Author Rowan Keith
Published 13/11/2024
All at The Old Vic are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Timothy West CBE.
Timothy had a long connection with our theatre, including as Co-artistic Director of the Prospect Theatre Company from 1980-81, which had its home at The Old Vic. Timothy played many iconic roles on our stage, including the title role in King Lear in 2003, Falstaff in Henry IV Part One and Part Two in 1996–97, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 1980, and Claudius in Hamlet in 1977.
The Old Vic’s Artistic Director Matthew Warchus had his first job as Assistant Director with Timothy on Paul Unwin’s productions of The Master Builder and Uncle Vanya at the Bristol Old Vic in 1989.
Matthew said: ‘My memories of Tim are ones mostly filled with laughter but, alongside being an exceptionally funny man, he was also strikingly kind, generous and wise. He was hugely encouraging to me at the start of my career and I was lucky enough to see him giving a range of exceptionally powerful dramatic as well as comic performances – every one bursting with inspired details and crackling with sharp, fiery emotion. He was a great actor and a great advocate of theatre.’
More recently, Timothy was an Ambassador for The Old Vic, and a cherished supporter of our theatre and the arts. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.