Denis Clark

Putney Theatre Company is sad to hear of the recent passing of Denis Clark, a member of Group 64 and Putney Theatre Company since the formation of the group.

Denis Clark 1929 – 2025

Denis was without doubt one of a kind: actor, singer, magician, raconteur, plumber and handyman. Generous spirited, always willing to be helpful, ready with mole wrench, waterproof tape or plunger as the situation required.

Denis left school at 14 and was apprenticed. Like all his generation, Denis had a spell of military service, and could well have settled into life as a tradesman, but his horizons were wider. He had always sung in the church choir and enjoyed performing in plays. Fascinated from an early age by magic, he perfected the crafts of the magician, and in due course was invited to join the Magic Circle.

Denis became a stalwart of the Putney Amateur Dramatic Society, and also led the local Boys’ Brigade group, then based in the redundant former Union Church in Ravenna Road. In the mid 1960s these two strands of his life came together when the newly formed Group 64 Youth Theatre had targeted the church as a possible base. Initially sceptical, and cautious about yielding his Boys’ Brigade space, Denis soon became an enthusiastic supporter and member of Group 64, continuing to perform for many years as the Group morphed into today’s Putney Arts Theatre. Amongst many old photographs we should treasure Denis sitting on a wall as Humpty Dumpty. I believe Denis’s last appearance was in Robin Hood in December 2018.

But even after his last stage appearance, Denis continued to entertain. Only last week I talked to a Group 64 parent who praised Putney’s recent pantomimes and extolled the magic show in the foyer, given by a lovely old man, saying that her children were enthralled. Of course they were. The equipment and the patter were almost as ancient as Denis, but truly, the magic worked. Denis was rightly proud of his membership of the Magic Circle and travelled regularly to conferences in Switzerland to meet other magicians and hone his craft.

Denis had a fine tenor voice, singing for many years with the choir of St Mary’s Putney until he and organist Stephen Rhys moved to Christ Church East Sheen, where he was a cornerstone of the tenor section for over 20 years. Christ Church is part of a team ministry which includes Mortlake Parish Church, where Denis’s magic show became a regular fixture at the Christmas Day lunch for those who might otherwise be on their own. The church choirs would combine to sing at cathedrals around the country, and I have a fond memory of his entertaining us all to his magic show after dinner at a hotel next to Worcester Cathedral. We also sang and enjoyed his prestidigitation in York, Ely, Rochester and Chichester and many other Cathedrals up and down the land.

Denis was inspired to serve, and attributed this to his Christian faith. He gave freely of his practical skills. When funding for the new studio at Putney’s theatre proved insufficient, Denis personally finished the job, topping out the last few courses of bricks and organising a roof. And in about 1985 there was a classis Denis moment. He took charge of the drain rebuild for a youth opportunities training project. Some time later the loos were backing up, and lifting the cover revealed a manhole filled to the brim. Denis remembered that a large rag had been left In the drain, to retain the mortar in a joint. Perhaps it was still there? Denis put on his waders and with a merry tra la la plunged in up to his chest, felt around, and there was the rag! Triumphantly he emerged, squelched through the theatre, carrying the rag and telling his story as listeners gasped, gagged and ran for fresh air.

How can we possibly sum up Denis Clark? From a perhaps unpromising educational start, Denis became a Renaissance man, one of many parts, actor, singer, magician, which he combined with a practicality that he generously shared. We shall not see Denis’s like again, and we will miss him.

Perry Kitchen    3 March 2025