Comedian Eddie Izzard says he has a “schizophrenic career mixing stand-up and dramatic acting which possibly confuses people”. He has three films in the pipeline, though he has cut down on his TV appearances because he believes it eats up material too quickly, using up in a night what could play to different audiences for months. This week he’s trying out new material at the Arts Theatre London in a sell-out late night show, though not tonight on his birthday. It is just a stone’s throw from where he started his career in the 1980s as a street performer riding a unicycle and escaping from handcuffs in Covent Garden. Eddie Izzard is 46 today. RGT
Gillian Banks, Registrar-General for England and Wales, 1986, 75; Dora Bryan, actress, 84; Anthea Case, chairman, Heritage Link, 63; Kevin Crossley-Holland, author and poet, 67; the Earl of Harewood, president, British Board of Film Classification, 1985-97, 85; Tony Howitt, management consultant, 88; Ian Jack, Editor, Granta, 1995-2007, 63; Michael James, writer and director, International Atomic Energy Agency, 1978-83, 67; the Hon Peter Jay, writer and broadcaster, 71; Dr Derek Langslow, chairman, East of England Tourism, 63; Sir John Leahy, High Commissioner to Australia, 1984-88, 80; Sir George Moseley, Permanent Secretary to the Department of Education, 1981-85, 83; Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy, chief executive, Kingfisher, 1995-2002, 66; Sir Philip Myers, Chief Constable, North Wales Police, 1970-81, 77; David Park, author, 55; Earl St Aldwyn, managing director of International Fund Marketing UK, 58.