• When reporting tributes to the late Robbie Coltrane, we regrettably misquoted Gub Neal, producer of the TV series Cracker, as saying the actor had been “an amazingly intriguing character, but occasionally moronic too”. The word Neal used was “oxymoronic” (How Coltrane got his Cracker role – by roaring with laughter, 16 October, p19).
• In an article headlined “Rapper AJ Tracey: why I’m launching fund to help Black students at Oxford” (16 October, p13), we incorrectly referred to the British imperialist Cecil Rhodes as a slave trader. The trade in enslaved people was made illegal across the British empire before Rhodes was born.
• The Karate Kid movie trilogy was produced by Jerry Weintraub, not Jerry Bruckheimer, as we said in an interview with the actor Ralph Macchio (Alive and kicking, 16 October, Magazine, p8); and the films’ title character, played by Macchio, was called Daniel LeRusso, not Danny LeRusso. Meanwhile, River Phoenix’s performance in 1988’s Running on Empty earned him an Oscar nomination (for best supporting actor) but he did not win.
• Daniel Barenboim conducted the Staatskapelle Berlin, not the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, in the Ring cycle at the Proms in 2013 (A human experiment, 16 October, New Review, p31).
• The introduction to a recipe for chicken with mushrooms, mustard and soured cream mistakenly said how the “paprika, mustard and soured cream give it the feel of a goulash”. The recipe did not call for paprika (9 October, Magazine, p28).
Other recently amended articles include:
Qatar World Cup accused of imposing ‘chilling’ restrictions on media
• Write to the Readers’ Editor, the Observer, York Way, London N1 9GU, email observer.readers@observer.co.uk, tel 020 3353 4736
