Brian Rix: Movies & Filmography

Brian Rix, born Brian Norman Roger Rix on 27 January 1924 in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, was an English actor-manager and disability rights campaigner. The youngest of four children, he developed an early interest in theatre through his mother Fanny, who ran an amateur dramatic society and was the lead soprano in the local operatic society. He was educated at the Quaker Bootham School in York, where his childhood ambitions shifted from cricket—where he played for Hull Cricket Club at age 16—to acting. He became a professional actor at 18 while on deferment from service with the Royal Air Force, joining Donald Wolfit's Shakespeare Company. After only four months, he played Sebastian in Twelfth Night at the St James's Theatre in London. He later served in the Royal Air Force and as a volunteer Bevin Boy working down the coal mines near Doncaster during the war. After the war, Rix returned to the stage and formed his own theatre company in 1947 as an actor-manager, a career he pursued for the next 30 years. He ran repertory companies at Ilkley, Bridlington and Margate, where in 1949 he found the play that would bring him notice—Reluctant Heroes. In the same year, he married actress Elspet Gray, and they remained together for 64 years until her death in February 2013, often appearing alongside each other in productions. His farces at the Whitehall Theatre ran for 16 years, breaking numerous West End records with productions such as Dry Rot, Simple Spymen, and One for the Pot. He also presented more than 90 one-night-only television farces on the BBC, becoming the joint highest-paid star on the network alongside Robert Morley, with viewing figures often reaching 15 million. After retiring from performing in January 1977, Rix dedicated his life to campaigning for those with learning disabilities, becoming Secretary-General of Mencap in 1980 and later its president from 1998 until his death. He entered the House of Lords as a crossbencher in 1992 and was appointed CBE in 1977 and knighted in 1986 for his charitable services. He died on 20 August 2016 at Denville Hall in Northwood, London, aged 92, after publicly calling for the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia.