The distinguished classical actor and co-founder of the English Shakespeare Company has passed away aged 82. Early in his career he played opposite Marianne in the acclaimed Free Theatre production of ‘Hamlet’ at the Roundhouse. Here, he recalls the production:

“I played Laertes in the first full-scale theatrical production at the Roundhouse, home of Centre 42, idealism battling in the place with patchouli and dankness! The casting ranged from Gordon Jackson and Judy Parfitt in the north to Michael Elphick and Marianne Faithfull in the south, Roger Livesey and Mark Dignam in the east to Anthony Hopkins and Anjelica Huston in the west, with Nicol Williamson in the middle, baleful and tender, an object lesson in passionate commitment. Elsewhere the show was a riot of individualism, the director Tony Richardson presided over the event with a sort of piratical laissez-faire, dispensing provocative ideas – like incest between Laertes and Ophelia- The show had balls all right and a terrific Hamlet!”