Groundbreaking Beyond The Fringe satirist was 85

Jonathan Miller, who shot to fame as part of the groundbreaking Beyond The Fringe, has died this morning, aged 85.

After his breakthrough alongside Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett, he went on to be an acclaimed writer, director and broadcaster.

A Cambridge medicine graduate, he was was working as a doctor when the satire boom heralded by Beyond the Fringe catapulted him into the spotlight. The revue premiered at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival before transferring to the West End and Broadway.

However, he subsequently fell out with Cook's Private Eye magazine when they put his byline on a piece that should have been anonymous. To mark his passing, the magazine – which subsequenly lampooned him as the  self-important 'Dr Jonathan' –  today tweeted the letter he sent them in 1962.

So, farewell then, Jonathan Miller - a very early contributor to Private Eye, until they fell out over the magazine putting his byline on a piece in September 1962. This was the letter he sent in response. pic.twitter.com/oT78FCuEg6

— Private Eye Magazine (@PrivateEyeNews) November 27, 2019

Moving away from comedy, Miller became editor and presenter of BBC arts programme Monitor and a director of plays at the National Theatre.

He went on to direct six of the BBC's 1980s Shakespeare productions,  and operas for the ENO, Glyndebourne and the Met in New York – despite being unable to read music – cementing his reputation as a gifted polymath.

However, he had a reputation for being cantankerous, espeically towards journalists, once saying: 'I get annoyed that some pipsqueak is allowed to publish his used toilet paper. I know what I'm doing better than they do.'

And he did nothing for accusations of arrogance when he told Desert Island Discs: 'Most of the things I've done in the arts I can do with my right hand tied behind my back.'

Among those paying tribute today were Rufus Jones, creator of Channel 4 comedy Home, who tweeted: 'The culture became a substantially stupider place today. Jonathan Miller could do anything, and therefore did everything. And among it all, with Beyond The Fringe, completely revolutionised what and who we laugh at. Absolute waterfall of genius.'

The English National Opera said in a tweet: 'His contribution to comedy, theatre and ENO in particular was immeasurable. For over four decades Jonathan created some of ENO’s most celebrated and popular opera productions.'

And writer Henry Hitchings recalled: 'I think my favourite Jonathan Miller line relates to his getting a bad review from Bernard Levin, who he said "came down on me like an ounce of bricks"

Miller was knighted in 2002 for services to music and the arts. He leaves his wife Rachel and children Tom, William and Kate

Published: 27 Nov 2019