FAREWELL TO ANNIE STAINER
“Well Annie’s pretty neat...”
Sad to learn of the death of Annie Stainer, who passed away peacefully in an Australian hospital, following a short illness last week. (31st May)
The news was broken by the Lindsay Kemp Company who reposted the following message from Annie’s children, Joe and Sophie, who she had with the clown/actor/writer Reg Bolton.
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
It is with deep sadness that we share the news that our dear Mum, Annie, passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, with family by her side, after a short battle with pneumonia.
She will forever be remembered by us for her kindness, courage and bravery. Our hearts are broken, and we miss her deeply.
Once funeral arrangements have been made, we will update you all.
Please feel free to share your joyous memories of Annie. We would love to hear them.
Ann Elisabeth Stainer
29/09/1945 – 31/05/2025
Forever in our hearts,
Joe and Sophie
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
While Annie Stainer might not be a name familiar to all Bowie fans, her passing marks the end of an era as she was the last surviving member of the team behind the 1970 Brian Mahoney directed Scottish Television Production of Pierrot in Turquoise or The Looking Glass Murders.
The Lindsay Kemp devised pantomime featured costumes by Natasha Kornilof, including Lindsay’s Pierrot outfit, which she revisited for the Ashes To Ashes Pierrot ten years later, along with many costumes for David in-between.
Here’s the cast list...
Pierrot - Lindsay Kemp
Harlequin - Jack Birkett
Columbine - Annie Stainer
Cloud - David Bowie
Piano - Michael Garrett
This production bore little resemblance to the version of Pierrot in Turquoise that David toured with Lindsay and Jack Birkett in the UK in 1967/1968.
The TV broadcast contained a handful of Bowie originals which he mostly performed from atop a step ladder as the character Cloud, all captured for posterity and viewable here: smarturl.it/PierrotInTurqu
Tracklisting...
When I Live My Dream
Columbine
The Mirror
Threepenny Pierrot
When I Live My Dream (Reprise)
The audio was released in its own right as part of the 2CD Width Of A Circle set: lnk.to/DavidBowie_Wid
Possibly better known than Pierrot in Turquoise was the Ziggy Stardust presentation at London's Rainbow Theatre in August 1972. Mick Rock captured rehearsal footage of Lindsay and The Astronettes (including Annie) at rehearsals and utilised it in the quite beautiful, John, I'm Only Dancing video.
Live images of Bowie at The Rainbow with The Astronettes by Mick Rock
#BowieLindsayKempCompany #RIPAnnieStainer #BowieMickRock
Live images of Bowie at The Rainbow with The Astronettes by Mick Rock
#BowieLindsayKempCompany #RIPAnnieStainer #BowieMickRock
