Gable, Christopher (b London, 13 Mar. 1940, d Halifax, 23 Oct. 1998). British dancer, actor, and ballet director. He studied at the Royal Ballet School and joined the touring section of the Royal Ballet in 1957, promoted to soloist in 1959 and principal in 1961. From early on he was paired with Lynn Seymour; their mutual flair for dramatic interpretation made theirs one of the most popular and acclaimed partnerships in British ballet. A glamorous and intensely romantic dancer, he was also fine danseur noble material. In 1963 he transferred to Covent Garden where he stayed for four years, until resigning to pursue a career as an actor. He created roles in MacMillan's The Invitation (1960) and Images of Love (1964), and Ashton's The Two Pigeons (1961). MacMillan created Romeo and Juliet (1965) for him and Seymour, although opening-night honours went to Fonteyn and Nureyev, a snub that soured Gable's subsequent relationship with the Covent Garden management. His acting career was relatively successful, including the title role in Ken Russell's film The Boy Friend (1972) and John in Bryan Forbes's The Slipper and the Rose (1976). He also appeared as Lysander in Peter Brook's 1970 staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream, during his year spent with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1982 he opened the Central School of Ballet in London, which he continued to direct until his death. In 1987 he was named artistic director of Northern Ballet Theatre; one of his first acts was to save the company from potential closure following a threat to its public funding. He created the role of L. S. Lowry in Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man for Northern Ballet Theatre in 1987, also the role of Don Quixote in his The Amazing Adventures of Don Quixote for the same company in 1989. He staged many productions for NBT, including Giselle (1990, 1997), Romeo and Juliet (1991), Swan Lake (1992), A Christmas Carol (1992), Cinderella (1993), The Brontës (with Gillian Lynne, 1995), Dracula (1996), and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (with Michael Pink, 1998).

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