A list of notable people who have died recently

  • Jonathan Cecil, 1939-2011book cover
    Actor who mastered the amiable silly ass, notably as Captain Hastings to Peter Ustinov’s Hercule Poirot and reading Bertie Wooster stories
  • Basil D’Oliveira, 1934-2011
    “Cape Coloured” South African subjected to the full rigour of apartheid who transformed himself into England Test player.
  • Joe Frazier, 1944-2011
    Heavyweight boxer with a searing left hook who had three epic encounters with Muhammad Ali
  • Dulcie Gray, 1915-2011
    One half of a famous husband-and-wife acting team who later became a successful thriller writer
  • Michael Hastings, 1938-2011
    Former ‘angry young man’ who became best-known for Tom and Viv, a play about TS Eliot’s first marriage
  • Sena Jurinac, 1921-2011book cover
    Yugoslav soprano whose vocal purity and power held audiences and critics spellbound for 40 years
  • Jackie Leven, 1950-2011
    Masterly songsmith who dodged murder, beat addiction and led ‘the greatest band you’ve never heard of’
  • Richard Morant, 1945-2011
    Actor who played Tom Brown’s sadistic nemesis Flashman on television and helped inspire Withnail and I.
  • Paul Motian, 1931-2011
    Drummer who broke the rhythmic rules of jazz, infuriating traditionalists but delighting new listeners
  • Ian Spink, 1932-2011
    Scholar of 17th-century music who noted how Purcell transformed the Golden Age
  • Christa Wolf, 1929-2011
    German author revered on both sides of the Berlin Wall until her links to the Stasi were revealed