Geoffrey Whitehead

Last updated

Geoffrey Whitehead
Born (1939-10-01) 1 October 1939 (age 84)
Grenoside, Sheffield, England
OccupationActor
Years active1962–present
Relatives Celina Hinchcliffe (niece)

Geoffrey Whitehead (born 1 October 1939) [1] is an English actor. He has appeared in a range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at Shakespeare's Globe, St Martin's Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic.

Contents

Early life

Whitehead was born in Grenoside near Sheffield. [2] With his father killed in the Second World War, Whitehead received an RAF benevolent grant which sent him to a minor public school. He later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he became friends with fellow student John Thaw. [3]

Career

His film appearances have included The Raging Moon (1971), Kidnapped (1971), the vengeful woodsman in And Now the Screaming Starts! (1972), S.O.S. Titanic (1979) as shipbuilder Thomas Andrews, Inside the Third Reich (1982), Shooting Fish (1997) and Love/Loss (2010).

His television appearances include Bulldog Breed (1962), Z-Cars (1964–1965 and 1972–1975), playing two different regular characters, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973), Thriller (1 episode, 1974), Wodehouse Playhouse , ('Rodney Fails to Qualify'), Robin's Nest (1977), Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979–1980, as Sherlock Holmes), Peter the Great (1986), Chelmsford 123 (1988–1990), War and Remembrance (1988), Second Thoughts (1991–1994), The House of Eliott (1991), Executive Stress , Little Britain and The Worst Week of My Life . He is seen regularly on British television as well as filling many roles on radio, where he featured in the third and fourth episodes of the fifth series of the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Old Harry's Game in the role of Roland Kingworthy, as Prior Robert in the 1980s BBC radio dramatisations of Cadfael , as John Barsad in the radio dramatisation of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and most recently as Justice Wargrave in the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None on 13 November 2010. He has starred on BBC radio in many comic roles, including Bleak Expectations , featuring as five entire families between 2007 and 2012. He appeared in two series of the BBC remake Reggie Perrin as Reggie's father-in-law, William.

In 2011, he joined the cast of Not Going Out in its fourth series as Geoffrey Adams, the father of Lucy and Tim. This character had been recurring since 2007, but had previously been played by Timothy West.

In 2013, he appeared on Comic Relief playing the vicar in the Simon Cowell wedding sketch.

From 2015 to 2019, Whitehead played Mr (Wilburn) Newbold in BBC One's Still Open All Hours .

Radio roles

His regular radio roles include:

Personal life

Whitehead is the uncle of broadcaster Celina Hinchcliffe and he is a Sheffield Wednesday supporter. [4]

Related Research Articles

Dinsdale James Landen was an English actor. His television appearances included starring in the shows Devenish (1977) and Pig in the Middle (1980). The Independent named him an "outstanding actor with the qualities of a true farceur." He performed in many Shakespeare plays at Stratford-upon-Avon and Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Problem of Thor Bridge</span> Short story by Arthur Conan Doyle

"The Problem of Thor Bridge" is a Sherlock Holmes short story by Arthur Conan Doyle collected in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927). It was first published in 1922 in The Strand Magazine (UK) and Hearst's International (US).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inspector Lestrade</span> Fictional character from Sherlock Holmes

Detective Inspector G. Lestrade, or Mr. Lestrade, is a fictional character appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the novel A Study in Scarlet, which was published in 1887. The last story in which he appears is the short story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", which was first published in 1924 and was included in the final collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Adventure of the Devil's Foot</span> Short story by Arthur Conan Doyle

"The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" from 1910 is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. It is one of eight stories in the cycle collected as His Last Bow.

Philip Michael Hinchcliffe is a retired English television producer, screenwriter and script editor. After graduating from Cambridge University, he began his career as a writer and script editor at Associated Television before joining the BBC to produce Doctor Who in one of its most popular eras from 1974 to 1977. In 2010, Hinchcliffe was chosen by Den of Geek as the best ever producer of the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Woodnutt</span> English actor

John Edward Arthur Woodnutt was an English character actor, often cast in villainous roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Coules</span> English writer

Bert Coules is an English writer, mainly for the BBC, who has produced a number of dramatisations and original works. He works mainly in radio drama but also writes for TV and the stage.

Celina Alexandra Hinchcliffe is an English television sports broadcaster. She has worked for BBC, Sky News and ITV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Vaughan</span> English actor

Peter Vaughan was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage.

Colin Abel Jeavons is a retired British television actor.

Clive Merrison is a British actor of film, television, stage and radio. He trained at Rose Bruford College. He is best known for his long running BBC Radio portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, having played the part in all 64 episodes of the 1989–1998 series of Sherlock Holmes dramatisations, and all 16 episodes of The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2002–2010).

The stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been very popular as adaptations for the stage, and later film, and still later television. The four volumes of the Universal Sherlock Holmes (1995) compiled by Ronald B. De Waal lists over 25,000 Holmes-related productions and products. They include the original writings, "together with the translations of these tales into sixty-three languages, plus Braille and shorthand, the writings about the Writings or higher criticism, writings about Sherlockians and their societies, memorials and memorabilia, games, puzzles and quizzes, phonograph records, audio and video tapes, compact discs, laser discs, ballets, films, musicals, operettas, oratorios, plays, radio and television programs, parodies and pastiches, children's books, cartoons, comics, and a multitude of other items — from advertisements to wine — that have accumulated throughout the world on the two most famous characters in literature."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Culver</span> English actor

Michael Culver is an English actor. He was born in Hampstead, London, the son of actor Roland Culver and casting director Daphne Rye. He was educated at Gresham's School.

The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes was a BBC Radio 2 comedy series written by Tony Hare. It starred Roy Hudd, Chris Emmett, Jeffrey Holland, and June Whitfield, and was broadcast between 16 January 1999, to 20 February 1999. It has since been re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

This article describes minor characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and from non-canonical derived works. The list excludes the titular character as well as Dr. Watson, Professor Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade, Mycroft Holmes, Mrs. Hudson, Irene Adler, Colonel Moran, the Baker Street Irregulars, and characters not significant enough to mention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lockwood West</span> British actor (1905–1989)

Harry Lockwood West was a British actor. He was the father of actor Timothy West and the grandfather of actor Samuel West.

<i>Sherlock Holmes</i> (1965 TV series) TV series or program

Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes are two British series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations for television produced by the BBC in 1965 and 1968 respectively. The 1965 production, which followed a pilot the year before, was the second BBC series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, after one starring Alan Wheatley in 1951.

<i>Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson</i> TV series or program

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson is a television series created by Sheldon Reynolds and based on characters and storylines from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. It starred Geoffrey Whitehead, Donald Pickering and Patrick Newell in the title roles of Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson and Inspector Lestrade respectively. The series is considered rather obscure, and was filmed on a relatively low budget in Poland. The series combined adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's source stories with original screenplays that saw Holmes face brand new cases.

John Michael Drinkrow Hardwick, known as Michael Hardwick, was an English author who was best known for writing books and radio plays which featured Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation Sherlock Holmes. He adapted most of the episodes of the Sherlock Holmes BBC radio series 1952–1969.

Sherlock Holmes is the overall title given to the series of radio dramas adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories that aired between 1952 and 1969 on BBC radio stations. The episodes starred Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes and Norman Shelley as Dr. Watson. All but four of Doyle's sixty Sherlock Holmes stories were adapted with Hobbs and Shelley in the leading roles, and some of the stories were adapted more than once with different supporting actors.

References

  1. BFI biodata Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019
  2. "Grenoside sword dancers hold festival for centenary". BBC News. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  3. Hancock, Sheila (2005). The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. p. 70. ISBN   0747577099.
  4. Brookes, Christian (21 December 2012). "Celina Hinchcliffe interview: Southern heart and northern soul for Owls fan presenter". Beats & Rhymes FC. Retrieved 28 May 2019.