George Sewell

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George Sewell
Born August 31, 1924 (1924-08-31)
Hoxton, London
Died April 1, 2007 (aged 82)
London, England
Occupation actor

George Sewell (31 August 1924 — 1 April 2007), was an English actor, born in Tottenham, London.

Contents

[edit] Early career

His father was a Hoxton printer and his mother a florist;[1] his brother Danny Sewell, a former boxer, also became an actor. George left school at 14 and worked briefly in the printing trade before switching to building work, specifically the repair of bomb-damaged houses. He then trained as a Royal Air Force pilot, though too late to see action during World War II[1]. After demobilisation, joined the Merchant Navy, serving as a steward for the Cunard Line, on the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth on their Atlantic crossings to New York. He also worked as a street photographer, assisted a French roller-skating team and was drummer & assistant road manager of a rumba band.[1] He also travelled Europe as a motor coach courier travelling around Europe for a holiday company.[2]

[edit] Acting

He had not considered acting until, aged 35,[1] he met the actor Dudley Sutton by chance in a pub.[2] Dudley recommended that Sewell audition for a production by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop of Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be. Sewell did so, and made his acting debut as a policeman in the show both at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East and in the West End.[2] He went on to star in two other Littlewood productions, Sparrers Can't Sing (1962) and as Field Marshall Haig in Oh! What a Lovely War (1963) which later went to Paris and Broadway.[2] The experience garnered from stage acting led to a long career in both film and television.

For many years Sewell was the gritty face of crime and law enforcement in a huge array of television series. Amongst his early roles, he was the tallyman in Ken Loach's TV play Up The Junction (1965), a criminal who runs off with a teenage girl in Softly, Softly (1966), a hard-nosed building engineer in The Power Game (1965-66), a cowardly informer in Man in a Suitcase (1967), and a seedy private eye in Spindoe (1968). In 1970 he played Colonel Alec Freeman in the first series of Gerry Anderson's live-action science-fiction drama UFO.

In 1973, Euston Films reinvigorated the TV series Special Branch, formerly a videotaped series starring Derren Nesbitt. Sewell was brought in to play the defining character of DCI Alan Craven. The show ran for two seasons with Sewell, and is very fondly remembered - not least as a stylistic fore-runner of crime drama The Sweeney (in which Sewell also appeared - as a villain). Later Sewell was to parody this role as Supt Frank Cottam in the Jasper Carrot / Robert Powell comedy The Detectives.

Later television appearances include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), in which he played Mendel, and the Doctor Who story Remembrance of the Daleks, (1988), in which he played a fascist called Mr Ratcliffe.

He also appeared frequently in cinema films, notably Poor Cow (1967) and Get Carter (1971).

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Guardian, 11th April 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d The Times, 14th April 2007.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Sewell, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1924-08-31
PLACE OF BIRTH England
DATE OF DEATH 2007-04-01
PLACE OF DEATH England