| Tony Beckley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 October 1927 Southampton, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 19 April 1980 (aged 52) Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Years active | 1963–1979 |
Tony Beckley (7 October 1927 – 19 April 1980) was an English character actor. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Beckley went onto carve out a career on film and television throughout the 1960s and 1970s often playing villainous roles, as well as being a veteran of numerous stage productions.
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He made his film debut in 1965 as Ned Poins in Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight, and appeared in a number of films for director Peter Collinson: The Penthouse (1967); The Long Day's Dying (1968); and most memorably as Camp Freddie in The Italian Job (1969).
His only starring role was as the psychotic Kenny Wemys in The Fiend (1972), and he made his last film appearance in 1979 playing another psychopath in When a Stranger Calls. Other films include The Lost Continent (1968), Get Carter (1971), Assault (1971), Sitting Target (1972), Gold (1974), and Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978).
Television credits include The Saint, Z-Cars, Manhunt, Callan, Jason King, Special Branch, and perhaps most notably as the villainous Harrison Chase in the Doctor Who serial The Seeds of Doom.
Beckley was terminally ill at the time of filming When a Stranger Calls in 1979, and died of cancer shortly after principal photography was completed (spring 1980).