The Week UK 21.03.2020

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THEWEEK 21 March 2020

Obituaries

MichelRoux,whohasdied

aged 7 8,arrivedinBritain

inthe1 96 0s–andspentthe

nextfewdecadestransform-

ingthediningexperienceinhisadopted

country.WithhisolderbrotherAlbert,he

openedLeGavrochein1 96 7,onLondon’s

LowerSloaneStreet–thefirstBritish

restauranttowinthreeMichelinstars.Back

then,Britishcookingwasa“joke”,saidPierre

KoffmanninTheGuardian.“Restaurants

wouldjustserveavocadowithmayonnaiseand

sausagerolls,withhalfagrapefruitandcherry

confitontopfordessert.”Ifyouwerelucky,

youmightgetsmokedsalmon,but“everything

wasovercooked”.TheRouxbrothersnotonly

showedLondonwhatwaspossible,withthe

rightingredientsandexpertise,theytrained

agenerationofyoungchefstocarrytheflame

further.AsRouxhimselfputit:“Itwaslike

someonehadforgottentoswitchonthelight.

Andwedidit–weswitchedonthelight.”

MichelRouxwasbornin1941,inaroomabovehisgrandparents’

charcuterieshopinCharolles,in Burgundy.Food,herecalled

yearslater, wascentral tofamilylife.“Whenyou’re born abovea

charcuterie,everydayhasadifferentflavour–onedayit ispâté;

anotherdayitissausagesorrillettes orham,”he toldthe Radio

Times. “Youeatfood,youbreathefood,you talkabout food:

foodisin the blood.”Hisfather abandonedthe familywhenhe

wasten, saidTheNewYorkTimes.Hismother thenmoved the

familyto Paris,whereshesoldsausagesinthe markets.Shewas

an “instinctive”cook,he said,and aninspiration tohim.Aged

14,hebeganan apprenticeshiptoapatissier(desserts would

remainhispassion).Later,he joinedAlbert inthe kitchenof

the Britishembassy,and worked inthehouseholdofCécilede

Rothschild. AlbertmovedtoBritainfirst,to becomeheadchef

to PeterCazalet,theQueen’sracehorsetrainer. Aftermilitary

service,Michelthoughtaboutbecomingan

operasinger;instead,thoughheknewbarely

awordofEnglish,hedecidedtofollowhis

brotheracrosstheChannel.

HewasappalledbythestateofLondon’s

restaurants–thedrearyfoodandterrible

service.Inhismemoir,herecalledthe

particularhorrorhefeltatthesightofaplate

ofpeasbeingdeliveredtoacafétable.“Like

awitnesstoaterribleatrocity,Itoldmyself

Ihadtoputthisoutofmymindasquicklyas

possible,”hewrote.Spottinganopportunity,

thebrothersusedtheirlifesavingstoopen

LeGavroche,namedaftertheurchininVictor

Hugo’sLesMisérables–butalsohadbacking

fromthelikesofJacobRothschild.Charlie

ChaplinandAvaGardnerwereamongthe

guestsattheopeningnight;scoresofother

celebritieswouldfollow,toenjoysuchdishes

astheirfamoustwice-bakedcheesesoufflés.In

1982,thebrothersopenedTheWatersideInnin

Bray,servinguptheirclassic–andextremelyexpensive–French

cuisinetoeveryone from TerryWoganandthe Sult anofBruneito

theQueen(thoughshehad atakeaway,afternewsof her dinner

planswereleaked).It wonits thirdMichelinstarin1985.

Around thattime,thebrothersdecidedthey hadworkedtogether

long enough.Albert–who hadalways beenthedrivingforceon

thebusinessside–took sole charge ofLe Gavrocheandother

enterpris es,whileMichelconcentratedontheWaterside.They

remainedclose, however, and collaborated onvarious TVshows

andcookerybooks.They alsoranthe Roux Scholarship for

youngchefs. In2003,apollofUKchefsnamedthemasthemost

influentialchefs inthecountry. Roux hadtwodaughtersanda

son with hisfirstwife,Françoise. Theydivorcedin1962.His

secondwife,Robyn,diedin2017. HissonAlainnowrunsthe

Watersidewhilehis nephew, MichelJr,runs LeGavroche.

MichelRoux

1941-2020

MaxvonSydow,whohasdied

aged90, appeared inoneofthe

moststrikingscenesincinema

history,asthe medievalknight

who, onreturning fromtheCrusades,challenges

DeathtoagameofchessinIngmarBergman’s

TheSeventhSeal(1 95 7).Imposingly tall,with

agaunt face ,hooded blueeyes, alow, resonant

voice and“graveside glamour”, vonSydow

appearedinalmostadozenofBergman’s films

andwas beloved by arthouseaudiences, saidthe

FT; buthealsolent hisausterepresencetomore

mainstream fare,playing the priest (a character

decadesolder than himself) inthe1973 horror

filmThe Exorcist,and Ernst Blofeldinthe 1983

Bond filmNeverSayNever Again.

Carl AdolfvonSydow wasborninthe small town of Lund,in

souther nSweden,in1 929, theonly childofauniversi ty professor

(a folklorist) and aschoolteacher. His parentswere not theatrical,

but hereckon ed he was inspired by his father’slove of story-

telling, and aged14, he formedatheatregroup with friends.

He was, he said, “a veryshy boy”, but hediscovered thenthat

acting allowed him to express“strange thingsthat Ihad never

daredexpr ess before, with the characteras ashield, asadefence,

andasanexcuse”.He enrolled indrama school in Stockholm,

andmade hisscreen debut in 1949,having by then dropped his

original firstnames,and become knownasMax.

Foreightyears,helearned hiscraftin regional

theatres,anditwasinMalmöin 19 55 that he

firstworkedwithBergman.Hewas27 when

theymadeThe SeventhSeal.By theearly 1960 s,

Hollywood wasknockingon hisdoor.He

resistedforawhile, butin1965 hereceivedan

offerthat, hesaid,hecouldn’t refuse,toplay

JesusChrist inThe GreatestStoryEverTold.

Alas, it turned out to be “Jesus Christ Superbore”,

saidThe Guardian.Von Sydow remained in

demand, but he wasfrustratedthatheusually

playe dvillain s–aneo-NaziinTheQuiller

Memorandum,ahired assassin inThreeDaysof

the Condor,and thedevious Mingthe Merciless

in th ekitschsci-fi rompthatwasFlash Gordon.

Backin Sweden, he continued tocollaborate with

Bergman, andalso madeeight fi lmswithJan Troell. In 1989, he

was nominatedfor an Oscar forhis rolein theDanish filmPelle

the Conqueror,bywhich time hewasbeinggiven more diverse

roles in Hollywood too: in 1986,heplayed BarbaraHershey’s

possessive lover inHannah andHerSisters.Hewas nominated

foranotherOscar for 2011’sExtremely Loud &Incredibly

Close,and hadrecently appearedas the Three-EyedRaven in

GameofThrones.Von Sydowmarriedthe Swedish actress

ChristinaOlinin1951.Theylate rdivorced, havinghadtwo sons

together. In1997, hemarried French film-maker CatherineBrele t,

and adoptedhertwo childrenfromher previousmarriage.

Max von

Sydow

1929-2020

French chef who revolutionised the British restaurant scene

MichelRoux:“foodisintheblood”

Max von Sydow: played Christ

Compelling Swedish actor who played chess with Death