Victor Maddern

Character & Episode: Det. Sgt. Watts in A Sentimental Journey
Born: 16/03/1928, Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, England (as Victor Jack Maddern)
Died: 22/06/1993, Hackney, London, England

After leaving school, Victor Maddern joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 15, serving in the Second World War as a cadet with the Anchor Line from 1943. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean many times, travelled with troops from India to Burma, and was on the first ship that went into Singapore after the Japanese surrender. He was medically discharged from service in 1946, taking an office job with the same shipping line. In 1947 he went to train at RADA, graduating two years later. His first professional engagement for the screen occurred when film producer / director John Boulting saw his performance in a RADA show which the film actor Maurice Colbourne (1894-1965) produced for students not thought good enough for the end-of-year play, leading to the promise of a small but vital role in the feature film Seven Days to Noon (1950). However, Boulting's fulsome praise of Victor led to the young actor winning a role in the war film Morning Departure (1950) with John Mills, and - remarkably - Boulting altered his filming schedule on Seven Days to Noon in order that Victor could appear in both films. Morning Departure therefore marked Victor's first screen appearance, despite being his second engagement! This started a long career as a versatile and reliable supporting actor, often in British films and on television, frequently playing army roles, tough villains or citizens.

Victor also made a name for himself on the stage and radio. One of his first professional stage roles was as Sam Weller in The Trial of Mr Pickwick in 1952, while he began to appear in radio dramas from 1950, starting with Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood (transmitted 23rd January 1950). His television work during the Fifties included Fabian of the Yard (1954) and The New Adventures of Martin Kane (1957), while film work highlights were as Sgt Craig in The Cockleshell Heroes (1955), Figg in the comedy Barnacle Bill (1957) and Knowles in I'm All Right Jack (1959). In 1960 he was a television regular in the comedy series Mess Mates alongside Archie Duncan and Sam Kydd. During the same year Victor made the first of his five Carry On Films when he had a part in Carry On Constable (his others were Carry On Regardless (1961), Carry On Spying (1964), Carry On Cleo (1964) and Carry On Emmannuelle (1978) and he would additionally feature in three episodes of the Carry On Laughing television series in 1975).

In 1962 he went to America, where he played his first leading screen role alongside the vaudeville entertainer Eddie Foy Jr in the CBS Network television series Fair Exchange, in which he - as Tommy Finch, a Londoner - and Foy's character swapped their 18-year-old daughters for a year. While in the States, Victor also made guest appearances in Bonanza and Perry Mason. Back in Britain, he soon gained critical praise for his role as Helicon in a stage production of Caligula in 1964. In 1966 he appeared in The Avengers and a year later played a drunken soldier in the Morecambe and Wise film The Magnificent Two. In 1968 he appeared in Doctor Who and also guested in two 1967-68 episodes of The Saint. In the Seventies Victor continued to be busy, garnering praise for his stage role as the notorious Frank Harris in My Darling Mr Daisy (1970). In 1972 he played a chauffeur in Steptoe and Son and the following year appeared in an episode of The Adventures of Black Beauty. Between 1968 until 1981 he appeared regularly in Dick Emery's BBC Television comedy series, while on stage he enjoyed two stints in The Mousetrap, the world’s longest running stage play.

During this period he also featured in television programmes including Steptoe and Son, The Adventures of Black Beauty and Dixon of Dock Green. During the making of Dixon, he got famously tongue-tied trying to say the line "It's down at Dock Green nick", delivering the line twice as "It's down at Dock Green dick", and this became a much repeated outtake in compilation programmes such as It'll Be Alright on the Night. Victor continued to act throughout the Eighties, making contributions to such programmes as Southern Television's Together (as cabbie Harry Klein, 1980), In Loving Memory (1982) and adventure drama C.A.B. (1988). His last screen work was a voiceover for Freddie as F.R.O. 7 (1992), an animated fantasy.

As well as being a successful actor, Victor and his wife Joan Neuville (1924-2000) ran Scripts Ltd from 1956, whose sole work was the production and printing of film and television scripts. In 1991 he also opened a public speaking school - called The Talking Point - offering special rates to Conservative politicians and constituency workers. He was a tireless worker for charities and was a member of the Conservative Party.

When he died in 1993 of a brain tumour, he was survived by his wife Joan, to whom he was married for more than forty years, and four daughters.

Philip Madoc

Character & Episode: Rawlins in Never Trust a Ghost
Born: 05/07/1934, Twynrodyn, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales (as Philip Arvon Jones)
Died: 05/03/2012, Northwood, London, England

As a child, Philip Madoc attended Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School, where he was a member of the cricket and rugby teams, and displayed talent as a linguist. His first acting was in school, according to Philip: "I also remember the excitement in our last year at school when the new English teacher came in and formed a drama society. I got to play Macbeth in the school's first production and I can recall feeling thrilled by the experience." He then studied languages at the University of Wales and the University of Vienna, and at the latter became the first foreigner to win the Diploma of the Interpreters Institute. He eventually spoke seven languages, including Russian and Swedish, and had a working knowledge of Huron Indian, Hindi and Mandarin. He worked as an interpreter, but became disenchanted with having to translate for politicians.

He then turned his attentions to professional acting and in 1957 won a place at RADA, where he took the stage name Philip Madoc, drawing inspiration from Madoc, the 12th century Welsh prince reputed to have discovered America more than three hundred years before Christopher Columbus. On completion of his course in 1959, Philip soon acted in repertory theatre. In the later years of his stage career he gained a contract with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing the roles of Iago, Othello and Dr Faust. He made his television debut in the early 1960s. Among his first works were Amelia and Cross of Iron, both BBC productions. His first radio drama roles came at the same time. From this point onwards, Philip remained busy, particularly on television, and would notch up more than one hundred and fifty screen appearances.

As a television actor Philip first came to widespread recognition in two serials; first as the relentless SS Officer Lutzig in the Second World War drama Manhunt (1970), and then as the vicious Huron warrior Magua in a serialisation of The Last of the Mohicans (1971). He played a character resembling Lutzig, but for comic effect, in The Deadly Attachment, an episode of the comedy Dad's Army, in which he played a U-boat captain held prisoner by the Walmington-on-Sea platoon of the Home Guard. He records names on his "list" for the day of reckoning after the war is won, prompting Captain Mainwaring's famous line, "Don't tell him, Pike!"

Films in which Madoc appeared included Operation Crossbow (1965), The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Berserk! (1967), Doppelgänger (1969), Hell Boats (1970), Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1974) and Operation Daybreak (1975). His later film performances included Leon Trotsky in Zina (1985), and Jimmy Murphy in the football movie Best (2000).

Philip was also a guest star in many televisions shows most notably in five episodes of The Avengers (between 1962 and 1968). He also had a short spell in Emmerdale Farm in 1978 and his last appearance was in the short film Hawk in 2011. Philip also made a number of sci-fi appearances, in productions including the second Doctor Who feature film, Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966), and later in the BBC series itself on four occasions, most notably as Mehendri Solon in the Tom Baker classic The Brain of Morbius (1976). He appeared twice in the drama series UFO, once as the partner of Ed Straker's estranged wife and then as the captain of a British warship under attack by the aliens. In the pilot episode of Space: 1999 (1975) he had a brief appearance as Commander Anton Gorski, who was replaced by Commander John Koenig for the remainder of the series. Despite all this, Philip remained busy in theatre figuring in numerous theatre runs throughout the country.

In his personal life, Philip was married twice. Firstly, he was married to actress Ruth Llewellyn (1943-) from 1963 to 1981, and the couple had two children, son Rhys and daughter Lowri, and five grandchildren. Ruth Madoc is well remembered for her role as Gladys Pugh in the long running comedy series Hi De Hi!. Philip's second marriage, which also ended in divorce, was to Diane, an interior designer. Sadly, Philip died of cancer in 2012.

Frank Maher

Character & Episode: 2nd Henchman in A Sentimental Journey
Born: 18/06/1929, London, England (as Francis James Maher)
Died: 13/07/2007, Newport, Isle of Wight, England

At school Frank Maher was a gold medal winning boxer. During the war he served in the Parachute Regiment of the British Army. He lied about his age to join the regiment which meant that he was only 15 when he took part in the battle of Arnhem in 1944, an operation in which he was wounded. Tall (6ft 2ins) and formidably built, he was well suited to 'physical' film roles, and his first stunt engagement was as a Roman Centurion in the film Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) which starred Stewart Granger. His other early stunt roles were on the The Crimson Pirate (1952) doubling for Burt Lancaster and as a riding double in the The Devil's Disciple (1959).

In 1959 he became the stunt double for Patrick McGoohan on the television series Danger Man. He would soon be the main stunt co-coordinator on a number of well-known television series including The Prisoner (it is Frank running on the beach as Number 6 in the famous title sequence), The Champions, Department S, Blake's 7 and on Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). On The Saint (1962–69), he replaced Les Crawford as Roger Moore's double. Roger nicknamed him "Mrs Maher" because of his meticulous planning of stunt sequences. As an actor, he mainly played non-speaking 'heavy' roles in the productions he worked on as a stuntman or coordinator.

In the late 1970s, he co-wrote with Denis J. Cleary a number of thriller style novels including The Capricorn Run (also known as The Hook), published in 1978, Wipe Out and Sahara Strike (both published in 1980). He also wrote action sequences for films including Die Hard (1988).

He was married four times. His first wife, Dilys Laye (1934-2009), was an actress known for the Carry On series. She was also married at one time to Garfield Morgan, another Randall and Hopkirk player. Frank had one son, Gary, who is a bricklayer, and one daughter, Stephanie, who was Surrey's premier doorwoman, with second wife Jackie, who was a dancer. He died at St Mary's Hospital in Newport, Isle of Wight, after a long battle with emphysema.

Marie Makino

Character & Episode: Old Lady in That's How Murder Snowballs
Born: 15/10/1890, Islington, London, England (as Florence Marjorie Cronin)
Died: 19/12/1976, Denville Hall, Northwood, London, England

By the time that she appeared in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Marie Makino had enjoyed a long and wide-ranging career in the entertainment business. Studying at the Bournemouth Conservatoire of Dramatic Art and the London Polytechnic, she began as a performer of monologues, for which she wrote her own material. These would often take the form of spoken performances prior to the screenings of prominent silent films, such as Anna Christie and Squibs' Honeymoon (both 1923). At this time she was using the stage name Madge Makins (Makins being her married name), but in October 1924 she started performing as Marie Makino, to avoid confusion with another London concert comedienne, Madge Macklin.

Marie was engaged for concert work, becoming a member of an alfresco concert party, and resident seasons and tours with well-known managements. She played character roles in films, and then went into legitimate theatre. She became a familiar contributor of comic impressions on stage and on BBC Radio, with her earliest recorded credit being on the BBC National Programme in Variety (transmitted on Saturday 10th June 1933). A few years later in 1937 the BBC Regional Programme broadcast one of her concert party engagements from the Alexandra Gardens, Weymouth. Marie's stage act consisted of her applying her make up in front of the audience and playing four or five comic characters. She translated this act to radio on occasion, notably on the BBC Regional Programme's Les Dames Blanches show (transmitted Saturday 13th November 1937), which was set in an imaginary 'radio roadhouse' rendezvous.

During the Second World War, Marie was attached to an ordnance factory, producing plays and writing and producing concert party shows and pantomimes. After the war, Elkan Simons engaged her to produce her own version of Babes in the Wood at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. It was so successful that she continued writing and producing other subjects for the same management for a further five years.

Marie's television work was, by comparison, modest, though she made effective appearances in The Saint (The Bunco Artists, 1963), Steptoe and Son (Homes Fit for Heroes, 1964; she reprised her role in the radio version of the same episode in 1967) and Frankie Howerd (1966). Her final television role was in 1973 in the series A Picture of Katherine Mansfield.

In her personal life, Marie was married to William Brand Makins (1883-1972) from 1911.

Dolores Mantez

Character & Episode: Happy Lee in My Late, Lamented Friend and Partner
Born: 17/10/1936, Liverpool, Merseyside, England (as Dolores Brenda Mantey)
Died: 30/11/2012, Sydenham, London, England

Dolores Mantez was an actress whose parents were Edward Mantey (1901-c.1954), a Ghanaian, and Susan O'Fallon (1908-1959), who was of Irish-Spanish descent and born in Liverpool. Dolores attended Formosa Drive School in Liverpool until her family moved to London. She started her professional life as a seamstress in a dress shop and later moved into acting. She was a semi-regular on television screens in the Sixties and is best remembered for her role as the purple-haired Lieutenant Nina Barry in 23 episodes of the sci-fi series UFO.

She began her theatrical life as a singer while still working in tailoring when she joined a vocal group The Dominoes. This led to appearances in cabaret on the club circuit, with her first such engagement being at the Aristocrat club. In the late 1950s she featured in the stage musical Lady at the Wheel and sung professionally as a singer in a cafe in Iceland. Subsequently, she appeared in a number of musicals which led her to performing all over Europe.

In terms of her acting career, it all began with a coincidental meeting with an actor's agent, whom she met by chance when visiting her own agent. He believed that her exotic physical appearance was exactly what he had been approached about regarding a film that was entering production, Basil Dearden's Sapphire (1959). Despite having no formal acting training or experience, Dolores landed the part of a student in this film. This led to a succession of guest roles in popular television episodes of series such as Shadow Squad, The Avengers and Danger Man. She would later appear with Peter Gilmore in The Onedin Line.

Shortly after this Dolores met businessman Robert Harding (1939-1999) in a pub and retired from the acting profession shortly afterwards. They married in 1976 and the couple would have one son, Robert. She died after a short illness in 2012.

Anthony Marlowe

Character & Episode: Cranley in When the Spirit Moves You
Born: 12/10/1913, Holborn, London, England (as Thomas Fernando Perredita)
Died: 10/11/1975, Chelsea, London, England

Anthony Marlowe was a London born actor who attended E.P. Collier School in Reading and joined the Oxford Repertory Company in 1934 after being at RADA for one year. He acted initially under the name Fernando Perredita, but changed to Anthony Marlowe in the late 1930s, borrowing his mother's maiden surname. During 1934-35 he was with the Jevon Brandon-Thomas company at Glasgow and Edinburgh; he went on to Sheffield Repertory and made his London debut in 1937 at the Mercury as the Electrician in Theatre Street. After more repertory, he had a season at the Bolton's and first appeared in the West End as Mr Thorpe in The Hidden Years at the Fortune. A gifted and impressive player, among the parts in which he was particularly noted were Randall Utterwood in Heartbreak House at the Arts, the General in The Moment of Truth at the Adelphi and the Rev Oliver Prefoy in Sailor, Beware! at the Strand.

His early film career was filled with small, uncredited roles, with his first silver screen credit arriving in 1952 when he appeared as Thomas Selter in the film Ghost Ship. His television and radio debuts are believed to have come in 1946, shortly after his demob from war service - he had served in the Royal East Kent Regiment (also known as The Buffs) from 1940-46. Later in his career, Marlowe acted in the British film comedy Doctor in the House (1954) with Dirk Bogarde. In 1956, he played Mr Milligan in Rex Milligan, a six-part series of plays for children, appearing in three episodes.

In 1962, Anthony was cast as Geoffrey Stock, a lead character in the second and third series of the ATV crime drama Ghost Squad, figuring in episodes between October 1962 and April 1963 (as screened in the ATV London region where the series was made). When Ghost Squad ended its run, a spin-off series was produced - G.S.5 (1964). In this new series, Anthony played the same character and was joined by a new joint-lead, Claire Nielson as Jean Carter. Perhaps confusingly for viewers, some ITV regions ran this new series before they completed their screenings of Ghost Squad, which they subsequently ran under the G.S.5 name.  Though continuing to make notable appearances in such productions as United! (1966), The Revenue Men (1967) and ITV Playhouse (1968), Anthony was never able to match his high profile Ghost Squad role, and his appearance in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) would prove to be his last screen credit.

In his personal life, Anthony married the stage actress Merelina Watts (1916-1986) in 1939. They had a daughter, Fernanda Marlowe (1942- ), who also went into acting and is known for her role as Corporal Bell in the Doctor Who serial The Claws of Axos (1971). Anthony died in 1975 at the age of 62.

Makki Marseilles

Character & Episode: Manservant in My Late, Lamented Friend and Partner

Makki Marseilles, an actor of Greek descent with fewer than two dozen credited appearances in British film and television, made his main contributions in TV film series such as The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase, Department S and Strange Report. He was born in Marseilles in France, but grew up in Greece and started his career as an actor there. In 1957, he planned to emigrate to Canada, but stopped in United Kingdom on the way and decided to stay. His first job in British theatre was as an assistant stage manager in Lincoln, and later, worked as a theatre general manager.

Makki has also worked in journalism, becoming a senior journalist in Athens. He has edited a number of English language newspapers in Greece and has reported freelance for several titles and news agencies internationally, including the BBC. Despite this he has maintained an active interest in the performing arts and founded The Rainbow Theatre in Athens in the late 1980s, its aim being to familiarise Greek students to the sound of the English language and the feel of English culture. It's first production, Fantoccini, was staged in 1988, with Makki directing the play. In addition to acting, producing and directing for the Rainbow, he has also written plays and performed the role of artistic director for the theatre.

In his personal life, he was firstly married to Gillian, who worked at The Arts Theatre in London's West End. They had several children. Then, in 1979, he married for a second time to Jennifer Bell.

Reginald Marsh

Character & Episode: James Laker in When Did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
Born: 17/09/1926, London, England (as Reginald Albert Saltmarsh)
Died: 09/02/2001, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England

Reginald Marsh was born in London in 1926 and grew up on the coast at Worthing in Sussex. He attended Worthing Boys' High School, where from the age of 15 he appeared in amateur dramatic shows. In those days he was compere and impressionist to the Worthing Nightlights Concert Party, which gave shows to the troops all over Sussex. After he left school he worked in a bank but in the evenings pursued acting. After realising how serious Reginald was about acting, his father introduced him to a retired actress. She introduced Reginald to an agent, who secured him his first acting role, at the age of 17 in October 1943, as a juvenile in Eden End by J. B. Priestley. He then went into in repertory theatre. Reginald would make well over one hundred and fifty screen appearances in drama and comedy, mainly on television.

In the late 1950s, he started working behind the scenes at Granada Television, his job being to find contestants for the quiz show Criss Cross Quiz, but he soon went back to acting. In the early 1960s, Reginald played works general manager Arthur Sugden in boardroom drama The Plane Makers (1963-64) and also featured as Harry Kane in the BBC soap opera Compact between May and July 1962. In the Seventies, he was seen in Emmerdale Farm (1973), Crown Court (two serials in 1973-74), Bless This House (1974), Sykes (3 episodes between 1973 and 1976) and The Duchess of Duke Street (1976). Between 1975 and 1977, Reginald played Jerry Leadbetter's boss and Managing Director of JJM, a semi-regular role in the hit BBC sitcom The Good Life. Similar roles followed in George and Mildred from 1976 to 1979 (as Humphrey Pumphrey, Mildred's brother-in-law) and from 1979 to 1987 in Terry and June (as Sir Dennis Hodge, Terry Scott's boss). He also played Reg Lamont, a recurring character in the soap opera Crossroads for several years from 1981 onwards and was also active in radio programmes.

In addition to performing, he also wrote a thriller novel, Much More Than Murder (New English Library, 1978), and plays for the stage. He adapted one of his theatre playscripts for the prestigious television anthology series Armchair Theatre (The Man Who Came to Die, 1965). He also took a role in the production as Detective Inspector Wadcot.

In his private life, Reginald was married to actress Rosemary Murray (1935- ), and they had four children: twin daughters Rebecca and Alison and sons Adam and Alexander. Reginald had two other children by his first marriage to actress Jenifer Coverdale (1924- ), son John and daughter Kate. One of his sons had Down's Syndrome, and during his retirement on the Isle of Wight he actively supported MENCAP. He died in 2001 at his home in Ryde, aged 74.

Lois Maxwell

Character & Episode: Kim Wentworth in For the Girl Who Has Everything
Born: 14/02/1927, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada (as Lois Ruth Hooker)
Died: 29/09/2007, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

Canadian-born Lois Maxwell grew up in Toronto, attending Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute. Before Lois was old enough to decide for herself, her mother Ruth Adelaide Wells (1900-1967), a nurse, and father William Victor Hooker (1898-1962), a school teacher, had planned that Lois would be a doctor. However, at the ripe age of 10, Lois was already making her own decisions, choosing to take lessons in acrobatic and ballet dancing from her tenth birthday. She studied these disciplines until she was 14. At 12, she performed as a red-haired dervish in the 1939 Toronto Exhibition. But even this glory was not enough; she studied dramatics under a private tutor at the Royal Academy of Music. After leaving school, her first proper job was as a waitress at Canada's summer resort, Bigwin Inn, on Bigwin Island in the Lake of Bays, Ontario.

In 1941, Lois began her career as child radio performer (against her parents' wishes) for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto, using the stage name Robin Wells (using her mother's maiden surname). In 1943, she ran away and joined the Canadian Women's Army Corps during World War II, a unit formed to release men for combat duties. CWAC personnel were secretaries, vehicle drivers and mechanics, and performed all conceivable non-combat duties. It was whilst in the army she went into entertainment, quickly becoming part of the Army Show in Canada. Later, as part of the Canadian Auxiliary Services Entertainment Unit, she was posted to the United Kingdom, to perform music and dance numbers to entertain the troops, often appearing with Canadian comedians Wayne and Shuster.

Lois left the army whilst still in London and then enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she became friends with fellow student Roger Moore. In 1945, soon after graduating from RADA, she changed her surname to Maxwell, a name she borrowed from a ballet dancer friend. The rest of her family also adopted the surname. The following year she made her film debut in A Matter of Life and Death. In early 1947 she travelled to Hollywood, where she continued her film career, and soon won the 'New Star Of The Year - Actress' Golden Globe Award for her role in the Shirley Temple comedy That Hagen Girl (1947). In 1949 she participated in a Life Magazine photo layout in which she posed with another up-and-coming actress named Marilyn Monroe. Despite this initial success, Lois struggled to forge a career in Hollywood and moved to Italy in the same year. She lived there for several years, made a number of films, even became an amateur racing driver, and played a leading role in 1953 in the opera Aida, in which she lip-synched to another woman's singing. Alongside her was a pre-stardom Sophia Loren, who was also performing to another person's singing.

Whilst in England at the end of the Fifties, Lois appeared on screen mainly in television in a number of series, most notably Danger Man and No Hiding Place. However, it was the role of Miss Moneypenny, which she had lobbied for at a time when the family was short of money, that would transform Lois' career in 1962. Director Terence Young, who had once turned her down on the grounds that she looked like she "smelled of soap", offered her a choice of Moneypenny or the recurring Bond girlfriend, Sylvia Trench, but she was uncomfortable with a revealing scene for the latter that she read in the screenplay. The role as M's secretary guaranteed just two days' work at ₤100 a day; Maxwell supplied her own clothes. The Trench character, however, was eliminated after From Russia With Love (1963), so she had made the right choice since she would go on to star in fourteen films as Moneypenny, the last being A View to A Kill in 1985. By this time, she had been reunited with her old RADA classmate Roger Moore, with whom she had also previously appeared in episodes of The Saint and The Persuaders!

Although noted for her Bond role, Lois was busy throughout her run as Moneypenny, appearing in a wide range of parts. For instance, in 1964 she was working as a voice artiste on the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation series Stingray, to which she supplied the voice of Lt Atlanta Shore. Among her other well-known cult television turns were roles in series such as The Baron, Department S and UFO.

In her personal life, she married Peter Churchill-Marriott in 1957, after the couple met on a trip that Lois had made to Paris, and they settled in London. Peter nearly died of a heart attack early in their marriage and for most of their time together Lois was the main breadwinner. They had two children and remained married until Peter's death in 1973, after which she returned to Canada, where she wrote a column for the Toronto Sun newspaper and became a businesswoman working in the textile industry. In 1994, she returned to England once more in order to be near her daughter, and retired to a cottage in Frome, Somerset. In 2001 she had surgery for bowel cancer and moved to Perth, Australia, to live with her son's family. She remained there until her death at Fremantle Hospital six years later. At the time of her death she was working on her autobiography, which was to have been called Born A Hooker.

Paul Maxwell

Character & Episode: Alan Corder in The Trouble with Women
Born: 12/11/1921, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (as Maxim Popovich)
Died: 19/12/1991, London, England

Canadian-born Paul Maxwell attended high school in Niagara Falls and originally trained as a medical student at McGill University in Montreal. While taking a B.Sc. degree in pre-medical sciences, he spent summer vacations working in barn theatres in New England as an actor and technician. After graduating McGill University in 1943, he served for three years as a survey officer in the Royal Canadian Artillery in Europe. At the end of the Second World War he made his first visit to the UK and met Scottish actress Mary Lindsay (1920-1995), whom he married in January 1945. The couple would have a daughter, Lindsay (born in 1954). After demob, Paul enrolled at Yale University and graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts in 1949. He then moved to USA, where from 1949 to 1951 he was head of the University of Redlands drama department in San Bernardino County. At the time his varied dramatic experience as an actor and director included college, city, summer stock productions, radio productions, and duty in the Netherlands and Germany as entertainment and administration officer with the Second Canadian Corps. From 1951 to 1956 he was a drama teacher at Stockton College in the San Fernando Valley. Then he went to Hollywood and, under the stage name Paul Maxwell, started appearing on stage, in films and on television. He appears that he made his television debut in General Electric Theatre in 1957. The series was presented by the future American President, Ronald Reagan.

In 1959, Paul moved to Britain where he was much more in demand. He would make more than one hundred television and film appearances during his career. His American accent was an asset to many productions made in Britain, a most notable instance being his casting as Elsie Tanner's ex-GI bridegroom at her wedding in 1967 on the long-running and popular soap-opera Coronation Street. Paul is also known for his voiceover role as Captain Grey in the first twelve episodes of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. He also played the "man with the Panama Hat" in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and General Maxwell Taylor in A Bridge Too Far (1977).

Paul also enjoyed theatre and appeared in the West End several times, including in Twelve Angry Men, and the musical Promises Promises. Other notable appearances for Paul came in UFO, Emmerdale Farm and Aliens. His last appearance was in The Sleepers in 1991. Paul by now was suffering from cancer and died in December of the same year.

Neil McCallum

Character & Episode: Rev. Henry Crackan in It's Supposed to be Thicker Than Water
Born: 20/05/1929, Hanley, Saskatchewan, Canada (as Neil John McCallum)
Died: 26/04/1976, Reading, Berkshire, England

Neil McCallum was born on a farm in Hanley, Saskatchewan, and educated in his early years at local schools and at high school in Regina. While in the southern city at the age of 15 he won a music festival singing contest and was advised by the adjudicator, the Scottish composer Sir Hugh Stevenson Roberton, to enter the dramatic arts for which he had an obvious talent. However, he went for psychiatric and religious training. One of Neil's first jobs was a two-year stint as a recreational therapist in a mental hospital at Weyburn; he later claimed that he learned more about acting in this role than he would ever have learned elsewhere.

In 1949, Neil came to England and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In the early 1950s, he started appearing in radio dramas. He had his first big success playing in The Man at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1952. His first major stage role came in 1953 in The Dance Dress, in which he play a Cockney; he also wrote some music for this play.

In the second half of the Fifties, Neil started to build up a good television and film career. On TV he appeared in Department S, The Saint and UFO. He also worked as a voice artiste on the feature film Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) and television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967-68), both for Gerry Anderson. His last appearance on our screens was in The Protectors in 1972, coincidentally another Anderson production. Over the course of his career Neil amassed more than one hundred film and television credits. He was also a film and television producer, an occasional director and scriptwriter – writing two 1964 thrillers, Do You Know This Voice? and Walk a Tightrope, among other things.

In his private life, at one time he dated the film star Julie Andrews, early in her career. In 1957, he married the actress Judith Whitaker (1930-2012). They had three sons. Tragically, Neil died at fat too young an age. Having collapsed in the garden of his home in Crookham Common, Berkshire, he was rushed to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, where, after a fight by doctors to save his life, Neil passed away from a brain haemorrhage. He was 45. His grandson Giles McCullum is also an actor.

Neil McCarthy

Character & Episode: Griggs in The Man from Nowhere
Born: 26/07/1932, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England (as Eugene Neil McCarthy)
Died: 06/02/1985, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England

Although Neil McCarthy tends to be remembered for his height (6ft 1ins), his square jaw bone, and tough guy and villainous roles in a 25-year career comprising more than one hundred screen appearances, there was a lot more to him than just that. Born in Lincoln to a well-off family, the son of a dentist, Neil's early education was at Stamford School, where M. J. K. Smith (cricketer) and Colin Dexter (creator / author of Inspector Morse) were fellow students. Neil later studied modern languages at Trinity College in Dublin and after teacher training was qualified to teach both Latin and French. Foreign languages were one of his personal hobbies, but he also put his language skills to use professionally. When he played a Cretan character in the TV series Who Pays the Ferryman? (1977), his accent was so good it fooled a group of Greek film makers visiting the set into believing he was actually from that part of the world. He was also an extremely talented musician, who, according to friends and co-workers, played the piano beautifully, but he never did so in any professional venue on stage or screen.

After teaching French and Latin in Nottingham, McCarthy joined the Oxford Repertory Theatre as assistant stage manager; he also appeared on stage there, and later at the Edinburgh Festival and in the West End of London. He made his television debut in October 1958 in the BBC Sunday Night Theatre play Gracie.

Neil was a fine character actor and is well known for his roles in Where Eagles Dare (1968), a Second World War film that featured Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood; sadly Neil’s character is killed off early in the film. In 1964 he played a character called Private Thomas in the classic film Zulu, which effectively launched the career of Michael Caine. Later, in 1981, Neil, heavily made-up, played Calibros in the fantasy adventure film Clash of the Titans, which had an all star cast headed by Laurence Olivier and Claire Bloom and stop motion animation by effects legend Ray Harryhausen. On television, Neil appeared in many series in a wide variety of roles. Highlights included Great Expectations (1967), Catweazle (1970), Doctor Who (The Mind of Evil, 1971; The Power of Kroll, 1978-79), Jason King (1972), A Little Bit of Wisdom (1976) and Emmerdale Farm (1980-81).

Sadly though, Neil suffered for many years from acromegaly, a hormonal disorder that develops when the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone during adulthood. This causes bones to increase in size, including those of the hands, feet and face. Other symptoms may include joint pain, thickened skin, deepening of the voice, headaches, and problems with vision. Complications of the disease may include Type II Diabetes, sleep apnoea, and high blood pressure. Despite this, Neil continued working. While his acromegaly sadly pushed casting directors to call on his services to play mainly villains, convicts and soldiers, he was exceptionally good in sympathetic roles, as seen in Catweazle, in which he played the friendly and uncomplicated Sam Woodyard, and as the brainwashed, child-like Barnham in the Doctor Who story The Mind of Evil. Indeed, those who knew him described him as a gentle man who liked the quiet life. Sadly though, by 1980 he was diagnosed as also suffering from motor neurone disease, but continued to act into the 1980s despite his deteriorating health. His last role was in a Granada production, Black Dog, in 1985. Neil was just 53 when he passed away that same year, his death being a great loss to the acting profession.

T.P. McKenna

Character & Episode: Kevin O'Malley (voice only) in Money to Burn
Born: 07/09/1929, Mullagh, County Cavan, Ireland
(as Thomas Patrick McKenna)
Died: 13/02/2011, London, England

Irish born T.P. McKenna, the son of an auctioneer, attended Mullagh School and, later, Cavan's St. Patrick's College, where he enjoyed appearing in productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas – one of his teachers, Father Vincent Kennedy, taught him music and how to read a score. His soprano voice lasted only until he was 15. After schooling, he took the banking exams and worked for some years as a clerk in the Ulster Bank, starting in Granard in 1948. He had from 15 years old intended to become an actor and, following a transfer to the Trim branch of the bank, he became a prominent member of the music and drama societies there. After that, in 1950, following a transfer to a Dublin branch of the bank, he quickly became involved in local amateur dramatics. Later, he entered the Abbey Theatre School. From the late Fifties until his death, he was a highly-respected character actor, amassing in excess of one hundred and fifty film and television appearances in a great career. His contribution to Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) was to dub Roy Desmond’s role as Kevin O’Malley, so sadly you do not see TP in the series, but his voice is unmistakable.

Throughout his career, TP contributed to many great TV series including The Avengers (1964, 1965, 1968), Danger Man (1965), The Saint (1966, 1968), Adam Adamant Lives! (1967), Jason King (1972), The Sweeney (1975), Blake's 7 (1978), Minder (1984) and in the Doctor Who serial The Greatest Show in the Galaxy in 1988-89.

Other roles included a recurring role in Callan (1972), a dozen appearances in Crown Court (between 1973 and 1982), mainly as barrister Patrick Canty, and also in the popular ATV anthology drama series Love Story (between 1964 and 1968). TP also contributed to a number of dramas including The Duchess of Malfi (1972), The Changeling (1974), Napoleon and Love (1974), Holocaust (1978), The Manions of America (1981), To the Lighthouse (1983), Bleak House (1985), Strong Medicine (1986), Jack the Ripper (1988), Shoot to Kill (1990), Scarlet and Black (1993) and the final episode of Inspector Morse (2000).

TP also featured in a number of films which included Ulysses (1967), Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (1971), where he appeared alongside Dustin Hoffman, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977). He was considered one of Ireland's finest Joycean actors and narrated the Emmy-winning documentary Is There One Who Understands Me.

On stage he appeared with leading theatre companies, including the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre Company. His West End debut was as Cranly in Stephen D at the St Martin's Theatre in 1963.

TP was also a distinguished and instantly recognisable voice on countless radio dramas for BBC Radio and the World Service. He took the role of Phonsie Doherty in Christopher Fitz-Simon's Radio 4 comedy series, Ballylennon and also appeared opposite David Threlfall in the radio drama Baldi. He died at the Royal Free Hospital in London and was laid to rest alongside his wife, May, at Teampall Cheallaigh by the shores of Mullagh Lake in County Cavan, Ireland. TP had been married to May for more than fifty years until her death in 2007; the couple had five children. Two of his sons, Breffni and Kilian (1959-2014), also became actors.

Jane Merrow

Character & Episode: Sandra Joyce in Who Killed Cock Robin?
Born: 26/08/1941, Hertfordshire, England (as Jane Josephine Meirowsky)

Jane Merrow is a striking and talented actress, who remains active today. The daughter of an English mother and German refugee father, Jane first acted at the age of eight. Between 1954 and 1958, she attended St Margaret's School in Folkestone and at 14 was the youngest person ever to gain a Distinction in the Grade VIII Drama examination. After completing two year's training at RADA in 1960, she began her professional career, gaining work as an assistant stage manager and understudy in the Lillian Hellman play Toys in the Attic in London’s West End Theatre. Her first screen role followed in 1961, in a schools programme for Associated-Rediffusion entitled The Angry Gods. Other early credits include The Plane Makers and Lorna Doone, both on television. During the Sixties, she appeared in a number of well-remembered television series, most notably The Avengers, The Saint, Danger Man, The Baron, Man in a Suitcase, The Prisoner and the long thought lost 1965 BBC adaptation of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four that was recovered in 2010.

In 1967, Jane was seriously considered as the replacement for Diana Rigg in The Avengers; she narrowly lost out to Linda Thorson (then a total unknown). In January 1969, Jane was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance as Alais, the mistress of Henry II, in the costume drama The Lion in Winter. In the Seventies, Jane enjoyed a spell in America, appearing in several shows including Mission: Impossible, Alias Smith and Jones, Mannix, Cannon and The Six Million Dollar Man.

In first half of the 1990s, after having been based in America since 1969, Jane returned to England to successfully run the family business, but later returned to the US after selling the business to be near her son and his family. More recently, she has penned and produced a number of video shorts and has attended several conventions.

In her personal life, Jane was once engaged to actor David Hemmings (1941-2003) and has been married to Richard Alan Bullen (1940-), an American pilot, who she met while flying with cast members around Australia on location for the film Adam's Woman (1970) in which she starred. Couple had one son, Thomas. She currently splits her time between homes in London, France and America. Jane has her own website, janemerrow.com, and is active on Facebook. She has also written a book, Being An Actor (2019).

William Mervyn

Character & Episode: Whitty in A Disturbing Case
Born: 03/01/1912, Nairobi, Kenya (as William Mervyn Pickwoad)
Died: 06/08/1976, London, England

Although born in Nairobi, William Mervyn attended Forest School in Snaresbrook, Essex, England from 1920 to 1930. He later went into repertory theatres at Hull and Liverpool prior to the Second World War, during which he was in military service. He made his London stage debut after the war in Guinea Pig in 1946 and continued in the theatre throughout his career. His talents were also much in demand in films, television and radio, and several commercials featured his voice.

William's debut screen appearance, as a character called Huxtable in the film The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947), marked the start of a remarkable screen career during which he would go on to make more than two hundred film and television appearances. In 1950 he had an uncredited role in the police drama The Blue Lamp, which starred Jack Warner as PC George Dixon, a character that was soon after revived (literally, for the character died in the film!) for the long running BBC Television series Dixon of Dock Green. In 1954 William was one of the regular cast, along with Geraldine McEwan and Dennis Price, in the drama series Crime on Our Hands. In 1957 he appeared in ITC/Sapphire Films television series The Adventures of Robin Hood, and was also Mr Inspector, a police officer, in the BBC drama serial Our Mutual Friend (1958-1959).

During the early 1960s he played Admiral Croft in the series Persuasion, Mr Grimwig in the television adaptation of Oliver Twist and Sir Hector in Saki, a popular drama series of the time which also featured Fenella Fielding. In 1963 he first played the role which would become one of his most famous: police chief inspector Charles Rose in the Granada series The Odd Man. He would go on to reprise this role in two spin-off series, It's Dark Outside (1964-1965) and Mr Rose (1967-1968), with Mervyn delivering a wonderfully fruity, eccentric and yet mannered performance throughout. In 1964 he played a villain in the Miss Marple film Murder Ahoy with Margaret Rutherford starring as Agatha Christie's elderly heroine. In 1966 he played a Lord Justice in The Legend of Young Dick Turpin, a two-part story in Walt Disney's anthology series Disneyland. During the same year William also figured in a well-regarded William Hartnell-era Doctor Who serial, The War Machines, which made effective use of the newly-opened Post Office Tower (now the BT Tower) in Fitzrovia, London. From 1966 until 1971 he appeared regularly in another signature role, as The Bishop in the comedy series All Gas and Gaiters, which also starred Robertson Hare and Derek Nimmo. It is for this role, along with that of Charles Rose, that William remains most famous. In 1972 he was in an episode of The Persuaders! and from 1973 to 1976 he was a regular in the courtroom drama series Crown Court as the Honourable Mr Justice Campbell. William's final screen appearance was in Raffles, which was transmitted in March 1977, some seven months after his death.

On the big screen, William appeared in three entries in the famous Carry On comedy series: Carry On Follow That Camel (1967), Carry On Again Doctor (1969) and Carry On Henry (1971). In 1969, along with stars Patrick Macnee, Johnny Sekka and Peter Cushing and other cast members, William filmed scenes in the Mediterranean for the horror film Incense for the Damned, a troubled production which received a limited American release in 1971 and did not reach British cinemas until September 1972. In 1970 he was the old gentlemen on the train in the feature film adaptation of E. Nesbit's The Railway Children, which starred Jenny Agutter and was directed by Lionel Jeffries.

In his personal life, William was married to theatre designer and architect Anne Payne-Cook (1915-1992). The couple had three children: Michael (1945-2018), who became a production designer and film art director, Richard (born in 1947), who became a documentary film director and aerial cameraman, and Nicholas, a bookbinding expert.

Kieron Moore

Character & Episode: Miklos Corri in When the Spirit Moves You
Born: 05/10/1924, Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland (as Kieron O'Hanrahan)
Died: 15/07/2007, Charente-Maritime, France

Kieron Moore was born into a staunchly Irish Gaelic-speaking family. His father Peadar was a writer and poet and his interests clearly influenced his children, as Kieron's sister Neasa became a stalwart of the Raidió Éireann Players, his brother Fachtna a musical director at Raidió Éireann, and his second sister Bláithín a harpist with the National Symphony Orchestra. Kieron was not immune to the draw of the arts: intending to become a doctor, he went to St. Mary's College in Dublin to commence his training, and it was here that he first became actively interested in the theatre. He formed a Gaelic theatre of all the schools in Dublin, and while studying for an examination he put on and acted in two plays at the little Peacock Theatre. One of his schoolfellows thought that he was wasting his time with his theatrical activities, and so he brought along the producer of the famous Abbey Theatre, Frank Dermody, to one of the performances, hoping that he would pull Kieron and the play to pieces, and so cure Kieron of his interest in the theatre. Instead, the producer was very impressed by the young actor's performance, and consequently, about six months later, when he was looking for someone to take the leading male part in a Gaelic play, he remembered the young man he had seen in the school play. When Kieron arrived at the famous Abbey Theatre, his acceptance meant that his medical studies at University College Dublin were cut short. His time in theatre in Dublin was brief, from 1942 to 1943, but his performances were well received.

By the age of 19 he made his British stage debut as Heathcliff in an adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (a role he would reprise four years later in 1948 for BBC Television). His first film role was as an IRA man in The Voice Within (1946), and at this time he was acting using his Anglicised name, Kieron O'Hanrahan. This was soon to change. Alexandra Korda, the acclaimed Hungarian film producer and director, was so impressed with Kieron's performance in the West End hit Red Roses for Me in 1946 that he awarded Kieron a seven year contract with London Films, and this coincided with him adopting the stage name Kieron Moore. A succession of films followed, commencing with a leading role in A Man About the House (1947), the only mis-step being his role of the suave Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina (1948) opposite Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson, for which he received the worst notices of his career. Perhaps unfortunately, it is for this role that he is best remembered today.

Kieron's film career took him to Hollywood in 1950, where he had parts in the biblical epic David and Bathsheba and Ten Tall Men, a vehicle for Burt Lancaster. Further roles across the Atlantic followed, including Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), which ranks among the best received live action films made by Walt Disney Productions. Meanwhile, Kieron made many films and television programmes in Britain, including roles in two episodes of Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!, a 1957 series based on true events as reported by foreign correspondents.  He also directed several episodes of The Vise, a drama series produced by the Danzigers in Borehamwood, England, chiefly for the American market.

Moving into the 1960s, Kieron turned in an acclaimed performance in the comedy-thriller The League of Gentlemen, and soon became a favoured television actor, appearing in ITC's Danger Man and Sir Francis Drake, and the BBC's Zero One and Vendetta, among others. When he appeared in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), he had just filmed a Department S episode, Dead Men Die Twice, also for When the Spirit Moves You's director, Ray Austin. After his appearance as Miklos Corri, Kieron's screen roles were almost exclusively for ITC, in The Adventurer, Jason King, The Protectors and The Zoo Gang. The latter would prove to be his final screen credit as he chose to retire from acting in 1973 to become a social activist on behalf of the Third World, and this led to him working with the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) for nine years. During that period, he made two documentaries, Progress of Peoples (filmed in Peru) and The Parched Earth (filmed in Senegal).

In later life, he turned to project managing, magazine editing and voice-over work, prior to his retirement in 1994 to the Charente-Maritime in France, where he joined the church choir, became a hospital visitor and enjoyed reading French, Spanish, English and Irish literature. Kieron Moore passed away aged 82 on 15th July 2007 and was survived by his wife, Barbara White, who he had married sixty years earlier after meeting her during filming of The Voice Within, their daughter Theresa and sons Casey, Colm and Seán.

Charles Morgan

Characters & Episodes: Albert Phillips in A Disturbing Case
Born: 21/07/1909, Bedwellty, Monmouthshire, Wales (as Charles Walter Morgan)
Died: 05/1994, Surrey, England

Charles Morgan arrived on the professional stage having gained a great deal of experience in amateur theatre. He featured in productions including Macbeth at the Old Vic and Mary Read at His Majesty's Theatre in the mid-1930s, and he worked with the Court Players at the Leeds Theatre Royal before joining the Royal Air Force in 1941. After returning to civilian life, he worked with the Overture Players at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing, West Sussex, from 1946 to 1954. Gradually, Charles moved into film and television, with the latter predominating by the end of the 1950s, though he would also maintain his stage work.

Charles made his screen debut in the 1949 Ealing Films production Train of Events, a portmanteau film which told four stories from the perspectives of people caught up in a train crash. He also appeared in films such as Hell is a City (1960), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (uncredited, 1961) and Cash on Demand (uncredited, 1961). His last film credit was in The Return of the Soldier (1982), a drama which starred Julie Christie.

Charles' television debut came when he featured in the BBC play Where the Heart Is (transmitted live on Sunday 16th August 1953, with a second live performance on Thursday 20th August), although he would not appear regularly on the small screen until 1957. His notable television contributions include regular roles in All Aboard (1958-1959) and as Superintendent Rodway in Sergeant Cork (between 1964 and 1966), and different characters in The Avengers (Brought to Book in 1961 and The Rotters in 1968), Z Cars (between 1967 and 1970), Doctor Who (The Abominable Snowmen in 1967 and The Invasion of Time in 1978) and Never the Twain (1983 and 1986), a comedy starring Donald Sinden and Windsor Davies. He also featured in Cover Her Face (1985), a detective series about Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh which was based on the 1962 debut crime novel of author P.D. James. Charles' final screen credit came in 1989 in After Henry, a situation comedy series starring Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson.

In his personal life, Charles was married to Stella Guthrie, a pianist, and had children.

Garfield Morgan

Characters & Episodes: Edwards in You Can Always Find a Fall Guy;
Carlson in The House on Haunted Hill
Born: 19/04/1931, Birmingham, West Midlands, England (as Thomas Timothy Garfield Morgan)
Died: 05/12/2009, London, England

Upon leaving school, Garfield Morgan was initially an apprentice dental technician before going to drama school in Erdington, Birmingham, which he attended for one year. He started in repertory theatre at the Arena Theatre in the city in 1953 and was soon acting and directing for the stage, becoming director of productions for the Marlowe Players in Canterbury (of which he was also a founder member) and later, the Library Theatre in Manchester. During the Seventies he was as Associate Director of the Northcott Theatre and later, the Nottingham Playhouse.

He made his screen debut during the 1950s. Among his first film appearances was an uncredited role in The Intimate Stranger (1956). He would go on to appear in well over one hundred and fifty screen productions, mainly limited to television. He started in minor roles but, as the Sixties progressed, he gained better ones and became a familiar face on British television. During the Sixties, Garfield notably worked on Coronation Street, Ghost Squad, The Saint and in 1966 he was for a while a regular cast member of the BBC's Softly, Softly, a spin-off series of Z Cars. He was often cast as policemen and in 1974 he won his most famous role, as DCI Frank Haskins in the popular crime series The Sweeney which also starred John Thaw and Dennis Waterman. He also did voiceover work and provided narration on four of Rick Wakeman's albums.

Garfield continued to be busy well into the Eighties, featuring in hit series such as Shelley, Boon and The Gentle Touch. As the Nineties approached, his career slowed and in later life he battled with cancer. His last role was in the film 28 Weeks Later in 2007. Like Frank Maher (1929-2007), another Randall and Hopkirk contributor, Garfield was once married to the actress Dilys Laye (1934-2009). He had a number of hobbies which included golf, photography and riding (show-jumping and eventing). His cancer would eventually claim him in 2009, only months after his former wife Dilys had also passed away.

Donald Morley

Character & Episode: Inspector Clayton in Never Trust a Ghost
Born: 09/06/1923, Fulham, London, England
Died: 27/05/1999, Richmond, Surrey, England

Although now largely forgotten, Donald Morley was a fine actor, adept at playing straight roles or comedy. He enjoyed a career spanning four decades in which he amassed well over one hundred and fifty film and television credits, with the latter accounting for the greater proportion.

Donald attended Upper Latymer School in Hammersmith and, after appearing in its production of Journey's End, he decided to become an actor. He chose to be a firefighter in the Second World War, as opposed to the alternative choice of becoming a 'Bevin Boy' in the mines. He was sent to Cardiff, where he operated the curtains in the theatre during his time off, and soon was acting on stage. After a few years in repertory theatre he turned to directing in the late 1940s. Alternating between acting and directing, he stopped the latter when TV took up his time. Donald made his television debut in the early 1950s, and among his first works were The Same Sky, The Infinite Shoeblack and The Dybbuk - all for the BBC in 1952 - at which time he had also begun to work as a radio announcer on Radio Luxembourg, an early, unlicensed commercial competitor to the BBC.

Donald steadily built up a reputation as a reliable supporting actor, and in 1957 he was a cast regular in the children’s serial adaptation of Edith Nesbit's The Railway Children as Mr Gill, the stationmaster. Other notable appearances would follow. He appeared in Coronation Street in 1961 and returned in 1974 playing a different character. His association with soap opera was further reinforced by a long stint as Arnold Babbage in Compact (1962-63), and two engagements in Emmerdale Farm, the first as the alcoholic Franklin Prescott in 1974, with Donald returning four years later as Alec Ferris. Donald also featured in the early Doctor Who serial The Reign of Terror (1964), in which he played Jules Renan.  He was a familiar face to viewers of the various ITC series, appearing in Interpol Calling, Ghost Squad, The Sentimental Agent, Gideon's Way, The Saint and The Champions. In 1988, he played Mr Gregson in All Creatures Great And Small. His last credited television appearance came in 1994 in The Brittas Empire, which starred Chris Barrie.

In his personal life Donald was married twice to actresses, firstly to Enid Irvin (1921-2013) and then to Marianne Craggs (1928-2013).