Birthdays

TODAY: The Duke of Kent, 58; Mr Joseph Ashton MP, 60; Miss Carling Bassett-Seguso, tennis player, 26; Mr Brian Blessed, actor, 56; Col William Brownlow, Lord-Lieutenant of County Down, 72; Mr Paul Channon MP, 58; Lord Chelmer, former chairman, Provident Financial Group, and politician, 79; The Right Rev Lord Coggan, former Archbishop of Canterbury, 84; Dr William Cole, Master of Music, Queen's Chapel of the Savoy, 84; Mr Geoff Cook, cricketer, 42; Sir Colin Corness, chairman, Redland, 62; Mr Denzil Davies MP, 55; Mr Stuart Devlin, gold-and silversmith, 62; Lord Donaldson of Kingsbridge, former government minister, 86; Professor Sir Herbert Duthie, Provost, University of Wales College of Medicine, 64; Sir David Goodall, former High Commissioner to India, 62; Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone, former Lord High Chancellor, 86; Mr Henry Lambert, chairman, Sun Alliance and London Insurance, 68; Sir John Margetson, former diplomat, 66; Mr Norman Mischler, former chairman, Hoechst UK, 73; Mr Steve Ovett, athlete, 38; Sir Norman Payne, former chairman, BAA plc, 72; Sir Stephen Sedley, High Court judge, 54; Miss Irmgard Seefried, soprano, 74; Sir Michael Shaw, former MP, 73; Mr Donald Sinden, actor, 70; Col the Earl of Stair, former Lord-Lieutenant of Wigtown, 87; Mr Bill Tidy, cartoonist, 60.

TOMORROW: Mr Lance Cairns, cricketer, 44; Sir John Cassels, former director-general, National Economic Development Office, 65; Mr Winston S. Churchill MP, 53; Mr James Clavell, novelist and screenwriter, 67; Mr Charles Dance, actor, 47; Miss Laura Davies, golfer, 30; Mr Ted Edgar, show jumper, 58; Miss Fiona Fullerton, actress, 37; The Right Rev Alastair Haggart, former Bishop of Edinburgh, 78; Sir Peter Kemp, civil servant, 59; Lord Kincraig, former senator of the College of Justice in Scotland, 75; Professor John Large, acoustics engineer, 63; Mr Charles Madge, author and sociologist, 81; Mr Daniel Massey, actor, 60; Mr Nicholas Parsons, broadcaster, , 65; The Right Rev Kenneth Pillar, former Suffragan Bishop of Hertford, 69; Mr Harold Pinter, playwright, 63; Dr Brian Smith, Principal, University of Wales College of Cardiff, 60; The Earl of Stockton, publisher, 50; Mr Chris Tarrant, broadcaster, 47; Mr Frank H. Taylor, former MP and chartered accountant, 86; Mr Gerald Thompson, former chairman, Kleinwort Benson, 83; Mr Richard Thornton, Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, 71; Mr Midge Ure, rock singer, 40; Mr Ben Vereen, actor, 47; Mr Willard White, baritone, 47.