Actor and disability campaigner Brian Rix dies aged 92 weeks after calling for euthanasia to be legal
The former stage star said earlier this month he wanted to 'slip away peacefully'
THE learning disability campaigner and former actor Brian Rix has died, aged 92.
His death comes weeks after he called for assisted dying to be made legal, saying he wanted to "slip away peacefully."
Learning disability campaigner Brian Rix was made a life peer in 1992
The actor was best known for starring in farces on stage and in films such as 1974's Don't Just Lie There Say Something alongside Joanna Lumley
Lord Rix, who was president of Mencap and previously served as the charity's secretary general and chairman and president, had been ill for some time.
He recently wrote to the Speaker of the House of Lords, Baroness D'Souza to appeal for a change in the law to legalise assisted dying so he could "slip away peacefully".
Mencap chief executive Jan Tregelles said: "His unique charm, personality and passion have been invaluable in helping Mencap grow into the UK 's leading learning disability charity and with his passing the charity has lost a very dear friend."
Once a fixture in the West End appearing in innumerable Whitehall farces, Brian Rix became a dedicated champion of people with learning disabilities after his eldest child Shelley was born with Down's Syndrome.
After becoming a life peer, he spoke regularly in the Lords on the issue, voicing his frustration that he was unable to do more for his daughter who died in 2005.
The West End star was previously an opponent of assisted dying because of concerns people with learning difficulties may become the unwilling victims of euthanasia.
But in an interview earlier this month he described how his experience battling terminal illness had led him to change his mind.
"I have wrapped up my affairs and I am ready to go and I can't do anything but lie here thinking 'Oh Christ, why am I still here?' They won't let me die and that's all I want to do," he said.
"I have no fears of dying because it will put an end to this misery, this pain and discomfort. I am constantly woozy and hazy but I can't sleep.
"I think it's wrong that people like me are stranded like this. I'm not looking for something that helps me only, I'm thinking of all the other people who must be in the same dreadful position."
Mencap chair Derek Lewis said: "Through his tireless campaigning he brought about vastly improved life opportunities for those with learning disabilities compared with the situation when his daughter was born with Down's Syndrome.
"He will be greatly missed but his extraordinary achievements leave us all with the inspiration to continue his vital work."
Lord Rix was born into a wealthy Yorkshire family in 1924, the son of a successful shipowner father and a mother who was a producer of amateur dramatics.
He joined a touring company as a trainee actor at 18 and made his first West End appearance in Twelfth Night in 1943, but his burgeoning theatrical career was disrupted by the Second World War in which he saw service in the RAF and down the mines as one of the Bevin Boys.
After the war he formed his own repertory company, serving his apprenticeship in Ilkley, Bridlington and Margate before taking Reluctant Heroes, one of his early productions, to the London's Whitehall Theatre in 1950 - the start of a brilliant association which was to last for nearly three decades.
He was made a CBE in 1977, followed by a knighthood in 1986 and a life peerage in 1992, sitting in the Lords as a cross-bencher.
