Brian Rix dies aged 92
- Actor and comedian Brian Rix, who starred in many of the Whitehall farces, has died at the age of 92
- A learning disability campaigner, he was knighted in 1986
- Lord Rix CBE had recently spoken out in favour of euthanasia and assisted suicide
Brian Rix has died at the age of 92.
The actor rose to fame on screen on stage during the 1960s and 1970s, starring in many highly successful and acclaimed Whitehall farces, both on stage and in film adaptations. He was the joint highest-paid actor on BBC television in the early 1960s, when he starred in his own series of farces, Dial RIX.
His other film and television credits include What Every Woman Wants; Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!; The Night We Dropped A Clanger; The Night We Got The Bird; Men Of Affairs and A Roof Over My Head.
Married to actor Elspet Gray, the couple's eldest child, Shelley, was born with Down's Syndrome. The experience lead Rix to become a campaigner for learning disabilities, and a close association with the charity Mencap, of which he was still president.
Awarded the CBE in 1977, he was knighted in 1986 and elevated to the House of Lords in 1992. He revealed earlier this month that a terminal illness had left him bed-ridden, in constant pain and unable to sleep.
He told a newspaper: "I have been dying now for two months or more and that is a very, very long time."
Describing himself as "like a beached whale", Rix revealed he had written to the Speaker of the House of Lords asking that the topic of assisted suicide be put on the Parliamentary agenda - with a view to changing the law to legalise the practice - "as soon as possible". In 2006 he voted against a change in the law, but wrote that his experience had changed his mind:
"Unhappily, my body seems to be constructed in such a way that it keeps me alive in great discomfort when all I want is to be allowed to slip into a sleep, peacefully, legally and without any threat to the medical or nursing profession. I am sure there are many others like me who having finished with life wish their life to finish.
"Only with a legal euthanasia Bill on the statute books will the many people who find themselves in the same situation as me be able to slip away peacefully in their sleep instead of dreading the night.
"My position has changed. As a dying man... I am only too conscious that the laws of this country make it impossible for people like me to be helped on their way, even though the family is supportive of this position and everything that needs to be done has been dealt with."
He told the Mirror: "I have wrapped up my affairs and I am ready to go and I can't do anything but lie here thinking, 'Oh, Christ, why am I still here?'
"They won't let me die and that's all I want to do. I have no fears of dying because it will put an end to this misery, this pain and discomfort.
"I am constantly woozy and hazy but I can't sleep. The doctors and nurses do their best for me, but their best is not good enough because what I want is to die, and the law stops them from helping me with that."
A proposed Assisted Dying Bill was rejected by the House of Commons in September 2015. 330 of the 650 MPs voted to defeat the bill, whilst 118 voted in support.
Rix's son, Jamie, has continued the family line in comedy as a director and producer for television and radio. His most notable credits include Not Going Out, Faith In The Future and My Hero. Another daughter, Louisa Rix, is an actor.
Lord Rix, born on 27th January 1924, died this morning, Saturday 20th August 2016, aged 92. He is survived by three children.