James Hazeldine

British actor James Hazeldine was a wellknown face both on British Television and on Stage Best known for his role as Mike Bayleaf Wilson in the ITV drama Londons Burning 1988 many reallife firefighters thought Bayleaf was the character who closely and accurately portrayed your average reallife firefighter a credit to his acting abilities A meticulous performer he was wellknown for researching every part he played and firmly believed that by accurately portraying a character the audience would feel much more involved in and enveloped by the performance He played the role continuously for seven years from the serials inception in 1988 The characters sobriquet stemmed from a culinary bent for complex recipes In a career spanning three decades he also guested in such series as Boon and Miss Marple and in the late 1980s played the manager of the electrics company in Centrals earlyevening situation comedy Young Gifted and Broke 1989 In 1995 Hazeldines character was written out of Londons Burning of the actors own volition but he remained with the programme as a director In years to come he expanded his directing talents to encompass other UK drama serials among them TVs The Knock 1994 and Heartbeat 1992 His acting CV also included sporadic film appearances such as Pink Floyd The Wall 1982 Although renowned as a television performer he was also a respected stage actor having trained with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at one time acted on Broadway alongside Glenda Jackson He was rehearsing for his role as Sigmund Freud in a new stage play The Talking Cure when he became ill In 2002 he appeared in the controversial drama Shipman which reenacted events surrounding the murderous killing spree of Dr Harold Shipman Britains most prolific serial killer Hazeldine assumed the role of Detective Inspector Stan Egerton the man charged with leading the investigation into the deranged doctors crimes Determined that the dramatization should be as authentic as possible Hazeldine even met with the retired policeman to ensure a realistic portrayal of the diligent law enforcer Ironically while the Shipman drama was in production the reallife Mr Egerton died suddenly and prematurely of a coronary disorder James Hazeldine died on 18 December 2002 aged 55 There will never be anyone quite like him again British Television mourned the loss of a truly great actor director and personality