Edward Burnham obituary

My father-in-law, Edward “Teddy” Burnham, who has died aged 98, had an acting career that spanned eight decades, from 1938, when he graduated from Rada with the Bancroft gold medal, to his final TV appearances in the comedies Black Books (2003) and Swiss Toni (2004).

Edward was born in Stafford. His father, an opera singer, left his young family to return to the opera houses of Europe; his mother was a gifted cook, whose work in the grand houses of the day enabled her to keep herself and her two children.