents of unusual size.
But for most fans, even his best-supporting actor nominations were eclipsed by his incarnation as the sleuth in the shabby mac with no known first name and the killer catch-phrase: "One more thing..."
'Like a flood victim' Columbo first appeared on American TV screens in 1968, and NBC commissioned a series in which the detective appeared every third week from 1971 until it was cancelled in 1977.
The part of its policeman hero had originally been written for Bing Crosby, but Falk made the part his own and continued to make special episodes well into his 70s.
He reportedly turned down an offer to convert it into a weekly series, citing the heavy workload.
The actor bought Columbo's trademark raincoat himself, only for it to be replaced after it became too tattered through its near constant use in the series.
He told one interviewer his shabby detective looked "like a flood victim".
"You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevellment, a good mind is at work."
Peter Michael Falk was born in 1927 in New York City, where his parents ran a clothes shop.
He had an eye removed at the age of three due to cancer. He said he learned to live with the ailment after it became "the joke of the neighbourhood".
"If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him," Falk told the Associated Press in a 1963 interview.
As an aspiring actor, he was reportedly warned by one agent the false eye would preclude him from working in television. In fact, it became another endearing trait of his most famous character.
Peter Falk had been under 24-hour care for several years.
The actor is survived by his wife of three decades, Shera, and daughters from a previous marriage Catherine and Jackie.
In 2009, Catherine Falk applied to be put in charge of his estate, saying he was suffering from Alzheimer's and that she had been blocked from seeing him for six months.

Donald Hewlett

Donald Hewlett

Donald Hewlett, who was best known for his role in the 1970s BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, has died aged 90.

The actor, who played Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Reynolds in the show, had been ill for some time, his wife told the BBC.
He died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in west London on Saturday, Therese McMurray-Hewlett said.
Hewlett was also known for his role as master of the house, Lord Meldrum, in 1990s BBC sitcom You Rang M'Lord?
The actor began his on-screen career with a small part in the 1954 comedy film Orders are Orders starring Peter Sellers, Donald Pleasence and Sid James.
He went on to have roles in numerous TV shows including The Saint, The Avengers, Doctor Who and Coronation Street.
But it was his turn as the commanding officer in It Ain't Half Hot Mum which made his name.
The series, set in British India and Burma towards the end of World War II ran on BBC One from 1974-1981.
Hewlett last appeared on TV in ITV sitcom The Upper Hand in 1995.
He is survived by his wife, Therese, and five children including daughter

 

Miriam Karlin

Miriam Karlin

Actress Miriam Karlin, known to many for her role as shop steward Paddy in TV sitcom The Rag Trade, has died in London aged 85. London-born Karlin was a committed political activist

Actress Miriam Karlin, known to many for her role as 

The actress, who became an OBE in 1975, had cancer and died in hospital.

Born Miriam Samuels in 1925, Karlin was one of Malcolm McDowell's victims in A Clockwork Orange and also had roles in The Entertainer and Room at the Top.

Sir Antony Sher, one of her former co-stars, paid tribute to her as "a great actress [and] a great lady".

Working with Karlin on the play Torch Song Trilogy had been "one of the most enjoyable experiences of my career," he said.

"She gave a tremendous performance as the Jewish mother, full of power and anger, but there was always a twinkle in her eye."

Screen demise

Raised as an orthodox Jew in London, Karlin was a staunch political activist and an active member of actors' union Equity.

  Miriam Karlin as Paddy in  The Rag Trade 

She had been a patron of Dignity in Dying, a body that campaigns for a change to the laws on assisted dying.

The Hampstead-born actress - who lost some family members in Auschwitz - trained at Rada and performed for troops with the Entertainments National Service Association (Ensa).

Karlin played shop steward Paddy in both incarnations of The Rag Trade

Her stage work included engagements with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She also became the first woman to play the traditionally male lead in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker.

The actress frequently played formidable Jewish matriarchs, among them Golde in the original West End production of Fiddler on the Roof.

Karlin appeared as Paddy - known for calling "Everybody out!" at regular intervals - in the original 1960s version of The Rag Trade.

She would later reprise her role when the show was revived by ITV in the 1970s.

It was her startling demise in A Clockwork Orange, though, for which some film fans will remember her best.

As the so-called "Cat Lady", she was beaten to death with a phallic-looking sculpture in Stanley Kubrick's controversial take on Anthony Burgess's novel.

West End theatre producer David Pugh was a friend of Karlin's and remembered her as "a wonderful woman."

Equity spokesman Martin Brown has also paid tribute, remembering her in The Stage as "an absolutely indefatigable campaigner and a marvellous friend".

In a statement, Lord and Baroness Kinnock said the actress had been "superbly talented in roles of every kind".

"Mim was easy to love, an infectious friend, a true comrade and a sparkling spirit."

Doctor Who

A solar tsunami sends the TARDIS hurtling towards a futuristic factory where doppelgangers - known as 'Gangers' - are used to complete jobs deemed too hazardous for humans. When a second wave hits, the Gangers separate and war seems inevitable. Only the Doctor can prevent an escalation of hostilities... but all is not as it seems...

 Doctor Who

 

Betty Driver

Betty Driver

Get well soon: Corrie co-star sources say Betty is doing well Pic: © ITV 

Coronation Street’s Julie Hesmondhalgh has tweeted just hours after co-star Betty Driver was rushed to hospital, reportedly suffering from pneumonia, to reassure fans about the 90-year-old’s health.
Playing long-standing character Hayley Cropper in the soap, the actress tweeted: “Betty is, according to my sources, doing well. I'm sure she's feeling the love! Xxx”
Betty has played barmaid and ‘hot pot’ extraordinaire Betty Williams since 1969 and is well-loved both by her fans and on-screen co-workers.
As an ITV spokesperson confirmed the news of Betty’s ill-health on Thursday (May 11) and wished the actress “a speedy recovery”, the news became a Twitter trend as Corrie celebs joined in to offer their well-wishes.
Kym Marsh said: “Oh no!!! Just heard about Betty driver! I am so hoping she gets well!
“She is a legend and I love her to bits x. Come on Betty u can do it x”
Corrie newbie Chris Fountain also re-tweeted a message of support, saying “Get well soon, Betty Driver!”
Betty was hospitalised last year with a chest infection but was determined to keep her acting life in check and made a return to the small screen.
“I love working on the Street because everyone on it is like my family,” she told The Sun. I don't want to leave at all - I want to die on set."

Elisabeth Sladen

Doctor Who star Elisabeth Sladen, who was also in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, has died aged 63.
Sladen appeared as Doctor Who assistant Sarah Jane Smith in the BBC television sci-fi series between 1973 and 1976, opposite Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.
The Liverpool-born actress appeared in four series from 2007 of The Sarah Jane Adventures on children's channel CBBC.
Sladen had been battling cancer for some time and leaves actor husband Brian Miller and daughter Sadie.
The BBC's Jane Frances-Kelly looks back at her life.

20 April 2011 Last updated at 19:14

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Doctor Who actress Elisabeth Sladen dies

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• In pictures: Elisabeth Sladen

Doctor Who star Elisabeth Sladen, who was also in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, has died aged 63.

Sladen appeared as Doctor Who assistant Sarah Jane Smith in the BBC television sci-fi series between 1973 and 1976, opposite Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.
The Liverpool-born actress appeared in four series from 2007 of The Sarah Jane Adventures on children's channel CBBC.
Sladen had been battling cancer for some time and leaves actor husband Brian Miller and daughter Sadie.
Theatre work A BBC spokesman said: "It is with much sadness that we can announce Elisabeth Sladen, the much-loved actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and CBBC's The Sarah Jane Adventures, passed away this morning."
Doctor Who star David Tennant told BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat that he had been "bewitched" by the actress's performances in the show when he was a boy.

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Former Doctor Who actor David Tennant remembers Elisabeth Sladen

He added that he would "never forget" working with her when Sarah Jane Smith returned to the show during his tenure as the 10th Doctor.
"Having been such a huge part of my childhood, she was everything you hoped she would be when you met her. She was extraordinary," he said.
John Barrowman, who co-starred with Sladen when she returned to Doctor Who in 2006, paid tribute to the star via micro-blogging site Twitter.
"I loved my time on the Tardis with her. I am proud to have worked with such an icon of the sci-fi world," he wrote.
"Your Doctor Who family are very sad and will miss you and your beautiful smile. She was a delight. Can't tell you how sad I am."
Russell T Davies, creator of The Sarah Jane Adventures, said: "I absolutely loved Lis. She was funny and cheeky and clever and just simply wonderful. The universe was lucky to have Sarah Jane Smith, the world was lucky to have Lis."
Doctor Who executive producer Steven Moffat said she had been a "ferociously talented actress".
'''Never meet your heroes,' wise people say. They weren't thinking of Lis Sladen," he added.
"Sarah Jane Smith was everybody's hero when I was younger, and as brave and funny and brilliant as people only ever are in stories.
"But many years later when I met the real Sarah Jane - Lis Sladen herself - she was exactly as any child ever have wanted her to be. Kind and gentle and clever and a ferociously talented actress, of course, but in that perfectly English unassuming way."
Sladen began her career as an assistant stage manager at the Liverpool playhouse.
Her first role on stage was playing a corpse, and she made her screen debut in the 1965 film Ferry Cross the Mersey as an extra.

The actress originally starred in Doctor Who for three years in the 1970s. Here she is alongside Tom Baker

Her first role leading role was Desdemona in Othello, before the actress landed the role of a barmaid in Coronation Street for six episodes.
She has also appeared in several other hit TV shows, including Z-Cars, Public Eye, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Special Branch.
But it was her role in Doctor Who that gained her the most recognition.
Sladen first appeared as Sarah Jane alongside the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, and stayed for three-and-a-half series, also working with Pertwee's successor, Tom Baker.
Her character, a journalist, was renowned for being inquisitive and stronger than some of the Doctor's other assistants.
After her time in the Tardis, Sladen returned to her native Liverpool where she worked in theatre.

She reprised her Doctor Who role on several occasions over the years and was given her own spin-off series on CBBC in 2007, in which she appeared with the most recent two Doctors, David Tennant and Matt Smith.
In 2006, ahead of rejoining Doctor Who, Sladen said of the show: "I think it has lovely layers and I'd defend the programme to anyone.
"I'm very emotionally part of that programme and I think a lot of the people who worked on it are. You used to love going to work every day."
'Brilliant presence' CBBC controller Damian Kavanagh said he was "deeply saddened and shocked by the news of Lis's untimely death".
"Lis brought joy, excitement and a sense of wonder to her many fans in her role as Sarah Jane Smith. She was adored by our young audience and I know all of them will miss her as much as I will," he said.
Keith Jones, the director of BBC Wales, which makes The Sarah Jane Adventures, said: "The Sarah Jane Adventures has been one of the most successful children's programmes on television in recent years - and without Elisabeth Sladen it would not have happened.
"A brilliant presence on screen and on set, she brought the excitement and energy of the Doctor Who family of programmes, of which we are very proud at BBC Wales, to a whole new generation. She will be missed by all at BBC Wales who worked with her."
Sladen's agent Roger Carey described her as a "dear friend".
He said: "She was so positive about life and her natural energy was intoxicating. She couldn't believe her luck when her 

Trevor Bannister

Trevor Bannister

Are You Being Served? star Trevor Bannister has died aged 76, his brother has confirmed.

The actor suffered a heart attack on Thursday at his allotment in Thames Ditton, Surrey, John Bannister said.
The actor was best known for his role as ladies' man Mr Lucas in the 1970s BBC sitcom set in a department store but he also worked in the theatre.
"He was a good lad, we were all very fond of him," Mr Bannister told BBC News.
He added his brother had been doing some repair work on his shed when he became ill.
Frank Thornton, who appeared as Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served?, told the BBC he had "many, many happy memories" of his co-star.
"He was a very good friend over a long time," he said.
"We often met with him and his wife - he was recently at my 90th birthday celebrations in January and that was the last time we saw him. We shall miss him sorely."
Born in Durrington, Wiltshire, and the youngest of three children, Bannister did two year's National Service before going to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
During his career which spanned five decades, he appeared in TV shows including The Avengers, Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint and Z Cars.

Most recently Bannister (left) starred in BBC series Last of the Summer Wine

He also made regular appearances in the theatre and in pantomime.
More recently, the actor had a stint in the long-running BBC series Last of the Summer Wine.
In 2009, the actor led the tributes to his Are You Being Served? co-star Wendy Richard and gave a reading at her funeral.
Speaking to the BBC at the time about his experiences of working on the sitcom, he said: "The joy of that particular show was the fact that most of us had known each other before we came to do it.
"We loved working with each other and had a lot of respect for each other. I think that fun and enjoyment conveyed itself through the screen."
He is survived by his second wife Pam and three sons Simon, Timothy and Jeremy.