Michael Flanders honoured with green plaque
A green plaque has been unveiled in honour of the late entertainer and campaigner Michael Flanders OBE (pictured, left).
Best known for his musical comedy partnership with Donald Swann (right), the multi-talented actor, satirist, writer and broadcaster was celebrated last week by the Ealing Civic Society and Chiswick Book Festival.
Family, friends and fans of Flanders - who died in 1975, aged only 53 - gathered to see the plaque unveiled at his former home of 63 Esmond Road in Chiswick, west London, on the afternoon of Wednesday 14th September, before a celebratory event that evening as part of the book festival's programming.
Best known for their songs and stage revues on the West End and Broadway, Flanders & Swann have been described as one of the most influential double acts in British comedy history.
Flanders was famous for his use of a wheelchair - having contracted polio whilst serving in the Second World War - and was an early, influential campaigner for wheelchair access and disability rights alongside his wife, Claudia. She carried on campaigning in the field until her own death in 1998.
Their daughters, journalists Stephanie Flanders and Laura Flanders, and Stephanie's own daughter, Claudia, as well as other members of the Flanders family and Donald Swann's widow, Alison, were amongst those in attendance.
Biographer, historian, and BCG's Comedy Chronicles author Graham McCann spoke at length at the evening celebration about Flanders & Swann's influence on the British comedy landscape.
Read Comedy Chronicles: The remarkable legacy of Flanders & Swann