Birthdays

TODAY: Mr George Abbott, theatre director, 107; Dame Margaret Anstee, former UN Under-Secretary General, 68; Mr Peter Blake, painter, 62; Sir Jack Boles, former director-general, National Trust, 69; Sir Alcon Copisarow, chairman, General Commissioners for Income Tax, 74; Mr Cyril Fletcher, comedian and broadcaster, 81; Mr Derek Foster MP, 57; General Sir Roland Guy, former Chief of Staff, HQ, British Army of the Rhine, 66; Mr Eddie Large, comedian, 52; Mr Sidney Lumet, film director, 70; Mr Victor Marks, cricketer, 39; Mr Roy Marsden, actor, 53; Mr George Michael, singer, 31; Mr Richard Morgan, Warden, Radley College, Oxford, 54; The Hon Sir Charles Morrison, former MP, and chairman, Game Conservancy Trust, 62; Sir Gerrard Neale, former MP, 53; Mr Howard Newby, novelist, 76; Sir Kenneth Oxford, former Chief Constable, Merseyside Police, 70; Lord Ravensdale (Nicholas Mosley), author, 71; Miss Carly Simon, singer and songwriter, 49; Mr Larry Smith, trade-union leader, 71; M Patrick Tambay, racing driver, 45; Mr Robert Venturi, architect, 69; Mr Moray Watson, actor, 66; Miss Doreen Wells, ballerina, 57; The Rev Keith Wilkinson, Headmaster, Berkhamsted School, 46; Professor Arnold Wolfendale, Astronomer Royal, 67.

TOMORROW: Mr Claudio Abbado, conductor, 61; Sir Campbell Adamson, former chairman, Abbey National plc, 72; The Hon Betty Askwith, author, 85; Sir Alan Bailey, former permanent secretary, Department of Transport, 63; Professor Kenneth Barker, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, De Montfort University, 60; Mr Leslie Carpenter, former chairman, Reed International, 67; Mr Georgie Fame, singer and songwriter, 51; Dr Alexander Fenton, Head of European Ethnological Research Centre, Edinburgh, 65; Mr William Hamilton, former MP, 77; Rear-Admiral Sir David Haslam, hydrographer, 71; Professor Ruth Kempson, linguist, 50; Mr Syd Lawrence, bandleader, 70; Mr Laurie Lee, poet and author, 80; Robert Maclennan MP, 58; Sir Peter Miles, former Keeper of the Privy Purse, 70; Miss Eleanor Parker, actress, 72; Professor Sir Alan Peacock, economist, 72; Mr Peter Pike MP, 57; Mr Nicholas Polunin, environmentalist, 85; Mr Ian Prestt, ornithologist, 65; Lord Rawlinson of Ewell QC, former Attorney-General, 75; Professor Maurice Wilkes, computer scientist, 81; Mr Colin Wilson, author, 63; Mr David Winnick MP, 61.