Alfred Cornelius Lynch was a gay British actor on stage, film and television.
Lynch [pictured on the right] was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of a plumber. After attending a Roman Catholic school, he worked in a draughtsman's office before entering national service. Then, whilst working in a factory, he attended theatre acting evening classes. It was at these class that he met his life partner, James Culliford.
In 1958 he joined the Royal Court theatre and acted in a number of plays. After 1960 his career moved more into film and television, for example appearing with Sean Connery in On the Fiddle (1961), and The Hill (1965) and the 1990 film The Krays. The sixties were a golden age for original drama on British television with Play For Today and Armchair Theatre, and Alfie Lynch never went short of work. Some of his later television credits include reading children's stories on Jackanory, Going Straight and the Doctor Who serial The Curse of Fenric as Commander Millington [pictured].Jimmy Culliford suffered a stroke in 1972, after which he and Lynch moved from London to Brighton, where, until Jimmy's death in 2002, Alfred largely put aside his career to look after him. It was the central relationship of Alfie's life. He attracted many passionate admirers but, despite little detours and adventures, which included a fling with Nureyev, it was to Jimmy that he always returned.
Alfred Lynch himself died from cancer in 2003.
Alfred Lynch's obituary in The Guardian