Christopher Gable
Christopher Michael Gable, CBE (13 March 194023 October 1998) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer and actor.
Also recorded as Christopher Michael Gable
Christopher Gable

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- Name
- Christopher Gable
- Birth Name
- Christopher Michael Gable
- Born
- 13 March 1940
- Birthplace
- London, England, U.K.
- Died
- 23 October 1998
- Place of death
- Yorkshire, England, U.K.
- Occupation
- Actor Dancer
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Education
- Royal Ballet School
- Honours
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Christopher Michael Gable, CBE (13 March 194023 October 1998) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer and actor.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Christopher Gable (1940–1998) was an actor, choreographer and dancer, among other activities, of British nationality. The actor was born in London. Christopher Gable was educated at Royal Ballet School.
Languages used include English. Honours include Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q2966587 · wikipedia · Christopher Gable
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Christopher Gable • Honorific Suffix — CBE • Birth Name — Christopher Michael Gable • Born — 13 March 1940 • Birthplace — London, England, U.K. • Died — 23 October 1998 • Place of death — Yorkshire, England, U.K. • Occupation — Actor Dancer • Children — 2
Dance career
Dance career
Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1957. He was promoted to soloist in 1959 and principal in 1961. Gable's roles included Romeo in the Kenneth MacMillan production of Romeo and Juliet, Mercury in Offenbach's comic operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, a production that was filmed and released on DVD, and Colas in La fille mal gardée. Gable frequently partnered with Lynn Seymour. Gable suffered from a chronic rheumatoid condition in his feet and left the Royal Ballet in 1967 to pursue a career in acting.
Screen acting career
Screen acting career
Gable appeared in a number of television and film productions directed by Ken Russell. These included Song of Summer (1968) and Dance of the Seven Veils (1970) for BBC television, and the films Women in Love (1969), The Music Lovers (1971), The Boy Friend (1971), The Lair of the White Worm (1988), and The Rainbow (1989). His other roles included John, valet and friend of Prince Edward, in the Cinderella film musical The Slipper and the Rose (1976), the composer Peter Cornelius in Wagner (1983), Mercury in the BBC television production of Orpheus in the Underworld (1983), ambiguous villain Sharaz Jek in the Doctor Who serial The Caves of Androzani (1984), and Arthur Ainsley in the miniseries A Woman of Substance (1985).
Return to dance
Return to dance
In 1982 Gable founded the Central School of Ballet with Ann Stannard. Five years later he was appointed Artistic Director of Northern Ballet Theatre. He transformed the small regional troupe into a company of national renown by presenting imaginative new works and staging revivals of old classics. Among the productions mounted during his eleven-year regime were Swan Lake, A Christmas Carol, The Brontes, The Amazing Adventure of Don Quixote, Dracula, Giselle, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Many of the projects he created later were performed by other dance companies, including the Atlanta Ballet and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Personal life
Personal life
Gable was married to dancer Carole Needham from 1961 until his death in 1998. They had two children, a son and a daughter.
Death
Death
Gable died of cancer near Halifax, Yorkshire, at the age of 58.
Selected theatre performances
Selected theatre performances
• Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Brook's landmark production for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1970. • Laertes to Alan Howard's Prince Hamlet in Trevor Nunn's RSC production of Hamlet in 1970. • Jack Absolute in The Rivals by Sheridan, one of the two opening productions at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, directed by Braham Murray in 1976, and Count Hohenzollern in The Prince of Homburg by Heinrich von Kleist, the other opening production, directed by Casper Wrede. • John Rosmer in Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Casper Wrede at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in 1981. • Philinte in The Misanthrope by Moliere, directed by Casper Wrede at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in 1981. He also appeared on stage in West End musical The Good Companions in 1974.
Filmography
Filmography
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1968 — Song of Summer — Eric Fenby • 1969 — Women in Love — Tibby Lupton • 1970 — The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes — Danseur Nobel — Uncredited • 1971 — The Music Lovers — Count Anton Chiluvsky • The Boy Friend — Tony • 1976 — The Slipper and the Rose — John • 1988 — The Lair of the White Worm — Joe Trent • 1989 — The Rainbow — Will Brangwen — (final film role)
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. It is also recorded that research with high-risk populations: balancing science, ethics, and law / edited by David Buchanan, Celia B.
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Gable, Christopher Michael (1940–1998), dancer, actor, and ballet director, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2004
reference work
- “Christopher Gable”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2966587: Christopher Gable
General reference · Wikidata
Honours and awards
In 1996 Gable was awarded a CBE for his services to British dance. The following year he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Bradford.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Christopher Gable. Northern Ballet.
- 2.Gable biography on the DVD of Orpheus in the Underworld
- 3.British Film Institute. Orpheus in the Underworld (1983).
- 4.Mulkern, Patrick. The Caves of Androzani ★★★★★. Radio Times.
- 5.British Film Institute. A Woman of Substance: Episode 1 (1984).
- 6.Brennan, Mary. Christopher Gable. The Herald Scotland. 21 November 1998.
- 7.Oliver, Myrna. Christopher Gable, 58; International Ballet Star and Film Actor. Los Angeles Times. 3 November 1998.
- 8.Dunning, Jennifer. Christopher Gable, 58, Dancer Who Made Switch to Acting (Published 1998). The New York Times. 1 November 1998.
- 9.Meisner, Nadine. Obituary: Christopher Gable. The Independent. 26 October 1998.
- 10.Christopher Gable. Theatricalia.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Gable, Christopher Michael (1940–1998), dancer, actor, and ballet director, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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