A life well lived.

Richard Todd who has died at the age of 90. Known mainly for his roles in war films - particularly "The Dam Busters" - he was in fact a serving soldier in the Second World War, and among the first to be parachuted into Europe following the D-Day landings. In the film "The Longest Day" he played his commanding officer of the time, Major John Howard, and in one scene, as Howard, he is talking to himself, played by another actor. And if Ian Fleming had had his way, he would have been the first James Bond. His life was scarred by losing two of his sons, both of whom committed suicide, but true to the characters he played on screen, he met that tragedy with quiet dignity and a stiff upper lip. When asked what it meant to be British, he said it meant "fairness, good sense, decency, kindness and politeness". They don't make them like that any more. And please, please, please, PLEASE, don't remake The Dam Busters.