Alan Lake

Alan Lake (24 November 1940 – 10 October 1984) was an English actor, best known as the third husband of screen star Diana Dors.[1][2]

For the English Defence League organiser, see Alan Lake (English Defence League).

Alan Lake
Photo by John Vere Brown, 1964
Born(1940-11-24)24 November 1940
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK
Died10 October 1984(1984-10-10) (aged 43)
Sunningdale, Berkshire, England, UK
Cause of deathSuicide by gunshot
OccupationActor
Years active1964–1984
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1968; died 1984)​
Children2 Emma Katie Brown Lake (b. 06/03/1966) and Jason Dors Lake (b.11/09/1969 - 14/09/2019).

Biography

Alan Lake was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire on 24 November 1940.[3][4] He studied acting at RADA,[4] and began to work in television roles in 1964.[5]

He is best known as the third husband of the actress Diana Dors, whom he met on the set of the 1968 television series The Inquisitors.[4] He was initially not keen on Dors; his reaction on finding that he would be working with her was, "Oh no, not Madame Tits and Lips!", but within days, they had fallen in love and were married on 23 November 1968.[4] Their stormy marriage produced a son, Jason David (1969-2019). Alan has a Daughter Catherine born in 1966 with casting director Pamela Brown. Diana and Alan worked together in the early 1970s, on stage in plays such as Three Months Gone, in which Dors received her best critical reviews since Yield to the Night, and they also received an offer to appear together in a TV sitcom, Queenie's Castle.[6]

In July 1970, Lake was involved in a pub brawl for which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, although he was released after serving a year. His friend, the singer Leapy Lee, was sentenced to three years for stabbing the pub's relief manager.[4][6] Lake was a keen horseman, and on his release from prison Dors presented him with a mare named Sapphire. In 1972, Lake was unseated when the horse ran into the bough of a tree. He broke his back, and initially it was thought he might spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. However, he was walking again within three weeks.[4][6] After leaving hospital, unable to work while he recovered, and in severe pain, he began drinking heavily.[6] Dors said of him at this time: "alcohol had unleashed a monster, uncontrollable and frightening".[6]

Lake began hallucinating and experiencing psychotic episodes, but was diverted from drinking after becoming a Roman Catholic, also convincing Dors to follow him in adopting the faith.[4] In 1974, Dors was rushed to hospital suffering from meningitis, and Lake fainted when he was told that she might not survive the night.[6] In 1975, within months of her illness, at the age of 43, Dors became pregnant with their second child and was advised by doctors to have an abortion, but because of her newly-adopted religion, and regret at two previous abortions, decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. She miscarried, which led Lake to return to heavy drinking.[4]

For the remainder of the 1970s, Lake's once promising acting career was reduced to appearances in low-budget comedy films and small parts in television dramas. However, in 1974, he had a significant role as a singer Jack Daniels in the Slade vehicle Slade In Flame, and also as John Merrick in the first episode of the hugely popular TV series The Sweeney.[7] Both he and Dors attended the film premiere at the Metropole Theatre, Victoria, London, on 13 February 1975.[8]

In 1980, the pair separated for a time, although they were reconciled when Lake promised to undergo treatment for his alcoholism.[6] Lake's acting work became less frequent in the 1980s, and Dors' health began to deteriorate. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1982, and died in May 1984.[4] Lake immediately burnt all of Dors' clothes, and fell into a depression. On 10 October 1984, five months after Dors' death, and 16 years to the day since they had first met, he took their teenage son to the railway station, returned to his Sunningdale home, and took his own life by shooting himself in the mouth in their son's bedroom.[4] He was 43.

His roles included Herrick in the Doctor Who story Underworld; and parts in Cluff, Redcap, Sergeant Cork, The Saint, Public Eye, The Avengers, Department S, Dixon of Dock Green, The Protectors, Z-Cars, Softly, Softly: Taskforce, Crown Court, The Sweeney, Angels, Target, Hazel, Strangers, Blake's 7, Juliet Bravo, The Gentle Touch, Hart to Hart, and Bergerac.[1]

In 1969, he recorded a pop single, "Good Times"/"Got To Have Tenderness" (the former a cover of a song written by Harry Nilsson), which was released by Ember Records (EMBS 278).[9]

Acting roles

Film

Television

References
  1. "Alan Lake".
  2. "The Avengers Forever: Alan Lake".
  3. Alan Lake Archived 16 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine movietome.com
  4. Donnelley, Paul (2003) Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries, Omnibus Press, ISBN 978-0-7119-9512-3, p. 221-2
  5. TV.com. "Alan Lake".
  6. Upton, Julian (2004) Fallen Stars: Tragic Lives and Lost Careers, Critical Vision, ISBN 978-1-900486-38-5, p. 33-9
  7. "Alan Lake".
  8. "Slade In Flame".
  9. Productions, Global Dog. "45 Discography for Ember Records - UK - EMB S series".
  • Simon Sheridan Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema (fourth edition) (Titan Publishing, London) (2011)
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