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Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames, was born in Cambridge, England, the son of Mary (née Clegg), a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a don at Emmanuel College and wrote a standard text on Anglo-Saxon law. The family later moved to Leicester where his father was appointed Principal of the university while Richard was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

His film career began with a role as a deserting sailor in In Which We Serve (1942), a part that contributed to his being typecast for many years as a coward in films like Dulcimer Street (1948), Operation Disaster (1950) and his breakthrough role as a psychopathic young gangster in the film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, Brighton Rock (1948). During World War II, Attenborough served in the Royal Air Force.

He worked prolifically in British films for the next 30 years, and in the 1950s appeared in several successful comedies for John Boulting and Roy Boulting, including Private's Progress (1956) and I'm All Right Jack (1959). Early in his stage career, Attenborough starred in the London West End production of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap", which went on to become one of the world's longest-running stage productions. Both he and his wife were among the original cast members of the production, which opened in 1952 and (as of 2007) is still running.

In the 1960s, he expanded his range of character roles in films such as Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) and Guns at Batasi (1964), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the regimental Sergeant Major. He appeared in the ensemble cast of The Great Escape (1963), as Squadron Leader "Roger Bartlett" ("Big X"), the head of the escape committee.

In 1967 and 1968, he won back-to-back Golden Globe Awards in the category of Best Supporting Actor, the first time for The Sand Pebbles (1966), starring Steve McQueen, and the second time for Doctor Dolittle (1967), starring Rex Harrison. He would win another Golden Globe for Best Director, for Gandhi (1982), in 1983. Six years prior to "Gandhi", he played the ruthless "Gen. Outram" in Indian director Satyajit Ray's period piece, The Chess Players (1977). He has never been nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category.

He took no acting roles following his appearance in Otto Preminger's The Human Factor (1979), until his appearance as the eccentric developer "John Hammond" in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993). The following year, he starred as "Kris Kringle" in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), a remake of the 1947 classic. Since then, he has made occasional appearances in supporting roles, including the historical drama, Elizabeth (1998), as "Sir William Cecil".

In the late 1950s, Attenborough formed a production company, "Beaver Films", with Bryan Forbes and began to build a profile as a producer on projects, including The League of Gentlemen (1960), The Angry Silence (1960) and Whistle Down the Wind (1961), also appearing in the first two of these as an actor.

His feature film directorial debut was the all-star screen version of the hit musical, Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), and his acting appearances became more sporadic - the most notable being his portrayal of serial killer "John Christie" in 10 Rillington Place (1971). He later directed two epic period films: Young Winston (1972), based on the early life of Winston Churchill, and A Bridge Too Far (1977), an all-star account of Operation Market Garden in World War II. He won the 1982 Academy Award for Directing for his historical epic, Gandhi (1982), a project he had been attempting to get made for many years. As the film's producer, he also won the Academy Award for Best Picture. His most recent films, as director and producer, include Chaplin (1992), starring Robert Downey Jr. as Charles Chaplin, and Shadowlands (1993), based on the relationship between C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham. Both films starred Anthony Hopkins, who also appeared in three other films for Attenborough: "Young Winston", "A Bridge Too Far" and the thriller, Magic (1978).

Attenborough also directed the screen version of the hit Broadway musical, "A Chorus Line" (A Chorus Line (1985)), and the apartheid drama, Cry Freedom (1987), based on the experiences of Donald Woods. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director for both films. His most recent film as director was another biographical film, Grey Owl (1999), starring Pierce Brosnan.

Attenborough is the President of RADA, Chairman of Capital Radio, President of BAFTA, President of the Gandhi Foundation, and President of the British National Film and Television School. He is also a vice patron of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund.

He is also the patron of the UWC movement (United World Colleges), whereby he continually contributes greatly to the colleges that are part of the organization. He has frequented the United World College of Southern Africa(UWCSA) Waterford Kamhlaba. His wife and he founded the "Richard and Sheila Attenborough Visual Arts Center". He also founded the "Jane Holland Creative Center for Learning" at Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland in memory of his daughter, who died in the Tsunami on Boxing Day, 2004. He passionately believes in education, primarily education that does not judge upon color, race, creed or religion. His attachment to Waterford is his passion for non-racial education, which were the grounds on which Waterford Kamhlaba was founded. Waterford was one of his inspirations for directing Cry Freedom (1987), based on the life of Steve Biko.

He was elected to the post of Chancellor of the University of Sussex on 20 March 1998, replacing the Duke of Richmond and Gordon. A lifelong supporter of Chelsea Football Club, Attenborough served as a director of the club from 1969-1982 and, since 1993, has held the honorary position of Life Vice President. He is also the head of the consortium, "Dragon International", which is constructing a film and television studio complex in Llanilid, Wales, often referred to as "Valleywood".

In 1967, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was knighted in 1976 and, in 1993, he was made a life peer as Baron Attenborough, of Richmond-upon-Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

On 13 July 2006, Attenborough and his brother, David Attenborough, were awarded the titles of Distinguished Honorary Fellows of the University of Leicester "in recognition of a record of continuing distinguished service to the University". Lord Attenborough is also listed as an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University for his continued efforts to film making.

Attenborough has been married to English actress Sheila Sim, since 1945. They had three children. In December 2004, his elder daughter, Jane Holland, as well as her daughter Lucy and her mother-in-law, also named Jane, were killed in the tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake. A memorial service was held on 8 March 2005, and Attenborough read a lesson at the national memorial service on 11 May 2005. His grandson, Samuel Holland, and granddaughter, Alice Holland, also read in the service.

Attenborough's father was principal of University College, Leicester, now the city's university. This has resulted in a long association with the university, with Lord Attenborough a patron. A commemorative plaque was placed on the floor of Richmond Parish Church. The university's "Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts", which opened in 1997, is named in his Honor.

His son, Michael Attenborough, is also a director. He has two younger brothers, the famous naturalist Sir David Attenborough and John Attenborough, who has made a career in the motor trade.

He has collected Pablo Picasso ceramics since the 1950s. More than 100 items went on display at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester in 2007; the exhibition is dedicated to his family members lost in the tsunami.

Dame Joan Ann Plowright, the Baroness Olivier, is one of the most distinguished actors of her generation. She may be best remembered as the third wife and widow of Laurence Olivier, generally considered the greatest anglophone actor of the 20th Century, but she had a distinguished career of her own on stage and screen spanning six decades.

Born in Brigg, Lincolnshire on October 28, 1929, she received her training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and made her professional stage debut at Croydon in 1948. Her London debut came in 1954, and two years later, she joined George Devine's English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, which would change her life just as the drama at the Royal Court revolutionized the English theater.

The Royal Court's 1956 production of John Osborne's 'Look Back In Anger' was a watershed in English theatrical history, ushering in the 'Angry Young Man" era in British cultural life. In 1957, Plowright first co-starred with her future husband Olivier in the Royal Court's production of Osborne's The Entertainer (1960) when she took over the role of Archie Rice's daughter Jean Rice when the play transferred to a commercial venue in the West End. She recreated the role in Tony Richardson's 1960 film of the play.

To escape the notoriety from Olivier's divorce from Vivien Leigh, Plowright and Olivier went to New York, where they appeared on Broadway, he in Becket (1964) and she in A Taste of Honey (1961). For her performance as Josephine, which Rita Tushingham played in the movie version, she won a 1961 Tony Award as Best Actress in a Play. (She had first appeared on Broadway in a twin bill of Eugène Ionesco's "The Chairs" and "The Lesson" in January 1958, a month before she appeared with Olivier in "The Entertainer".) When his divorce from Leigh came through, they were married in March 1961 in New York with Richard Burton as Larry's best man.

From 1963 onward, she was a member of the National Theatre, which was headed by Olivier. Plowright created a distinguished stage career and was acclaimed when she began appearing more frequently in movies and television starting in the the 1980s. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire, the female equivalent of a knighthood, in the 2004 Queen's New Year Honours.

Plowright divorced her first husband, the actor Roger Gage, to marry Olivier in 1961 and they had three children, Richard Kerr Olivier, Tamsin Olivier and Julie Kate Olivier.

Distinguished character actor David Hattersley Warner was born on July 29, 1941 in Manchester, England, to Ada Doreen (Hattersley) and Herbert Simon Warner. He was born out of wedlock and raised by each of his parents, eventually settling with his itinerant father and stepmother. He only saw his mother again on her deathbed. As an only child from a dysfunctional family, young David excelled neither at academia nor at athletics. He attended eight schools and "failed his exams at all of them." After a series of odd jobs, he was accepted against all odds at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

When he first took up acting, it was not with the notion of a prospective career, but rather to escape (in his own words) 'a messy childhood.' Warner received some early mentoring from one of his teachers, and made his theatrical debut in 1962 at the Royal Court Theatre as Snout in A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Tony Richardson. A year later, he became the youngest-ever actor to play Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Comedy may not have been his forte as much as the likes of Falstaff, Lysander and (on several occasions) Henry VI. Eventually becoming disaffected with the theatre (and plagued for some years by stage fright), Warner found himself better served by the celluloid medium. His first big break came on the strength of his small part in A Midsummer Night's Dream, courtesy of Tony Richardson who cast him in his bawdy period romp Tom Jones (1963) as the mendacious, pimple-faced antagonist Blifil, who vied with Albert Finney for the affections of Susannah York. A proper starring turn on the big screen followed in due course with the title role in Morgan! (1966), Warner playing a deranged artist with Marxist leanings who goes to absurd lengths to reclaim his ex-wife (played by Vanessa Redgrave), including blowing up his mother-in-law. In yet another off-beat satire, Work Is a Four Letter Word (1968), Warner played a corporate drop-out who grows psychedelic mushrooms in an automated world of the future. Combined with his two-year stint as Hamlet with the RSC, Warner became a star at age 24.

By the 1970s, he had become one of Britain's most sought-after character actors and went on to enjoy an illustrious and prolific career on both sides of the Atlantic, throughout which he rarely spurned a role offered him. Tall and somewhat ungainly in appearance, Warner excelled at troubled, introspective loners, outcasts and mavericks or downright sinister individuals. The latter have included SS General Reinhardt Heydrich in Holocaust (1978), Jack the Ripper in Time After Time (1979), Picard's sadistic Cardassian torturer Gul Madred in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), the villainous ex-Pinkerton man Spicer Lovejoy in Titanic (1997) and the evil geniuses of Time Bandits (1981) (a role turned down by Jonathan Pryce) and Tron (1982). He also essayed the creature to Robert Powell 's Frankenstein (1984).

Less eccentric roles saw him as the doomed photojournalist who literally loses his head in The Omen (1976) (Warner later described the experience of working alongside Gregory Peck as a career highlight), the sympathetic, but equally ill-fated Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and the sad, likeable fantasist Aldous Gajic, searching for the Grail in Babylon 5 (1993). Warner also appeared in a trio of films for which he was handpicked by the director Sam Peckinpah. Best of these is arguably the comedy western The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), with Warner well cast as the roving-eyed, itinerant Reverend Joshua Duncan Sloane. Warner won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his performance as the Roman Senator Pomponius Falco in the miniseries Masada (1981). Following a three-decade long absence, Warner returned to the stage in 2001 for the role of Andrew Undershaft in Shaw's Major Barbara. In 2004, he played the title role in King Lear at the Chichester Theatre Festival in England. More recently, he appeared on TV as Professor Abraham Van Helsing in Penny Dreadful (2014), as Rabbi Max Steiner in Ripper Street (2012) and as Kenneth Branagh's ailing father in Wallander (2008).

A riveting screen presence, the ever-versatile and charismatic David Warner passed away aged 80 from cancer at Denville Hall, an entertainment industry care home, in Northwood, London, on 24 July 2022.

One of England's most successful and enduring character actors, with a prolific screen career on television and in films, Robert Hardy was acclaimed for his versatility and the depth of his performances.

Born in Cheltenham in 1925, he studied at Oxford University and, in 1949, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. Television viewers most fondly remember him as the overbearing Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great & Small (1978) but his most critically acclaimed performance was as the title character of Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981). His portrayal of Britain's wartime leader was so accurately observed that, in the following years, he was called on to reprise the role in such productions as The Woman He Loved (1988) and War and Remembrance (1988).

Unlike some British character actors, Hardy was not a Hollywood name and his work in films was therefore restricted to appearances in predominantly British-based productions such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), Frankenstein (1994) and Sense and Sensibility (1995). However, in the 21st century, Hardy came to the attention of a whole new generation for his performances in the hugely successful Harry Potter films, while also continuing to make regular appearances in British television series. His co-star from All Creatures Great & Small (1978), Peter Davison, quite simply described Hardy as an "extraordinary" actor who would "never do the same thing twice" when he was acting with him. He was awarded the CBE for services to acting. He died in August 2017.

Peter started off as a junior bank clerk but he had always been interested in the theatre and went every week to the Intimate Theatre in Palmers Green in London which was run by actor John Clements. Serving in the RAF as a radio instructor one of his pupils was Peter Bridge (now a theatre impresario) who later asked him to play David Bliss in his production of 'Hay Fever', He enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to make the theatre his profession.

London-born Sylvia May Laura Syms hit major film appeal at a relatively young age. Born on January 6, 1934, she was educated at convent schools before receiving dramatic training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She made her stage debut in a production of "The Apple Cart" in 1954.

A repertory player by the time she was discovered for films by the British star Anna Neagle and her director/husband Herbert Wilcox, the lovely demure blonde started out auspiciously enough in the delinquent film Teenage Bad Girl (1956) in which she played Neagle's troubled daughter. This was followed by a second Neagle/Wilcox collaboration with No Time for Tears (1957).

Excelling whether cast in stark melodrama, spirited adventure or harmless comedy fluff, Syms' film list grew impressive in the late 1950s and early 1960s working alongside the likes of John Mills and Anthony Quayle in Ice Cold in Alex (1958), Curd Jürgens and Orson Welles in Ferry to Hong Kong (1959), Lilli Palmer and Yvonne Mitchell in Conspiracy of Hearts (1960), Laurence Harvey in Expresso Bongo (1959), William Holden in The World of Suzie Wong (1960), and Dirk Bogarde in the landmark gay-themed Victim (1961), playing the unsuspecting wife of Bogarde's closeted male. After nearly a decade's absence, Sylvia returned briefly to the London theatre lights in 1964 to play the title role in "Peter Pan."

Ably portraying innocent love interests throughout the years, she graced a number of pictures without ever nabbing that one role that would truly put her over the top. She was nominated, however, three times for British Film Academy Awards--twice for best actress in Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) and No Trees in the Street (1959) and once for supporting actress in The Tamarind Seed (1974) that starred Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif.

The 1970s saw quite a bit of TV series work and she played British prime minister Margaret Thatcher at one point on both stage and TV. She grew plumper with middle age and found herself immersed in character roles, offering support in such films as Absolute Beginners (1986), Shirley Valentine (1989) and Shining Through (1992).

The stage once again beckoned in the mid-to-late 1980's with touring performances, among many others, in "The Heiress," "The Beaux Stratagem," "The Ideal Husband," "A Doll's House," "Ghosts," "The Vortex," "Hamlet," "Anthony and Cleopatra" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" She portrayed the Queen and Margaret Thatcher in a production of "Ugly Rumours" and was among the cast in a musical presentation of "On the Town" in 2005.

Into the millennium, Sylvia has continued to have remarkable agility. American audiences have recently seen her as the dog-doting "Princess Charlotte" in the light teen comedy What a Girl Wants (2003) with Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth, and treading water as the Shelley Winters character in the TV-remake of The Poseidon Adventure (2005). Other movies have included the role of the Queen Mum in The Queen (2006) starring Oscar-winning Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, as well as featured roles in Is Anybody There? (2008) starring Michael Caine and Booked Out (2012). She also co-starred opposite Peter Bowles in the heart-warming senior character study Together (2018).

Married once and divorced in the 1980s from Alvin Edney, daughter Beatie Edney (aka Beatrice) is a highly prolific actress in her own right, and her son, Benjamin Edney, was briefly an actor while young and appeared with his mother as her son in the western The Desperados (1969). Ms. Syms is sometimes confused with Brooklyn-born jazz/cabaret performer and recording artist Sylvia Syms (1917-1992) (née Sylvia Blagman).

Billie was born in Coventry but taken to Bradford as a child and raised there and later joined the theatre school at the Civic Playhouse. She first played little boy parts on radio at BBC Manchester before moving into plays on television, On stage she appeared at the National Theatre but is mainly remembered for her 25 years association with the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. in films she was twice cast with Albert Finney in Charlie Bubbles(1969) and Gumshoe (1995)

Kathleen Byron trained for the stage at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, beginning her work in the movies soon after she finished her training. Her early work with Michael Powell made her name in the UK. She went to Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s but found it difficult to break into the US productions. Mainly because although everyone greatly admired her performance as Sister Ruth in Black Narcissus (1947), she was typecast and only expected to be able to play neurotic characters.

An English stage and television actress. She was best known for her roles in British television sitcoms, such as Elizabeth in Keeping Up Appearances (1990) and Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine.

Tewson was born in Hampstead, London, England in 1931. Her father, William, was a professional musician and played the double bass in the BBC Symphony Orchestra; her mother, Kate (née Morley, born 1908), was a nurse. After grammar school, Tewson studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from which she graduated in 1952. She was briefly married to actor Leonard Rossiter; they divorced in 1961.

A regular comedy performer in sketches featuring Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker on David Frost on Sunday and Hark at Barker (1970), she later appeared in Mostly Monkhouse, a BBC Radio comedy programme with David Jason supporting Bob Monkhouse. She also appeared a few times in Z-Cars (1963-69) and The Charlie Drake Show (1968). Tewson played Edna Hawkins (usually referred to as Mrs H by Shelley) in the first six series of the British sitcom Shelley (1979-82). Later, she played Jane Travers in Ronnie Barker's sitcom Clarence (1988), which he also wrote, and was his last starring television role before his retirement.

Tewson is best known for her role as Elizabeth, neighbour and confidant of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances. Tewson appeared in nearly every episode for the five series run, providing an often rattled but pragmatic counter to the scattered and clueless Mrs Bouquet.

Tewson starred with John Inman in Odd Man Out (1977), a sitcom, where they played half-brother/half-sister roles.

Tewson appeared semi-regularly as Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine (2003-10), a series written by Roy Clarke who also wrote Keeping Up Appearances. She also appeared in two episodes of the documentary series Comedy Connections, talking about her work in Keeping Up Appearances (2004) and opposite The Two Ronnies (2005). In 2009, she played the role of Iris in the radio drama Leaves in Autumn written by Susan Casanove, produced by the Wireless Theatre Company.

Other television appearances were in an episode of Heartbeat ("Closing The Book", 2002) and as the competition judge, Samantha Johnstone, in an episode in the mystery drama Midsomer Murders ("Judgement Day", 2002). Later she was featured in two episodes of Doctors as kleptomaniac, Audrey Wilson, ("Now You See It...", 2009) and as Marjorie Page, a woman in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease ("The Bespectacled Bounder," 2012). She also appeared in an episode of Lewis.

In 2012 Tewson launched her one-woman show Still Keeping Up Appearances? touring the UK.

She died on 18th August 2022 of natural causes at the age of 91.

Born in Beckenham, Kent, English character actor Maurice Denham first came to public notice in the 1940s on radio, appearing on many of the most popular comedy series of the day in a variety of characters. His debut in films came in 1947 with The Smugglers (1947). His talents came to the forefront in the animated feature Animal Farm (1954), in which he voiced all of the animal characters. A prolific actor, his familiar sharp features and bald head appeared in dozens of films over the following years, often as charming but slightly 'barmy' characters and well-bred cads, although he was more than capable of playing straight drama, as he did in the war picture Sink the Bismarck! (1960) as a naval officer helping to hunt down and sink the German battleship. He began appearing regularly in television in the 1970s and also worked steadily on the stage.

He died of natural causes at age 92 in London, England.

Andrew Sachs born Andreas Siegfried Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, he and his family emigrated to London in 1938, to escape persecution under the Nazis. He made his name on British television and rose to fame in the 1970s for his portrayals of the comical Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers (1975), a role for which he was BAFTA nominated.

He went on to have a long career in acting and voice-over work for television, film and radio. In his later years, he continued to have success with roles in films such as Quartet, and as Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.

Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina (née Schrott-Fiecht), a librarian, and Hans Emil Sachs, an insurance broker. His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic, and of half-Austrian descent. He left with his parents for Britain in 1938, when he was eight years old, to escape the Nazis. They settled in north London, and he lived in Kilburn for the rest of his life.

In 1960, Sachs married Melody Lang, who appeared in one episode of Fawlty Towers, "Basil the Rat", as Mrs. Taylor. He adopted her two sons from a previous marriage, John Sachs and William Sachs, and they had one daughter, Kate Sachs.

In the late 1950s, whilst still studying shipping management at college, Sachs worked on radio productions, including Private Dreams and Public Nightmares by Frederick Bradnum, an early experimental programme made by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Sachs began in acting with repertory theatre and made his West End debut as Grobchick in the 1958 production of the Whitehall farce Simple Spymen. He made his screen debut in 1959 in the film The Night We Dropped a Clanger. He then appeared in numerous television series throughout the 1960s, including some appearances in ITC productions such as The Saint (1962) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969).

Sachs is best known for his role as Manuel, the Spanish waiter in the sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975 and 1979). During the shooting of the Fawlty Towers episode "The Germans", Sachs was left with second degree acid burns due to a fire stunt. He was hit with a faulty prop on the set of the show by John Cleese and suffered a massive headache.

Sachs recorded four singles in character as Manuel; the first was "Manuel's Good Food Guide" in 1977, which came in a picture sleeve with Manuel on the cover. Sachs also had a hand in writing (or adapting) the lyrics. This was followed in 1979 by "O Cheryl" with "Ode to England" on the B side. This was recorded under the name "Manuel and Los Por Favors". Sachs shares the writing credits for the B side with "B. Wade", who also wrote the A side.

In 1981, "Manuel" released a cover version of Joe Dolce's number one in the United Kingdom "Shaddap You Face", with "Waiter, there's a Flea in my Soup" on the B side. Sachs also adapted "Shaddap You Face" into Spanish, but was prevented from releasing it before Dolce's version by a court injunction. When finally released it reached 138 in the UK Chart.

In 2007, the BBC broadcast an adaptation of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency with Sachs portraying Reg (Professor Urban Chronotis, the Regius Professor of Chronology). He would later appear in another Adams adaptation as the Book in the live tour of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy during its run at Bromley's Churchill Theatre.

On 17 November 2008, it was announced that Sachs had been approached to appear in ITV soap Coronation Street. He later confirmed on 14 December that he was taking up the offer, saying, "I'm taking Street challenge". In May 2009 he made his debut on the street as Norris' brother, Ramsay. He appeared in 27 episodes and left in August 2009.

With the Australian pianist Victor Sangiorgio, he toured with a two man show called "Life after Fawlty", which included Richard Strauss's voice and piano setting of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Enoch Arden". 2012 saw his last major role, as Bobby Swanson in the movie Quartet.

Sachs was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2012, which eventually left him unable to speak and forced him to use a wheelchair. He died on 23 November 2016 at the Denville Hall nursing home in Northwood, London, England. He was buried on 1 December 2016, the same day his death was publicly announced.

On 2 December 2016, BBC One broadcast the Fawlty Towers episode "Communication Problems" in his memory. John Cleese led tributes to Sachs, describing him as a "sweet, sweet man"

Carmen Silvera was a British comic actress of Spanish descent, primarily known for television roles. Her most memorable role was playing Edith Artois in the hit sitcom "'Allo 'Allo!" (1982-1992), which depicted multiple ongoing conspiracies in German-occupied France during World War II.

Edith was the antagonistic wife of the series' main character, the opportunist café owner Rene Artois. Husband and wife were reluctant members of the French Resistance, while also collaborating with corrupt German officers and being involved in several other conspiratorial schemes. Ongoing plot-lines involving Edith included her suspicions that Rene was cheating on her (while she appeared unaware that he was having extramarital affairs with all of their waitresses, and that he had an unrequited love for resistance leader Michelle Dubois), her regular attempts to perform as a cabaret singer (despite having an awful singing voice), her romantic relationships with undertaker Monsieur Alfonse and the Italian Captain Alberto Bertorelli, and Edith being far more patriotic and idealistic than her husband.

In 1922, Silvera was born in Toronto, Ontario to British expatriate parents. Her father was Roland Silvera (1895-1986), a well-known bowls player, and a member of the Stoke Bowling Club, Coventry. In the 1970s, Roland served as a president of the Warwickshire County Bowls Association. During his term, the association won the English Bowling Association Middleton Cup for the first time in its history.

The Silvera family emigrated back to England in 1924. They settled in Warwickshire, a county in the West Midlands region of England. Carmen was evacuated to Montreal, Canada during World War II. She originally aspired to follow a dancing career, taking lessons from a ballet company that served as one of several rival successors to the famed "Ballets Russes" (1909-1929). She appeared with the ballet company on stage, but only for a small number of performances.

Following the end of World War II, Silvera returned to England and decided to follow an acting career. She was trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and then started appearing repertory theatre. She had a brief marriage to theatrical actor John Cunliffe. In 1948, they were divorced after Silvera suffered a miscarriage. She never remarried, instead focusing o her career.

In the late 1950s, Silvera started appearing in television roles. Her first recurring role in a series was playing Camilla Hope in the soap opera "Compact" (1962-1965). The opera depicted the personal and professional lives of the employees of a magazine. It reportedly enjoyed high ratings throughout its run. Its demise was attributed to the dislike of its premise by BBC executives.

In 1966, Silvera played three different roles in the story arc "The Celestial Toymaker" of the hit science fiction series "Doctor Who" (1963-1989). One of her three roles was the Queen of Hearts in a set of living playing cards. The episodes were considered offbeat for featuring strong fantasy elements in a series that typically focused on science fiction and historical fiction. Silvera later returned to the series in the story arc "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", which featured dinosaurs transported to modern-age London. This story arc was noted for featuring villains who were well-intentioned extremists, firmly believing that the ends justify the means (in other words, that their crimes were justified by their righteous goal).

In 1970, Silvera had a guest star role in an episode of the World War II-themed sitcom "Dad's Army" (1968-1977), which featured the misadventures of the Home Guard. She portrayed Fiona Gray, a middle-aged woman who wants to join the war effort. Her character served as a new love interest for the main character, the aging Captain George Mainwaring. The episode was unusual in having a tragic theme, and emphasizing Mainwaring's loneliness. It was directed by David Croft, who would later cast Silvera in "'Allo 'Allo!".

Silvera made her film debut in the erotic film "Clinic Exclusive" (1971), at the age of 49. She played the role of Elsa Farson, an aging, lonely lesbian who is in love with Julie Mason (played by Georgina Ward), not caring that Mason is a ruthless businesswoman with a side career as a blackmailer. The film was scripted and produced by Hazel Adair, who had previously worked with Silvera in "Compact". Most of the film's actors were veterans from Adair's television productions.

Throughout the 1970s, Silvera had a few more film roles in British productions. Her last film role in this decade was playing Lady Bottomley in the sex comedy "Keep It Up Downstairs" (1976). The film's plot focused on the efforts of two aging aristocrats to find a rich wife for their son, despite the young man's disinterest in anything outside his career as an inventor.

Silvera found success late in life, when cast in the role of Edith Artois in the sitcom "'Allo 'Allo!" (1982-1992). Initially conceived as a parody of the wartime drama series "Secret Army" (1977-1979), it became a much more popular and long-running series than the one it parodied. Unusual for a sitcom, "'Allo 'Allo!" had overarching plot-lines, rather than featuring simple stand-alone stories. Nearly every character took part in conspiracies and had agendas of his/her own, but their schemes often clashed and backfired. Besides the ongoing scheming, the film placed emphasis on the characters' romantic and sexual lives, with a large amount of sexual innuendo in each episode. The series lasted for 9 seasons, and 85 episodes. Much of the main cast of series gained enduring popularity with the British public.

During the 1990s, Silvera enjoyed a revival of her theatrical career. She appeared in stage musicals, such as "That's Showbiz" (1997) by Jimmy Perry. Her last film role was a small part in the drama film "La Passione" (1996). The film was partly based on the childhood experiences of screenwriter Chris Rea as a son of immigrants in the United Kingdom.

Silvera was a heavy smoker for much of her life, and she was eventually diagnosed with lung cancer. She spend her last years as a resident of Denville Hall, a retirement home for professional actors and their spouses. In August 2002, Silvera died there due to cancer. She was 80-years-old. Her popularity endures primarily due to her appearances in classic sitcoms.

Born Margaret Rose Mount in Essex, England, she went to work as a secretary in her early teens after the death of her father, despite her early desire to enter the theatre. It would be almost 15 years before she landed a role with the Hanson Players, when she played the part of an eccentric guest in 'The Sleeping Prince.' She stayed with the company for three years, and became known for her imposing and impressive voice. She originated one of her best known roles, the formidable battleaxe, Emma Hornett, in 'Sailor Beware' with her repertory troupe in 1953, and reprised the role on the West End, the role making her a star. She made her film debut in the screen version a year later: it was known as 'Panic in the Parlor' in the US. In 1958 she appeared in 'The Adventures of Mr. Pastry' on British television, before appearing as another popular harridan role in 'The Larkins' that same year on ITV. In 1960 she tackled Shakespeare at the Old Vic, taking the role of the Nurse in 'Romeo and Juliet' to excellent reviews. For the next two decades she split her time between the stage and various television series which included 'Winning Widows' from 1961 to 1962, the 1966 to 1968 series 'George and the Dragon,' and 'Lollipop Loves Mr Mole' from 1971 to 1972. Additionally she appeared in such films as 'The Naked Truth' in 1957, 'Ladies Who Do' in 1963, and 'Oliver!' in 1968. In the 1980s she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and much of her later work was on stage, although she did appear in the cult television series, 'Doctor Who' in 1988's 'The Greatest Show in the Galaxy' episode. In 1996 she was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to her art. In her later years she lost her sight, forcing her retirement, and later suffered a series of strokes. She died at an actors' retirement home in Northwood, Middlesex at the age of 86.

Known primarily in Britain for his many "matinée idol" roles during the 1950s, Anthony Steel is perhaps best remembered in Hollywood and elsewhere as the erstwhile husband of Anita Ekberg.

His career never really took off in Hollywood; at one point during his marriage to Ms. Ekberg, he was referred to as "Mr. Ekberg" - a slight that reflected his success (or lack of it) in movies following the eventual breakup of the marriage.

Steel was born in London and was the son of an Indian army officer. He was educated at Cambridge and in World War II served as a Major in the Grenadier Guards Parachute Regiment and for a time served in the infant Special Air Service (S.A.S.) leaving in 1948.

It wasn't until after the war he decided to pursue acting, starring in such adventure-charged films as Malta Story (1953) for the J. Arthur Rank studio. His career was at its pinnacle and he was lauded as one of Britain's biggest movie stars when he married Ekberg in 1956 and set out with her to break into Hollywood pictures. Finding Hollywood unsatisfactory and even hostile, he turned primarily to making some not-so-memorable European films in the '70s and '80s - including The Story of O (1975) (The Story of O)

• and some guest spots on British TV.

He died on March 21, 2001, in Northwood, Middlesex, England.

Although there was no theatrical background in the family acting was all he wanted to do despite being destined for the civil service. His mother allowed him to play the odd boys role with the local repertory company in Newcastle and he belonged to a small theatre group which had attached to it an 'Academy of Dramatic Art' run by Madame St. John. When he left school he worked in a Newcastle office of an investment trust until war broke out and he joined the army at 20 but because of poor eyesight he was attached to RASC division in France. He spent 72 hours on the beach at Dunkirk where he was seriously wounded in both legs. At the end of the war he was posted to Egypt where he kept being promoted until he was offered a post in the war office but took demob as Lt Colonel. While with friends for a weekend in Penzance he went to a local repertory theatre and was impressed by the acting standard that he asked the company's director for a job but there were no vacancies. He tried again a few months later and became stage manager at £7 a week and was there 2 years. His first part was as a policeman in a play by Michael Pertwee.He went to 3 other repertory companies then joined London's Old Vic and toured round the world with them appearing many times with Vivien Leigh. He had a few small parts in such as Otley, Barry Lyndon an The Island with Michael Caine. On television he was best known as the Headmaster in To Serve Them All of My Days and as Robin Ellis's uncle in Poldark, while on radio he played the 4th Dan Archer in the radio serial The Archers

Patsy Byrne was born on 13 July 1933 in Ashford, Kent, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Les Misérables (1998), Blackadder Back & Forth (1999) and Watching (1987). She was married to Patrick John Francis Noel Seccombe. She died on 17 June 2014 in Denville Hall, Northwood, London, England, UK.

David was the son of a naval seaman at Gillingham and worked to help keep his family during the depression of the 30';s from working as a milkman to being a butchers boy. He found his acting talent in RAF concerts and later in music halls and pantomimes then a film casting agent who'd seen him as a demon king in pantomime offered him £20 a day to work on the film Cockleshell Heroes. Since then he;s made well over 60 films and spent about 6 months on the BBC tv serial United as the football manager Jerry Barford, He's married to Lyn, a French woman and lives in Richmond

Philip Madoc was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, and attended Twyn School. He became interested in acting when he was a teenager. He studied at the University of Vienna and pursued a theatrical career by attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. During the 1960s, he became a familiar face on British television, often cast in sinister roles due to his dark looks and deep voice. He became particularly familiar to fans of fantasy television, playing five different roles on The Avengers (1961) and four different roles on Doctor Who (1963). Into the 1970s and the guest appearances kept coming, including comedies such as Dad's Army (1968) (as a U-Boat captain in one of the most famous scenes on British TV) and The Good Life (1975). Although widely respected as a versatile actor adept at accents, Madoc never really became a star until 1981, when he portrayed former British prime minister David Lloyd George on an acclaimed television series, The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981). Madoc has not been short of work for the last 40 years, a rare accomplishment for an actor, and has worked on films, radio and on the stage as well as his prolific television career. Madoc died of cancer in 2012.

Cheerful-looking actress Dinah Sheridan was considered the quintessential English rose of late 30's and 40's British films. With an alertness, elegance and quiet beauty second to none, she won the hearts of war-torn England during WWII.

She was born Dinah Nadyejda Ginsburg in London on September 17, 1920. Her Russian father and German mother were photographers to the Royal Family, by appointment to both the Queen and Queen Mother. Dinah's first professional role was an understudy part of Rsoamund in "Where the Rainbow End." She subsequently went on tour as Wendy in "Peter Pan" starring Charles Laughton as Captain Hook and wife Elsa Lanchester in the title role, and appeared in repertory during the war years.

Dinah broke into films at the tender age of 16 with a starring role in a meek, lowbudget piece Landslide (1937). Her co-star was young Jimmy Hanley, in his first adult role, and the two would later marry in 1942, having three children (one died in childbirth). Dinah continued in both drama and light comedy as the youthful ingenue in such films as Behind Your Back (1937), Father Steps Out (1937), Merely Mr. Hawkins (1938) and Irish and Proud of It (1938). Jimmy and Dinah became a popular WWII-era film couple, appearing quite winningly together in Salute John Citizen (1942), The Facts of Love (1945) and The Huggetts Abroad (1949). One of their children, Jenny Hanley, followed in her parents' footsteps as an actress and TV presenter.

Dinah remained a lovely presence in a variety of post-war films, gracing such productions as the stark melodrama The Hills of Donegal (1947); in the whodunnit Calling Paul Temple (1948) opposite John Bentley as part of a husband/wife detective team; in the crime drama The Story of Shirley Yorke (1948) as the title nurse; the adventure drama Ivory Hunter (1951); and the romantic war piece The Sound Barrier (1952).

Divorced from Hanley in 1952, Dinah, following a secondary role in the biopic Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) and after starring role in one of Britain's most delightful 50's comedies, Genevieve (1953), co-starring John Gregson, Kenneth More and the sublime Kay Kendall, abruptly retired on a high note after marrying Sir John Davis, the President of the Rank Organization, in 1954. Following her second divorce, and after 11 years of obscurity, Dinah made a return to the stage in 1967 with the play "Let's All Go Down the Strand." She continued with prominent 70's roles in "A Boston Story," "A Touch of Purple, "Move Over Mrs. Markham" (title role), "The Card," "The Gentle Hook," "The Please of His Company," "A Murder Is Announced" and toured in the play "Half Life."

After impressing as the hard-luck mother who is forced to raise three children alone after her husband abandons the family in the drama The Railway Children (1970), Dinah chose to focus squarely on TV with roles in such programs as "Seasons of the Year," "Zodiac," "Crown Court," "Village Hall," "Whodunnit?," "Doctor Who," and her final TV appearance in a 1999 episode of "Jonathan Creek." She also appeared in the mini-series The Winning Streak (1985) and co-starred in two British comedy series Don't Wait Up (1983) and All Night Long (1994).

Dinah married for a third time to actor John Merivale in 1986, but he died four years later. Her fourth marriage, to American businessman Aubrey Ison, ended with his death in 2007. Dinah died in London at age 92 on November 25, 2012.

Geoffrey Keen was born on 21 August 1916 in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). He was married to Doris Groves, Madeline Howell and Hazel Terry. He died on 3 November 2005 in Denville Hall, Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, UK.

John made his acting debut at the Theatre Royal, Bournemouth. After spending a year in various reps. including Hastings, Watford and Eastbourne, he was conscripted into the Devon Yeomanry during the war and served in Italy and Sicily, but contracted hepatitis. He then became a member of the Army Bureau For Current Affairs - Play Unit, touring England, France and Germany. He then spent many years in theatre, before branching out into films and starring alongside David Niven and John Mills. He has also appeared in many TV roles.

Catherine Lacey was born on 6 May 1904 in Paddington, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Lady Vanishes (1938), Whisky Galore! (1949) and The Late Edwina Black (1949). She was married to Thomas Anthony S. Wright, Roy Emerton and Geoffrey Clark. She died on 20 September 1979 in Denville Hall, Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, UK.

Young Arnold Ridley was forced to give up a budding acting career and turn to writing. He hit the jackpot with 'The Ghost Train' which was a great West End success, and has been filmed several times. This was followed by a number of other plays during the 1920s and 1930s. In later life he returned to acting, often as kindly and gentle old men such as his most famous role as Private Godfrey in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army (1968) from 1968 to 1977.

Ridley's acting career began before World War I while he was a student at Bristol University when he was paid a pound a week for, in his own words, "playing bits and pieces" at the Theatre Royal in Bristol (now the Bristol Old Vic). Having been "rather badly knocked about" in World War I (he fought at the Battle of the Somme and was injured three times, with one serious bayonet wound leaving him with no strength in his right arm) he returned to England but could find no acting work and went instead to work for his father's boot company in Bath. Still keen on pursuing a life in the theatre he turned to writing. He wrote a lot of what he called "serious plays," claiming that he didn't like thrillers very much, but after one of these was rejected by London producers, he went to the theatre to pass the evening before returning to the West Country the following morning.

He saw "an American thriller which I didn't like a bit, and I thought to myself, 'If that's the sort of tosh they'll put on, I'll write one of those only I'll try to make mine a bit better than that.'" The result was "The Ghost Train" which was a West End hit and whose popularity endures over 80 years on. He wrote several other plays in the 1920s and '30s, directing in the theatre and on film, and running both a theatre and film company (which went bust). When times were hard in the late-1920s he sold the amateur rights to "The Ghost Train" for 200 pounds, a decision he later regretted, believing that he had "lost a fortune" by selling the rights to such a popular play. He was wounded again in World War II and returned to acting, appearing in numerous television shows through the 1950s and '60s until he was cast as the kindly, retired shop assistant Mr Godfrey in Dad's Army (1968). Colleagues from the show commented that he had been "forced" to work long into his old age by financial circumstances, but he said himself that his great fear was being forced to retire.

He continued to work until the show ended in 1977, by which time he was 81. He was made an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 1982 Queen's New Years Honours List, for services to drama, and died two years later.

Gabrielle Blunt found theatre and television more productive arenas throughout a career spanning six decades.

She starred in the film Whisky Galore! (1949). In the early 1990s she appeared in a documentary about the film Whisky Galore, which was later included on a DVD release of the original 1949 film. Her small-screen breakthrough came with the 1968 George Cole-starring comedy A Man of Our Times, after which she moved comfortably between comedy and drama. In later years, she was regularly to be found in hit comedies including Shine on Harvey Moon (1982), One Foot in the Grave (1990), Pat and Margaret (1994), The Thin Blue Line (1995), Drop the Dead Donkey, The Fast Show, Harry Enfield's Television Programme and Paul Merton - The Series.

Blunt began her theatre career in regional rep in the early 1940s, and toured Europe with the Entertainments National Service Association in 1945. That same year, she was seen in Vanbrugh's The Confederacy at the York Festival.

Later appearances included Irene Coates' This Space is Mine (Hampstead Theatre, 1969); Mrs Jeffcote in Hindle Wakes (Northampton Rep, 1972); Agatha Christie's Ten Little Niggers (Palace Theatre, Westcliffe, 1975); Under Milk Wood (Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead, 1980), Duchess of Malfi (Oxford Playhouse, 1983); and Ayshe Raif's Fail/Safe (Soho Poly, 1986).

In 1998, Blunt toured the UK and Europe in Out of Joint's premiere of Caryl Churchill's Blue Heart, travelling with it to New York the following year.

Blunt was married and divorced twice and had 3 children. Her second husband adopted her children from her first marriage.

She lived until the age of 95 years and died in Denville Hall in June 2014.

Remarkable, unique, unforgettable Betty Marsden was one of Britain's most talented comedy actresses, best known for her multiple roles in the Kenneth Horne shows on BBC radio in the 1960s.

Betty Marsden was born in Liverpool on 24th February 1919, and appeared at Bath Pavilion aged 11 as the First Fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream. She made her London debut later that year as the Prince in The Windmill Man (Victoria Palace), a fairy play with music.

Gaining a scholarship for six years to the Italia Conti Stage School, she first acted in the West End in Closing at Sunrise (Royalty, 1935).

Other pre-war West End work came in Basil Dean's production of Autumn (1937), Ivor Novello's Comedienne (1938), and J B Priestley's morality play, Johnson Over Jordan (1939).

During the Second World War she entertained the troops with ENSA, and played in the war-torn West End in the American comedy, Junior Miss (1943). In 1947 she won critical praise as the amorous Mrs Corcoran to Alastair Sim's murderous medico in Dr Angelus and in Sacha Guitry's Don't Listen, Ladies! (1948).

Then came 12 years in intimate revue. She started at the tiny Irving Theatre Club in London in 1950-51 and went to the Edinburgh Festival with After The Show. She was in her element, and in the 1950s spent years at the Royal Court in Laurier Lister's Airs on a Shoestring (1953-55) and its successor From Here and There.

In 1958 she appeared in a revue by John Cranko, Keep Your Hair On, which was so disastrous that the gallery was filled each night by audiences who wanted to take turns at making their own jokes at the expense of the stage action. The plot hinged on a revolution in London. Many scenes were for some reason set in a Mayfair hairdressers; she made a brave attempt at a song called Crowning Glory.

In the 1960s she was at the peak of her career, appearing on BBC radio's Round the Horne which co-starred Kenneth Williams. She delighted millions of listeners who never knew what she looked like, with her radio characters, such as Daphne Whitethigh, the cookery expert, whose delivery owed something to Fanny Craddock. And there was a regular double-act with Hugh Paddick in the Brief Encounter genre. Much of the dialogue in this spoof would be a low-toned, breathy exchange of the remark "Darling".

Her most famous film role is without doubt the oblivious, guffawing character of Harriet Potter, alongside other comedy heroes Terry Scott and Charles Hawtrey in Carry on Camping (1969). They make an exceptional comedy team throughout the film. In her later years, she appeared in character roles on French and Saunders (1987) and Casualty (1986).

Throughout, the filming of Carry on Camping (1969), Miss Marsden suggested to fellow actress Dilys Laye that she wanted to die with a glass of gin in her hand.

In July 1998, 24 hours after moving into a residential home for old actors, this is exactly what happened. Miss Marsden had been chatting to friends in the home's bar when she collapsed and died. She was 79 and had been recovering from a bout of heart problems and pneumonia.