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we remember
odbye to…
better known as Greengrass from the
Sixties nostalgia drama Heartbeat, had
died at the age of 89 this March.
Bill started life as one of the first
ever British stand-up comics, before
switching to acting later, playing Alf
Garnett’s neighbour in Till Death Us
Do Part and in six of the later Carry On
films.
In the world of children’s
television, we lost Geoffrey
Hayes, the ever-cheerful
host of Rainbow who was in
charge of keeping the likes of
his friends Zippy, Bungle and
George in line.
Over 20 years and almost
1,000 episodes, he made
the lunchtime TV show,
created as a British version of
Sesame Street, a must-watch
for millions of
pre-schoolers.
On the silver screen,
Hollywood heartthrob Burt
Reynolds died in September
aged 82. He shot to fame
in 1972’s Deliverance, becoming a
Hollywood legend with his roles
in Smokey and the Bandit, The
Cannonball Run and Boogie Nights.
Actress Margot Kidder, who played
go-getting reporter Lois Lane in
Superman films, died aged 69 in May.
As Lois, she was smart and sassy, not
Bill Maynard
Katie Boyle
suffering fools and, when she
got together with Christopher
Reeve’s Superman, it was movie
magic, especially at the end when
Superman sacrificed his powers
to live with her as a mortal.
From the superhuman to
the super-glamorous, we said
goodbye to the evervivacious
Katie Boyle
in March. While best
known as the compere
of the Eurovision Song
Contest, she was also
a successful model for
among others, Camay
soap commercials, a
game show regular and
agony aunt, in between
her animal rights
activism, appearing
everywhere on TV and
radio at her peak.
And an icon of the
Fifties and Sixties Babs
Beverley, one third of
the sister group the
Beverley Sisters, passed away this
November. Famous for dressing in
identical clothes, they gave us the
likes of Little Drummer Boy and I Saw
Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, making
the Guinness Book of Records in 2002
as the world’s longest surviving vocal
group without a line-up change.
Rainbow presenter
Geoffrey Hayes
Margot Kidder as Lois Lane
with Superman actor, the
late Christopher Reeve
And not
forgetting…
n TV presenter
Dale Winton
n Physicist Professor
Stephen Hawking
n Sir Roger Bannister
n Singer Charles Aznavour
n Writer Denis Norden
n Peggy Sue actress
Barbara Harris
n Clangers creator
Peter Firmin
n Bay City Roller
Alan Longmuir
n Jason King actor Peter
Wyngarde
n Blake’s 7 actress
Jacqueline Pearce
n Eunice Gayson, the
first ever Bond girl
n Chas Hodges, from
Chas and Dave
n Bullseye host Jim Bowen
n Barry Chuckle, of the
Chuckle Brothers
n Little House on the
Prairie actress Katherine
MacGregor (Mrs Oleson)
n Steptoe and Son writer
Ray Galton
n Buzzcocks singer
Pete Shelley
Babs, one third of the famous singing
Beverley Sisters, sadly passed away
in November, aged 91
YOURS n EVERY FORTNIGHT
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