David Kernan Dies: ‘Carry On’ Star And Sondheim Stalwart Was 85

Caroline Frost
·1 min read
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Tributes have been paid to British actor David Kernan, who died at the age of 85 on Boxing Day.

The news of his death was revealed on December 30th, with his family posting on social media:

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“It is with the heaviest of hearts to announce that dear David has passed away peacefully.

“In this time of such sadness, we shall think of the wonderful man he was, and the truly fantastic career that he had on stage, and on screen.”

Kernan was best known in the UK for his role in the comedy classic film Carry On Abroad in 1972, but in 1977 he was also nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the original Broadway cast of Side by Side by Sondheim.

He became known as a respected interpreter of Sondheim’s songs, and went on to become a patron of the Stephen Sondheim Society.

The Sun newspaper quotes Mandy Dixon, former chair of the society, writing: “David was a lovely, witty, man whose singing and championship of Sondheim’s work was second to none.

“In the many Sondheim workshops that the Society ran at the Theatre Museum in the late 1990s, he generously gave his expertise in performing Sondheim to young actors who are now household names.

“He also raised huge sums of money for AIDS charities by putting on one-night musical theatre reviews at a time when this was not a popular cause.

“I think, though, that my best memory of him was of him and his leather-clad companion getting steadily drunker and merrier at a Sondheim celebration aftershow party.”

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