Screen gent who starred in law drama 'Boyd QC'

Michael Denison, who died aged 82 on 22 July, 1998, was a much-loved British actor best known for his starring role in the long-running law series 'Boyd QC'.

However, alongside actress Dulcie Gray, he was also one half of one of the most enduring and famous marriages in show-business. Together, the pair made a number of on-screen appearances and co-starred in over 100 West End productions.

Mr Denison's portrayal of the quintessential English gentleman and extraordinary presence on both stage and screen saw him become an idol who, even today, is remembered as one of the most loved actors of his generation.

In 1983, he was awarded a CBE for his contribution to theatre.

John Michael Terence Wellesley Denison was born on 1 November, 1915, in Doncaster, Yorkshire. Raised by his aunt and uncle following the death of his mother, he was educated at Harrow where he regularly acted in school productions.

It was while studying modern languages at Magdalen College, Oxford, that he met acting legend Sir John Gielgud and decided to pursue an acting career, enrolling at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art during the mid-1930s.

He made his stage debut in 1938 as Lord Fancourt Babberly in a Frinton-on-Sea production of 'Charley's Aunt'. From there, he went on to appear in "Troilus and Cressida' in the West End, only to have his career interrupted by the outbreak of World War Two in 1939.

After serving with the Intelligence Corps in the British army, he returned to civilian life in 1946 to star in 'My Brother Jonathan' alongside his wife.

Further films, including 'The Franchise Affair' and Anthony Asquith's 'The Importance of Being Earnest', cemented his success, but it was not until the popular law series 'Boyd QC.' hit TV screens in 1957 that he really made his name. In total, the show ran for 78 episodes and, by the end of its run in 1963, Mr Denison was a fully-fledged star.

While simultaneously shining on both stage and screen, he published the first volume of his memoirs, 'Overture and Beginners', in 1973. A second, 'Double Act', followed during the 1980s, as did an OBE.

Later years saw him star in the popular TV series 'Howard's Way' and, in 1993, alongside Anthony Hopkins in Richard Attenborough's acclaimed 'Shadowlands'.

Mr Denison's final performance came opposite wife Gray in their two-person show 'Curtain Up' in April 1998. Months later, on 22 July at the age of 82, he died in Buckinghamshire at the end of a long battle with cancer.

He contributed a number of entries to the Dictionary of National Biography.

The Director of the New Shakespeare Company in 1971, he also served as council and vice-president of actors union, Equity.

He and Gray's first stage performance together came on Broadway in the Peter Hall production of Oscar Wilde's 'An Ideal Husband'.

The much-loved couple appeared on BBC TV's 'This Is Your Life' in 1995.