Obituary: Edward Argent, Actor and director

Throughout his 20 years at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance (RSAMD), Edward Argent brought an enthusiasm and a crusading zeal to the teaching of drama. He moulded and advanced careers and recognised in each a special quality which he worked to nurture and develop.

Argent had the knack of uncovering talent and encouraging the individual to explore his capabilities further. Argent directed many successful RSAMD productions, some of which won Fringe First Awards at the Edinburgh festival.

Professor Maggie Kinloch who was a student while Argent was director and is now vice-principal of the Academy, said: "Edward had real theatrical brilliance and human warmth.

"He was very much a man of the theatre and had a wonderfully actorish voice. He cared for every student and undoubtedly made a massive contribution to the teaching of drama in Scotland."

Edward Argent was brought up in Islington, north London and won a scholarship to Mercers College and, after national service, studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1954.

Argent was to spend many years as an actor firstly at the Bristol Old Vic ,where he joined Peter Bowles in Romeo and Juliet and Annette Crosbie and Leonard Rossiter in a new Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds musical called Daisy!

He then worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in some epic productions - including Jean Anouilh's Becket, John Whiting's The Devils and Christopher Fry's Curtmantle. In 1962 Ardent appeared at the Edinburgh Festival with those plays and Troilus and Cressida, directed by Peter Hall and starring Dorothy Tutin and Ian Holm.

In 1961, he was in a memorable production of Taming of the Shrew with Peter O'Toole and Peggy Ashcroft. During this time he played the lead in Strindberg's Dance of Death alongside the celebrated Scottish actress Edith Macarthur. "It was the policy of Peter Hall to give the younger members of the company experience in larger roles," Macarthur recalls. "Edward and I had one terrific Sunday night doing the Strindberg - such valuable experience. He was a lovely man and did tremendous work at the RSAMD."

Argent then worked as a teacher/director at the Webber Douglas and Guildhall Schools in London before, in 1971, becoming head of drama at Manchester Polytechnic. For three years he guided the talents of such future stars as Anthony Sher, Julie Walters, David Threlfall and Richard Griffiths.

In 1974, he joined the RSAMD. The list of actors he taught throughout his years was numerous and the admiration in which he was held by generations of students is reflected in the fulsome tributes being paid to him.

Argent recognised the directing talent of the now internationally renowned opera director David McVicar and actors such as Kathryn Howden, Phyllis Logan, David Tennant (for whom Argent maintained a special affection), Ralph Riach, Emma Fielding, John Kazek, Alan Cumming and Mary McCluskey of Scottish Youth Theatre.

But it was Argent's stage directing of the students that many remember with special affection: the care he took with each student and the insight he brought to their characterisation was meticulous and precise.

He was a great lover of Shakespeare and many recall his 1979 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which won a Fringe First. The following year he brought a zest and excitement to Winter's Tale. The Dream, however, remained a special favourite and it was the last play he did at the Academy in 1996.

Other memorable productions included a stage version of Dickens' Great Expectations and Melvyn Bragg's The Hired Man in 1989: The Scotsman wrote of the latter: "Edward Argent's direction is slick and poignant."

Argent retired from the RSAMD in 1996 and was awarded an honorary degree by the academy in 2005. It left him time to concentrate his considerable energies on the Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre and Prime Productions, the theatre company, where he was chairman of both organisations.

Argent, a devoted family man, also much enjoyed visiting art galleries and was an avid fan of television - especially The Simpsons and Ally McBeal.

As Prof Kinloch recalls: "I, like many, owe Edward so much. I assisted him after I had left the RSAMD in productions of As You Like It and The Hired Man: both tremendous opportunities for a young graduate.

"It was Edward's remarkable ability to nurture young talent that will be his legacy. He was a wonderful role model to all the students both as a man - always dapper in dress and courteous - and as a teacher. I shall always remember him with deep affection, gratitude and respect."

Edward Argent's wife Christine predeceased him. He is survived their two daughters and a son.