RIP, continued ...

Edward Albee (1928-2016), aged 88, surely America's greatest dramatist after O'Neill, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? remains his masterpiece (there is a major new production in London next year), but we also rate his A DELICATE BALANCE, a super film in 1973 by Tony Richardson with Paul Scofield, Katharine Heburn and Lee Remick (right). I also saw his ALL OVER at the RSC in 1973 with the powerhouse duo of Peggy Ashcroft and Angela Lansbury. His other acclaimed plays include THREE TALL WOMEN and THE LADY FROM DUBUQUE.  Three of his plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play. He was a Senior Gay too, though he did say "I am not a gay writer. I am a writer who happens to be gay".

Richard Neville (1941-2016), aged 74. Australian writer who moved to London in those Swinging Sixties and became the celebrated editor of the counterculture magazine OZ - I had several of their op art psychedelic posters on my walls then. OZ was the hippie bible - its issue 'Skoolkids OZ' in May '70 caused a famous prosecution case for obscenity. Neville later returned to Australia and continued his publishing ventures. 

Charmian Carr (1942-2016), aged 73, but she will always be "sixteen, going on seventeen" as Liesl, in THE SOUND OF MUSIC,