Jack Watling | |
|---|---|
 Publicity still for The Winslow Boy (1948) | |
| Born | Jack Stanley Watling 13 January 1923 |
| Died | 22 May 2001 (aged 78) Chelmsford, Essex, England |
| Alma mater | Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse | Patricia Hicks (m. 1947) |
| Children | 4, including Deborah and Giles |
| Relatives | Dilys Watling (stepdaughter) |
Jack Stanley Watling (13 January 1923 – 22 May 2001) was an English actor. [1] [2]
The son of a travelling scrap metal dealer, Watling trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts as a child; and made his stage debut in Where the Rainbow Ends at the Holborn Empire in 1936. [3] He made his first film appearances (all uncredited) in Sixty Glorious Years , Housemaster (both 1938) and Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939). [4]
In 1941, he played Bill Hopkins in Once a Crook in his West End debut. [5] He starred as Flight Lieutenant Teddy Graham in the original 1942 production of Terence Rattigan's Flare Path . [4]
Watling had a long career in low-key British films, originally in easy-going boyish roles. [6] His early appearances were in Cottage to Let (1941). We Dive at Dawn (1943), The Demi-Paradise (1943) opposite Laurence Olivier, The Way Ahead (1944) with David Niven, The Winslow Boy (1948), Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953) and in Orson Welles' Mr. Arkadin (aka, Confidential Report, 1955). [1] In the account of the sinking of the Titantic, the film A Night To Remember (1958), he played Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall and in Sink the Bismarck! (1960) as the Signals officer who reports "HMS Hood...has blown up!" [7]
His reputation as an effective and reliable television actor took root in the early 1960s. Between 1964–69 he was Don Henderson, the troubled conscience to tough businessman John Wilder (Patrick Wymark) in The Plane Makers and its sequel The Power Game . [8] Watling also appeared as Doc Saxon in the 1970s series Pathfinders . [6] He played Professor Edward Travers in the BBC science-fiction television series Doctor Who in the serials The Abominable Snowmen (1967) and The Web of Fear (1968), both of which also featuring his daughter Deborah Watling as the Second Doctor's companion Victoria Waterfield. [9] He reprised the role decades later in the independent Doctor Who spin-off video Downtime (1995). [10] He also took over the role of Arthur Bourne in the final series of The Cedar Tree in 1979
His final roles were all on television, in series such as Bergerac 4 episodes 1989-1991 as Frank Blakemore and Heartbeat as The Colonel 1994 in Lost and Found. [11] [12]
Watling was married to former actress Patricia Hicks. He was the father of actress Deborah Watling, actor/politician Giles Watling, sculptor Nicky Matthews, and a fourth child, Adam, who died in infancy. Watling was also the stepfather of actress Dilys Watling, Hicks's daughter from a previous marriage. The Watlings were long-term residents at Alderton Hall, Loughton. [13] [14]
Laurence Naismith was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films Scrooge (1970) and the children's ghost film The Amazing Mr Blunden (1972). He also had memorable roles as Captain Edward Smith of the RMS Titanic in A Night to Remember (1958), the First Sea Lord in Sink the Bismarck! (1960), and Argus in Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
Walter Jack Gotell was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the Roger Moore-era of the James Bond film series, as well as having played the role of Morzeny, a villain, in From Russia With Love. He also appeared as Gogol in the final part of The Living Daylights (1987), Timothy Dalton's debut Bond film.
Jack Wynne May was an English actor.
The Abominable Snowmen is the mostly missing second serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 30 September to 4 November 1967.
Ernest Clark was a British actor of stage, television and film.
Geoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the James Bond films.
Morris Ankrum was an American radio, television, and film character actor.
Thomas Heathcote was a British character actor, a former protégé of Laurence Olivier.
John Lovell Horsley was a British actor.
George Authur Woodbridge was an English actor who appeared in films, television, and theatre ranging from the 1930s to the 1970s. George became well known for his ruddy-cheeked complexion and West Country accent, this meant he often played publicans, policemen or yokels, most prominently in horror and comedy films alongside Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
Ronald Alfred Shiner was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall.
Wilfred William Dennis Shine was a British theatre, film and television actor. Shine was born into a family of theatre actors; among others, Shine's father, mother, grandmother, two uncles and an aunt had worked in theatre. His father Wilfred Shine was a theatre actor who also appeared in films during the 1920s and the 1930s. Bill Shine made his film debut in 1929, since which he appeared in over 160 films and television series. Towards the end of his career, he was best known for playing Inventor Black on children's television series Super Gran. In series two, episode four, of Mrs Thursday, 'The Duke and I', (1967), he played the Duke of Midlothian.
Frank Reppy Wilcox was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as Broadway plays.
Arthur Michael Shepley-Smith, known professionally as Michael Shepley, was a British actor, appearing in theatre, film and some television between 1929 and 1961.
Albert Patrick Jordan was a British stage, film and television actor.
Rhodri Henry Hughes was a Welsh theatre, film and television actor, who appeared in over 80 films between 1932 and 1961.
Philip Ray was a British stage, film and television actor. Occasionally credited as Phil Ray, he played numerous and varied supporting roles, particularly in films and on television. He also saw military service in both WWI and WWII.
Charles Lamb was a British stage, film and television actor. Previously an engineer, he made his theatre debut in 1924.
Cameron Hall was an English actor. He was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, and died, aged 86, in Sidmouth, Devon
Paul Bryar was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly half a century, he appeared in numerous films and television series.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
