Leslie Phillips, the British actor best known for his roles in the Carry On comedies and as the voice of the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter movies, has died aged 98.
His agent Jonathan Lloyd confirmed that Phillips died “peacefully at home” on Monday.
The veteran actor made his first film appearances in the 1930s. He is remembered for his exaggerated comic portrayal of the English upper class after starring in Carry On Nurse, Carry On Teacher and Carry On Constable in 1959 and 1960.
Phillips later moved into more dramatic roles, including a turn opposite Peter O’Toole in the film Venus, which was released in 2007 and earned him a Bafta nomination for best supporting actor. He also voiced the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter franchise.
Phillips was born in Tottenham, north London, in April 1924.
He attended Chingford School and later the Italia Conti Stage School.
He served as a lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry from 1942 until 1945, when he left due to injury.
Phillips said of his experiences: "The beginning of my trouble was continuous bombardment and the bangs. It was nerve-wracking with aeroplanes flying over and shooting them down.
"I used to get a sort of paralysis on the left side of the body. I suppose it was a form of shell-shock. I never really recovered."
In 1945, he went to a hospital in north London with "people who had every known kind of problem — it was a great mess of people who were suffering".
He went on: "To be honest, I never thought I'd survive the war. I always thought: 'Any minute now I'll be bloody killed', so I was quite surprised to be alive."
He was soon back in the limelight and began securing leading roles on the stage and screen from the early 1950s.
But Phillips began making serious inroads into film from 1955 and his charm was seen to good effect in Brothers In Law, The Smallest Show On Earth and The Man Who Liked Funerals.
He suffered a stroke in 2014 while shopping in London, but made a strong recovery.
Phillips was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2008 in recognition of his acting career.
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
