| Don Warrington | |
|---|---|
| Born | Don Warrington 23 May 1951 Trinidad |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1974 - present |
Don Warrington, MBE (born 23 May 1951) is a Trinidadian British actor.
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Warrington was born in Trinidad and Tobago on 23 May 1951 and brought up in Newcastle upon Tyne, England from age five. His father was the Trinidadian politician, Basil Kydd, who died in 1958. He has two sons.
His acting career started when he joined his local repertory theatre at age 17. He graduated from the Drama Centre London.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[1]
He is chiefly known for playing Philip Smith in Rising Damp, alongside Leonard Rossiter and Richard Beckinsale. He appeared in the crime drama C.A.T.S. Eyes, as government contact Nigel Beaumont; in Impact Earth (2007) playing General Harris; and in New Street Law as Judge Ken Winyard.
He has also had smaller roles in many programmes including: Red Dwarf, Lovejoy, Doctor Who, Manchild, and Diamond Geezer. He portrayed Rassilon in several Doctor Who audio plays, and also appeared as "The President (of Great Britain)" in the Doctor Who (2006) episode "Rise of the Cybermen". Soon after, he recorded an abridged audio book of the Doctor Who novel The Art of Destruction by Stephen Cole.
Warrington has performed with the National Theatre,[2] the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bristol Old Vic.
He is one of the interviewees on the BBC 2 series Grumpy Old Men, and he appears in a series of Kenco coffee advertisements in the UK in which he plays an African coffee plantation owner. He regularly provides voice-overs for both BBC TV and radio.
He also starred in BBC1 black sitcom The Crouches, which aired from the 9th of September 2003 until 2005. He played Bailey, who was Roly's boss at a London Underground station in South London. Roly was played by Robbie Gee. He is now in the BBC drama Casualty playing Trevor. He also starred in the 2010 film It's a Wonderful Afterlife.
He now provides voiceover links, reading out the various methods of contacting the show on the new Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 which has been broadcast since 11 January 2010.
He also appeared as a jazz musician ? Louden in a BBC radio production of 'The Devil's Music' written by Alan Plater. In 2011, Warrington played the father of a suspected terrorist in the last series of the BBC drama Waking the Dead. He is currently in the new BBC show Death in Paradise.
Warrington competed in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with the 2005 and 2006 British National Champion in Latin American dance, Lilia Kopylova. After Week 4, he was joint 7th out of the remaining 12 contestants with an average of 24.5 points. In week 5 Don was eliminated having lost the dance-off against Heather Small, with the first three judges all voting for Heather over Don.
He joined the show in order to step out of his comfort zone, and he appreciated the opportunity to learn to dance.[3]
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||||
| Horwood | Phillips | Goodman | Tonioli | Total | |||
| 1 | Cha-Cha-Cha / Let's Groove Tonight | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 19 | Dance Off |
| 3 | Tango / Whatever Lola Wants | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 | Safe |
| 5 | American Smooth / My Way | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 25 | Eliminated |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 to 1978 | Rising Damp | Philip Smith |
| 2002 to 2003 | Manchild | Patrick |
| 2003 to 2005 | The Crouches | Bailey |
| 2006 to 2007 | New Street Law | Judge Ken Winyard |
| 2006 | "Rise of the Cybermen" | The President |
| 2009 on | Casualty | Hospital Chaplain |
| 2011 on | Death In Paradise | Commisioner Selwyn Patterson |
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