The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 27

PERSONAL 27 Obituary: Eithne Dunne Elizabeth Rawson tfoinracflalbDe Msh actress Roman history THE GUARDIAN Wednesday December 28 1988 RBiLIZABETH Rawson, fel MacLiammoir and Hilton Edwards had a half yearly tenancy at the Gate. Eithne needed the continuity of a permanent company where she could best Some people: Hilda and May The Christmas aunts 0 the Irish, even acting is ultimately a horse race and in a kind of theatrical Leopard-stown, Eithne Dunne, who has died aged 71, was publicly matched against Siobhan Mc-Kenna. Certainly, they were the two best actresses of their generation, although my own preference I nearly wrote "by a head" was for Eithne, for in Siobhan one could detect moral judgment at work: the actress commenting upon the role. Eithne was clearer, cooler. I last saw her co-starring with Colin Blakely at the Abbey Theatre in Tom Murphy's The Morning After Optimism.

The play, over-blown as it was, pointed away from the bog realism that had come near to destroying the theatre in Ireland, and the playing, too tough, fast and spare (neither she nor Colin were Abbey regulars) blazed a trail. She was fortunate in having married the playwright, Gerard Healy. who died while playing the hell-fire creature in Stephen in London in 1962. Her own talents taught her how to interpret words; Gerry's calling gave her an insight in their creation. In other areas of her career she was not so blessed.

At the height of her powers a bout with cancer broke her momentum, never regained. Although her name was a byword in Ireland, she was little known elsewhere. Between 1952 and 1974 she made six films, and the best of these was the first: Paul Rotha's No Resting Place, a small downbeat drama in which she and Michael Gough were an itinerant couple hounded by a Javert-like Irish policeman. As an actress what she most grieviously lacked was a roof to play under. Siobhan was a star of both the Irish speaking Tab-harc Theatre in Galway and the Abbey in Dublin; Michael Telegraph, 43; Roy Hattersley, Lab MP for Sparkbrook, Birmingham, deputy Leader of the Labour Party, 56; Max Jaffa, 76, and Nigel Kennedy, 32, violinists; Hildegarde Neff, 63, actress; Lord Justice O'Connor, 74; Manuel Puig, 56 and Simon Raven, 61, novelists; Brian Redhead, broadcaster, 59; Lord Salmon, former Law Lord, 85; Richard Sudhalter, writer, jazz musician, 50; the Rt Rev "Bill" Westwood, Bishop of Peterborough, 63.

Birthdays Maggie Smith, seen here in one of her most successful recent plays, Lettice And Lov-age, is 54 today. Other birthdays: Terry Butcher, English Association football international, 30; Donald Carr, former secretary, Cricket Council and Test and Countv Cricket Board, 62; Sir Ellis Clarke, former president of Trinidad and Tobago, 71; Thomas Gould.VC second World War submariner, 74; Max Hastings, Editor, Daily Obituary me. When they came, we were always laughing. May even made us laugh about her corns and bunions. Unfortunately May and Hilda could never be there together.

THey simply didn't get on. My mother had to arrange their visits so that they never coincided. Once Hilda arrived unexpectedly when May was there, and the normally merry atmosphere dropped to near freezing. As a child, I couldn't understand this at all. I loved May and Hilda so uncritically that I wished for years they would bury the hatchet so that I could enjoy them together.

They never did. May finally lost her spinster status at age of 53. She arrived on one visit with a retired policeman for our inspection. He was a friendly, common-sense man named Fred, the way all policemen should be, and when we approved of him wholeheartedly, she married him and lived happily ever after. Hilda had less good luck with men, succumbing to a charming middle-aged rogue who took her savings and then went off with another woman.

Hilda had a breakdown and came to convalesce with us, but she was never quite the same again, her laughter a little more forced. She developed angina and I Theodora Calvert When I published a novel, I dedicated it to May. Even though she didn't bother much with books I always felt it was their loss she got her husband to read the novel to her word by word, all 275 pages. But thoughtlessly I had made a bad slip, paying tribute like this to May but not to Hilda. Hilda didn't have long to live so I wrote another novel at breakneck speed and dedicated it to her.

By the time I received the first copy, she was already lying in hospital. I rushed it to her and I was told she was conscious long enough to see the dedication. I hope so. There was no favoritism. She and May both added immeasurably to the happiness of my childhood, and whenever the Christmas and New year holidays arrive, I can still see them coming into my parents' house loaded with presents, full of stories about their adventures since they had last been.

To a child like me, they seemed to live charmed lives, able to make everyday happenings sound like epics. The only snag is that even in memory, they are never together, always separate. Even they were not perfect. Still, anyone who has lived without benefit of maiden aunts has missed a great deal. They may grow up the kind of people who put their hands in their pockets when they're with a lady.

Another Day December 28, 1867: Myrtle Cottage, cold, hoarfrost, misty. Farringford, Lionel and his fiddle. Henry Cameron comes, for rabbit-hunting. I walk to Yarmouth, pretty byroad to shore, hart-stongue ferns, a primrose in bloom. Quay, Hallam with carriage and ponies.

Cold, foggy wind, gray sea. Steamer comes in with Woolner and Mr W.G. Clark of Cambridge. We three walk off by shore and byroad. Show them primrose "The rath primrose that forsaken Tennyson's lines: the gloomy brewer's soul Went by me, like a stork: Why Clark says the Stork was an antimonar-chical emblem.

(William Allingham: A Diary, 1824-1889 (Penguin, 1985) W.J. Weatherby THEY no longer seem to exist but not long ago there used to be such people as maiden aunts. Sometimes they were called spinster aunts. These were both put-down terms because in those days a woman was supposed to be married at all costs even if the man she married was a monster. In growing up, I was lucky enough to have the benefit of not one but two maiden aunts who lavished on my brother and me the love they would have given their own children.

May worked in the woman's wear section of a big store for six days a week and had so mucn trouble with her teet that her chiropodist became her closest friend. Hilda was quite different, an elegant secretary who had worked in Canada and wrote to me in Pitman's shorthand. The only harsh word I ever had from her was when we went out shopping once and she told me "A gentleman never puts his hands in his pockets when he's with a Since when I never have. Neither May nor Hilda had much money, but they, managed to brine presents when ever they came, and because they had such a warm way giving, their modest gifts seemed magical to a child like Obituary Morgan ORGAN Rendell, Wardrobe Director at- the Royal Opera House for 15 years, has died at the age of 75. He was a perfectionist, as befitted a Virgo; sign of the thorough ones, and he gained immense respect and affection from his staff.

The costume designers with whom he worked, the actors, singers and dancers who wore his clothes, the directors who used his work, and not least the audiences all were touched by his creative hand. He was a lonely man but his time was well spent. He trav elled extensively and read voraciously, he adored a good laugh, and his regular letters to his triends were witty and terse, eagerly awaited. The few paintings that he did showed a complete but gentle understanding of their subject and he set standards of clothing in the theatre I SB low and tutor in ancient UBhistory at Corpus Chnsti College, Oxford has died in Peking aged 54. She had taken a term away from Oxford to teach Latin, Greek and ancient history, at Nankai university, in the PeoDle's Republic of China, and was staving in Peking in the course of her return jour ney.

Her unexDected death has de prived the scholarly world of a distinguished ancient historian at the height of her career. Her work, largely in Roman history, ranged widely outside the traditionally rather narrow definition of the subject, embracing not only political out social, erarv and intellectual history. At the same time, it was firmly based on traditional methods of collecting and analysing evi dence. and made no conces sions to the currently popular preoccupation with abstract theory and methodology. Her focus of enquiry was al ways the human being, and the interaction of human ideas and behaviour.

This is perhaps most obvious in her biograpny of Cicero, a genuinely sympa thetic portrait tempered oy oai- anced historical assessment. Probably more British classics students now receive their first serious introduction to Cicero through this very readable book than through any other. No less fascinating is her earlier book on the Spartan tradition in European thought, her distinctive contribution to the study of the influence of an cient ideas in the modern world. Her most impressive schol arly monument is, however, her latest book Intellectual Life in tne late Roman Republic (1985), a detailed by panoramic account of the intellectual interests and activities of Graeco-Roman society at a crucial period in its history. Educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Somerville, she began her professional career at New Hall, Cambridge.

On moving to Oxford in 1980 she was only the second woman to be elected as a permanent fel low ot Corpus, a college noted for its strong classical tradition. She was a tireless teacher of undergraduates and made a full contribution to college and university life. She was honorary secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies made ai tellow ot the British Academy. Neither the pressures of a busy academic career nor the intermittent prospect of physical disability ever affected her determination and energy or her cheerfulness and charm of manner. She possessed in a high degree the quality which the Romans called humanitas, explained by another Ciceronian scholar as "that untransla-tably Roman amalgam of kindness and culture, wit of mind and tact of manner" Jonathan Powell Elizabeth Rawson born April 13, died December 10.

ARRIVAL OF 6BRALP0 I 6VA5 PBRHAPS INBVITABL6. I lljl" irrrrr. by THEODORA Calvert, who has died in Birmingham aged 90, was one of the first woman barristers in this country. She was the younger daughter of Maurice and Mary Llewelyn Davies and was educated at Birkenhead High School and Girton College, Cambridge (founded by her great-aunt Emily Davies). After taking the Law tripos, she was the first woman to be admitted to the Inner Temple, where she subsequently practised as a barrister.

In 1929. she married Roy Cal vert whom she had met through working with the Howard Leaeue for Penal Reform. They were joint authors of The Law Breaker, a critical study of the modern treatment of crime, which became a standard work. She supported Roy in his single- minded unemotional ano wen-argued campaign to abolish the death penalty. After his death in 1933 she continued his work and served with the Howard Deaths The Rt Rev Francis Gerard Thomas, on Christmas Day, aged 58: Roman Catholic Bishop of Northampton since 1982, formerly Rector of Oscott College, Birmingham.

Bishop Thomas was chairman of the theology committee of the Bishops' Conference. Humphrey Brooke, CVO, on Christmas Eve, aged remember how she crawled upstairs during a painful attack so not to scare me as a child. Rendell hitherto unknown. His unruffled dealings with the "artistic temperament" were a joy to behold. Yet he was a gentle man, and that old-fashioned thing a gentleman.

Born in Melcombe Regis, Dorset, the son and grandson of master house-decorators, he studied design and cutting at the Bristol School of Art, and joined the Old Vic Wardrobe, becoming Costume Supervisor there in 1949. From 1951 he worked for various professional costume houses until his appointment at the Royal Opera House in 1963, remaining there until his partial retirement in 1978. Alex Martin Henry Morgan Rendell born September 10, 1913; died December 8. exploit bom the darK, graven handsomeness that was made for Mrs Alvine and Hedda Gabler, and the hoydenish spirits with which sne mignt take the starch out of a Candida or a Jennifer Dubedat. One of her final roles was as Mrs Patrick Campbell in" Jerome Kilty's dualogue, Dear Liar, and indeed sne naa on stage moments worthy of Mrs Pat.

She could be a grande dame but it was role playing. When the mask hardens into the Derson. it can become a pro tective carapace it did in the case of Siobhan, who came to believe that she and St. Joan were sisters under the skin, Perhaps because of illness or in later years loneliness, Eithne came to lack a sense of her own worth. She toured in Asia and was often heard to ex press the wish that she had been born a Hindu, it was not the lifestyle that attracted her but rather the opposite: the magnificent theatricality of ending up on a mazing iunerai pyre.

A sense of absurdity helps one to cope with life, but not to triumph in a career that thrives in self-delusion, and it can be said of Eithne that she came to lose her nerve. She gave up acting, settled in London and spent many months in hospital there betore tne end. Her mend, tne play director Leila Doolan, came to visit her and found that Eithne, while in no great pain or even discomfort, was aware that death was biding its time. She was an impatient lady. When Lelia asked her how she felt, she said: "Dear, this is the hardest bloody part I've every played." Jtpgh Leonard 5,832 11 Idiographic medical analysis (4-5J.

13 Like cricket bowling and tennis serving (7). 14 Flavouring (for ice-cream) (7). 15 Goddess of retribution (7). 16 The near future (6). 18 Comedians Dave or Woody (5).

Solution No. 5,831 Across: 1 Autobiography; 8, 9 Heads or tails; 10 Cafe; 11 Salt lake; 13 Vacant; 14 Ribald; 17 Red-faced; 19 Bevy; 21 See 22 Prosper; 24 Prevarication. Down: 1 Ash; 2 Traffic; 3 Busy; 4, 12 Our Man in Havana; 5 Rat's-tail; 6, 21 Prima donna; 7 Yesterday; 10 Covered up; 12 See 15 Adelphi; 16 Delphi; 18 Dunce; 20 Nova; 23 Run. Shaw on television: Eithne Dunne as Candida in a 1967 Radio Telefis Eirann production Quick Crossword BLOOM COUNTY Berke Breathed League. She also worked as a "poor man's lawyer" in Richmond and New Maiden, and as a magistrate in Dorking and Mortlake.

Born into a family which breathed an atmosphere of advanced liberal thought and a high sense of social responsibility, she was a lifelong agnostic, pacifist and Labour supporter. A few days before her death, when told of Mrs Cur-rie's resignation, she commented: "Very Though her leftwing views did not wane with old age, her attitude to younger generations showed a remarkable adaptability and openness of mind. Her many descendants provided an endless source of interest. They looked on her with love and resDect. Her support and affec tion, her wisdom, wit and judgt ment, will be sorely missed.

J. W-W. Theodora Calvert, born April 18, 1898, died December 21. 74: secretary of the Royal Academy from 1952 to 1968, formerly deputy keeper, Tate Gallery. Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, 93: a granddaughter of Lord Salisbury, the Victorian Prime Minister, and sister of Lord David Cecil and the notably right-wing 5th Marquess AND SIHCB TUB STBNCH OF netru inn 1 aiihavcl i-r TRACT FUee ANP a solves II sniff me! tswesAve RUSUE.P ME UP INTtHWVt 7" ft Q5SMF 1 2 3 4 5 6 9 io" in 12" 13 114 15 IT T7 118 20 22" 23 BY GARRY TRUDEAU r- fa lmr- TT TRAITOR HAPBEBN FOUNR BSE rffi 'voodoo Yr Doonesbury wnnvc irus warn.

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10 And so on (2, 6). 12 Match drawn (7, 4). 17 Symbol of welcome (4, 4). 19 Title (4). 20 In truth (6).

21 If not (6). 22 Female (5). 23 (Use) road round city (2-4). Down I NOW SHOWING IN THE WEST END AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY SEE LOCAL PRESS FOR DETAILS 1 Nurture (7). 2 Put out buds (7).

3 Revenue department (9). 4 Perhaps (5). 5 Motorist's feline aid? (4-3). 6 Marsupial (6)..