Actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne dies

Hawthorne: Classical actor with repertoire ranging from Shakespeare to raw comedy

LONDON, England -- British actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne, who won worldwide acclaim for his starring role in the film "The Madness of King George," has died at the age of 72.

Hawthorne, who was diagnosed as suffering from cancer of the pancreas last year, suffered a heart attack at his home on Wednesday, his agent said.

Often held back by his modesty, Hawthorne made his name as the suave and calculating civil servant Sir Humphrey in the television series "Yes Minister" -- which former British Prime Minister Thatcher admitted was her favourite TV programme.

He later gained Hollywood fame for his portrayal of the mad king in "The Madness of King George" for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

Hawthorne died peacefully at home with his partner and a friend at his side. He had been battling cancer for 18 months and had just come out of hospital, where he had been having chemotherapy.

Doctors had told the actor that if the maliignant tumour had not been discovered when it had he would have died within days.

Ken McReddie, who had been Sir Nigel's agent for 30 years, said the cancer treatment had been going well and the heart attack was unexpected.

He added: "He was a brilliant actor and a wonderful friend. I feel very sad and extremely cut up."

Hawthorne, who entered acting against his father's wishes, was a classical actor with an astonishing repertoire ranging from Shakespearean leads to raw comedy.

It was once said of him that he spent the first 20 years of his distinguished career being ignored and the rest of it being discovered.

It was his triumphant performance in his Oscar-nominated "The Madness of King George" which transformed him into a star almost overnight.

And when, in 1999, he tackled King Lear, he commented: "One advantage of doing Lear at 70 is that you don't have to play an old man."

Nigel Barnard Hawthorne was born in Coventry on April 5, 1929, into a family which emigrated to South Africa when he was barely two-years-old.

He was educated at St George's Grammar School, Cape Town, and then the Christian Brothers' College, in Cape Town.

He began his acting career in South Africa after dropping out of university.

His first appearance in Britain was in November, 1951 as Donald in "You Can't Take It With You."

He beat an ignominious retreat to South Africa in 1957 where he achieved the success he yearned. And in the early 1960s, he decided to return to England, where this time success continued.

His first West End appearance was as Fancy Dan in "Talking to You" in October, 1962.

He worked at the Royal Court and Joan Littlewood's Theatre Royal in Stratford East, but he was often held back by his modest demeanour.

He realised, when he was playing a dithering role in Christopher Hampton's "The Philanthropist," that his lack of forcefulness was his undoing.

He once said: "I'd been going for 24 years and wondering all the time what I was doing wrong. That taught me to be a little more positive."

It was then that his career started to blossom. He played the dim martinet in Peter Nichols's hilarious "Privates on Parade" (1977), and then the role that brought him fame, Sir Humphrey Appleby, in "Yes, Minister."

His performance in that and its no less successful sequel, "Yes, Prime Minister," won him a CBE and offers of more substantial and serious parts in the theatre.

The parts, and the awards, came flooding in. He won a coveted US Tony Award for his part in "Shadowlands" (1991), and the Olivier Award for Best Actor in "The Madness of George III" (the stage version), in 1992, and a succession of Bafta Best Light Entertainment awards for his performance in "Yes, Minister."

In 1997, he was awarded the Bafta Best TV Actor award for his performance in "The Fragile Heart."

And in 1999 he played King Lear in the Royal Shakespeare Company's millennium production.

Hawthorne, a vegetarian, was "outed" as a homosexual by American newspapers in the run-up to his 1995 Oscars' appearance. He was awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours List of 1999.

He lived quietly in a 15th-Century Hertfordshire manor house with Trevor Bentham, a theatre manager and screenwriter, from 1979.

He once said of his relationship: "Flaunting your sexuality offends people and what's the point in doing that if you are trying to win them over?"