Christopher Gable

Christopher Gable CBE
Born	Christopher Michael Gable 13 March 1940(1940-03-13) London, England, United Kingdom
Died	23 October 1998(1998-10-23) (aged 58) Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Spouse	Carole Needham

Christopher Gable, CBE (13 March 1940 – 23 October 1998) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and actor.

Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1957. He was promoted to soloist in 1959 and a principal in 1961.

Gable's roles included Romeo in the Kenneth MacMillan production of Romeo and Juliet,^[1] Mercury in Offenbach's comic operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, a production that was filmed and released on DVD.^[1] and Colas in La fille mal gardée.^[2] Gable frequently partnered with Lynn Seymour.

Gable suffered from a chronic rheumatoid condition in his feet ^[3] and left the Royal Ballet in 1967 to pursue a career in acting. He appeared in a number of television and film productions directed by Ken Russell, including the BBC films Song of Summer (1968) and The Dance of the Seven Veils (1970), The Music Lovers (1970), an adaptation of The Boy Friend (1971), and The Rainbow (1989). Other roles included that of John, valet and friend of Prince Edward, in the Cinderella film musical The Slipper and the Rose, the composer Peter Cornelius in Wagner (1983), and anti-hero Sharaz Jek in the 1984 Doctor Who serial The Caves of Androzani. He also appeared on stage in the 1974 West End musical The Good Companions.

In 1982, Gable founded the Central School of Ballet with Ann Stannard. Five years later he was appointed Artistic Director of Northern Ballet Theatre. He transformed the small regional troupe into a company of national renown by presenting imaginative new works and staging impressive revivals of old classics. Among the productions mounted during his eleven-year regime were Swan Lake, A Christmas Carol, The Brontes, The Amazing Adventure of Don Quixote, Dracula, Giselle, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Many of the projects he created later were performed by other dance companies, including the Atlanta Ballet and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

In 1996 Gable was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to British Dance. The following year he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Bradford.^[1]

Gable was married to dancer Carole Needham. He died from cancer in Yorkshire at the age of 58.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Gable biography at NorthernBalletTheatre.co.uk
2. ^ Gable biography on the DVD of Orpheus in the Underworld
3. ^ Dance Magazine obituary, January 1 1999

External links

• Christopher Gable at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Gable, Christopher
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 March 1940
Place of birth	London, England, United Kingdom
Date of death	23 October 1998
Place of death	Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom