Stage and screen actor who was a West End stalwart, became a film star in the 1950s and then a TV sitcom favourite in the 70s and 80sTony Britton dies aged 95In a career spanning six decades, Tony Britton, who has died aged 95, went from being a leading juvenile at Stratford-upon-Avon and a contracted film star with
British Lion in the 1950s, to a West End “above the title” lead in the 60s, a TV sitcom stalwart in the 70s and thereafter a benign, suave presence on stage and screen. He was still touring into his mid-80s, playing Canon Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest in 2007.
As a slightly less irascible version of Rex Harrison, he toured for two years in 1964 as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, repeating the role 10 years later in a touring revival by Cameron Mackintosh that was the first such commercial venture underpinned with money from the Arts Council. The show, in which Liz Robertson co-starred as Eliza Doolittle, settled at the Adelphi in the West End for a decent run.