Bernard Atha
{{Short description|British politician (1928–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Bernard Atha
|honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}}
|image = Bernard-atha-non-free.jpeg
|caption =
| office = Lord Mayor of Leeds
| term_start = 2000
| term_end = 2001
| predecessor = Keith Parker
| successor = David Hudson
| office1 = Leeds City Councillor
for Kirkstall Ward
| term_start1 = 1973
| term_end1 = 2014
| predecessor1 = R. Robertson
| successor1 = Fiona Venner
| office2 = Leeds City Councillor
for Holbeck Ward
| term_start2 = 1969
| term_end2 = 1973
| predecessor2 = W. Smith
| successor2 = Ward abolished
| office3 = Leeds City Councillor
for City Ward
| term_start3 = 1957
| term_end3 = 1968
| predecessor3 = E. Stubbs
| successor3 = Ward abolished
|birth_name = Bernard Peter Atha
|birth_date = {{birth date|1928|08|27|df=y}}
|birth_place = Leeds, England
|death_date = {{death date and age|2022|10|22|1928|08|27|df=y}}
|death_place =
|party = Labour
|education = Lawnswood School
|alma_mater = University of Leeds
|website =
}}
Bernard Peter Atha {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (27 August 1928 – 22 October 2022) was an English politician and actor. He served as Lord Mayor of Leeds and was a major figure in the arts and sport in West Yorkshire and elsewhere; he also appeared in a number of films. He was a Law lecturer at Huddersfield Technical College in the 1970s
Life and career
Atha was born in Leeds on 27 August 1928, and educated at Leeds Modern School, now Lawnswood School, and the University of Leeds.{{cite web|title=Bernard Atha CBE: Chairman & President|url=http://www.uksportsassociation.org/about/directors.html|website=Board of Directors|publisher=UK Sports Association|accessdate=1 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013833/http://www.uksportsassociation.org/about/directors.html|archive-date=7 November 2017|url-status=dead}}
In Ken Loach's film Kes (1969) Atha played the part of the Careers Officer who genuinely tries to suggest various career possibilities to the completely uninterested schoolboy, Billy, but the interview's outcome "throws Billy on the scrap heap".{{cite book|last1=Golding|first1=Simon W.|title=Life after Kes|date=2014|publisher=Andrews UK|isbn=9781910295311|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nLzABQAAQBAJ&q=%22Bernard+Atha%22&pg=PT205|chapter=Bernard Atha OBE - Youth Employment Officer}} He also had small roles in the Ken Loach films Family Life (1971) and Black Jack (1979). Atha's television credits include roles in the series All Creatures Great and Small, Sherlock Holmes, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Last of the Summer Wine.
Atha served as Lord Mayor of Leeds from 2000 to 2001.{{cite web|title=Lord Mayors & Aldermen of Leeds since 1626|url=http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/List%20of%20Lord%20Mayors.pdf|publisher=Leeds City Council|accessdate=1 November 2017}} During his mayoralty he selected 18 "high-profile, well-known Yorkshire women" to act in turn as his Lady Mayoress, a role traditionally taken by the spouse or another family member of the mayor.{{cite news|last1=Hutchison|first1=Helen|title=Bernard and his Ladies|url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/bernard-and-his-ladies-1-2064915|accessdate=1 November 2017|work=Yorkshire Evening Post|date=18 May 2001}}
Atha was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 Birthday Honours "for services to the Arts and to the community in Leeds",{{London Gazette |issue=58358 |date=16 June 2007 |page=7 |supp= 1}} having earlier been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1991 New Year Honours "for services to Sport, particularly Sport for the Disabled".{{London Gazette |issue=9 |date=28 December 1990 |page=9 |supp= 1}} He died on 22 October 2022, at the age of 94.{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Grace |title=Hands-on former Leeds councillor Bernard Atha who had acting roles in Kes and Coronation Street has died |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/hands-on-former-leeds-councillor-and-lord-mayor-bernard-atha-who-had-acting-roles-in-kes-and-coronation-street-has-died-3890445 |access-date=23 October 2022 |work=www.yorkshirepost.co.uk |date=23 October 2022 |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0040381}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-civic}}
{{succession box|title=Lord Mayor of Leeds|years=2000–2001|before=Keith Parker|after=David Hudson}}
{{end box}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atha, Bernard}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:English male film actors
Category:Labour Party (UK) councillors
Category:People educated at Leeds Modern School