Victor Spinetti, who died on 18 June 2012, was a Welsh comedy actor, author, poet and raconteur. He was a well known actor in Britain and appeared in a huge number of films and stage plays throughout his 50-year career . He is best remembered today for appearing in the three Beatles’ films in the 1960s, A Hard Day’s Night, Help! and Magical Mystery Tour. He also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in many of their productions.
© Richard Keith Wolff/Lebrecht Music & Arts
Robert Browning, English poet and playwright, 200th birth anniversary on 7 May. The Pied Piper of Hamelin, is one of his most famous poems.
© Lebrecht Authors
Edward Lear, English poet and illustrator, 200 birth annviersary on 12 May. He is well known for his none sense poems and limericks, in particular The Owl and the Pussycat
© Lebrecht Authors
Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian playwright and novelist, 150th birth anniversary on 15 May. He was a major literary figure during 1920s Vienna, his novella Dream Story was adapted for Stanley Kubrick’s film Eyes Wide Shut.
© Neale Osborne/Lebrecht Music & Arts
Alexander (Aleksandr) Sergeyevich Pushkin.
Pushkin, Russian poet and novelist, is renowned for his huge contribution to Russian literature and language. Many of his works formed the basis of operas such as The Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky; Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky; Ruslan and Ludmila by Glinka and the Tale of Tsar Sultan and the Tale of the Golden Cockerel by Rimsky-Korsakov. In Russia a play has been written based on Pushkin’s letters. Famous stories include The Tale of the Dead Princess and Seven Knights.
Painting by Nikolai Pavlovich Ulyanov
The death is privately reported of Michael Hastings, whose 1984 account of the T S Eliot marriage, Tom and Viv, was successful in the West End, on Broadway and around the world. Photograph by Tristram Kenton shows 2006 Almeida Theatre, London production with Frances O’Connor (Vivienne) and Will Keen (Tom)
