Lemmy - d. December 28th 2015

Some dance with the devil;

you preferred to drink him 

under the table, scuffle,

screw his handmaidens,

cheat him then beat him 

with your dead man's hand.

Read about Lemmy here

Jimmy Hill - d. December 19th 2015

See the game; 

the uncommon vision.
Read the game;

the indirect route 
to the unlikely goal.
Play the game,

and then rewrite it.

Read about Jimmy Hill here

Robert Loggia - d. December 4th 2015

In the celestial firm
I see you standing behind
the Archangel, alert, one hand 
on the inevitable gun, concealed
in the folds of your raiment.

Read about Robert Loggia here

William McIlvanney - d. December 5th 2015

Respect the word; it is just

as potent in the dark mouths 

of miners, barmaids, labourers

as those who ghost the plots of the future.

Read about William McIlvanney here

Anthony Valentine - d. December 2nd 2015

Do you see him?

Watchful in the shadows,

below the searchlight,
uniformed and ghostly white,

or picking heaven's lock

then melting into the dark.

Read about Anthony Valentine here

Saeed Jaffrey - d. November 15th 2015

You dignified a continent
we only knew through archetypes
lit your scenes a different way, 
spoke in your own accent,
found a better passage.



Read about Saeed Jaffrey here

Cynthia Payne - d. November 15th 2015

In my Father's disorderly house
are many rooms; behind each door 
I hear the rustle of satin, the swish
of the crop, the cork leaving the bottle.

Read about Cynthia Payne here

Warren Mitchell - d. November 14th 2015

See, the trouble wiv actors
is they ain't real people.
They're all Jews or queers,
never done a day's work,
never changed nuffin'.

read about Warren Mitchell here

Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor - d. November 11th 2015

Ahead of the beat,

behind the beat,

missing the beat,

subbed, overdubbed,

drunk, sunk, out of time.

Read about Phil Taylor here

Andy White - d. November 9th 2015

Forget what madness followed;

when it really, really mattered,

you played to tempo, kept it tight,

packed the sticks, took the bus home.

Read about Andy White here

Allen Toussaint - d. November 10th 2015

The fortune teller said
a man will come,
a hurricane of song.
He'll take a melody, 
sweat out a rhythm,
make the levees sing.

Read about Allen Toussaint here

Colin Welland - d. November 2nd 2015

I remember those blue hills,
the emptying playing fields,
the hum of a squad car
in a new town.
I hear a voice on the wind;
the actor is coming.

Read about Colin Welland here

Philip French - d. October 27th 2015

Such acuteness of vision

- you saw more

in the dappled dark

of a private screening

than I could ever see

in daylight’s

broad cinemascope.

Read about Philip French here

Maureen O'Hara - d. October 25th 2015

So many perfect frames
- your skyblown veil,
you in that field, eyes 
brimful of the Duke. 
You were always 
the greater part of a miracle

Read about Maureen O'Hara here

Peter Baldwin - d. October 23rd 2015

Whether we play ourselves
or against type, some of us 
must take your role; little 
Englander, little islander, little 
beyond a diverting shadow.

Read about Peter Baldwin

Gordon Honeycombe - d. October 9th 2015

...the picture shifts

from 405 lines

to 625; from black 

and white to black,

the newscaster

becomes the story.

Read about Gordon Honeycombe here

Denis Healey - d. October 3rd 2015

You were Labour

as in 'workers',
Socialist

as in 'principled',

old school

with no need of a tie.

Read about Denis Healey here

Jackie Collins - d. September 19th 2015

Bring me shoes, a Benz,

a boob job. Dial me 

a mogul, a bastard, 

a stud. I'll write you

a bitch, shallow/deep as

a Bel Air swimming pool.

Read about Jackie Collins here

Brian Sewell - d. September 19th 2015

Death, unutterably...vulgar,
was just the prolegomenon
to an ethereal afterlife, 
exquisite,  
ineffably...recherché.

Read about Brian Sewell here

Judy Carne - d. September 3rd 2015

I saw a girl.
Where did you see the girl?
In beautiful downtown Burbank.
What kind of girl?
An It Girl,
a sock-it-to-me girl. 
Which girl? 
That girl.

Read about Judy Carne here

Rico Rodriguez - d. September 4th 2015

An alpha man

among Alpha Boys;

hornsman,

don't ever stop

your messing around.

Read about Rico Rodriguez here

Joy Beverley - d. August 31st 2015

O glamorous sister,

your post-war lustre,

from cat's whisker

to humming transistor,

now fades to a whisper.

Read about Joy Beverley and her sisters here

Wes Craven - d. August 30th 2015

It was hard to tell 

where your movie ended

and deadly reality began,

but an invitation to Hell

has surely been extended

by your biggest fan.

Read about Wes Craven here

Stephen Lewis - d. August 12th 2015

In the decade

of our unmanning,

that difficult age,

the role you essayed

was a study in hamming

and impotent rage.

Read about Stephen Lewis here.

David Nobbs - d. August 9th 2015

Eleven minutes late;

escaped satire on the line

between Climthorpe 

and Purley Gate.

Read about David Nobbs here

George Cole - d. August 6th 2015

Tell you what,
I'll give you six to one
on people forgetting
who I was. 
Immortality?
Even money. 
It's the best I can do.

Read about George Cole here

Cilla Black - d. August 2nd 2015

In a city of voices,
you found yours
in the pocket 
of a fancy coat,
in the songs
others lent you
which none now
would dare to pretend 
were theirs.

Read about Cilla Black here

Peter O'Sullevan - d. July 29th 2015

Even in the largest field
we always knew your colours;
the little man in glasses and trilby,
a stayer when all others faltered.

Read about Peter O'Sullevan here 

Jon the Postman - d. July 27th 2015

You were beyond all notions
of scene, philosophy or style.
You just took to an empty stage,
grabbed the vacant mic, 
did what came unnaturally.

Read about Jon the Postman here

Alex Rocco - d. July 18th 2015

You don't die me out,

I die you out.

Read about Alex Rocco here

Omar Sharif - d. July 10th 2015

The deal,
the playing of your hand;
eternally finessed.
Your scenes
were golden as the sands;
now, time to rest.

Read about Omar Sharif here

Val Doonican - d. July 2nd 2015

What is that noise?
It is the creak
of an old chair,
rocking easy
since I was about knee-high,
now forty shades of empty.

Read about Val Doonican here

Sir Nicholas Winton - d. July 1st 2015

A departure is announced;

of all passengers,

your journey

to that final station

is a guaranteed connection

Read about Nicholas Winton

Chris Squire - d. June 27th 2015

Yes, you were a visionary;
those fervent souls who listen
through every album,
every track, every solo,
already know
the meaning of eternity.

Read about Chris Squire here