West End farce star dies at 92
BRIAN Rix, the master of West End farce, has died. He was 92.
Knighted for his services to charity, he became known as Lord Rix – and as a campaigner for people with learning difficulties.
The former stage star, who knew he was suffering from a terminal illness, died yesterday morning.
He had recently written to the Speaker of the House of Lords, Baroness D’Souza, to appeal for assisted dying to be made lawful – so he could “slip away peacefully”.
Born in Yorkshire, he was 15 when the Second World War broke out and served in the RAF and down the mines as a “Bevin Boy”.
Later, his stage comedies became hits on TV, with Rix developing a reputation for his trousers falling down.
After his eldest child, Shelley, was born with Down’s Syndrome, he became a leading light in the charity Mencap.
Yesterday its chief executive Jan Tregelles praised his “unique charm, personality and passion”.
He was initially opposed to assisted dying, fearing that people with learning difficulties might become victims of euthanasia.
But recently Rix, whose wife Elspet died in 2013, told how his terminal illness had changed his mind.
He said: “I am ready to go and I can’t do anything but lie here thinking ‘Oh Christ, why am I still here?’. It’s wrong that people like me are stranded like this.”