We report with sadness the death of film collector and historian David Wyatt at the age of 74. David was long associated with the Cinema Museum, most recently for his presentations with Kennington Bioscope, the Buster Keaton society and the Laurel & Hardy group the Sons of the Desert. David contributed significantly to L&H scholarship by his exhaustive research into their solo work and by identifying a hitherto unknown joint appearance of the two comedians before their official teaming. His enthusiasm for film and broadcast media began in childhood and as a young adult he was a prize-winning amateur film-maker. His early career was as a TV film editor, latterly for Thames but initially at the BBC, where he was noted for his location film work with David Cleveland for Vision On and Jigsaw, along with a series on pioneering British home-movie makers called Everybody’s Doing It (David was also one of the leading experts on the 9.5mm gauge). David edited a magazine for film collectors and contributed to many books. His knowledge of silent and early talkie comedy was as vast as his collection of films and he was always generous in sharing both. Among the many events he organised were the animation festivals (and much else) at the Scala Cinema. His informed but informal presenting style complemented the onscreen fun and he will be missed by friends and audiences alike.

Glenn Mitchell