In 1958 Conway (as "Trevor H. Stanford") composed, with Norman Newell, the music for the flop musical Mister Venus, which starred Frankie Howerd and Anton Diffring, The show, with book by Ray Galton and Johnny Speight, opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 23 October 1958 but closed after just sixteen performances. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1959, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews during a recording session at the BBC's Studio 1 at 201 Piccadilly, London. His career was blighted by ill health, including a nervous breakdown and subsequently a stroke, which prevented him from performing between 1968 and 1971. He also at times drank heavily and smoked up to 80 cigarettes a day. He was prescribed anti-depressants and had periods of severe self-doubt, but he kept up playing. Having been diagnosed with stomach cancer in the late 1980s, in 1990 he founded the Russ Conway Cancer Fund with his friend, writer and broadcaster Richard Hope-Hawkins, and they staged charity gala shows in major theatres that raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities. He appeared as himself in French and Saunders' 1994 Christmas special, playing "Side Saddle"—or, in an alternative edit, the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit "I Like It"—in their spoof of The Piano. In the documentary Frankie Howerd: The Lost Tapes, Barry Cryer, commenting on Howerd not coming out as gay, also said that Russ Conway did not, as in 'those days' it would have been career suicide. Conway said in 1995 that he was unsure about his sexuality: "I haven't the faintest idea what it is....I was certainly no angel in my younger days and I have tried everything there is to try." Conway, who never married, died on 16 November 2000, just two weeks after his last public performance. Richard Hope-Hawkins delivered the main eulogy at the funeral held at the historic St Mary's Church, Redcliffe, Bristol. Elton John sent a wreath. In 2001 Hope-Hawkins devised, staged and directed a tribute to Conway at the Colston Hall, Bristol, with an all-star cast. The £11,000 raised by the event was donated to St Peter's Hospice, Bristol. Conway could not read music, so the published sheet music of his work is inaccurate and simplified. Pianist Mike Thomson (1946–2018) produced some faithful transcriptions, but they were not able to be fully published due to copyright issues. Discography LPs Piano Requests (1958)