Nicholas Courtney (1929-2011)

[jjpor]

Funny thing, really, but I don't normally get sentimental about the passing away of people I only know through the medium of television, yet I'm feeling kind of wistful as I type this, with a manly something in my manly eye, or something.

Certainly, Nicholas Courtney had a longer, fuller life than a lot of people ever have, but I can't help feeling that, you know, with all due respect to Sarah Jane Adventures, the world would somehow be a better, finer place had the Brig ever got the chance to cross paths with one of the new series Doctors.

This is a nice obituary that provides a reminder that there was much more to Nicholas Courtney than the Brigadier:

www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/23/nicholas-courtney-obituary

And this is a fine tribute in pictures from calapine:

calapine.livejournal.com/652117.html

Comments

[curuchamion.livejournal.com]

*reads obit*

I think David Langton, whoever he may be, deserves our hearty thanks and congratulations for dropping out of The Web of Fear, thus leaving the spot of Col. Lethbridge-Stewart open for Mr Courtney. Y/Y?

Thanks for the links!

[clocketpatch]

Thanks for linking that picspam from Calapine. It made me smile and then giggle and then laugh, which I didn't think I would. But that's the Brig. I don't think I've ever cried over an actor death before, but there was something special about that man. A true legend.

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. Usually when someone famous dies, I'll think, "Oh, that's sad," but that's about it. For some reason, Nick Courtney's death feels a lot more personal. It might be because it's the first major death from "my" era of Doctor Who (well, there was also Ian Marter, but I don't really remember his death). It might be because through the years, the Brig was the only character who was always part of Doctor Who -- someone I knew really might show up again at any time. Or it might simply be that there was no other character on television quite as awesome as Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart as portrayed by Nicholas Courtney.

Thanks for the link to calapine's picspam. I really enjoyed that.

[ravenskyewalker.livejournal.com]

David Langton, I think, was the elder Mr. Bellamy in the epic British series "Upstairs, Downstairs," among other roles. I quite liked him as an actor. All the same, I'm delighted that we had Nick Courtney as Lethbridge-Stewart.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I have been upset over the death of other actors (or authors), but his has been the most upsetting. The Brig should've been immortal (and Nick with him!)

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Yes, as you say, a good actor - I think he would have made a fine Brigadier, but definitely not _the_ Brigadier...

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

No problem! And yes, I agree!

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

It's an excellent picspam, and so true too. :) I know what you mean - it's like the end of an era, like one of the Doctors passing on or equivalent, I think. And from all the reactions I've seen online, the feeling is widespread. Helps a great deal, of course, that he seems to have been such a friendly, courteous man in real life.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Aye, in a perfect world... :( But yes, for some reason this seems to have hit a lot of people very hard. As other people have already observed, in a fandom containing so many different points of view, dare I say factions, one thing everybody seems able to agree on is that the Brigadier and Nicholas Courtney were legends, deserving of love and respect.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoyed it - so did I. Yes, it does seem like a great blow to a great many people, really, and I agree it's probably down to the fact that in all of Doctor Who there was only one character like the Brigadier, and he was simply excellently portrayed. For a character that was, let us be honest, so often badly-written or written one-dimensionally in some of the late Three stories, he was always well played, with a lot of charm and subtlety, by Courtney. I think a lot of what makes the character so likeable and memorable in this case comes from the actor rather than many of the scripts.

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

He wasn't exactly a fixture of my childhood, but he did stand out when I did come to see him on screen. And from the little bits of what I've seen of him in more informal moments, he seemed like a nice man.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Yes - and that is quite an amazing achievement in a fandom as divided as Who!

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

*nods*

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Yes, all the various accounts and reminiscences that have appeared have highlighted that about him. And as you say, the Brigadier just _stands out_, I think that's the main thing that you can say about him, really.