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Sir Jonathan Miller, director, broadcaster and writer, dies at 85
Polymath is mourned as 'one of the most important figures in British theatre and opera of the past half century'
November 27, 2019 12:01
Polymath is mourned as 'one of the most important figures in British theatre and opera of the past half century'
November 27, 2019 12:01Sir Jonathan Miller, the theatre director, broadcaster and writer, has died at 85.
He was famous for the breadth of his work, continuing to work in medicine along the arts and even sculpture, though he rejected the term "polymath".
His son William Miller said his father died on Wednesday morning and that a family statement would follow.
Sir Jonathan directed shows for the English National Opera and National Theatre, including a production of The Merchant of Venice with Laurence Olivier as Shylock.
He directed operas from the 1970s, establishing a decades-long working relationship with the Royal Opera House.
Reacting to Sir Jonathan's death, Oliver Mears, director of opera at the Royal Opera House, said he was "one of the most important figures in British theatre and opera of the past half century".
Sir Jonathan first became famous performing alongside Peter Cook, Alan Bennett and Dudley Moore in the Beyond The Fringe in the early 1960s, which is widely credited with helping launch the "satire boom" with British comedy.
Sir Jonathan, who was working as a doctor, was interviewed by the JC in 1961 and asked if there were any clash between his theatrical and medical ambitions.
He replied: "None whatsoever. The one complements the other. But if there was a clash, my stage work would go — no question about it. There’s talk of us going on Broadway. I’d like that — but only with a job in a New York hospital.”
Speaking to the JC in 2006, the committed atheist said he went to shul "once or twice" before he was meant to have a Barmitzvah but "didn’t understand why I should be reading this strange, backwards-reading quasi-Sumerian script.
"I felt no more engaged by that than I would be by Confucianism, which actually seemed more rational. In the end, I made life so difficult that the barmitzvah never went ahead."
In the 1961 interview, he said: "In the same interview, he said: "Being Jewish is somehow important to me. My parents are very Jewish without being in any way Orthodox, and I'm very Jewish without even knowing what Orthodoxy really is.
"I wasn't Barmitzvah. I don't subscribe to any institutions. I'm — I'm. Well — I'm just Jewish."
