TOM FLEMINGScottish actor and BBC commentator Tom Fleming died on 19 April, 2010, aged 82.He reached his widest audience with his voiceovers of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a service he provided from 1966 and 2008.He also commentated for television and radio on such important events as Remembrance Day services and royal weddings, including that of Charles and Diana. He described the Eurovision Song Contest when it was hosted in Edinburgh in 1972.As an actor he was a founding member of the Gateway Theatre in Edinburgh in the 1950s. In the early ’60s he took on the titles roles in BBC productions of Henry IV and Rob Roy, then joined the RSC in 1962, playing the lead in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline that year.In 1965 he founded another Edinburgh-based company at the Royal Lyceum Theatre by his commentating career took off. In the 1980s he directed the nascent Scottish Theatre Company.BBC Scotland head of programmes Donalda MacKinnon paid tribute to Mr Fleming saying: “He helped bring some of the most memorable state occasions into the living rooms of our audiences.“Major broadcasts such as the Tattoo just won't seem the same without his authoritative gravitas, which he combined so expertly with witty observation.”
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