Birthdays

TODAY: Mr Frank Allaun, journalist and former MP, 86; Mr Paddy Ashdown MP, leader, Liberal Democrats, 58; Sir Michael Butler, former diplomat, and chairman, Pathway Group, 72; Mr Peter De Vries, novelist, 89; Sir Peter Emery MP, 73; Viscount Head, former racehorse trainer, 62; Professor Brian Heap, Master, St Edmund's College, Cambridge, 64; Mr Alan Jinkinson, former general secretary, Unison, 64; Mrs Fiona Jones MP, 42; Mr Mervyn Jones, writer, 77; Mr Edward Lucie-Smith, poet and art critic, 66; Mr Ian McGarry, general secretary, British Actors' Equity Association, 58; Professor Sir Donald Mackay, chairman, Pieda plc, 62; Mr Geoffrey Maitland Smith, chairman, Hammerson plc, 66; Mr George Marwick, Lord-Lieutenant of Orkney, 67; Mr Ralph Nader, writer and consumer activist, 65; Rabbi Julia Neuberger, 49; Mr Graeme Pollock, former South African cricketer, 55; Mr Alberto Remedios, operatic tenor, 64; Mr Gene Sarazen, golfer, 97; Professor Roger Scruton, writer and philosopher, 55; Mr Magnus MacDonald Shearer, former Lord-Lieutenant of Shetland, 75; Dame Antoinette Sibley, prima ballerina, 60; Sir John Skehel, director, National Institute for Medical Research, 58; Sir Andrew Sloan, former Chief Constable of Strathclyde, 68; Mr Timothy Spall, actor, 42; Mr Kenzo Takada, Japanese fashion designer, 60; Miss Elizabeth Taylor, actress, 67; Air Chief Marshal Sir Sandy Wilson, former Air Member for Personnel and Air Aide-de-Camp to the Queen, 58; Miss Joanne Woodward, actress, 68; Lord Young of Graffham, chairman, Young Associates, 67.

TOMORROW: Mr Peter Alliss, golfer and television commentator, 68; Sir Philip Bailhache, Bailiff of Jersey, 53; Sir Peter Baxendell, former chairman, Hawker Siddeley, 74; Miss Stephanie Beacham, actress, 50; Mr Alfred Burke, actor, 81; Mr John Carson, actor, 72; Mr Robin Cook MP, Foreign Secretary, 53; Maj-Gen Edwin Foxton, 85; Lord Garel-Jones, former MP, 58; Mrs Helen Grindrod QC, former Crown Court Recorder, 63; Sir Anthony Havelock-Allan, film producer, 95; Admiral Sir Peter Herbert, former chairman, SSAFA, 70; Maj-Gen Michael Hobbs, retiring director, Duke of Edinburgh's Award, 62; Professor Maxwell Irvine, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Birmingham University, 60; Professor Thomas Kempner, business studies authority, 69; Mr Jeremy Lancaster, chairman and managing director, Wolseley-Hughes, 63; Mr Barry McGuigan, boxer, 38; Mr George Malcolm, musician, 82; Mr Martin Marriott, former Headmaster, Canford School, 67; Mr Brian Moore, football commentator, 67; Mr Robin Phillips, actor and director, 57; Mr Peter Stothard, editor of The Times, 48; Sir John Swire, Honorary President, John Swire and Sons, 72; Sir Brian Urquhart, former United Nations official, 80; Vice-Admiral Sir James Weatherall, Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, 63; Sir Michael Young-Herries, former chairman, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, 76.