English actor Alec McCowen was BOTD in 1925. Born in Tunbridge Wells, he studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He spent several years in repertory theatre, joining a theatrical troupe in World War Two and touring India and Burma to entertain troops. After the war, he appeared in minor roles in West End and Broadway productions, graduating to leading man status in London productions of Moulin Rouge and The Matchmaker. In 1959, he joined the Old Vic company under the direction of Laurence Olivier, taking leading roles in Shakespeare‘s Richard II and Twelfth Night. Moving to the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1962, he appeared in West End productions of The Comedy of Errors and King Lear, and joined a British Council tour of the Soviet Union. His career breakthrough came in 1968 in a stage adaptation of Frederick Rolfe‘s novel Hadrian the Seventh, transferring to the West End and later to Broadway, where he was nominated for a Tony Award. He returned to Broadway in 1971 with a successful transfer of Christopher Hampton’s comedy The Misanthrope, and appeared in the original London production of Peter Shaffer‘s psychodrama Equus. In 1978, he wrote and starred in a one-man performance of the complete text of St Mark’s Gospel. The year’s most unlikely theatrical success, it enjoyed extended runs in the West End and Broadway, earning him a second Tony nomination. He reunited with Hampton in 1982 for the London premiere of The Portage to San Cristobel of A.H., and had another hit in a one-man play about Rudyard Kipling, playing in the West End and Broadway and later adapted for television. His film career, while relatively brief, included Tony Richardson‘s kitchen-sink drama The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, the cult horror film The Witches, Alfred Hitchcock‘s thriller Frenzy, the Stevie Smith biopic Stevie, and co-starred with Maggie Smith in the comedy Travels with My Aunt, earning him a Golden Globe nomination. In 1989, his life and career was honoured in an episode of TV interview series This Is Your Life. Furious that no mention was made of his long-term partner Geoffrey Burridge, he threatened to bring legal proceedings to stop the broadcast. The dispute was resolved by the show’s host Michael Aspel, who added a voiceover in the final credits acknowledging their relationship. He and Burridge remained together until Burridge’s death from an AIDS-related illness in 1987. His final film roles were in Martin Scorsese’s historical dramas The Age of Innocence and Gangs of New York. He died in 2017, aged 91.