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 Friday听听听16:00-16:30
Sunday听20:30-21:00听(rpt)
Radio 4's weekly obituaries programme |
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This week |
Friday听21st March 2008
(Rpt) Sunday听23rd March
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Paul Scofield
Actor
Paul Scofield regarded real life as the stuff that happened out of the spotlight and away from the lens. Acting was just a job. But what a job. His King Lear was voted by fellow actors as the greatest Shakespearean performance of all. His Hamlet set new standards. His most famous film role, as Sir Thomas More in 鈥淎 Man for All Seasons鈥, won him the Oscar. But on the night of 1967 Academy Awards, the leading man was no-where to be seen in Hollywood. Scofield was happy to have his Oscar statuette sent by post to his home in Sussex. It arrived broken. Scofield was said to be unperturbed. He won the Oscar playing a knight of the realm but when the honour was offered in real life, he reportedly turned it down 鈥 twice.
So, an apparently modest man, lacking an artistic ego, one who shunned the red-carpets and chat-show circuit in favour of quiet family life. The actor once joked that, such was his reputation, he felt compelled to introduce himself as 鈥淧aul Scofield, very private person鈥.
Last Word brought together two people who got to know the off-stage Paul Scofield - his biographer Garry O鈥機onnor and former 大象传媒 head of radio drama John Tydeman.
David Paul Scofield was born 21st January 1922.听 He died 19th March 2008.
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Ralph Beyer
Sculptor and Lettering Artist
In November 1940 Coventry Cathedral was destroyed in a German bombing raid. Ten years later, the task of creating a new, modern place of worship fell to the architect Basil Spence who, in turn commissioned leading artists for the tapestry and windows. But perhaps the most striking and controversial artistic contribution to Coventry Cathedral was the series of stone-carved inscriptions throughout the building. The words are the work of Ralph Beyer, who has died aged 86.
Ralph Beyer was born in Berlin in 1921 and, with his homeland in the grip of Nazism, moved to England in 1937, where he began working as an apprentice to the sculptor Eric Gill. With the outbreak of war, Beyer was sent to an internment camp in Liverpool.
Although Ralph Beyer will always be associated with Coventry, he later worked in five other English cathedrals, in churches and universities. One of his biggest projects was made for the town of New Harmony in America, where Ralph cut letters into granite boulders and carved the ten commandents for the chapel.
John travels to the house where Beyer lived for more than forty years to speak to his wife Hilary. Last Word also took a tour of Coventry Cathedral in the company of Beyer's stone-carving assistant Peter Foster
Ralph Beyer was听born April 6th 1921. He died February 13th 2008.
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Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Science Fiction Writer.
For generations of wide-eyed schoolkids, gazing up at distant stars, Arthur C. Clarke offered visions of the infinite possibilities of the cosmos. Clarke, who has died aged 90 at his home in Sri Lanka, wrote more than a hundred science fiction books, presented television series about the mysteries of the world, and acted as a space pundit alongside Walter Kronkite during three successive lunar missions.
In his imagination he travelled a long way 鈥 through time and space perhaps 鈥 from his upbringing in rural Somerset. But what were the boyhood influences that helped shape the man regarded by many as a scientific visionary? John talks to Arthur C Clarke鈥檚 biographer Neil McAleer on the line from his home in Baltimore.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke was born听16th December 1917.听 He died 19th March 2008.
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Tony Dye
Fund Manager
The financial pages are abuzz with stories of turbulent markets and nervous bankers as the credit crunch bites. Many in the city claim they鈥檝e been taken by surprise. Those who listened to Tony Dye would have seen the trouble looming long ago. Tony Dye, whose cancer-related death at the age of 60 has been announced, was one of the most powerful fund managers on the London markets. He earned headlines for what turned out to be prescient forecasts of financial crashes, but which earned him the nickname of Dr Doom. John talks to financial journalist Hugo Dixon and Ed Knox who with Tony Dye set up the hedge fund Dye Assett Management seven years ago.
Tony Dye, born on February 5th 1948. Died March 10th 2008.
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Anthony Minghella
Film Director
Anthony Minghella, has died suddenly from a haemorrhage following an operation, aged 54. Many of the tributes have mentioned Minghella鈥檚 generosity, humility and his sense of humour. On the occasions that John Wilson met him all those attributes were very apparent. But so was his deep love, and understanding of music. It plays a prominent role in all his major films 鈥 including the English Patient, the Talented Mister Ripley and Cold Mountain. He regarded the soundtrack as a character in each film.
In 2006 John chaired an evening of conversation and music at Abbey Road studios, at which Anthony Minghella and his musical partner, the composer Gabriel Yared, discussed their working relationship. Anthony revealed the musical story behind the Oscar winning score to the English Patient.
Anthony Minghella born 6th January 1954. He died 18th March 2008.
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