Phil Collins, the singer, drummer, actor and songwriter, says that he has now stopped touring. He has had trouble with his hearing and has been warned that “a long tour with my one and a half ears could be risky, and I really don’t need to go out to work”. He has been writing some songs for a Disney stage version of Tarzan, which opens at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway this spring. He wrote some of the songs for the earlier Tarzan movie, including You’ll Be in My Heart, which won an Oscar for Best Original Song. Collins started writing songs in 1976 when he was in the hugely successful band, Genesis, which he left in 1996. Tarzan represents a return to theatre work for Collins, whose entertainment career began with an Acton stage school and an appearance as the Artful Dodger in the 1964 Lionel Bart musical, Oliver! A trustee of The Prince’s Trust since 1983, Collins is patron of numerous charities. Phil Collins is 55 today. RGT
Sir Fred Catherwood, MEP for Cambridge and Bedfordshire North, 1984-94, 81; Gerald Finley, baritone, 46; Gene Hackman, actor, 76; Sir Christopher Howes, Second Crown Estate Commissioner and chief executive, 1989-2001, 64; the Earl of Huntingdon, racehorse trainer, 58; Viscount Long, a Lord-in-Waiting, 1979-97, 77; Lord Mackay of Drumadoon, Solicitor-General for Scotland, 1995-96, 60; Bob Muddimer, chairman of Ranks Hovis McDougall, 1992-96, 73; Hal Prince, theatrical director and producer, 78; John Profumo, former MP and president of Toynbee Hall, 91; Vanessa Redgrave, actress, 69; Martin Taylor, vice-chairman of Hanson, 1988-95, 71.