Ian Hendry

[Timeless A-Peel]

I recoloured the pic above but it's not come out that well. In spite of the nearby window there's a shadow on his face and arm which creates a problem with the skin tone.

I've uploaded it onto my website but I might take it down in time as it's irritating me - !!

How can you wear anything in bed? I'd feel like I was suffocating!

I used t live with an Austrian who kept the windows open in the depths of winter. I'd regularly wake up in the morning with ice in my eyebrows. Still, in these days of duvets with high tog ratings it is a bit old-fashioned to wear a t-shirt or cotton top in bed I suppose

As to Ian Hendry's drinking, it does tend to dominate discussions about him which in some ways is a shame, it overshadows his good work is well worth watching. That's why I was so pleased to see "The Girl on the Trapeze" especially in its restored quality (I had deliberately avoided watching it in its earlier forms or on the net).

He was a smoker too - I don't know when Patrick Macnee gave up cigarettes but that must have contributed to his better health as well. Sadly for that generation (and earlier) smoking was de rigeur - I wish I could persuade my parents to give up, but it's probably too late now.

It is indeed a shame, especially since he was such a good actor. From the few season one episodes we have, I get the sense he could easily have turned out to be one of my favourite Avengers characters. As it is, the show owed him a great deal on the creativity front in terms of giving it the push it needed.

I think Patrick may have given up smoking by TNA, but before that he had that rollercoaster pattern going on--when he was working, and things were going well, he'd quit; when he wasn't working, and the bank balance got worrying, he'd start up again. Repeat for the duration of the sixties.

[MRotten]

I recoloured the pic above but it's not come out that well. In spite of the nearby window there's a shadow on his face and arm which creates a problem with the skin tone.

I've uploaded it onto my website but I might take it down in time as it's irritating me - !!

How can you wear anything in bed? I'd feel like I was suffocating!

I used t live with an Austrian who kept the windows open in the depths of winter. I'd regularly wake up in the morning with ice in my eyebrows. Still, in these days of duvets with high tog ratings it is a bit old-fashioned to wear a t-shirt or cotton top in bed I suppose

As to Ian Hendry's drinking, it does tend to dominate discussions about him which in some ways is a shame, it overshadows his good work is well worth watching. That's why I was so pleased to see "The Girl on the Trapeze" especially in its restored quality (I had deliberately avoided watching it in its earlier forms or on the net).

He was a smoker too - I don't know when Patrick Macnee gave up cigarettes but that must have contributed to his better health as well. Sadly for that generation (and earlier) smoking was de rigeur - I wish I could persuade my parents to give up, but it's probably too late now.

It's never too late to give up the drink of the demon and satan's cigarettes, both life-shorteners.

[Dandy Forsdyke]

As to Ian Hendry's drinking, it does tend to dominate discussions about him which in some ways is a shame, it overshadows his good work is well worth watching. That's why I was so pleased to see "The Girl on the Trapeze" especially in its restored quality (I had deliberately avoided watching it in its earlier forms or on the net).

He was a smoker too - I don't know when Patrick Macnee gave up cigarettes but that must have contributed to his better health as well. Sadly for that generation (and earlier) smoking was de rigeur - I wish I could persuade my parents to give up, but it's probably too late now.

I agree. The irony of the photo I coloured is he has a fag on the go and a drink in his hand. But yes, too much is said about it - we all must make our own choices in life.

And, as I've said before, all actors seem to drink and smoke. Patrick, Honor, Gareth and Linda are/were all ex smokers. Diana and Joanna still indulge.

[mousemeat]

I recoloured the pic above but it's not come out that well. In spite of the nearby window there's a shadow on his face and arm which creates a problem with the skin tone.

I've uploaded it onto my website but I might take it down in time as it's irritating me - !!

How can you wear anything in bed? I'd feel like I was suffocating!

I used t live with an Austrian who kept the windows open in the depths of winter. I'd regularly wake up in the morning with ice in my eyebrows. Still, in these days of duvets with high tog ratings it is a bit old-fashioned to wear a t-shirt or cotton top in bed I suppose

As to Ian Hendry's drinking, it does tend to dominate discussions about him which in some ways is a shame, it overshadows his good work is well worth watching. That's why I was so pleased to see "The Girl on the Trapeze" especially in its restored quality (I had deliberately avoided watching it in its earlier forms or on the net).

He was a smoker too - I don't know when Patrick Macnee gave up cigarettes but that must have contributed to his better health as well. Sadly for that generation (and earlier) smoking was de rigeur - I wish I could persuade my parents to give up, but it's probably too late now.

It's never too late to give up the drink of the demon and satan's cigarettes, both life-shorteners.

why ? if you actually enjoy doing one or both, and it does not cause you
problems BESIDES health issues , why quit ? myself, I do both, not a lot, but i certainly ENJOY smoking my cigars..and have no plans to quit.

on the flip, if it's a giant health or personal issue, then quitting might be
the only logical option

[DiVicenzo]

Well, in 2010 alone I know of four people who died due to smoking cigarettes - one was my Mother who was only 73 and would still be alive today if she had allowed the hospital to amputate her leg (her husband died exactly the same way a few years ago after 20 + years of agony - in the end he had a leg and a finger amputated and shrivelled up into a little gremlin) ....another was my ex-sister-in-law in her late 40's who just missed the birth of her first grandchild; another in his forties was the ex-boyfriend of my sister and someone with whom I used to work with many moons ago in Tenerife was the same age as me (55)...,so, I am glad I am not a smoker even though all my family (and it's a big family!) smoke like chimneys; now I drink.....that's my one and only vice and I have the belly to prove it....
Thank goodness, I never knew Diana Rigg smoked when I was a kid...I blame my drinking on The Avengers and 007 though

[MRotten]

I know smoking cigs and drinking booze are popular pasttimes in Britain, but they DO create health problems eventually. The toxins will do damage to the body. Premature wrinkles, bad breath, stinky clothes, lingering hangovers. Not pretty. I think of Allan Clarke, original lead singer of The Hollies. He smoked for years and finally he lost his singing voice. Now his voice is little more than a croak.

[Mona]

I know smoking cigs and drinking booze are popular pasttimes in Britain, but they DO create health problems eventually. The toxins will do damage to the body. Premature wrinkles, bad breath, stinky clothes, lingering hangovers. Not pretty.

Well, I'm a physician, so, of course, I agree!

However, oddly, genetics (and other factors such as diet, emotional well being, exercise, etc), do play a role as to how quickly, and severely, these effects are seen on individuals. For us Steed fans, we are lucky that Pat seemingly inherited a very strong constitution, giving his history of smoking, drinking and over-eating. He is still hanging on at 89, yay!, and we've sadly lost too many other Avenger folks, like Hendry and Hunt, who all were younger. The pancreatic cancer, to which Hunt succumbed, as well as his previous heart attack, have a high association with alcohol and smoking, and I believe Hunt was a chronic smoker, like the American actor Patrick Swayze, who died of the same disease. It's really all too bad. One cannot really say anything good or positive about tobacco addiction or alcoholism. They have surely wreaked a sad toll on the longevity of our show's actors.

Mona

[Timeless A-Peel]

I know smoking cigs and drinking booze are popular pasttimes in Britain, but they DO create health problems eventually. The toxins will do damage to the body. Premature wrinkles, bad breath, stinky clothes, lingering hangovers. Not pretty.

Well, I'm a physician, so, of course, I agree!

However, oddly, genetics (and other factors such as diet, emotional well being, exercise, etc), do play a role as to how quickly, and severely, these effects are seen on individuals. For us Steed fans, we are lucky that Pat seemingly inherited a very strong constitution, giving his history of smoking, drinking and over-eating. He is still hanging on at 89, yay!, and we've sadly lost too many other Avenger folks, like Hendry and Hunt, who all were younger. The pancreatic cancer, to which Hunt succumbed, as well as his previous heart attack, have a high association with alcohol and smoking, and I believe Hunt was a chronic smoker, like the American actor Patrick Swayze, who died of the same disease. It's really all too bad. One cannot really say anything good or positive about tobacco addiction or alcoholism. They have surely wreaked a sad toll on the longevity of our show's actors.

Mona

Ian smoked quite a lot, no question, but I confess I'm puzzled how you know Gareth was a "chronic" smoker. I actually wasn't even certain Gareth did smoke until a couple of years ago, because I couldn't find the pictures the way I could for all the other actors--there are plenty of shots of Patrick, Diana, Joanna, and Linda puffing away on-set, but only one of Gareth. I'm not saying he didn't, but thus far I haven't been able to determine that he smoked much more than anyone else did in the sixties or seventies. His skin certainly hadn't suffered by his thirties, which in my experience is when it tends to catch up with you. Don't know how much he drank, though.

[Mona]

I'm not saying how much he smoked, Timeless, just that he did. I remember reading an article about him 20 years ago where his smoking was referenced; gosh maybe it was even 30 years ago. We only saw Pat with a cigarette in hand during behind the scene production shots, too, so one wouldn't know he smoked nearly 4 packs a day during the sixties.

Again, some bodies handle it better or worse than others. It may or may not have been a factor in his developing pancreatic cancer, but it is associated with that unfortunate condition.

Mona

[Timeless A-Peel]

I'm not saying how much he smoked, Timeless, just that he did. I remember reading an article about him 20 years ago where his smoking was referenced; gosh maybe it was even 30 years ago. We only saw Pat with a cigarette in hand during behind the scene production shots, too, so one wouldn't know he smoked nearly 4 packs a day during the sixties.

Again, some bodies handle it better or worse than others. It may or may not have been a factor in his developing pancreatic cancer, but it is associated with that unfortunate condition.

Mona

Well, "chronic" would tend to denote pretty heavy smoking. I have to say I've read a lot of Gareth articles in my time, and his smoking was never brought up once (while it was a pretty common feature of pieces on Joanna and Diana). I'd be interested to find that one one day, but I'm sure you can't remember where you saw it now.

Alas, I think pretty much everyone in show business was smoking back then, sadly. Honor had breast cancer a few years back, and I'm sure her smoking didn't help (she's also regretted all the sunbathing, or as she called it, "oiling up and turning over like we were on a spit." One of the worst cases is probably Mike Pratt, who died of lung cancer at 45. Every time I see him light up on screen, I feel as though I'm watching him slowly commit suicide.