Comment

Obituaries

Peter Nicholls, larger-than-life champion of science fiction

Peter Nicholls, academic and champion of science fiction.

Peter Nicholls was born in Melbourne in 1939 to parents Alan and Shirley Nicholls. He was followed by sisters Margaret and Helen, and the children grew up embedded in Melbourne's left-wing intellectual scene.

In Passing

In Passing

Steven Bochco, the writer and producer who has died aged 74, was responsible for some of American television's most intelligent and innovative crime dramas, including Hill Street Blues, LA Law and NYPD Blue; he was regarded by many as the most influential figure in modern television drama. He pioneered the idea that crime series could be constructed in the manner of soap operas, with as much focus on the police characters' private lives as on their work, and with storylines that stretched across several episodes rather than being wrapped up neatly in an hour. He favoured a style of documentary realism over glossiness, exploring gritty issues and employing salty language. Although his programmes usually featured large ensemble casts, he was acclaimed for investing his characters with a depth rarely seen in popular television drama. Perhaps his greatest creation was Detective Andy Sipowicz in NYPD Blue who, brilliantly portrayed by Dennis Franz, won viewers' hearts despite being a drunk and a racist.

In Passing

In Passing

Stéphane Audran, the coolly elegant and craftily enigmatic French actress who drew acclaim for performances in the Oscar-winning films Babette's Feast and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie as well as many dramas by her husband, director Claude Chabrol, died on March 27 at 85. Her persona on-screen was that of a glossy, almost mannequin-like sophisticate, a swan-necked beauty with high cheekbones who yearns, cuckolds and destroys with not so much as a Gallic shrug. She was the stylish fire-and-ice muse for a stylised New Wave filmmaker such as Chabrol, who cast her in menacing dramas with overtones of class consciousness begetting sexual violence. She was one of the ill-fated young Parisian salesgirls in Les Bonnes Femmes (The Good Girls, 1960), a rich and moody Saint-Tropez lesbian at the centre of a bisexual ménage à trois in Les Biches (The Does, 1968).Washington Post.

Judith Simons, pop journalist helped inspire 'Hey Jude' by Beatles

The cover for Hey Jude by The Beatles. Judith Simons was one of the inspirations for the song title.

Judith Simons, who has died aged 93, was a rare female pioneer of Fleet Street pop journalism, and one of the inspirations for the title of Paul McCartney's 1968 song Hey Jude; yet in a career of unusual duality, she had also covered the worst of times as a cub reporter at the 1946-48 Hamburg trials of guards and doctors from Ravensbruck concentration camp for women.

Beryl Potter, piano teacher, mentor and accompanist

Pianist and coach Beryl Potter.

Being a concert pianist is a lonely business. We practise alone, we mostly perform alone and even when we are lucky enough to perform with others, the piano -  perhaps because of its size - seems on stage to be alone, separate, as if you're behind an invisible wall. If you're lucky, such as I have been, to have had a wonderful person in your corner, this strange alienation is alleviated somewhat. My person was a lady called Beryl Potter, my mentor and coach for much of my life.

In Passing

In Passing

Caroline Chojecki, Barbara Wersba, Robert Grossman

Actor whose career embraced Skippy and the West End

TV and screen actor Moya O'Sullivan was honoured with the Glug lifetime achievement award in 2013.

Moya O'Sullivan was a familiar face on our TV screens for more than 50 years. She used to joke that during her long career she had played everybody's mum. Her assessment rang true, but there was a lot more to the popular actor's talent than merely playing mum (and later grandmother). Her remarkable career began in the 1950s and encompassed theatre, TV, film and radio in Australia and Britain.

In Passing

In Passing

Vince Collier, George Downing, Eddy Amoo, Sir Ken Dodd