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Sunday 20:30-21:00 (rpt)
Radio 4's weekly obituaries programme | | | | Contact us | | | | | | | | | | This week | Friday 6th June 2008
(Rpt) Sunday 8thJune |
| | | |  | | |  | Yves Saint Laurent
Fashion designer who has died aged 71
The leading figures of the fashion world joined the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, former model Carla Bruni, at the funeral of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent on Thursday. The event was graced by some of the great names of couture, including the designers Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood and Yves Saint Laurent's muse Catherine Deneuve. Many of the women wore trouser suits in recognition of the fact that Saint Laurent is credited with introducing the style in the 1960s.
Yves Saint Laurent was born in Oran in Algeria, the son of an insurance company president. When Yves Saint Laurent was seventeen his father arranged for some of his sketches to be shown to the editor of French Vogue, who introduced him to Christian Dior. Dior was impressed by Saint Laurent and took him on as an apprentice. Then, in October 1957, Christian Dior died suddenly of a heart attack whilst on holiday in Italy. At the age of 21, Yves Saint Laurent was named as his successor.
Shortly after this success, he was conscripted to serve in the French Army but suffered a nervous breakdown. He was released from Dior and started his own label, YSL, with Pierre Berge.
Matthew Bannister talks to Violetta Sanchez who was a House model for Yves Saint Laurent and to Alicia Drake, author of The Beautiful Fall .
Yves Saint Laurent was born August 1st 1936. He died June 1st 2008.
| | | Star Trek Creators:Robert Justman, Alexander "Sandy" Courage and Joseph Pevney
In the 1960s they boldly went where no men had been before and created the enduring TV science fiction programme Star Trek. The original idea for the series came from Gene Rodenberry who died in 1991. Now three of the men who made enormous contributions to those early programmes have also died within a few days of each other.
Robert Justman was effectively the series producer, Alexander Courage – known as Sandy – wrote the distinctive theme tune and Joseph Pevney directed some of the show’s best loved episodes.
Matthew Bannister talks to Star Trek’s original executive producer Herb Solow.
Alexander Courage was born December 10th 1919. He died May 15th 2008.
Joseph Pevney was born September 15th 1911. He died May 18th 2008.
Robert Justman was born July 13th 1926. He died May 28th 2008. | | | Peter Milne
Boat designer who has died aged 73
Peter Milne was a British boat designer who came up with one of the most iconic dinghies of all time – the Fireball. He was brought up at Dell Quay in Chichester harbour on the West Sussex coast and lived in the area for many years.
He was an accomplished sailor and a boating journalist, editing the magazine Yachts and Yachting and contributing articles to a range of publications.
Matthew Bannister talks to his wife Maggie and to Andy Wyke the Boat Collection manager at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth.
Peter Milne was born September 20th 1934. He died May 23rd 2008. | | | Hamilton Jordan
Aide to former US President Jimmy Carter
As Barack Obama was confirmed as the Democratic nominee for the American Presidency, Democrats from an earlier time gathered for a memorial service. They were paying tribute to Jimmy Carter’s former strategist Hamilton Jordan, the man who mapped out a path to the White House for Carter in 1976.
Matthew Bannister talks to the writer Joe Klein, a close friend of Hamilton Jordan.
Hamilton Jordan was born September 21st 1944. He died May 20th 2008. | | | Bo Diddley
Muscian who has died aged 79.
He was called the founding father of rock and roll. Wearing horn rimmed spectacles and a black Stetson and playing a self-made box-shaped guitar, his first single Hey Bo Diddley was released in 1955 and introduced the world to his distinctive rhythm.
Bo Diddley was born Ellas Otha Bates in Mississippi. The first instrument he learned to play was the violin – and his first musical love was classical. Ellas Bates worked as a carpenter and a mechanic, and in his spare time began his musical career playing on street corners with his friends.
Many musicians who followed cited Bo Diddley as an influence - from the Rolling Stones to the Yard Birds to the Animals and Paul Jones’s band Manfred Mann.
Matthew Bannister talks to the presenter and singer Paul Jones.
Bo Diddley was born December 30th 1928. He died June 2nd 2008. | | | The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites |
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