Necrolog 2020 

31 December 2020 tbs.pm/72241

 

Some notable deaths of television and radio people this past year. The month given may be out slightly as not all published obituaries give an exact date of death; where we’re not sure, we’ve added a ≈ and encourage corrections in the comments.

 

January

  • Derek Acorah, 69 – TV ‘medium’
  • Paul Addison, 76 – historian, Now the War is Over
  • Christopher Beeny, 78 – actor, In Loving Memory
  • Jim Biddle – sound recordist, Southern Independent Television ≈
  • Julia Breck, 78 – actor, Spike Milligan’s Q
  • Stephen Clements, 47 – presenter, BBC Radio Ulster
  • Marian Finucane, 69 – broadcaster, RTÉ
  • Derek Fowlds, 82 – actor, Yes, Minister
  • Tony Garnett, 83 – story editor, The Wednesday Play
  • Larry Gogan, 85 – broadcaster, RTÉ
  • Peter Hobday, 82 – presenter, BBC Radio 4
  • Terry Jones, 77 – Monty Python
  • Andrée Melly, 87 – actor, Hancock’s Half Hour
  • Penny Morrell, 81 – actor, Five Children and It
  • Nicholas Parsons, 96 – Just a Minute
  • Alan Pattillo, 90 – director, Thunderbirds
  • David Smeeton, 83 – BBC foreign correspondent
  • Bob Southgate, 85 – controller of news at TVS
  • Alex Theodossiadis, 25 – presenter, Rinse FM

February

  • David Callister, 84 – broadcaster, Manx Radio
  • Pearl Carr, 98 – BBC Eurovision Song Contest entrant 1959
  • Heather Couper, 70 – astronomer
  • Caroline Flack, 40 – ITV2 presenter, Love Island
  • Michael Medwin, 96 – actor, Shoestring
  • Keelin Shanley, 51 – broadcaster, RTÉ
  • John Shrapnel, 77 – actor, Elizabeth R
  • Simon Warr, 66 – host, Mastermind (when Magnus Magnusson was a contestant)
  • Charles Wood, 87 – playwright, A Bit of…
  • Ailie Worster, 86 – BBC announcer ≈

March

  • Chris Barrett, 75 – producer, Meridian Broadcasting ≈
  • David Collings, 79 – actor, Sapphire & Steel
  • Hilary Dwyer, 74 – actor, The Avengers
  • Julie Felix, 81 – singer
  • James Gordon, 83 – managing director of Radio Clyde 1973-96
  • Johnny Harris, 87 – band leader, Colour My World
  • Tony Hiller, 30 – presenter, Kennet Radio
  • Roy Hudd, 83 – actor/comedian
  • Andrew Jack, 76 – actor, Whack-O!
  • Jeremy Marre, 76 – director, Beats of the Heart
  • Bill Martin, 81 – songwriter, Puppet on a String
  • Pete Mitchell, 61 – presenter, Piccadilly Radio
  • David Sells, 91 – BBC foreign correspondent
  • James Wilson – news editor, Stray FM
  • Hamish Wilson, 77 – actor, Jamie McCrimmon in Doctor Who, briefly

April

  • Mike Appleton, 83 – producer, The Old Grey Whistle Test
  • Sean Arnold, 79 – actor, Grange Hill
  • Pip Baker, 91 – scriptwriter, Doctor Who
  • Jay Benedict, 68 – actor, Emmerdale
  • Honor Blackman, 94 – actor, The Avengers
  • Tim Brooke-Taylor, 79 – The Goodies

  • Malcolm Dixon, 66 – actor, The Goodies
  • Lynn Faulds Wood, 72 – broadcaster, Watchdog
  • Terence Frisby, 87 – playwright, Lucky Feller
  • Jill Gascoine, 83 – actor, The Gentle Touch
  • David Harvey, 59 – presenter, BBC Southern Counties ≈
  • BJ Hogg, 65 – actor, Give My Head Peace
  • Paul Lambert, c61 – BBC producer
  • Eddie Large, 78 – comedian
  • Ken Nightinghall, 92 – boom operator
  • Ronan O’Rahilly, 79 – founder, Radio Caroline
  • Ida Schuster, 101 – actor, STV’s Doctor Finlay
  • Herb Stempel, 93 – whistleblower on the Twenty-One scandal
  • Diane Tammes, 78 – documentary maker
  • Hedley Versey, 101 – head of lighting, Southern Independent Television

May

  • Michael Angelis, 76 – actor, Boys from the Blackstuff
  • Heather Chasen, 92 – actor, Crossroads
  • Dick Gilbert, 82 – deputy editor, The Listener
  • Michael Green, 76 – industrial correspondent, ITN ≈
  • Ann Ladbury, 88 – presenter, Houseparty
  • Ken Rees, 76 – reporter, ITN
  • Tony Scannell, 74 – actor, The Bill
  • Jerry Stiller, 92 – comic actor
  • Roger Summerskill – presenter, BBC Radio Merseyside

June

  • John Benfield, 68 – actor, Hippies
  • Lester Crystal, 85 – producer, The Huntley-Brinkley Report
  • Julian Curry, 82 – actor, Rumpole of the Bailey
  • Ian Holm, 88 – narrator, Horizon
  • Philip Latham, 91 – actor, The Troubleshooters
  • Louis Mahoney, 81 – actor, The Professionals
  • Harry Smith, 69 – political correspondent, STV and ITN
  • Malcolm Terris, 79 – actor, When the Boat Comes In
  • Ricky Valance, 84 – singer
  • Tony Wright, 55 – presenter, Red Dragon Radio ≈

July

  • Johnny Beattie, 93 – actor, Rab C Nesbit
  • Richard Bright, 51 – documentary producer/director ≈
  • Earl Cameron, 102 – actor, Emergency – Ward 10
  • Tom Davies, 54 – presenter, TFM
  • Olivia de Havilland, 104 – actor
  • Sydney Lotterby, 93 – BBC producer/director
  • Mary Miller, 90 – actor, The Younger Generation
  • Fred Morrison – blindfolded cameraman on The Golden Shot
  • Chris Needs, 66 – presenter, BBC Radio Wales
  • Regis Philbin, 88 – US broadcaster
  • Maurice Roëves, 83 – actor, Scobie in September
  • Annie Ross, 89 – actor/singer, The Ghosts of Motley Hall
  • Steve Sutherland – presenter, Galaxy FM
  • Andrew ‘Tommo’ Thomas, 53 – presenter, BBC Radio Cymru
  • Ena Thomas, 85 – chef, Heno

August

  • Brian Black, 70s – presenter, Ulster Television
  • Richard Cartridge – presenter, BBC Radio Solent ≈
  • Doreen Davies, head of music, BBC Radio 1 ≈
  • Paul Knight, 76 – LWT producer
  • Ann Lynn, 86 – actor, Just Good Friends
  • Joe Lyons – producer, Capital FM
  • Clive McNeil, 67 – presenter, Manx Radio
  • Paul Melba, 84 – comedian, Who Do You Do?
  • Tony Morris, 57 – presenter, Granada Reports
  • David Mercer, 70 – tennis commentator, BBC Wales
  • Leslie Randall, 95 – actor, Joan and Leslie
  • Sumner Redstone, 97 – CBS owner
  • Martin Short, 76 – documentary maker, Dispatches
  • Robin Sinton – VT editor, Tyne Tees Television ≈
  • Peter Tiffin, 86 – producer/director, ITN ≈
  • Graham Watts, 97 – producer/director, Rediffusion ≈
  • Stevie Webster, 36 – presenter, Cabin FM

September

  • Joan Blackham, 74 – actor, Take a Letter, Mr Jones
  • Ronald Forfar, 81 – actor, Bread
  • Barbara Jefford, 90 – actor, The House of Eliott
  • John Walter Jones, 74 – chairman, S4C Authority
  • Aidan Laverty, 55 – editor, Horizon
  • Colin Leventhal, 73 – head of legal, Channel 4
  • Rodney Litchfield, 81 – actor, Early Doors
  • Caroline Mortimer, 78 – actor, Intrigue
  • Diana Rigg, 82 – actor, The Avengers
  • Tony Tanner, 87 – actor, Call It What You Like
  • Frank Windsor, 92 – actor, Softly, Softly

October

  • Bobby Ball, 76 – comedian
  • Frank Bough, 87 – presenter, BBC Breakfast Time
  • Sean Connery, 90 – actor
  • Julie Donaldson, 50 – presenter, Zetland FM
  • John Duncanson, 80 – announcer, ABC Weekend TV
  • Johnny Leeze, 78 – actor, Emmerdale
  • Margaret Nolan, 76 – actor, Budgie
  • Johnny Owen, 66 – presenter, Signal Radio
  • John Wilford, 80 – news editor, Yorkshire Television ≈
  • Tony Wyn-Jones, 77 – presenter, BBC Radio 1

November

  • Miles Barton, 61 – wildlife producer ≈
  • Betty Bobbitt, 81 – actor, Prisoner Cell Block H
  • John Fraser, 89 – actor, Thundercloud
  • Eric Hall, 73 – presenter, Time 107.5 ≈
  • Basil Moss, 85 – actor, UFO
  • Des O’Connor, 88 – multi-talented broadcaster
  • Geoffrey Palmer, 93 – actor, As Time Goes By
  • Dave Prowse, 85 – The Green Cross Code Man
  • John Sessions, 67 – actor, Porterhouse Blue
  • Alex Trebek, 80 – host, Jeopardy!
  • Philip Voss, 84 – actor, Melissa

December

Channel 4

  • Peter Alliss, 89 – golf commentator
  • Kenneth Alwyn, 95 – conductor, Friday Night is Music Night
  • Jeremy Bulloch, 75 – actor, Robin Hood
  • Marcus D’Amico, 55 – actor, Family Affairs
  • Kevin Geary, 66 – BBC sports correspondent
  • Rodney Greenberg, 79 – director, BBCtv
  • Rosalind Knight, 87 – actor, Buddenbrooks
  • Martin Lambie-Nairn, 75 – graphic designer
  • John le Carré, 89 – author, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
  • Ewan Macleod, 48 – presenter, Beat 106
  • Rishi Modi, 35 – presenter, Sabras Radio
  • Michelle Mullane, 50 – presenter, XFM
  • Kay Purcell, 57 – actor, Tracy Beaker
  • Adele Rose, 87 – creator, Byker Grove
  • Umberto Saoncella – presenter, Piccadilly Radio
  • Chad Stuart, 79 – British singer in America (Chad & Jeremy), The Dick Van Dyke Show
  • Neville Wanless, 89 – announcer, Tyne Tees Television
  • Barbara Windsor, 83 – actor, EastEnders

 

Too many people died with COVID-19 in this terrible year. As soon as it becomes available to you, please get vaccinated.

 

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4 responses to this article

Paul Mason 31 January 2021 at 7:17 am

Andrew Nelly was an early panellist on Just A Minute, who sadly died around the same time as Nicholas Parsons.

Paul Mason 31 January 2021 at 7:23 am

Every year the BBC News Channel has a programme called We Remember, but those who pass away after 20th December slip through the net.They should broadcast We Remember on New Year’s Eve and repeat over a week as they do with yearly review programmes.

Paul Mason 6 February 2021 at 3:01 am

Oh dear the algorithms have damaged an article For Andrew Nelly read ANDREE MELLY

Paul Mason 6 February 2021 at 3:05 am

Andree Melly not Andrew Nelly.

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