The Stage

Basil Hoskins

Published Monday 21 February 2005 at 17:25

Basil Hoskins, an actor with a distinguished stage career that included seasons with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company at Stratford, the Old Vic Company as well as leading roles in the West End, died on January 17 aged 75.

He appeared opposite such stars Vivien Leigh in Duel of Angels at the Apollo in 1958, Alec Guinness in Terence Rattigan’s Ross at the Haymarket in 1960 and in 1971 he had a long run in the musical Applause, in which he co-starred with Lauren Bacall.

Television viewers knew him best in the sixties for his role of Dr Rex Lane Russell in Emergency-Ward 10, Britain’s first twice-weekly, long-running drama series focusing on the staff and patients in a general hospital.

Basil William Hoskins was born on June 10, 1929 and studied acting at RADA. He joined the Nottingham Playhouse Company where he appeared in several Shakespearian productions and then moved to the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park, then under the auspices of Robert Atkins. He spent five seasons with the Shakespeare Memorial Company at Stratford, where he appeared as Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice, Demetrius in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream and Fortinbras in Hamlet. He also played Lucius to Laurence Olivier’s Titus Andronicus.

During the fifties he toured Australia with the Old Vic Company playing Bassanio oposite Katherine Hepburn’s Portia in The Merchant of Venice. Hoskins appeared in numerous musicals both on tour and in the West End, such as A Little Night Music and Call Me Madam at the Victoria Palace in 1983, with Noele Gordon.

His televison credits included series such as The Prisoner, The New Avengers and The Return of Sherlock Holmes and among the many films he made were Ice-Cold in Alex, North West Frontier, Lost in London and Heidi.

For many years Hoskins was the partner of the late actor Harry Andrews.

Patrick Newley