Hilary Minster

Roger Michael Hilary Minster, better known as Hilary Minster, (21 March 1944^[1] – 24 November 1999)^[2] was an English character actor.

Born in Surrey, England, he is perhaps best known for playing General Erich Von Klinkerhoffen in the sitcom 'Allo 'Allo! between 1984 and 1992.^[3] Other credits include Crossroads; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy; and a semi-regular role in Secret Army as Hauptmann Muller. Minster also had a brief period writing scripts with Kenneth Williams for the latter's International Cabaret television show.^[3]

In 1974, Minster appeared as Lieut. Lightfoot in Upstairs, Downstairs episode "Facing Fearful Odds." He also appeared twice in Doctor Who, as the Thal soldier Marat in Planet of the Daleks (1973) and as an unnamed Thal soldier in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). This makes him one of the few Doctor Who actors to have played two characters from the same alien race.

He also had a major part in another episode of a successful science fiction series playing Yagon in "Achilles Heel,' an episode of The Tomorrow People, in 1978.

He was a presenter and producer of Central Independent Television's flagship ethnic minorities current affairs programme Here and Now during the early 1980s.^[4][5]

Minster provided the narration for the controversial Central television documentary The Men Who Killed Kennedy, which outlined various theories concerning the assassination of the American president John F. Kennedy.

He is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.

Confusion

* Note: There is some confusion in other biographies as to the year of his birth. Other dates given are 19 September 1939 and 21 March 1945. (According to the BBC DVD Genesis of the Daleks, it stated that Hilary Minster was born in 1945)

References

External links

• Hilary Minster at the Internet Movie Database
• Photos of Minster's grave at Findagrave