Christopher Gable (1940-1998). British dancer, actor, teacher and director

Christopher Gable was born in London in 1940 and entered the Sadler’s Wells (now Royal) Ballet School in 1951. He joined The Royal Ballet Touring Company in 1957, and for ten years had a distinguished career as a dancer. Gable was particularly noted for his dramatic quality, and in 1960 Kenneth MacMillan created the role of the young Cousin on him in The Invitation. The following year, Frederick Ashton chose him to be the Young Man in his new version of The Two Pigeons alongside Lynn Seymour. Gable was made a principal dancer in 1961 and transferred to The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in 1963, where he was noted for his partnerships with Seymour. In 1965 MacMillan created the roles of Romeo and Juliet on Gable and Seymour in his acclaimed version of that ballet.

In 1967 Gable decided to leave ballet to pursue a career as an actor on stage and screen. He spent a year with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in Peter Brook’s famous production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and worked frequently with the director Ken Russell on the films Song of Summer (1968), Women in Love (1969), The Music Lovers and The Boy Friend (both 1971) and The Rainbow (1989).

In 1982 Gable founded Central School of Ballet in London with Ann Stannard. He was persuaded by Gillian Lynne to take the role of L.S. Lowry in her ballet for television, A Simple Man, in 1987, and in the same year Gable also became director of Northern Ballet Theatre. Under Gable’s direction, the company became notable for its productions of new narrative ballets, including A Christmas Carol, Dracula, The Brontës and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Christopher Gable died of cancer in 1998.