Personal Life and Death
He married Patricia Brown in 1955; they had three children, Amanda, Timothy and Piers.
Nimmo's hobbies included gardening and collecting walnut furniture, porcelain and paintings. He was also a wine expert and wrote several books on the subject as well as a number of books on the theatre. Another interest was after dinner speaking, for which he was always in demand.
He received many awards, including the 1990 Benedictine After Dinner Speaker of the Year. He was made a Freeman of the City of London, and the University of Leicester recognised his contribution to entertainment with an honorary Master of Arts degree in 1996.
In December 1998, Nimmo attended a National Treasures celebrity lunch in the boardroom of the Daily Express newspaper along with Sir Peter O'Sullevan, Joan Collins, Dame Beryl Bainbridge, Dickie Davis and Sue MacGregor amongst others. He had recently returned from a Middle East tour of Run For Your Wife and was in sparkling form. After lunch he asked to be driven to the Garrick Club for further refreshment, and then returned to his Kensington home. He and his wife later went out to dinner. On their return, Nimmo was checking an external alarm when he lost his footing and fell down a stone staircase into the basement. He suffered head injuries and was rushed to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where he remained in a coma until his death in February 1999.
He is buried in the churchyard at Easton Maudit, a small rural village in Northamptonshire where he kept a home.
Read more about this topic: Derek Nimmo
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