- Brian Rix, Baron Rix
Brian Norman Roger Rix, Baron Rix, CBE (born
January 27 ,1924 ) is an Englishactor and charity worker.Born in Cottingham,
East Riding of Yorkshire ,England , the son of a Hull shipowner, he became a professional actor, briefly, when he was 18. His wartime service began in theRoyal Air Force , but he soon after volunteered to become a Bevin Boy, working instead as a coal miner. He holdsamateur radio licence G2DQU. [http://www.qrz.com]After the war, Rix returned to the stage and in 1947 formed his own theatre company. Rix was associated with the Whitehall Theatre from 1944 until 1969, although as an actor-manager he became increasingly well known on TV as well as stage. The theatre specialised in
farce s, which were regularly televised. Rix was regularly seen on screen without his trousers on. He also made a handful of films that were well suited to his talents as a farceur such as "The Night We Dropped a Clanger " (1959), "The Night We Got the Bird " (1961), "Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! " (1973).In 1980, he retired from acting, and became
Secretary-General of the National Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults (Mencap) (it became “The Royal Society” the following year) and in 1987 became its Chairman. Since 2002 the Society has been officially called the “Royal Mencap Society”, with Rix now serving as its President.He was created a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1977, and was knighted in 1986 for his services to charity. On
27 January 1992 , his tireless work was further recognised when he was created alife peer becoming Baron Rix of Whitehall in the City ofWestminster and ofHornsea in Yorkshire. After nine years as a ViceLord Lieutenant ofLondon , Lord Rix was installed as the first Chancellor of theUniversity of East London on16 July 1997 .In 1949 he married the actress
Elspet Gray . They had four children, including the producer and children's authorJamie Rix and actressLouisa Rix . Their daughter Shelley was born in 1951 with Down's syndrome, and he has always used his name to promote public awareness and understanding of mental handicap. She died in July 2005.His 80th birthday in 2004 marked the start of a year of fundraising and publicity for Mencap.
Rix has been associated with many initiatives, including presenting "Let's Go" for the BBC, which was one of the first programmes made specifically for people with learning disabilities. He is the author of two biographies, "My Farce From My Elbow" (1974) and "Farce About Face" (1989), and two theatre histories, "Tour de Farce" and "Life in the Farce Lane". He also edited, compiled and contributed to "Gullible's Travails", an anthology, and travel stories by famous people for the Mencap Blue Sky Appeal.
Brian Rix is the younger brother of "
Emmerdale " actressSheila Mercier .External links
*imdb name|id=0729727|name=Brian Rix
* [http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/TrafalgarStudios.htm Whitehall Theatre History] Home of The Brian Rix Farces for many years.
* [http://www.rixcentre.org The Rix Centre - Learning Disability Charity ] Charity and research centre in honour of Lord Rix to research learning disability.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.