Frank Middlemass
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| Frank Middlemass | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 May 1919 Eaglescliffe, County Durham |
| Died | 8 September 2006 Northwood, Middlesex |
| Occupation | Actor |
Francis George Middlemass (28 May 1919–8 September 2006) was a English actor, known as Frank Middlemass, who was best known for TV roles; playing Rocky Hardcastle in the sitcom As Time Goes By and Algy Herries in the drama series To Serve Them All My Days; and for his roles in the RSC and as Dan Archer in the world's longest running soap opera The Archers. He specialised in playing older roles, even in his early career.
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[edit] Early life
Middlemass was born in Eaglescliffe, on the Yorkshire-County Durham border, the son of a shipping company director. He was brought up in Newcastle, and educated in Stockton-on-Tees. He entered the Army at the age of 19 and was wounded in the Dunkirk retreat. He left the Army when he was 30 and was by then a Lieutenant Colonel.
[edit] Early career
Middlemass started his acting career in rep in Penzance, Cornwall and then went on to join the Old Vic Company. While with them he toured North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Lebanon, Russia, Poland and the Far East. He then joined Anthony Quayle's Shakespeare Memorial Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, and performed in Twelfth Night opposite Vivien Leigh. During the 1960s, he toured with Ian McKellen's Actor's Company and performed at the Nottingham Playhouse. He performed opposite Peter O'Toole in Waiting for Godot.
[edit] Theatre work
Frank Middlemass appeared widely in classic theatre plays, like Rosmersholm, Heartbreak House and You Never Can Tell. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984 and his Shakespearean roles included Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Holofernes in Love's Labour's Lost. Even in his 80s he was still performing on stage, notably in The Importance of Being Earnest, and even toured with a one-man show called Frankly Speaking.
[edit] Television
His first television role was in 1958, in Dixon of Dock Green. His other early television appearances included Z-Cars, Softly, Softly, The Avengers and Jackanory. During the 1970s and 1980s he appeared in Doctor at Large, War and Peace, Crown Court, Last of the Summer Wine, Upstairs, Downstairs, Poldark, The Sweeney, Emmerdale Farm, Yes Minister, Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (as Lord Derby), Juliet Bravo, Only When I Laugh, All in Good Faith, Oliver Twist (as Mr Brownlow), and Miss Marple, in the episode A Caribbean Mystery.
However, on television, Middlemass is perhaps best known for playing Algy Herries in the post World War I drama, To Serve Them All My Days in 1980, Dr Alex Ferrenby in Heartbeat from 1992 to 1993 and as Rocky in As Time Goes By from 1993 to 2005. In his final years, he made appearances in Kavanagh QC, Casualty, The 10th Kingdom, Doctors, Midsomer Murders and his final appearance was in the Reunion Specials of As Time Goes By in Christmas 2005.
[edit] Radio
Middlemass also appeared on radio, most notably playing patriarch Dan Archer, the fourth actor to play the role, in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers. He played this role from 1982 until 1986, when the character was killed off.
[edit] Personal life
Frank Middlemass never married, and for 40 years he had a room in the house of his friend, actor Geoffrey Toone, who died in 2005. Middlemass died in 2006, aged 87, in Northwood, Middlesex.
