Brian Rix

The Lord Rix
Rix in 2008
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
27 January 1992 – 20 August 2016
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
Brian Norman Roger Rix

(1924-01-27)27 January 1924
Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died20 August 2016(2016-08-20) (aged 92)
Northwood, London, England
Spouse
(m. 1949; died 2013)
Children4, including Jamie and Louisa
RelativesSheila Mercier (sister)
OccupationActor, activist
Known forFarces (particularly at the Whitehall Theatre and on the BBC)
Campaigning for those with learning disabilities

Brian Norman Roger Rix, Baron Rix, CBE, DL (27 January 1924 – 20 August 2016) was an English actor-manager, who produced a record-breaking sequence of long-running farces on the London stage, including Dry Rot, Simple Spymen and One for the Pot. His one-night TV shows made him the joint-highest paid star on the BBC. He often worked with his wife Elspet Gray and sister Sheila Mercier, who became the matriarch in Emmerdale Farm.

After his first child was born with Down syndrome, Rix became a campaigner for disability causes, among others. He entered the House of Lords as a crossbencher in 1992 and was president of Mencap from 1998 until his death.