This week: a star of Father Ted, a Glasgow Commonwealth Games medal winner and an R&B veteran
THE actor Pat Laffan, who has died aged 79, was best known for playing Pat Mustard, the smooth-talking milkman in the Channel 4 comedy Father Ted. Mustard was love interest to Mrs Doyle, housekeeper to the comedy's cast of feckless priests, and the show's writers suggested that he slept with all the women he delivered milk to each morning.
Through his career, Laffan appeared in almost 40 films and made 30 television appearances. He was also known to Irish audiences for his portrayal of Mr Burgess in Roddy Doyle's 1993 film The Snapper.
He was a member of the Abbey Theatre Company throughout the 1960s and 1970s and one of his earliest appearances there was in The Enemy Within in 1962.
He later took up the role of director at the Peacock Theatre, and directed at the Gate Theatre between 1979 and 1982.
THE swimmer Kenneth To, who has died suddenly aged 26, was a former world silver medallist and Commonwealth Games champion. He won world silver in 2013 as part of Australia's 4x100m medley relay squad, and gold at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Born in Hong Kong, To's family moved to Australia when he was two. He transferred his nationality in 2016 to swim for Hong Kong and was training ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Australian Olympian James Magnussen said: "For a long time he was, pound for pound, the best swimmer. He will remain one of the fiercest competitors I've ever stood on the blocks next to."
To died in hospital after complaining of feeling unwell during a training session at the University of Florida.
In a statement, the Hong Kong Sports Institute called him a truly exceptional person - warm, funny and kind.
THE musician Andre Williams, who has died aged 82, was an R&B singer and songwriter who co-wrote Shake A Tail Feather.
Williams moved as a young man from Alabama to Detroit, where he signed with Fortune Records and, later, with Motown Records. His early hits included Bacon Fat and Jail Bait.
His manager and musical director, Kenn Goodman, said Williams worked off and on for Motown, depending on how he and company founder Berry Gordy Jr. were getting along. Williams was a producer, songwriter and talent scout, collaborating early on with Stevie Wonder.
Goodman, who owns Chicago label Pravda Records and who played music and had business dealings with Williams over nearly two decades, said Williams’ musical contributions spanned soul, punk, rap, garage rock and country.
“There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t tackle and be 100 percent into - endlessly in the studio, endlessly on the road, endlessly performing,” said Goodman, who in years past would play with Williams on many tours across Europe. “People loved him,” Goodman added. “They knew his history. They knew his obscure songs.”
Goodman said Williams had his demons, describing him as a longtime alcoholic who ultimately got sober. He suffered a series of strokes that kept him from touring after 2013, but Goodman said he could still be counted on for guest spots during gigs in his adopted hometown of Chicago.
“He was a survivor, he was a hustler,” Goodman said, recalling his friend’s penchant for wearing three-piece suits everywhere, including fast-food joints. “He knew how to get onstage every night, no matter what condition he was in every day. He was magic.”
Goodman said Williams will be the subject of a documentary that will explore his later years. A tribute concert also is planned for next month.
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