I don’t think Leigh really had a preference for any artistic medium. He had an abundance of stories and ideas to express and very few days went by when Leigh didn’t write a poem or a short story. But acting was his chosen career. If you needed to find Leigh he would be either at the library, the pub or an audition. In an ideal world, he’d be on a film set or in a theatre. If the agent didn’t ring, the pen didn’t work or the library was shut, he would pull up a seat next to someone on the street who looked a little lonely and give him a performance that people would pay good money to see. He’d always leave that person loving the world just a bit more.

Leigh had no concept of tomorrow, he lived entirely in the present and that was one of the qualities that made him such a great actor. It was also one of the qualities that made life difficult for him. He would be paid a lot of money for a job and instead of saving for a rainy day he would shout the pub. I remember an old man asking Leigh for a cigarette; Leigh insisted he take the pack.

My favourite production at drama school was Time and the Conways by J P Priestly. It was a play about the ravages of time and the grief and loss that we experience over time. Leigh played Mr Beavis, a hard-nosed businessman, who told it like it was with no sympathy, no wallowing, a character as far removed from his own nature as possible. Leigh loved Mr Beavis and as a testament to Leigh’s brilliance so did the audience. And as J P said:

Joy and Woe are woven fine
A clothing for the soul divine
And when this we rightly know
Safely through the world we go

We’ll miss the hell out of you Leigh.

Suzi Dougherty