Alexander Von Giannini was born on 6 June 1958 in Northamptonshire to an English mother and an Italian father and was educated in England and Luxembourg, where his father worked for the European Commission. In fact he reckoned that he changed schools thirteen times in line with his father's work. Prior to acting he was the lead singer - as Sandy Fontaine - of rockabilly group Coast To Coast, with whom he appeared on TV's 'Top of the Pops' but got into acting after meeting Steven Berkoff and trained at the East 15 school in Essex. On television he appeared in many populist series such as 'The Bill' and 'Inspector Morse' and also wrote two short films 'The other Side of My Sleep' and 'Strawberries'. A prolific stage performer, frequently in musicals including 'Oklahoma!' and 'Oh What a Lovely War' Alex was appearing in a revival of 'Mack and Mabel' in Plymouth, Devon, when he died unexpectedly on October 2nd 2015. He leaves a widow, Jennifer Secombe, daughter of comic actor and singer Harry Secombe, whom he married in 1998.