[4] Lategan was born on 7 January 1935 in South Africa, and came to Britain in 1955 to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

He returned to South Africa in 1959 and assisted the Cape Town photographer Ginger Oads.

[7] Lategan suffered a serious fall in 2006 which caused a serious brain injury and increasingly affected his behaviour.

In 2016 he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) while sectioned under the Mental Health Act, which he and his family discussed publicly to raise awareness of the condition.

[8] In 2015 Lategan faced sexual harassment allegations, and was accused of groping two women he scouted in 2013 and 2014 which went to a trial of the events.