Kit HeskethHarvey, Renaissance Man Of Opera, Film And Theatre, Dies Suddenly Aged 65

British musician, composer and screenwriter Keith Hesketh-Harvey has died suddenly at the age of 65, according to The Independent .

The multifaceted artist who performed for King Charles went on to have a prolific career, including writing the screenplay for James Ivory's 1987 film Maurice , in which a young Hugh Grant starred in one of his first screen roles.

She is the sister of journalist and former Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands. His death is a double whammy for a family searching for Miss Sands' ex-husband, British actor Julian Sands, who went missing two weeks ago while walking through Southern California.

Mrs. Sands spoke of the shock of her brother's death. He told The Independent : “The nose is amazing. clever, sensitive, cheerful, kind. The last time I saw him he was busy planning a pilgrimage to Norfolk; there is always the next adventure, the next joke. He gave and gave and gave. "

Hesketh-Harvey, known for her work on television series including Vicar Dibley, was married to actress Kathy Rabett, a former member of the Hot Gossip dance group and ex-girlfriend of Prince Andrew, until the former couple's recent scandalous divorce.

Born into a Malawian MFA family, Hesketh-Harvey was educated at Canterbury Cathedral and later became a soloist at Tonbridge School in Kent.

He studied English Literature on a choir scholarship at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was also a member of the Footlights Drama Club.

Leaving his role as producer for the BBC's television and music departments to work on Morris, Hesketh-Harvey continued his studies with Stephen Sondheim, visiting the giant American musical theater professor at Oxford University.

He then worked with Richard Curtis on the BBC comedy series The Vicar of Dibley starring Dawn French . Together with pianist Richard Sisson, also of the Footlights, he created the two-act cabaret Kit and The Widow, a partnership that lasted 30 years and ended in 2012.

Passionate about opera and classical music, he wrote for The Guardian in 2010 about how he lived through the last days of Monteverdi, considered the father of modern opera, in his production of Monteverdi's Flying Circus . Franz Léger's translation of The Merry Widow was moved from Leeds North Opera to the Sydney Opera House in 2011.

In a 1995 interview with The Independent for an article about his "dream home", Hesketh-Harvey recalled spending his childhood on the shores of Lake Malawi, "surrounded by rainforests, white sands and African fishing villages".

Describing the piano as a "luxury item", he joked that his family's children's instrument was coated in "112 galvanized steel" to protect it from termites.

"It would be more reassuring if I had a verse looking after me when I was younger." She is an incredible woman. Often drunk, he had no front teeth, but he saved my life after being bitten by a snake by biting me with his remaining teeth and sucking out the venom.

He is survived by his ex-wife, actress and scientist Catherine Rabet, and two children, Augusta and Rollo.

The Independent has contacted Hesketh-Harvey for comment.