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Handsome, profoundly cultured and a royal favourite
RODNEY DIAK, whom Princess Margaret once described as “the most handsome actor in Britain”, and who starred in a number of long-running West End hits, died on Saturday, October 6, at the Royal Free hospital, following two major operations for cancer. He was 83 and had lived for 45 years in Tanza Road, Hampstead.
The former public schoolboy, whose dark Latin looks brought him to the attention of royalty, began his London stage career in 1949.
In 1958, he appeared with Sir John Mills and Lord Attenborough in the screen classic, Dunkirk, and during the 1960s, at the peak of his popularity, he appeared with Irene Handl in twolong-running West End hits, Goodnight Mrs Puffin and Busybody.
He also wrote and staged three of his own plays.
The actress Barbara Whatley, who appeared with Diak in Goodnight Mrs Puffin, said: “He was not only a loving friend for 46 years, he was also a simply glorious actor of high comedy, sophisticated, suave, polished and deeply cultured.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that he changed my life by introducing me to opera and ballet, pleasures that have remained with me ever since”.
Born David Rodney Jones on June 15, 1924, in Harrow, of Welsh parents who came from Anglesey, he was educated at Haileybury School, and trained for the stage at the Webber Douglas School.
He made his West End debut at 24 at the New Theatre, London (now the Noel Coward Theatre) with Michael Redgrave and the Old Vic Company in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labours Lost.
In 1951, Diak appeared as Sebastian in Twelfth Night before the present Queen and Princess Margaret, and the latter openly expressed her admiration of the young actor’s black Italianate hair, flashing dark eyes, and slim, athletic build.
“That’s the most
handsome actor in Britain,” the princess observed to a friend in her party.
In 1956, Diak’s movie-star looks won him a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but he was mortified to find himself making his big screen debut as a biologist in Fire Maidens from Outer Space, a film so bad that it has become a camp cult classic, and has been subsequently described as “a strong contender for the title of worst movie ever made”.
In 1962, Diak bought 16 Tanza Road, Hampstead, for a mere £11,000. The house, divided into flats, was then gutted by fire and burned to the ground. It had to be rebuilt, but Diak was to live there for the remaining 45 years of his life.
He gave his last acting performance in 2002 in a television dramatisation of the career of the controversial Westminster lobbyist Ian Greer, whom he portrayed with an uncanny accuracy.
His last public appearance was on June 9 of this year when he was presented to the Prince of Wales at Clarence House as one of the leading figures at a celebration of the theatrical charity, the Actors’ Benevolent Fund.
He entered Hopgood Ward at the Royal Free on September 13, registered as David Rodney Jones, to undergo two major operations for cancer, and died there at 9am on October 6. He was unmarried.
Michael Thornton |
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