Telegraph Obituaries (2024)

Morgan Spurlock, documentary-maker who ate McDonald’s for a month in Super Size Me – obituary

Spurlock went to similar lengths in other films, travelling across war zones in the travelogue Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?

Judy Hashman, record-breaking badminton star who won 17 All England titles – obituary

She also won 12 US Open singles titles and three Uber Cup world team championships, making her the greatest woman player of the amateur era

Fred Roos, casting director whose gambles paid off in The Godfather, Star Wars and Apocalypse Now – obituary

He got Harrison Ford the part of Han Solo by hiring the out-of-work actor to do a carpentry job next door to the Star Wars auditions

Hugh Jenkins, formidable investor of the National Coal Board’s pension funds – obituary

He defeated Arthur Scargill’s campaign to prevent him investing in overseas companies and oil and gas ventures that might compete with coal

Jerrold Northrop Moore, eccentric Elgar biographer who called his Pekinese Sir Edward – obituary

David Wilkie, swimmer who won a spectacular gold for GB in the 1976 Montreal Olympics – obituary

After winning his gold, Wilkie ‘wanted to show the British supporters that I was swimming for Britain and that I was proud to be British’

Pat Buckley, ‘independent Catholic’ priest who ministered to Bobby Sands and came out as gay – obituary

Some saw him as a rebel, others as a publicity-hungry hypocrite, especially after he was found guilty of conducting sham marriages

Roy Cross, artist who brought excitement to Airfix boxes in the golden age of modelling – obituary

He made children believe ‘you’re in that scene; it isn’t little bits of plastic, it’s a real aeroplane and you’re flying it,’ said James May

Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, football legend dubbed ‘Panzer’ for his power and strength – obituary

A right-footed left full-back, Schnellinger played in four World Cups and won the Coppa Italia with Roma and then three times with AC Milan

Ivan Boesky, Wall Street ‘Midas’ jailed for insider trading who epitomised 1980s greed – obituary

His speech ‘Greed is all right… greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself’ inspired the fictional Gordon Gekko

Lord Stunell, Lib Dem MP who helped negotiate the Coalition with Cameron’s Tories – obituary

He introduced the Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act of 2004, a private member’s measure to create ‘greener and safer buildings’

June Mendoza, portraitist who painted the Queen, Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher – obituary

An even more formidable challenge was a 1987 panorama of the House of Commons in session, with every figure painstakingly realised

Commander ‘Sharkey’ Ward, fearless ‘top gun’ pilot decorated in the Falklands War – obituary

He led 801 Naval Air Squadron into battle, taking his Sea Harrier patrol as low as 10ft above the ground to destroy enemy aircraft

Frank Ifield, singer who thrilled the 1960s teenage market with hits like I Remember You – obituary

Ifield treated the Johnny Mercer ballad I Remember You to his falsetto country-and-western yodelling style with harmonica accompaniment

Ebrahim Raisi, ‘the Butcher of Tehran’, hardline prosecutor who became Iran’s president – obituary

He was notorious for his alleged role in the ‘retrials’ and extrajudicial killings of up to 30,000 dissidents in 1988

Barry Kemp, Egyptologist who dispelled myths about the ‘Christ-like’ pharaoh Akhenaten – obituary

‘The danger of being an absolute ruler is that no one dares tell you that what you have just decreed is not a good idea’

Jacques Cooper, train designer whose revolutionary high-speed TGV was inspired by a sports car – obituary

He borrowed the sloping front and idiosyncratic orange from his design for the Porsche 914 Murène. The TGV went on to set rail speed records

Dabney Coleman, scene-stealing actor with memorable roles in Tootsie and 9 to 5 – obituary

‘I’ve played good guys and nice guys, but the truth is I’d rather be nasty than nice. The bad guys are always better written’

Sir Tony O’Reilly, princely Irish rugby hero and tycoon who fell into bankruptcy – obituary

Creator of Kerrygold, chair of Heinz and press baron, the Gatsby-esque billionaire was ‘a hero from a time when Ireland was short of heroes’

Mark Damon, B-movie heartthrob, spaghetti Western cowboy and later indie movie mogul – obituary

He became ‘the godfather of independent films’, producing critical hits like Das Boot and Monster as well as the erotic flop 9 1/2 Weeks

Gudrun Ure, actress who found fame on children’s television as flying heroine Super Gran – obituary

She undertook many of her own stunts: ‘It doesn’t matter if you are 100 or 150 feet up… you are going to break your neck anyway’

Vice-Admiral Sir Clive Johnstone, commanded HMS Bulwark during the evacuation of Beirut – obituary

Johnstone was an inspirational man with a piercing intellect and it was a wonder to many that he did not go on to be First Sea Lord