Derek Osborne Hart (18 March 1925 – 23 November 1986) was a British actor, journalist and radio presenter best known for his appearances on the BBC's current affairs programme of the 1950s and 1960s, Tonight.[1]

Hart was born in Hertfordshire and educated in Bath, Somerset.[2] As an interviewer, Hart's subjects included Lon Chaney Jr and John Wyndham.[3] In 1969 he interviewed Christopher Isherwood for the Omnibus documentary series.[4]

In 1968 he hosted a series of arts programmes, Tempo, in the course of which he interviewed major theatrical figures such as Michael Hordern and Sybil Thorndike. He also narrated documentaries on subjects such as The Industrial Relations Act: An Introduction (1971) and W. Somerset Maugham (1969). Other major figures interviewed by Hart in the course of his career included Dennis Potter,[5] Terence Rattigan[6] and Sir John Gielgud.[7]

For the children's LP series Tale Spinners for Children, he played the role of Sir Lancelot on the album Knights of the Round Table, the role of Lemuel Gulliver in Gulliver in Lilliput, and the role of Johann Sebastian Bach on the album The Story of Bach.[8]

Hart died in London, aged 61.[1]

Works

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References

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  1. ^ a b Patricia Burgess; Trish Burgess (1 August 1989). Annual Obituary, 1986. St James Press. p. 648. ISBN 978-1-55862-013-1.
  2. ^ "September 2007". Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  3. ^ BBC Archive. Accessed 18 March 2016
  4. ^ "BBC Four – Omnibus, Christopher Isherwood – A Born Foreigner". BBC. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  5. ^ Dennis Potter (12 May 2015). The Art of Invective: Selected Non-Fiction 1953–1994: Selected Non-Fiction 1953-1994. Oberon Books. p. 425. ISBN 978-1-78319-702-6.
  6. ^ Geoffrey Wansell (3 May 2012). Terence Rattigan: A Biography. Oberon Books. p. 450. ISBN 978-1-84943-267-2.
  7. ^ Jay Leyda (1977). Voices of Film Experience: 1894 to the Present. Macmillan. p. xix. ISBN 978-0-02-571600-1.
  8. ^ "Tale Spinners for Children". Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2016.