Leslie Hardcastle [Richard Piercy]

SOHO is in mourning after the death of one of its great protectors, the film legend Leslie Hardcastle OBE.

A founder of the Soho Society and Soho Housing Association, he was the controller of the British Film Institute’s National Film Theatre and set up the hugely popular Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) on the South Bank.

He met his wife Wendy at the 1967 London Film Festival and the couple married in the chapel at The House of St Barnabas in Greek Street a year later.

They lived for more than 50 years together in Great Pulteney Street – one of the first buildings saved from developers by the SHA – and where he died in the early hours of Tuesday. He was 96.

Wendy Hardcastle said: “He had many cancers but he never accepted he was dying.

“He wasn’t in any pain but it was clear at the weekend he didn’t have long to live. But though he had difficulty speaking he was still talking even then about what he was going to do when he got better.”

She said he was focused on completing the work on his MOMI archive and also a project called TimeLines about the history of Soho dating back to the 1500s.

Wendy recalled happy memories with Leslie going to the Maison Bertaux patisserie, the My Place Soho café, the I Camisa deli or, back in the day, popping in to see Mario at The Star café or to Brasserie Zédel, Piccadilly.

“And I doubt a week ever went by without us going to Lina’s for ravioli,” she said of the Greek Street restaurant.

Leslie Hardcastle was born into a theatrical family with both parents acting on stage and also trained as opera singers.

He got his first taste of Soho visiting his uncle Johny’s sweet and toy shop in Newport Place on the corner of Newport Court as a child.

During the Second World War he came to Soho as an air raid warden before being called up as a nurse in the Royal Navy and spoke proudly of his time on the battleship HMS Anson, joining the BFI on his return.

For years Leslie organised the London Film Festival, and its famous after parties, but Wendy said he had considered the creation of the MOMI as the “pinnacle of his achievements”.

Soho Society vice-chair David Gleeson recalled his campaigns fighting to list the women’s hospital in Soho as an asset of community value, the fight to save the Soho Square General Practice – now thriving – and the original Save Piccadilly Campaign, from which the Soho Society was born.

He said: “Leslie has been keeping Soho going for decades. It would have been butchered otherwise. People can thank him for that.

“He was born to theatrical parents and he grew up surrounded by queens. It made him remarkably unhomophobic. Often straight men, their casual homophobia comes through. But Leslie wasn’t like that at all.”

He described his “robust bulk”, adding: “He looked like a scary mastodon. He had a build that could have been a bouncer.

“But he was always delightful, charming and well-informed.”

Leslie Hardcastle was a keen contributor to Soho Radio and came up with the idea for the Soho Society Hour that he hosted for many years alongside Clare Lynch and latterly with Joel Levack. There was a tribute to him on the popular station, featuring friends and family.

He was, along with his wife Wendy and people like Bryan Burrough and Matthew Bennett passionate in support of the area for decades.

Soho Society chairman Tim Lord recalled how the pair would meet up to label and deliver the Clarion monthly magazine, and said: “He did a lot of work and he was such good company. Volunteers liked to work with him.

“His idea was very old-school: that if you had any capability you would make the place you lived in a better place. He had this incredible recollection of things that had happened in Soho. He was very insightful of what was going on and he observed how money had changed Soho for the good and the bad.

“The loss to our community is real.”

A Labour Party member, he was thrilled when Westminster City Council switched hands last May.

But he was loved not just by those on the left.

Former West End Conservative councillors including Tim Barnes and Jonathan Glanz gave warm tributes to him this week.

Leslie Hardcastle leaves behind his wife Wendy, their two children Paul and Adam, and three grandchildren Joseph, Oliver and Grey, who Wendy said Leslie had adored spending time “yacking away” with and had kept him sharp right up until until the end.

Tributes read out on Soho Radio

BAFTA1 winning animator and short film director Gaëlle Denis, his daughter in law: “An OBE, cultured, kind, and generous man, he was a wonderful grandfather.”

• Another Soho Society founder Matthew Bennett: “I was so sorry to hear that Leslie had passed away. He was such a powerful force for Soho and film. Especially powerful for Soho because he was interested in every aspect of it and did the hard work to know the details from the past to present when arguing our case.
He knew and was friends with everyone, everywhere across the area.”

• Rector of St Anne’s Simon Buckley: “He was a terrific stalwart of this community and the others (such as the NFT) to which he contributed his incredible intellect and energy.”

• Margaret O’Brien, innovative educationalist at MOMI: “RIP my lovely boss, Leslie Hardcastle, head of NFT and LFF and founder and creator of MOMI, where I was education officer. Going to work was fun as well as an education.”

• Labour West End councillor Paul Fisher: “He was – and will long remain – a Soho legend.”

• Glenys Roberts, former Conservative city councillor and long-time Soho resident: “So very sorry. He was a marvellous man who worked hard for Soho, kind and rational, he will be much missed.”

• Stuart Brown, BFI head of programme & acquisitions: “His contribution to the @BFI and thus wider UK film culture cannot be overstated. I will always remember him fondly. If he wasn’t sure or didn’t really like something he used to tell me impishly that his auntie wouldn’t like it. Something that still brings a smile.”

• Clare (Wright) Lynch from Soho Radio: “I had the greatest privilege of spending many hours on and off air with Leslie. His was most definitely a life well-lived.”

• Colin Vaines, film producer and Soho resident: “Wonderful man, and a wonderful life.”

• Andrew Murray, Soho resident, activist and Soho blogger: “A sad, sad, day. As well as everything else, Leslie committed much of his life to standing up for Soho, the people and the place.”