You had the pleasure of knowing him personally? Impressive. I hope the video I uploaded - taken from one of the DVD sets - was of some use to you. (There is one other video that shows him briefly a few years before his death, but unfortunately that one is now blocked.)

@K D Exactly. It is due to such adulation of false heroes that we are in the situation and have not made progress on race relations.

@K D It is great to see you don't let your humanity get in the way of your ideology - that is a great lesson from the 20th century that you must take to heart. Leads to wonderful things really.

@K D so you're complaining that he was an entertainer and not an activist.

Much beloved.

@K D He was an intensely private person and a homosexual who was very much in the closet. While morally that would have been the right thing to do, it is very understandable why he may have shied away from doing so. It's easy for us to sit down in the year 2020 and say "he should have done this and that and spoken out against apartheid etc. 40 years ago."

@K D You're talking as if he was some sort of giant in the TV field in the 80s. Yes, Minister was first broadcast in 1981. Up to that time, Sir Nigel Hawthorne had been what many would consider a failed actor. Would it have been great if he'd spoken out against apartheid? Sure. But as someone who'd just gotten his big break after some 30 years of being relegated to small TV acting roles *and* a closeted homosexual in a time when that was still very much frowned upon, he was probably understandably quite unwilling to put himself in such a spotlight. I'm less inclined to hold that against him, as opposed to someone like Thatcher who was reluctant to sanction the South African government. "The problem is people like you who pretend to be allows but are vile inside which comes out when you present the defense." Wow, nice ad hominem. I'm just putting his position into perspective. But hey, you must be some kind of saint who can easily pass judgment on everyone. Good day.

@K D I did not mean to say that we should not expect it from him just because it happened 40 years ago. That I admit is not a valid argument. I'm also not saying that his silence on apartheid was justifiable, only that it is understandable for him and I don't think he should be judged so harshly for doing something most people would have done in his shoes. But what really bugged me is why you were singling Nigel out for this criticism. Is it because he spent his childhood in South Africa? How many British TV actors even spoke out against apartheid in the 80s? I can't think of any off the top of my head. I know for sure people like the Pythons, Tom Baker, Rowan Atkinson did not, and they were considerably more famous than Nigel was in the 80s. Even John Cleese, who was one of the pioneers when it comes to British TV actors going into humanitarian causes, I don't think he ever really got into the anti-apartheid cause. Should they all have spoken out? Of course. But, I simply don't think it is fair to call Nigel a "coward" or "pathetic" for not doing something most, if not all, of his contemporaries were not doing either, especially given his personal circumstances. *That* is what triggered me.

​@K D In 1970, at a time when he was still struggling to get into acting, he adapted and directed a play for the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Britain for the 10th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. He even tried to get the British audience to understand what apartheid was like by segregating them with "white" and "coloured" tickets and then giving the patrons with "white" tickets preferential treatment to illustrate it.. They also used the play to promote membership of the movement. He also did star in the 1996 South African anti-apartheid-themed movie "Inside" and was also in "Amistad", at a time when he was well-established and quite famous. Honestly, he seems to have done more than most of his contemporaries? Why he didn't speak up about apartheid at BAFTA, I can't say. I'm not sure if they even let you give such speeches at that event, or perhaps he lacked the courage after finally achieving his 30-year-long dream of succeeding as an actor. I don't judge him too harshly for the latter. Could he have done more? Sure. But at least he did some things.

@K D You are right there is no point. They will not change. Apple does not fall far from the tree!

It damaged the psyche of a man I care about very much.

And all of ours, too...

Why was he in need of mercy?

The artist was (he's still alive) Gerald Scarfe, who did graphics for Floyd's The Wall (and earlier work for them too), so he was accustomed to drawing scary figures!

@@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494 that makes SO much sense! I had no idea! Fantastic!

I loved that film. It wasn't very fine, but it was a good story about the dictatorship of the politically correct and interventionism

You are fined one credit for violation of the Verbal Morality Statute.

@@msinvincible2000 agreed. Great comment. I loved it too

That's too bad, Hollywood is notorious for how awful it is to work in but he did a great job as the Dr. Coctau (Or however it's spelled). That being said, after seeing a few episodes of Yes Minister, he really could have had a way better performance if given the chance but I'm guessing either the director, producers, or someone in the film wouldn't allow it and kept his role smaller.

I bought them as a dvd box set here on Germany, with the option of the original audio track, of course!

...And Patrick Stewart was great as Sejanus, a scheming Roman (something) in "I, Claudius".

Well, the television industry is largely superficial. People didn't have a chance to find out that he was a great actor until he was older, when him being a 'shining jewel' didn't matter as much.

Is that a question in English?

but he only had a regular career and yet they call him sir. did the whole world miss an amazing actor?

It is highly relevant. She was saying that young actors in lead roles are often chosen for looks as well as talent. Hawthorne also was a mature presence and looked mature early on, and so was not a typical young lead type. Think Tom Cruise, pretty from very young. Then think Kevin Spacey, for example, not cast on his looks but on his screen presence, which came to light after his 30s.

Yes, that’s right.

He lives in a few different places. LA, Wales and Italy.

This comment merely reveals the banality and ignorance of Brexiters. May they be forgiven - historians never will!

@@nigelaw8814 It's a reference to an episode of YPM.

He **REALLY MADE IT** in "The Madness of King George" !! His finest hour !!

What have we seen you in??????????????

Neil Forbes: FYI: Apartheid didn't start until 1948. There was a South Africa government before that. So, even using your logic (which I believe is faulty), there was a legitimate South Africa.