A CORONATION Street star has died aged 84 after a stellar five-decade career – including a TV-first gay kiss scene with Ian McKellen.
James Laurenson, who moved to Britain from his native New Zealand in the early 1960s, worked in theatre, television and film.
He made his film debut in 1969 with a small part in Ken Russell’s Women In Love.
In 1970 he made television history in Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II as Piers Gaveston, performing tele’s first gay kiss with Sir Ian McKellen.
Sir Ian once said kissing James, who was not gay, “was a bonus throughout the run”.
Fans have flocked to social media to pay tribute to their favourite actor.
He was a great actor, because he had that Everyman quality. All great actors carry with them this quality: when they walk on the stage they do it for us
Peter Hall
One wrote: “I’m very sorry to hear that superb actor James Laurenson has died. I saw him many times over the years on stage, and even if I did not much fancy the play, if his name was on the cast list, I bought a ticket. I was never disappointed.”
Another added: “Very sad to hear that James Laurenson has died. He was a wonderful actor and I count myself lucky that I saw him at the RSC a few times. He seemed like a gentle soul. His way with words was exemplary, giving feeling and resonance to pretty much any script he worked with. RIP.”
Fellow actor Geoff Leesley said: “Farewell to my friend and fine, fine actor #Jameslaurenson – I’m heartbroken.”
Another wrote: “He really was a gorgeous and lovely man. So funny, so kind, and a fantastic actor.”
James appeared on Coronation Street in May 1968 as the Reverend Peter Hope of St Mary’s Church.
In The Crown he appeared as Doctor Weir – a Scottish physician and homeopath who served as Physician Royal.
James became a regular in productions by the Peter Hall Company after it was created in 1998.
Hall said he was “a great actor, because he had that Everyman quality. All great actors carry with them this quality: when they walk on the stage they do it for us.”
In 2011 he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his appearance as the Ghost and the Player King in Nicholas Hytner’s production of Hamlet.
Normally a speech-heavy role, one reviewer said James helped make “the play-within-a-play into a moving tragedy-within-the-tragedy”.
And Stephen Sondheim sent an ecstatic email singling out James’ performance.
He wrote: “When I found myself crying at the Ghost scene, I knew that something special was happening to me (Mr Laurenson gets my gold medal).”
James was born at Marton on New Zealand’s North Island on February 17, 1940.
He once told how his earliest memory was “seeing a Lockheed Hudson flying over our house and being told that my father was in it”.
His dad was also a keen amateur actor.
When James first arrived in London, after attending Canterbury University College in Christchurch, James said “the first thing I learnt is that it is really hard to find work and be offered scripts”.
He added: “You have to have a passion for acting – Hollywood might come knocking but on the other hand you may spend vast amounts of the time unemployed.”
In the late 1990s James moved from London to Frome in Somerset and spent many busy years as a regular in the Peter Hall Company summer festival productions at the Theatre Royal, Bath, and on tour.
He relaxed by “walking our dog, Maisie, down by the River Mells” and was happiest “tucked up with my lady listening to Oscar Peterson and Dizzie Gillespie playing If I Were a Bell”, he told the Western Daily Press in 2012.
His first marriage to the actress Carol Macready ended in 1997. He is survived by his second wife, Cari Haysom, and his son Jamie from his first marriage.
