The Stage

Dennis Heymer

Published Tuesday 16 June 2009 at 11:00 by Michael Quinn

Dennis Heymer lived a double life with Frankie Howerd for more than 30 years. In public he was his dedicated manager, in private his devoted partner, until the comedian’s death in 1992.

Heymer was a 29-year-old sommelier at London’s Dorchester Hotel when he first met Howerd in 1958. Their relationship quickly developed and deepened in an era when homosexuality was still illegal and despite Howerd’s fear that public knowledge of his own sexuality would end his career.

It was Heymer who nursed Howerd through regular periods of depression, revived and took control of his career in the sixties, overlooked his partner’s predatory promiscuity and created a rural retreat for the two in Somerset. As a manager, he would often tour with Howerd, looking after lighting and sound for the comic’s shows. He managed the couple’s home life with the same attention to detail and stamp of authority.

Born Dennis Stanley Heymer on September 16, 1929 in Northwood, Middlesex, he was evacuated to Aberystwyth during the war and spent his National Service with the Royal Leicestershire regiment in Palestine. On his return to London, he worked as a florist before finding his way into waiting.

In 2005, following Howerd’s death, Heymer entered into a civil partnership with Chris Byrne, who survives him. He died on May 15 at the age of 80 and was buried on top of Howerd, who shared his belief that they had known each other in a previous life, in a replica Egyptian sarcophagus.

Heymer’s relationship with Howerd was the subject of a BBC Four drama in 2008 and he left behind him 26 volumes of diaries that are being prepared for possible publication.