SA ACTOR, WRITER DIES

Durban-born writer and actor Guy Willoughby passed away on 11 August 2009 due to AIDs-related complications.

Willoughby’s debut novel published in 2002, Archangels, was described as a “queer romance”. He starred in several theatre productions, including the one-man play Major Schittstirrer, and taught at the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town.

He also dabbled in journalism, writing for newspapers which included the Mail and Guardian. He was also the speechwriter for Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon for a short period.

“He was the passionate expert on Oscar Wilde and Bob Dylan. The flamboyant and mercurial charmer, ever ready with a witticism and a gallant gesture. He never walked up stairs, he bounded,” wrote close friend and TV personality Fiona Coyne in a tribute to Guy. “He was entirely his own person, to the very end. He invented and re-invented himself many times over, dictated to only by himself.”

“He was a young, talented and engaging person who contributed greatly in many spheres. His death reminds us of the tragic loss of talent to this country by a disease which crosses all boundaries,” said Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.