Howard Lang

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Howard Lang
Howard Lang as Captain William Baines.jpg
Howard Lang (1975)
Born
Donald Yarranton

20 March 1911
Marylebone, London, England
Died11 December 1989 (age 78)
West Hampstead, London, England
Occupation Actor
Years active1946–1986

Howard Lang (born Donald Yarranton; 20 March 1911 - 11 December 1989) was an English actor known for playing Captain William Baines in the BBC nautical drama The Onedin Line .

Contents

Early life

Lang was born in Marylebone, London, the son of Edward John Yarranton (1884–1954) and Clara Ann (née Malkin) (1888–1921). [1] His father had left the family's bookbinding business to become a senior commercial traveller for Winsor & Newton, the manufacturer of artists' materials.

Lang served for seven years in the Royal Navy including during World War II. In January 1941 he was appointed Temporary Sub-Lieutenant, [2] and in January 1942 Temporary Lieutenant, [3] a position he held until the end of the war. [4]

His younger brother from his father's second marriage was Sir Peter Yarranton (1924–2003), chairman of the United Kingdom Sports Council from 1989 to 1994, and a notable figure in the world of rugby union, both as a player and as an administrator, for more than 40 years.

Acting career

For his role as seafaring Captain Baines in The Onedin Line (1971–1980) he gained international attention. In a 1977 interview in Radio Times Lang recalled a personal appearance in Norway:

When the series was first shown in Norway I was asked to make a personal appearance in a small shipbuilding town. As I was brought into Grimstad by sea I caught sight of huge crowds – all of 3,000 townsfolk out on the quay to greet me. I learned afterwards that I had been received as family because almost every home had an ancient photograph of an uncle, cousin or grandfather dressed and sideburned precisely as I appear on The Onedin Line. [5]

Lang's other parts included roles in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), Z-Cars , Softly, Softly , The Vise , and an appearance as caveman Horg in three of the four episodes of the first Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child . He also played Winston Churchill in the 1983 TV miniseries The Winds of War .

He also played the role of Bert Hudd in the first production of Harold Pinter's first play, The Room .

In an early seafaring role, he had a cameo in Ben-Hur as the hortator aboard a Roman galley leading up to the epic battle with an enemy fleet.

Howard Lang died in West Hampstead, London in 1989.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1946 Great Expectations Man at Magwitch's TrialUncredited
1947 Jassy JurymanUncredited
1950 The Mudlark FootmanUncredited
1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.Officer aboard CassandraUncredited
1952 The Floating Dutchman GaolerUncredited
1953The Missing ManInspector HaslettUncredited
Counterspy PolicemanUncredited
1954The Blazing CaravanPublicanUncredited
The House Across the Lake Inspector EdgarUncredited
Beau Brummell HecklerUncredited
The Men of Sherwood Forest Town Crier
Devil's PointMarne, company executiveUncredited
1955The Mysterious BulletDavy Charlesworth
Stolen Time Scotland Yard detective
1956 Keep It Clean Police Sergeant
Eyewitness Cinema CommissionaireUncredited
Destination DeathPolice SgtUncredited
The Battle of the River Plate Guns – HMS ExeterUncredited
The HideoutGreeko
1957 The Crooked Sky Commissioner
The Big Chance Saw Mill Man
The Birthday Present Cellblock OfficerUncredited
1958 Dunkirk Chief, Sheerness DockyardUncredited
A Night to Remember Chief Officer Henry Wilde – TitanicUncredited
Corridors of Blood Chief InspectorUncredited
1959 Behemoth the Sea Monster Naval CommanderUncredited
Innocent Meeting Macey
A Woman's Temptation Uncredited
Man Accused Uncredited
Ben-Hur HortatorUncredited
Date at Midnight Inspector
1960 Night Train for Inverness Sergeant
Jackpot George
The Trials of Oscar Wilde Court Usher
1961 Gorgo First Colonel
Feet of Clay Warder
The Curse of the Werewolf Irate FarmerUncredited
1963 The Haunting Hugh CrainUncredited
The RunawayNorring
1964 Nothing but the Best Jutson
1965 He Who Rides a Tiger Prison Governor
1966 A Woman's Temptation Uncredited
1967 Frankenstein Created Woman GuardUncredited
1970 Perfect Friday Bank Commissionaire
1971 10 Rillington Place Man in PubUncredited
Macbeth Old SoldierUncredited

Television

YearTitleRoleEpisodes
1952–1955 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre Courier Pilot

Party Guest

Season 3, episode 29: ''Arrow to the Heart''

Season 6, episode 44: ''The Makepeace Story #3: Family Business''

1954 Fabian of the Yard HarrySeason 1, episode 4: ''Bombs in Piccadilly''
1955The Hole in the Wall2nd PolicemanTV movie
1955–1961 The Vise Police Sergeant

Policeman Marshall Warehouseman Mansfield Mr. Peters First Detective P.C. Price Jim

Season 2, episode 8: ''The Broken Link''

Season 5: (2 episodes)

Season 6: (4 episodes)

Season 7: (2 episodes)

1956 ITV Play of the Week George HuttonSeason 1, episode 37: ''Come Read Me a Riddle''
The Adventures of the Big ManBalfordSeason 1: (3 episodes)
The Crime of the CenturyMr. BartonSeason 1: (2 episodes)
1956–1957 The Adventures of Robin Hood Landlord

Inn Patron with Password

Season 2: (2 episodes)
1957 Sword of Freedom Major DomoSeason 1, episode 4: ''Caterina''
ITV Television PlayhouseWatchmanSeason 2, episode 44: ''And So to Bed''
Overseas Press Club - Exclusive! Polish bosunSeason 1, episode 11: ''The Unknown Man''
White HunterBurrowsSeason 1, episode 4: ''The No-Account''
1957–1958 aO.S.S. Bruehl

Jean First Farmer

Season 1: (3 episodes)
1958 African Patrol Brad

Collins

Season 1: (2 episodes)
The Adventures of William Tell Schmidt

Blacksmith Armour

Season 1: (3 episodes)
1959–1960 Interpol Calling Commander Siddons

Dutch Policeman

Season 1: (2 episodes)
1959–1962 Dixon of Dock Green 1st Carter

Paul Bennet

Season 5, episode 22: ''A Case for the Inland Revenue''

Season 9, episode 13: ''Cash and Carry''

1960Man From InterpolSergeantSeason 1, episode 7: ''Love by Extortion''
The Strange World of Gurney Slade Season 1, episode 3
Knight Errant LimitedDr. O'KellySeason 3, episode 10: ''The Conspirators''
1961RendezvousGoddardSeason 1, episode 29: ''The Executioner''
1961–1962 Sir Francis Drake Richard Grenville Season 1: (15 episodes)
1962The CheatersWillieSeason 2, episode 18: ''The Dashing Major''
1963 Richard the Lionheart First ShepardSeason 1, episode 28: ''Capture''
Sergeant Cork DraymanSeason 1, episode 1: ''Case of the Reluctant Window''
Doctor Who HorgSeason 1: (3 episodes)
1964 Espionage Ted NewcombeSeason 1, episode 19: ''Snow on Mount Kama''
HMS Paradise Commander BellSeason 1, episode 3: ''An Officer and a Gentleman''
Gideon's Way Sgt. FowlerSeason 1, episode 6: ''The Lady Killer''
1964–1969 Z-Cars Brown

Inspector Jackson Tice

Season 4, episode 6: ''Somebody Said...''

Season 6: (3 episodes)

1965 The Scales of Justice AbbottSeason 1, episode 6: ''Personal and Confidential''
Theatre 625 GrimmettSeason 3, episode 10: '' The World of George Orwell: Coming Up for Air''
1966 The Wednesday Play Dart playerSeason 1, episode 54: ''A Walk in the Sea''
King of the River Captain FriarSeason 1, episode 12: ''Flash Point''
1966–1969 Softly, Softly Dobson

Mr. Forbes Captain Donaldson

Season 1, episode 19: ''The Short Cut''

Season 3, episode 9: ''The Hunt''Season 5, episode 5: ''Dead Aboard''

1968 Freewheelers Admiral NashSeason 1: (3 episodes)
Georgia Brown Sings Kurt WeillNarratorTV movie
1969W. Somerset MaughamClarkSeason 1, episode 4: ''The Letter''
DetectivePackerSeason 3, episode 7: ''Elimination Round''
1970 The Six Wives of Henry VIII Sir John SeymourSeason 1, episode 3: ''Jane Seymour''
MacbethSiwardSeason 1, episode 5
1971 The Persuaders! Coalition Club MemberSeason 1, episode 6: ''The Time and Place''
1971–1980 The Onedin Line Captain BainesSeason 1: (15 episodes)

Season 2: (14 episodes)

Season 3: (13 episodes)

Season 4: (10 episodes)

Season 5: (10 episodes)

Season 6: (10 episodes)

Season 7: (10 episodes)

Season 8: (9 episodes)

1972It's Murder But Is It ArtChief ConstableSeason 1 (3 episodes)
1974King Thrushbeard and the Proud PrincessKing GeoffreyTV movie
1976 The Basil Brush Show Unknown
1983 The Winds of War Winston ChurchillSeason 1 (4 episodes)
1984 The Last Days of Pompeii MedonSeason 2, episode 5
Jane ChurchillSeason 1; (3 episodes)
1985 The Pickwick Papers Tony Weller Season 1 (3 episodes)
1986The PyratesCaptain YardleyTV movie, (final film role)

References

  1. ↑ Donald Yarranton Family Entry on Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  2. ↑ UK Navy Lists, 1888–1970 (1941) for Donald Yarranton – Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  3. ↑ UK Navy Lists, 1888–1970 (1942) for Donald Yarranton – Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  4. ↑ UK Navy Lists, 1888–1970 (1945) for Donald Yarranton – Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  5. ↑ "Life On The Ocean Wave", Radio Times , 25 June – 1 July 1977 as reproduced on the Peter Gilmore-Anne Stallybrass website
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