Len had been awarded honorary life membership of the SSA in recognition of his years of distinguished service. He first joined in 1951 to play the small role of Bernardo in Hamlet. However his talents were soon evident and over the course of the next fifty years he acted in every play of the canon. K.E. (Peter) Gately, our founder, once referred to him as “our resident Henry” because he played Henry VIII and Henry IV (both parts), the latter several times. His roles tended to reflect his strong and noble character – Othello (at least twice), MacDuff (Macbeth), Enobarbus (Antony and Cleopatra), Brutus (Julius Caesar), Cominius (Coriolanus) – but he also played Buckingham (Richard III), Claudius (Hamlet), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Warwick (Henry VI pt1/2/3), and Falstaff (The Merry Wives of Windsor), as well as many other supporting roles. He was one of the first trustees, with KEG and Terry Salmon, who ensured the continued survival of the SSA after Clifford Allen retired as director. He and his late beloved wife of 68 years, Jean (who died in 2014), were truly pillars of this unique company. Len died, after courageously surviving cancer well for some years, less than a week short of his 95th birthday.
We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep
But we shall remember him and the dreams he made transitory reality with admiration, gratitude and affection
Timothy Suffolk