Free Republic

Nicholas Smith, the actor who played store manager Mr Rumbold in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?, has died aged 81. He had been the last surviving member of the original cast. "It is with great sadness we can confirm that our client passed away yesterday," his agents at Michelle Braidman Associates said. "He was a lovely man and a terrific actor. He will be much missed by all who knew him."

'Nicholas Smith, the actor who played store manager Mr Rumbold in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?, has died aged 81. He had been the last surviving member of the original cast. "It is with great sadness we can confirm that our client passed away yesterday," his agents at Michelle Braidman Associates said. "He was a lovely man and a terrific actor. He will be much missed by all who knew him."'

The Prime Minister spoke of his pride at legalising same sex marriage, just a year after explicitly giving a personal guarantee to do it by 2015 to a reception for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-sexual community at 10 Downing Street. Mr Cameron told guests at the same reception one year on that Britain was now “the best place to be gay, lesbian or transgender anywhere in Europe”. He added: “That is a great achievement. That’s not my measure; that is an internationally recognised measure. But there’s still a lot more work to be done.” Thanking the ministers and civil...

[snip]...Jablonski remained true to his word -- neither he nor Obama showed up for the January 26 hearing. I noted last week that Obama was not scheduled to be anywhere near Atlanta on the date of the hearing, although I had wondered if still, perhaps, Georgia might be on his mind. According to reports in the blogosphere, the president's schedule on the morning of the 26th was open, and according to an unnamed source, Obama watched the live feed of the hearings. Perhaps Obama, as well as the several mainstream media news outlets I spotted at the hearing, were merely...

Actor John Inman, most famous for the comedy "Are You Being Served?", has died in London aged 71, his spokesman said. Inman made his name in the 1970s show as Mr Humphries, whose catchphrase "I'm free!" entered popular culture. Mr Humphries became one of TV's best known characters, and in 1976 Inman was voted funniest man on television by TV Times readers. He was declared BBC TV's personality of the year the same year.