Stage, Screen & Radio - October/November 2014 - 22

Obituary
Richard Attenborough
Actor-director

Noel Harris (centre)
signs an agreement with
Sky's new production
company Transponder
Productions in 1986

Noel Harris union official

ECTU was saddened to hear of the
death of former official Noel Harris,
aged 77, on 27 August at his home
in Donaghadee, County Down.
Noel's trade union activism began in
Belfast as a member of DATA, the
draftsmen's union, rising to become
National Secretary of ASTMS in Dublin
and for a time an executive member of
the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
In Ireland from the sixties onwards he
was a staunch campaigner against antiCatholic sectarianism, helping to put this
onto the political agenda through DATA
and the Belfast Trades Council. In 1967
Noel was on the founding committee
of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association and took part in the first
civil rights marches.
Noel, a lifelong member of the
Communist Party, went to Prague to work
in the World Federation of Trade Unions.
Then on 19 January 1981 he became a
national organiser at BECTU's forerunner
union the ACTT. He negotiated with many

companies to obtain better agreements on
terms and conditions for the members, but
he was held in particularly high esteem by
the members of the Laboratories division
for his years of work with them.
Noel's concerns for civil and human
rights were international: in Dublin he
was an active member of the Irish AntiApartheid Movement and later in London
he became General Secretary of Codir,
the Committee for Defence of the Iranian
People's Rights.
Noel Harris remained in ACTT throughout
its amalgamation with BETA to form BECTU
in 1991. After almost 15 years, on 31
December 1995, Noel took early retirement
from BECTU.
He and his wife Rhona moved back to
Ireland a year ago. He is survived by Rhona
and his two sons Kevin and Brian. BECTU's
former President Christine Bond attended
Noel's funeral on behalf of BECTU, which
has made a donation to the British Heart
Foundation in his name at the request of
his family.

The union has expressed its condolences
at the death of BECTU honorary member
Richard Attenborough who died on
24 August at the age of 90.
Born in 1923 in Cambridge, Attenborough's
first foray into the film industry was while
serving in the Royal Air Force during World
War Two. After initial training he was
seconded to the RAF film unit at Pinewood
Studios. He began his film acting career
began in 1942 but his breakthrough was
as Pinkie Brown in Brighton Rock in 1947.
His acting career blossomed with roles
such as RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett
in The Great Escape (1963), Flight of the Phoenix
(1965) and Doctor Dolittle starring Rex
Harrison in 1968 for which he won a
Golden Globe for best supporting actor.
Attenborough had formed a production
company with Bryan Forbes in the late 1950s
and produced several films including The
League of Gentlemen (1959) and Whistle Down
the Wind (1961) . He joined the ACTT, the
forerunner of BECTU, in 1968 prior to his
directorial debut of the all-star screen version
of the hit musical Oh! What a Lovely War (1969).
From then on he focussed more on producing
and directing, winning the 1982 Oscars for best
director and best picture for Gandhi, along with
two Golden Globes for the same film.
Attenborough won many honours, awards
and accolades during his long and illustrious
career, including a knighthood and a
peerage. While his great love of the film
industry took him into the heart of
government to campaign and lobby for
support, he was also a man of deep social
conscience which led to him giving his voice
and a lot of time to many charities and
campaigns. This concern for the wider world
often shone through in his choice of film
projects, including Cry Freedom, and such was
his determination to make Gandhi he
mortgaged his house, sold possessions and
took roles in films he would not otherwise
have played in order to raise the money.
BECTU awarded Lord Attenborough
Honorary Membership of the union in 1993.

GEOFFREY SWAINE -REX FEATRUES

21st Century Fox security
Gerry Fox, who worked in security, died peacefully with his family around him on 26 February.
He had bravely fought cancer for some time. He was 49 years of age.
I have known Gerry for some 10 years and have worked with him on numerous films such
as Stardust and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. His love and enthusiasm for the industry
knew no bounds.
Hopefully those that knew him and Mishka his dog will join me in commiserating with his
family at this sad time. His was a life well lived with joy and energy. He will be sadly missed
by all that knew and loved him.
Peter Young
Set decorator
22

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Stage, Screen & Radio - October/November 2014

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