John Woodvine

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John Woodvine

Born 21 July 1929 (1929-07-21) (age 78)
Tyne Dock, County Durham

John Woodvine (born 21 July 1929) is a British stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.

Woodvine was born in South Shields, County Durham, England, the son of Rose (née Kelly) and John Woodvine.[1] He was educated at Lord William's School, Thame, Oxon, and trained for the stage at RADA.

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[edit] Career

Woodvine worked with the Old Vic company in the 1950s and had a long career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1976 appearing opposite Ian McKellen and Judi Dench as Banquo in the acclaimed Trevor Nunn production of Macbeth, which was later recorded for television. He also appeared in the RSC's1980 landmark production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, starring as the story's primary antagonist, Ralph Nickleby.

Woodvine frequently played police officers from early in his career, including in the seminal British drama series Z Cars in the 1960s and Softly, Softly in the 1970s. One of his better-known roles was Detective Chief Superintendent Kingdom in the 1970s police drama New Scotland Yard. He is also particularly remembered as the disgruntled former policeman who took the lead character hostage in a 1983 episode of Juliet Bravo.

Woodvine played the Marshal in the 1979 Doctor Who serial The Armageddon Factor and Chief Superintendent Ross in Edge of Darkness, and appeared in several episodes of the 1985 television adaptation of The Tripods. He also played a memorable role as Prior Mordrin in the 1987 ITV children's serial Knights of God. More recently he played Frank Gallagher's father, Neville, in the Channel 4 offbeat drama Shameless, and PC Tony Stamp's father Norman in The Bill. In 2008, he appeared in the BBC2 comedy Never Better and as Joe Jacobs in the ITV1 soap Emmerdale.

His film roles include the 1981 John Landis film An American Werewolf in London. He also appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1972 Richard Attenborough film Young Winston. Woodvine also starred in the BBC Radio 4 macabre comedy series The Cabaret of Dr Caligari as Dr Caligari.

[edit] Theatre

John Woodvine first appeared on stage in May 1954 playing Caspar Darde in Captain Carvallo for a tour of service establishments.

He joined the Old Vic company in September 1954, ‘walking on’ in Macbeth. Later in the same season he played Vincentio in The Taming of the Shrew (November 1954); Duke (Senior) in As You Like It (March 1955); Vernon in Part 1 and Lord Chief Justice in Part 2 of Henry IV (April 1955); Flavius in Julius Caesar (September 1955); Rugby in The Merry Wives of Windsor (September 1955); Clown in The Winter's Tale (November 1955); and Bishop of Ely and Macmorris in Henry V (December 1955).

In 1956 his roles for the company included Roderigo in Othello (February); Calchas in Troilus and Cressida (April); Murderer in Macbeth (May); Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (June); and Lord Scroop of Berkeley in Richard II (July). These four last-named productions toured, including a three-week season at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York in December 1956 and January 1957. Returning to the company in September 1959, he played Careless in The Double Dealer (William Congreve); Mowbray in Richard II; and Nym in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

His subsequent roles have included:

[edit] Films

  • The Walking Stick (1970)
  • Young Winston (1972)
  • Assault on Agathon (Greece, 1975)
  • An American Werewolf in London (1981)
  • Squaring the Circle (Stoppard 1983)
  • And a Nightingale Sang (1988)
  • Danny the Champion of the World (1989)
  • Wuthering Heights (1992)
  • Persuasion (1995)
  • Miss Potter (2006)

[edit] Private Life

John Woodvine is married to actress Lynn Farleigh and is the father of actress Mary Woodvine.

[edit] References

  • Ian Herbert, Christine Baxter and Robert E. Finlay, ed. (1981), Who's Who in the Theatre (17th ed.), Detroit: Gale, ISBN 978-081030234-1 
  • The Nicholas Nickleby Story: The making of the RSC production by Leon Rubin, Heinemann, London (1981) ISBN 0434655317
  • Theatre Record and its annual Indexes
  1. ^ John Woodvine Biography (1929-)

[edit] External links