Sir Nigel Hawthorne dies.

December 26, 2001 8:02 AM

Sir Nigel Hawthorne dies. Goodnight Sir Humphrey.
posted by feelinglistless (8 comments total)

"A Tribute to Sir Nigel Hawthorne: This site celebrates the exhilarating career of Sir Nigel Hawthorne, internationally renowned for his distinguished acting in films, television and theatre. He has been an actor for five decades, and has received numerous awards, including an Olivier and a Tony, as well as an Academy Award® nomination as Best Actor. Long a household name in Britain, international fame was bestowed upon him when he ventured onto the screens in prestigious film and television productions."

"The king and I: He was loved in 'Yes, Minister', but his triumph in 'The Madness Of King George' was spoiled when the tabloids decided to out him. Now Nigel Hawthorne feels ready to return to the stage - and take on King Lear." A fascinating article by Lynn Barber of The Observer.
posted by Carol Anne at 8:15 AM on December 26, 2001

Shame. He'll be sorely missed.
posted by Frasermoo at 10:54 AM on December 26, 2001

What, what?!
posted by crunchland at 11:17 AM on December 26, 2001

but his triumph in 'The Madness Of King George' was spoiled when the tabloids decided to out him.
Yes, yes, definitely. I don't want to hijack this thread, it's about a wonderful actor and not about outing celebrities, but that tabloid crap was pretty inexcusable. I mean, leave the guy alone.
posted by matteo at 1:52 PM on December 26, 2001

Wail

This really is a shock--I hadn't even realized that he'd been ill.

Re tabs: didn't Hawthorne accidentally out himself by giving an interview to The Advocate? I thought the problem was less that the tabs broke the "story" and more that they decided to seize the opportunity to be as nasty and hurtful as possible, once Hawthorne unintentionally left them an opening. (IIRC, he hadn't realized just how much of a circulation the A had.)

Sniff
posted by thomas j wise at 3:56 PM on December 26, 2001

His performance in Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister was ground breaking in comedy terms. He truly took clever comedy to an entirely new level of sophistication. I thank him for many many laughs. Cheers.
posted by RobertLoch at 5:59 PM on December 26, 2001

Sir Humphrey: "With Trident we could obliterate the whole of Eastern Europe."
Jim Hacker: "I don't want to obliterate the whole of Eastern Europe."
Sir Humphrey: "It's a deterrent."
Jim Hacker: "It's a bluff. I probably wouldn't use it."
Sir Humphrey: "Yes, but they don't know that you probably wouldn't use it."
Jim Hacker: "They probably do."
Sir Humphrey: "Yes, they probably know that you probably wouldn't. But they can't certainly know."
Jim Hacker: "They probably certainly know that I probably wouldn't."
Sir Humphrey: "Yes, but even though they probably certainly know that you probably wouldn't, they don't certainly know that, although you probably wouldn't, there is no probability that you certainly would."
(Yes, Prime Minister episode 1, "The Grand Design")
posted by Allen Varney at 9:16 AM on December 27, 2001

TV reports on famous people's deaths invariably mention that they left behind a wife / husband and x children. The ones on Nigel Hawthorne, however, neglected that he'd left behind his partner of over 22 years, Trevor Bentham.
posted by kerplunk at 8:47 AM on December 30, 2001