James Laurenson, the British actor who made history for British TV’s first same-sex kiss and who appeared on shows like The Crown and Coronation Street, has died. Local media outlets in the UK reported the actor’s passing on Friday, May 10. Further information, including the date and cause of death, was not disclosed. Laurenson was 84.
Born in New Zealand on February 17, 1940, Laurenson moved to London after attending Canterbury University College in Christchurch, according to BristolLive. He made his TV debut as the Reverend Peter Hope in the long-running soap Coronation Street in 1968, going on to make his film debut the following year in Women in Love. In 1970, Laurenson made history for performing the first gay kiss on British television. The moment, taking place just three years after homosexuality was decriminalized, took place in a 1970 television broadcast of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II, with the actor in one scene sharing a kiss with Ian McKellen.
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Laurenson’s career in TV and film spanned five decades. His many TV credits included Prime Suspect, Crown Court, Lovejoy, Cagney & Lacey, and Remington Steele. He also more recently starred in Netflix’s historical drama The Crown, appearing as Scottish physician and homeopath Doctor Sir John Weir. On the big screen, Laurenson appeared in Pink Floyd’s The Wall. The actor also had a bustling career on the stage, his credits including, per Deadline, performances in Shakespeare plays, and the 1984 musical 42nd Street. In 2011, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the Ghost and the Player King in Nicholas Hytner’s production of Hamlet.
According to the Daily Mail, Laurenson also made several radio appearances, most notably as the Squire of Altarnun in a 1991 BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn. In the 1990s, he moved from London to Frome in Somerset, later telling the Western Daily Press that he spent time “away from the spotlight” by “walking our dog, Maisie, down by the River Mells.”
Laurenson is survived by his second wife Cari Haysom, as well as his son Jamie from his previous marriage to actress Carol Macready.
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