A master of farce on stage, film and TV, Brian Rix was an actor, producer and manager known for a long-running and record-breaking association with the Whitehall Theatre. The highest paid BBC Television star in the early 1960s, broadcasts of his farces were national events. He enjoyed a lengthy career in comedy before focusing on disability campaigning, following the birth of his first child, with Down syndrome. He became a crossbench member of the House of Lords in 1992 and President of Mencap from 1998 until his death.