Date with history: Chariots of Fire star loses battle with Aids

TRIBUTES were paid on January 6, 1990 to Edinburgh actor Ian Charleson - best known for his role in Chariots of Fire - who lost his battle with Aids.

Charleson, 40, was the second showbusiness personality from the city to die from the disease in recent weeks, following the death of pop star Billy Lyall.

Charleson's parents Jack and Jean, from Portobello, along with brother Kenneth, were by his bedside when he died in his London home.

The news was announced by his agent Michael Whitehall, who said the actor had died from septicaemia after a "courageous struggle" against Aids, which was only diagnosed four months earlier.

"Ian had been having trouble with his sinuses earlier in the year. He went for a check-up and cancer of the sinuses was diagnosed. Because of this there was suspicion he might have Aids and he was tested. Unfortunately, it proved positive," he said.

Former Royal High School pupil and Edinburgh University student Charleson shot to international fame in the 1981 Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire in which he played gold-medal athlete Eric Liddell.