Been and gone: Dylan's photographer and namer of Spitfire

  • Published
Bob Dylan, photographed by Barry Feinstein
Image caption,
Barry Feinstein was celebrated for his images of Bob Dylan (above)

Our regular column covering the passing of significant - but lesser-reported - people of the past month.

The photographer Barry Feinstein shot some of the most enduring rock music images of the 1960s. His portrait of Janis Joplin taken the day before she died graced the cover of her album, Pearl, while his image of George Harrison sitting on a chair surrounded by garden statues appeared on the ex-Beatle's solo album, All Things Must Pass. His best known work is probably the monochrome image of an unsmiling Bob Dylan on the 1964 album, The Times They Are A-Changin'. Feinstein began his career shooting portraits of film stars for Columbia but branched out taking more candid pictures of the stars outside the studio. After meeting Dylan, he became the singer's official photographer on his 1966 tour and chronicled Dylan's switch from acoustic to electric music. "Musicians are actually easier to photograph than movie stars," he once said. "They're just not as uptight."

For 14 years Elouise Cobell fought a legal battle to recover billions of dollars that had been systematically plundered from Native Americans by the US government. During the action it emerged that the government's Bureau of Indian Affairs had, over the previous 100 years, sold off Indian land to farmers and prospectors but failed to pass the money on. A qualified accountant, Yellow Bird Woman, as Cobell was known in her native Blackfoot nation, raised the huge sums of money necessary to fight the case. Along the way she encountered opposition from the various US administrations she had to tackle but eventually, on the election of Barack Obama, the government paid out more than $3bn (£1.9bn) in what became the largest class action in US history. The sum was a lot less than the $27bn (£16.9bn) Cobell estimated had been stolen from Native Americans over the century.

Image caption,
Sheila Allen was watched by millions in Onedin Line

The actress Sheila Allen was best known for her role as Cassie Manson in the 1976 TV drama, Bouquet of Barbed Wire. As the long-suffering wife of the obsessive Peter, played by Frank Finlay, she allowed herself to be seduced by her son-in law in a plot that was considered extremely risque at the time. TV critic Clive James wrote of it that "by the end, everybody had been to bed with everybody else except the baby". Allen began her career as a Shakespearian actress in the 1950s and remained with the Royal Shakespeare Company for more than 20 years. She started working in television in the 1960s including a guest appearance in an episode of the cult series, The Prisoner. She also appeared in a number of films including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but her first love was always the stage.

Image caption,
Sue Lloyd turned from acting to portrait painting

Acting also lost Sue Lloyd who, after adding a touch of glamour to the 1960s, returned to play Barbara Hunter in more than 700 episodes of the ATV soap, Crossroads. With its creaky scenery and even creakier plot lines Lloyd herself admitted she had to think twice before taking up the offer of the part. In the event, her character married the dashing David Hunter, played by Ronald Allen, a partnership that spilled over into real life. A former dancer and model, Lloyd first came to public attention as Michael Caine's love interest in The Ipcress File. She popped up in a string of TV dramas including The Avengers, The Sweeney and The Saint and had a spell as the girlfriend of Steve Forrest in the espionage series The Baron. When the acting offers tailed off, she turned back to her love of portrait painting at which she was very proficient.

If it had not been for Annie Penrose, RAF pilots might have found themselves piloting Shrews rather than Spitfires in the Battle of Britain. Her father, Sir Robert McLean, was chairman of Vickers between the wars and worked closely with R J Mitchell who was designing a new single-seater fighter. Mitchell had wanted to call the new plane the Shrew but McLean insisted it was called the Spitfire, the nickname he had bestowed on his somewhat headstrong daughter. After opposition from the Air Ministry he finally got his way. Annie, who was born in India, went on to marry the actor Robert Newton before his drinking and womanising led to divorce. She later married Beakus Penrose and became the chatelaine of the Killiow Estate in Cornwall which she ran well into her 80s.

When Peter Green formed the original Fleetwood Mac in 1967 he was initially unable to persuade John McVie to sign up and instead recruited Bob Brunning as the band's first-ever bass player. Brunning was studying at a teacher's training college when he saw Green's advert in Melody Maker. In the event he played on just one track with the band, Long Grey Mare, before McVie changed his mind and Brunning quit. He spent a brief period with Savoy Brown but decided that teaching would provide a more certain income. His interest in music did not diminish and he recorded four albums with his own outfit although none sold that well. He was also a prolific author and published several histories of Fleetwood Mac as well as books about the British blues scene.

Among others who died in October were the co-creator of Apple computers, Steve Jobs; the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi; much-loved Coronation Street actress, Betty Driver; actor George Baker, famous for his portrayal of Inspector Wexford and guitarist and co-founder of Pentangle Bert Jansch.