How strange life is.... after writing about my 25th anniversary of seeing GUYS AND DOLLS a few hours ago I have just found out that John Normington who played Arvide Abernathy in that production died July 26th aged 70 of Pancreatic Cancer.

John in 1982 after Bob Hoskins, Julie Covington and Ian Charleson's last night in GUYS

The last time I saw John in May last year towards the end of his run in THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE at the National, he told me how he had cancer for most of 2005 and how it looked like he had hopefully managed to fight it off. Then in January of this year he had to withdraw from THE ENTERTAINER at the Old Vic so I knew he must be quite ill again.

I sometimes wondered whether the fact I knew John coloured my opinion of his work but I don't think it did. John was simply the best supporting actor around, beloved by fellow actors and directors. An actor that when you saw him in a cast list you knew at least one person on stage would be pulling their weight. He gave each role no matter how small an emotional truth and honesty. especially when playing nasty characters which he played straight down the line with no attempt at gaining audience's sympathy.

John worked with the two major subsidised theatre companies at both their inceptions. In the 1960s he was a company member of the Royal Shakespeare Company under Peter Hall working in the famous War Of The Roses cycle and the original production of Harold Pinter's THE HOMECOMING as Sam which he also played on Broadway, garnering him a Tony Award nomination. He also worked with Peter Gill at the Royal Court during this period. In the 1970s John started his association with the National Theatre which was to last on and off for 30 years. He appeared in Robert Bolt's STATE OF REVOLUTION. Peter Shaffer's AMADEUS, Howard Brenton's THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN, a haunted Cassandra in THE ORESTEIA, a chilling Robespierre in DANTON'S DEATH, Peter Hall's stage version of ANIMAL FARM, a reet Northern Noah in THE MYSTERIES, a spiteful pensioner in THE ASSOCIATE, The Old Shepherd in A WINTER'S TALE and as Peacey the conniving clerk in THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE among many others.

John toured extensively, appeared in productions for most of the major regional theatres and also appeared in several West End productions such as Waffles in UNCLE VANYA, the father in OUR TOWN, a return to Sam in a 1990s revival of THE HOMECOMING, excellent as Dr. Miller in Rattigan's THE DEEP BLUE SEA and his final appearance as Billy Rice in THE ENTERTAINER for which he received glowing reviews. John was also a teacher at RADA and I saw a production he directed there of the farce CHARLEY'S AUNT which co-starred then-student James Dreyfuss.

John appeared in relatively few films but can be seen in small roles in STARDUST, ROLLERBALL, THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS, A PRIVATE FUNCTION and WILT. Hopefully one day Peter Hall's 1968 screen version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM in which he played Flute will be made available. He appeared extensively on television and indeed his most obvious web presence is due to his appearances in DOCTOR WHO and TORCHWOOD.

John was a wonderfully warm and friendly man, always up for a gossipy chat in the bar after a show. He was always keen to know what I had seen lately on stage and once when he asked me I made a point of telling him that it was a direct result of my love for GUYS AND DOLLS and him and the other members of the cast that I became such a theatre fan. He seemed genuinely touched when I told him this. I'll certainly miss his Christmas cards, signed from 'the Johns' - his partner of many years standing is John Anderson, a doyenne of many a west end wig department.

And I guess it's as Sarah's kindly uncle Arvide in GUYS I'll remember him, resplendent in his red Mission uniform, turning the fairly standard front-cloth number MORE I CANNOT WISH YOU into one of the most moving moments of the show. I could never watch him sing this without a little tear running down my cheek and it's happened again just now listening to the cd.

Goodbye John, I can't quite believe I will never see you again.