Flanders, Michael Henry, son of Peter Henry Flanders and Rosa Laura O'Beirne, violinist, d. of Henry Charles O'Beirne of Hastings; b. 1 Mar. 1922; adm. Jan. 1936 (G); left July 1940; Ch. Ch. Oxf., matric. 1940; RNVR (coastal forces) 1942-3; contracted poliomyelitis 1943, confined to a wheelchair 1946; a writer, actor and broadcaster; main author of revue Airs on a Shoestring 1953; BBC current affairs and newsreel commentator 1951-8, chairman Brains Trust 1958; with Donald Ibrahim Swann (qv) presented the two-man revues At the Drop of a Hat, and At the Drop of Another Hat, which ran in UK, USA and Canada 1956-67; appeared with RSC in The Caucasian Chalk Circle 1962; QBE 1964; m. 31 Dec. 1959 Claudia, d. of Prof. Robert Gorham Davis of Columbia Univ.; d. 15 Apr. 1975. DNB 1971-80, 319-21.
Taxonomy
Code
Scope note(s)
Source note(s)
- https://collections.westminster.org.uk/index.php/grants