English actor and director Tony Tanner was BOTD in 1932. Born in London, he developed an early interest in theatre, studying at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. He began his stage career in regional repertory theatre, turning heads in a West End revue sketch written by the then-unknown Harold Pinter. He later starred alongside Pinter in his 1959 play The Birthday Party, shocking London audiences with its menacing sexual subtext and depictions of wife-swapping. He became a star with his leading role in the 1961 musical Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, reprising the role in the 1996 film. The show’s success took him to New York, where he starred in Broadway productions of the musical Half a Sixpence and the popular farce No Sex Please, We’re British. He had his greatest success directing and choreographing the 1982 Broadway premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, earning him two Tony nominations. He also directed a successful Broadway revival of Shelagh Delaney’s kitchen-sink drama A Taste of Honey, earning a Tony nomination for best revival of play. Tanner continued performing and directing into his 80s, writing and touring with a one-man show about ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev in 2010. He lived with his husband Henry Selvitelle from 1970 until his death in 2020, aged 88.