My friend Dacre Punt, who has died aged 82, was a gifted and prolific designer. Having joined the BBC in 1968, he became a stalwart of the corporation’s art department, his natural panache making him the ideal designer for presentation and award shows, such as the Oliviers, the Baftas and the Brits, and the Royal Variety Performance. A Royal Birthday Gala, a variety show to celebrate the Queen Mother’s 90th birthday in 1990, was typical of the many “high concept” shows on which he put a distinctive mark.
His work as a freelance stage designer was more eclectic and included productions of Spring Awakening at the Royal Court (1996), Passion Flower Hotel at the Prince of Wales (1965) and a stage adaptation of EM Forster’s Howards End at the New Theatre (1967). Among the operas were Lucky Peter’s Johnny for the ENO (1968) and Orfeo and Eurydice for the Wexford festival (1977).
Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Dacre was the son of Madge (nee Morris) and Neville Punt. They divorced shortly after his birth and Dacre and his mother moved to Durban. His father was later to become master of the supreme court for the province of Natal. Between 1950 and 1954 Dacre attended Pretoria boys’ high school.
In 1962 he left South Africa after a family row concerning his sexuality. Because he was then working as a clerk for Sabena Airlines, he flew to London on a free ticket, never to return. For two years he attended night classes at the Central School of Art and Design, studying under Ralph Koltai. His own career as a designer began when he took a job at a studio specialising in prop-making for shop windows.
Dacre’s personality had at its core a guileless integrity which, combined with his distinctive good looks, brought him a number of distinguished mentors. In Durban he had lived for some time with the abstract artist Walter Batiss, who visited him frequently in London. Another great influence on his life was the biographer and historian Brian Fothergill. They met in Chelsea shortly after Dacre’s arrival and lived together for six years. Dacre would often say: “Brian taught me everything I know.”
Needing to earn a little extra money, Dacre joined a firm specialising in spring-cleaning upmarket homes in St John’s Wood, which brought him to the home of Leo Abse, the reforming Labour MP for Pontypool. Dacre and Abse were soon to become close friends and it was Abse who in 1971 helped Dacre to secure his first London home, a flat in Hampstead.
After his retirement from the BBC in 1993, Dacre devoted much of his leisure to figurative painting, often portraying athletes in action.
He is survived by a nephew, David.
