Tributes to a 'sharp, outrageous and wickedly witty trailblazer'

George Logan, who played Dr Evadne Hinge in enduring musical duo Hinge and Bracket has died at the aged 78.

Alongside Patrick Fyffe as Dame Hilda Bracket, the pair played elderly doyennes of the classical music scene.

Their act, with Logan on piano, were regulars on TV in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with a self-titled BBC One series and the BBC Two follow-up Dear Ladies.

The pair wrote the latter show with Gyles Brandreth, who last night said: ‘George Logan was a very funny, very brilliant man - a wonderful musician and a great entertainer. His creation, Dr Evadne Hinge, was beautifully observed & gloriously brought to life with his stage partner Patrick Fyffe as the irrepressible Dame Hilda Bracket. They were such fun!’

Having formed on London’s gay cabaret circuit in the early 1970s, at venues such as the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, the act had a major breakthrough at the 1974 Edinburgh Fringe. The duo went on to release seven albums, have their own Radio 2 programme, and perform on two Royal Variety shows. Fyffe died of cancer at the age of 60 in 2002.

Among those paying tribute to Logan were actor and writer Julian Dutton, who posted: ‘RIP George Logan, Evadne Hinge of Hinge & Bracket. What a fine act, so redolent of those gentlewomen in Ealing comedies who resided in shabby-genteel hotels. With Paul O'Grady and Barry Humphries gone, drag-with-character has lost another wonderful artiste.’

Playwright Liam Rudden, a former entertainment editor of the Edinburgh Evening News, added: ‘Very sad to hear that my lovely friend George Logan, one half of Hinge and Brackett, has left us at the age of 78. Sharp, outrageous and wickedly witty he was a trailblazer who could make me cry with laughter. Rest well, George.'

Logan described how he got into showbusiness in his 2015 autobiography A Boy Called Audrey, writing: 'A gay pub near where I lived put on drag acts. One day, the pianist didn’t turn up. The landlady said, "You play the piano don’t you? I’ll give you two quid to play for the act?" So I did, and became the regular pianist.

'As I was watching all these acts I realised they were getting eight quid for doing gags I’d heard a hundred times. I thought, "I could do that and play the piano at the same time and keep the whole 10 quid to myself."'

After Fyffe’s death, Logan retired from showbusiness to run a bed and breakfast in France with his partner Louie. But he briefly revived the character for the comic opera The Dowager's Oyster at London's Arcola Theatre  in 2016.

Published: 22 May 2023