
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 2, 1994                   TAG: 9404020112
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

`BORN FREE' STAR TRAVERS DIES AT 72

Bill Travers, who played the tallest, strongest man in the Scottish Highlands in the 1956 film "Wee Geordie" and became a star in the 1966 movie "Born Free," died on Tuesday at his home in Dorking, England, south of London. He was 72.

He died in his sleep, according to the Born Free Foundation, the animal charity with which he was associated.

In "Born Free," Travers portrayed George Adamson, a game warden and conservationist in Kenya. Based on the best-selling book by Joy Adamson, the warden's wife, the film told how she saved the life of a lion cub named Elsa, raised her to maturity, and then re-educated her to live in the wild. Joy Adamson was played by the actress Virginia McKenna, who had married Travers in 1957.

After "Born Free," Travers and McKenna increasingly devoted their lives to animal welfare and in particular campaigned against keeping animals in zoos.

"Wee Geordie" (1956), the tale of a gamekeeper's son who grows up to be a giant of a fellow and Britain's hammer-throwing champion, established Travers as a movie lead.

He also appeared in "Bhowani Junction," the 1956 film starring Ava Gardner.

by CNB