 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2013) |
Howard Lang | |
|---|---|
 Howard Lang (1975) | |
| Born | Donald Yarranton Marylebone, London, England |
| Died | 11 December 1989 West Hampstead, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1946–1986 |
Howard Lang (born Donald Yarranton; died 11 December 1989) was an English actor known for playing Captain William Baines in the BBC nautical drama The Onedin Line .
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.
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.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Great Expectations | Man at Magwitch's Trial | Uncredited |
| 1947 | Jassy | Juryman | Uncredited |
| 1950 | The Mudlark | Footman | Uncredited |
| 1951 | Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. | Officer aboard Cassandra | Uncredited |
| 1952 | The Floating Dutchman | Gaoler | Uncredited |
| 1953 | The Missing Man | Inspector Haslett | Uncredited |
| Counterspy | Policeman | Uncredited | |
| 1954 | The Blazing Caravan | Publican | Uncredited |
| The House Across the Lake | Inspector Edgar | Uncredited | |
| Beau Brummell | Heckler | Uncredited | |
| The Men of Sherwood Forest | Town Crier | ||
| Devil's Point | Marne, company executive | Uncredited | |
| 1955 | The Mysterious Bullet | Davy Charlesworth | |
| Stolen Time | Scotland Yard detective | ||
| 1956 | Keep It Clean | Police Sergeant | |
| Eyewitness | Cinema Commissionaire | Uncredited | |
| Destination Death | Police Sgt | Uncredited | |
| The Battle of the River Plate | Guns – HMS Exeter | Uncredited | |
| The Hideout | Greeko | ||
| 1957 | The Crooked Sky | Commissioner | |
| The Big Chance | Saw Mill Man | ||
| The Birthday Present | Cellblock Officer | Uncredited | |
| 1958 | Dunkirk | Chief, Sheerness Dockyard | Uncredited |
| A Night to Remember | Chief Officer Henry Wilde – Titanic | Uncredited | |
| Corridors of Blood | Chief Inspector | Uncredited | |
| 1959 | Behemoth the Sea Monster | Naval Commander | Uncredited |
| Innocent Meeting | Macey | ||
| A Woman's Temptation | Uncredited | ||
| Man Accused | Uncredited | ||
| Ben-Hur | Hortator | Uncredited | |
| 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 Farmer | Uncredited | |
| 1963 | The Haunting | Hugh Crain | Uncredited |
| The Runaway | Norring | ||
| 1964 | Nothing but the Best | Jutson | |
| 1965 | He Who Rides a Tiger | Prison Governor | |
| 1966 | A Woman's Temptation | Uncredited | |
| 1967 | Frankenstein Created Woman | Guard | Uncredited |
| 1970 | Perfect Friday | Bank Commissionaire | |
| 1971 | 10 Rillington Place | Man in Pub | Uncredited |
| Macbeth | Old Soldier | Uncredited |
| Year | Title | Role | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Harry | Season 1, episode 4: ''Bombs in Piccadilly'' |
| 1955 | The Hole in the Wall | 2nd Policeman | TV 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 Hutton | Season 1, episode 37: ''Come Read Me a Riddle'' |
| The Adventures of the Big Man | Balford | Season 1: (3 episodes) | |
| The Crime of the Century | Mr. Barton | Season 1: (2 episodes) | |
| 1956–1957 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Landlord Inn Patron with Password | Season 2: (2 episodes) |
| 1957 | Sword of Freedom | Major Domo | Season 1, episode 4: ''Caterina'' |
| ITV Television Playhouse | Watchman | Season 2, episode 44: ''And So to Bed'' | |
| Overseas Press Club - Exclusive! | Polish bosun | Season 1, episode 11: ''The Unknown Man'' | |
| White Hunter | Burrows | Season 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'' |
| 1960 | Man From Interpol | Sergeant | Season 1, episode 7: ''Love by Extortion'' |
| The Strange World of Gurney Slade | Season 1, episode 3 | ||
| Knight Errant Limited | Dr. O'Kelly | Season 3, episode 10: ''The Conspirators'' | |
| 1961 | Rendezvous | Goddard | Season 1, episode 29: ''The Executioner'' |
| 1961–1962 | Sir Francis Drake | Richard Grenville | Season 1: (15 episodes) |
| 1962 | The Cheaters | Willie | Season 2, episode 18: ''The Dashing Major'' |
| 1963 | Richard the Lionheart | First Shepard | Season 1, episode 28: ''Capture'' |
| Sergeant Cork | Drayman | Season 1, episode 1: ''Case of the Reluctant Window'' | |
| Doctor Who | Horg | Season 1: (3 episodes) | |
| 1964 | Espionage | Ted Newcombe | Season 1, episode 19: ''Snow on Mount Kama'' |
| HMS Paradise | Commander Bell | Season 1, episode 3: ''An Officer and a Gentleman'' | |
| Gideon's Way | Sgt. Fowler | Season 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 | Abbott | Season 1, episode 6: ''Personal and Confidential'' |
| Theatre 625 | Grimmett | Season 3, episode 10: '' The World of George Orwell: Coming Up for Air'' | |
| 1966 | The Wednesday Play | Dart player | Season 1, episode 54: ''A Walk in the Sea'' |
| King of the River | Captain Friar | Season 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 Nash | Season 1: (3 episodes) |
| Georgia Brown Sings Kurt Weill | Narrator | TV movie | |
| 1969 | W. Somerset Maugham | Clark | Season 1, episode 4: ''The Letter'' |
| Detective | Packer | Season 3, episode 7: ''Elimination Round'' | |
| 1970 | The Six Wives of Henry VIII | Sir John Seymour | Season 1, episode 3: ''Jane Seymour'' |
| Macbeth | Siward | Season 1, episode 5 | |
| 1971 | The Persuaders! | Coalition Club Member | Season 1, episode 6: ''The Time and Place'' |
| 1971–1980 | The Onedin Line | Captain Baines | Season 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) |
| 1972 | It's Murder But Is It Art | Chief Constable | Season 1 (3 episodes) |
| 1974 | King Thrushbeard and the Proud Princess | King Geoffrey | TV movie |
| 1976 | The Basil Brush Show | Unknown | |
| 1983 | The Winds of War | Winston Churchill | Season 1 (4 episodes) |
| 1984 | The Last Days of Pompeii | Medon | Season 2, episode 5 |
| Jane | Churchill | Season 1; (3 episodes) | |
| 1985 | The Pickwick Papers | Tony Weller | Season 1 (3 episodes) |
| 1986 | The Pyrates | Captain Yardley | TV movie, (final film role) |
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was a prominent English politician and nobleman of the Tudor era. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were beheaded, and played a major role in the machinations affecting these royal marriages. After falling from favour in 1546, he was stripped of his dukedom and imprisoned in the Tower of London, avoiding execution when Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547.
James Gilmore Backus was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island, the father of James Dean's character in Rebel Without a Cause, the voice of the near-sighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo, the rich Hubert Updike III on the radio version of The Alan Young Show, and Joan Davis' character's husband on TV's I Married Joan. He also starred in his own show of one season, The Jim Backus Show, also known as Hot Off the Wire.
The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham.
Jill Viola Gascoine was an English actress and novelist. She portrayed Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series The Gentle Touch and its spin-off series C.A.T.S. Eyes. In the 1990s, she also became a novelist and published three books.
Maurice Colbourne was an English stage and television actor who starred as Tom Howard in the BBC television series Howards' Way. He is also known for roles in other television series such as Gangsters, The Onedin Line, The Day of the Triffids and Doctor Who. He was usually cast as a villain in his career.
Paul Angelis was an English actor and writer, best known for his role as PC Bruce Bannerman in the BBC police series Z-Cars and as Navy Rum in Porridge as well as doing many voices in the film Yellow Submarine.
Sir Peter George Yarranton was 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.
Wing Commander Humphrey de Verd Leigh, OBE, DFC, AFC (1897–1980) was a Royal Air Force officer.
Wallace Brownlow was an opera singer and actor of the Victorian era best known for baritone roles in the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, first with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the UK and on tour, and later with J. C. Williamson in Australia. He also appeared in other stage roles in London, New York, and elsewhere, and made some silent films in America.
William John Phillips MC was an English actor. He is known for the role of Chief Superintendent Robins in the television series Z-Cars and for his work as a Shakespearean stage actor.
Hugh Alfred Vernon Haggard, DSO, DSC was a Royal Navy officer who commanded HMS Truant, a T-class submarine, during World War II. Truant was one of the most successful of Britain's undersea prowlers during that war.
Charles Napier Robinson was an English journalist and story writer. After a career in the Royal Navy, during which he achieved the rank of Commander, he became a journalist, specialising in naval matters. In his lifetime Robinson witnessed the Naval Review of 1854 and the Silver Jubilee Review of 1936 and as a participant, spectator or correspondent he witnessed all the Naval Reviews of the 80 years between. During his military service he witnessed fighting during the American Civil War.
Cyril Stanley Abraham, was an English screenwriter best known for creating the popular BBC series The Onedin Line (1971–1980), writing the scripts for 22 episodes in addition to five novels based on the series.
Cyril Appleton is a British stage, television and film actor whose acting career spanned four decades.
Rudolph Lewis was a bass-baritone known for creating several small roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas including Go-To in The Mikado (1885) and Old Adam Goodheart in Ruddigore (1887).
Nigel Fraser Neilson was a British television and film actor of the 1940s and 50s.
Clarence Blakiston was a British film and stage actor, comedian and singer who during his career across five decades played the title role in the Sherlock Holmes parody Sheerluck Jones, or Why D’Gillette Him Off at Terry's Theatre (1901–02) which ran for 138 performances and who appeared in the original production of The Admirable Crichton at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1902.
James Baines (1822 – 8 March 1889) was a British merchant, shipowner and shipbroker by trade. He became famous as the founder of James Baines & Co. that ran a fleet of 86 ships on the Liverpool Black Ball line between England and Australia in 1851–1871.
Leicester Tunks was an English opera singer remembered as a principal baritone with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1904 to 1916. He served in World War I and later ran a poultry farm.
Sir Joscelyn Ambrose Cramer Coghill, 7th Baronet was an Anglo-Irish actor and aristocrat, being the 7th Baronet of Coghill (1778) (1981–1983).
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
