Biographies

One of the best known faces on television in the 1960s and constantly in the spotlight, and yet Patrick McGoohan managed to keep his private life out of public view.

Spike Milligan wrote The Goon Show and then died on 27th February 2002. In between he created modern comedy and defined the term comic genius.

One of British TV's most popular performers with a career that spanned over fifty years and included work as a cartoonist, comedian, actor, writer and TV presenter who was once billed as Britain's answer to Bob Hope.

Dudley Moore was an exceptional entertainer who had the ability to act, sing, play the piano, compose his own music and - most importantly, make people laugh. A leading figure in the satire boom that swept Britain in the 1960s, his all-round body of work left behind a lasting legacy.

Eric and Ernie spent over thirty years together perfecting their act, and their act was as near perfect as any comedian or double act has ever achieved. In the BBC's 1996 anniversary poll, viewers voted Morecambe and Wise as 'The Best Light Entertainment Performers of All Time'.

To an entire generation of British children he was the closest we've ever had to a real-life Doctor Doolittle. Not only was his show magic - so was Johnny Morris

To many people, the name Peggy Mount will immediately conjure up an image of the ultimate battleaxe; a loud booming voice, a more than ample figure, a caricature in the best seaside postcard tradition. Yet behind this public image lay a very private person.

When Sydney Newman came to England from his native Canada in 1958, no one could have predicted that he would become one of the most influential programme makers of the 1960's.

By the late 1940s Val Parnell had established himself as one of Britain's foremost theatre managers and impresarios. Through his association with Lew Grade he was also instrumental in the popularisation of television following the launch of ITV in 1955.

In a remarkably long career, Nicholas Parsons was also one half of a hugely successful comedy double act, held down an extended run in West End theatre, and was a successful host on both radio and television.