Edward Woodward
Encyclopedia
Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 stage and screen actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...

 (RADA), Woodward began his career on stage, and throughout his career he appeared in productions in both the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 in London and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 in New York. He came to wider attention from 1967 in the title role of the British television spy drama Callan
Callan (TV series)
Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972...

, earning him the 1970 British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...

. Among his film credits, Woodward starred as Police Sergeant Howie in the 1973 cult British horror film The Wicker Man, and in the title role of the noted 1980 Australian biopic Breaker Morant
Breaker Morant (film)
Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian film about the court martial of Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant...

. From 1985 Woodward starred as British ex-secret agent and vigilante Robert McCall in the American television series The Equalizer
The Equalizer
The Equalizer is an American television series that ran for four seasons, initially on CBS, between 1985 and 1989. It starred Edward Woodward as an aging New York vigilante with a mysterious past...

, earning him the 1986 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Drama Actor.

Personal life

Woodward was an only child, born in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

 to working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

 parents Edward Oliver Woodward, a metalworker, and Violet Edith Woodward (née Smith). As a boy he was bombed out of his home three times during the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...

. He attended Eccleston Road, Sydenham Road and Elmwood High School in Wallington
Wallington, London
Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton situated south south-west of Charing Cross. Prior to the merger of the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington into the London Borough of Sutton, it was part of the county of Surrey.- History :...

, as well as Hinchley Wood School
Hinchley Wood School
Hinchley Wood School is a foundation secondary school located in Hinchley Wood, Surrey, England.Hinchley Wood School consists two sites next to each other. On one site is a Primary School, with pupils from the ages of four to eleven, and on the second site is a Secondary School with students from...

, then known as Kingston Day Commercial School, all in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

. He then attended Kingston College
Kingston College (England)
Kingston College is a College of Further and Higher Education based in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England. It has five campuses in the town of Kingston. The main campus is the tallest building in the town and is based on Kingston Hall Road. The second campus is based on Richmond Road and...

.

Woodward was married twice. His first marriage was to the actress Venetia Barrett (born Venetia Mary Collett) from 1952 to their divorce in 1986. They had two sons: Tim Woodward
Tim Woodward
-Biography:Woodward was born in London, England, the son of actors Edward Woodward and Venetia Mary Barrett.He is probably best known for his roles in the 1970s BBC drama Wings, the 1990s ITV soap opera Families and the 2000s ITV police drama Murder City...

 (born 1953) and Peter Woodward
Peter Woodward
Peter Woodward is an English actor, stuntman and screenwriter. He is probably best known for his role as Galen in the Babylon 5 spin-offs Babylon 5: A Call to Arms, Crusade and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales....

 (born 1956), both of whom became actors, as well as a daughter, the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

-nominated actress Sarah Woodward
Sarah Woodward
Sarah Woodward is a British actress.She acted along side David Suchet in the Death in the Clouds. She won a best performance in a supporting role award at the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1998 for her role in Tom & Clem....

 (born 1963). Woodward left Barrett for actress Michele Dotrice
Michele Dotrice
Michele Dotrice is an English actress best known for her portrayal of Betty, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, played by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, which ran from 1973 to 1978....

, the daughter of his contemporary Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice, OBE is a British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten.-Life and career:...

. Woodward married Dotrice in New York in January 1987. Their daughter, Emily Beth Woodward (born 1983), was present at the ceremony.

Woodward suffered a massive heart attack in 1987 and later underwent triple bypass surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery, also coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and colloquially heart bypass or bypass surgery is a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease...

 in 1996 and quit smoking after two heart attacks. In February 2003 it was announced that he had prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...

.

In July 2009 it was announced that a performance planned for later in 2009 of Love Letters
Love Letters (play)
Love Letters is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play by A. R. Gurney. The play centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III...

, co-starring his wife Michele Dotrice, would be postponed because of damage caused to his hip when he fell down the stairs at his West Country home.

Death

Edward Woodward died at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

 on 16 November 2009 at the age of 79. He had lived in Hawker's Cove, Cornwall
Hawker's Cove, Cornwall
Hawker's Cove is a small coastal settlement in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated one-and-a-half miles north of Padstow on the west side of the River Camel estuary....

, near Padstow
Padstow
Padstow is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately five miles northwest of Wadebridge, ten miles northwest of Bodmin and ten miles northeast of Newquay...

 and had been suffering from various illnesses, including pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

.

He is survived by his wife, Michele and their daughter, and the three children of his first marriage.

Theatre

Woodward wanted to become an actor but initially in the post World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 period became an associate member of RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....

 while taking amateur roles. Wanting to train as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 he eventually took work in a sanitary engineer
Sanitary engineering
Sanitary engineering is the application of engineering methods to improve sanitation of human communities, primarily by providing the removal and disposal of human waste, and in addition to the supply of safe potable water. Initially in the mid 19th century, the discipline concentrated on the...

's office before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...

 (RADA) from age 16.

He was reputedly torn between becoming an actor or a professional footballer. Woodward was on the books of Leyton Orient and Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

, making three appearances in the Football League for the latter; however, a serious knee injury kept him out of the game for over a year. His professional acting debut was in the Castle Theatre, Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...

, in 1946. After graduation from RADA he worked extensively in repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...

 companies as a Shakespearean actor throughout England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, making his London stage debut in R. F. Delderfield
R. F. Delderfield
Ronald Frederick Delderfield was a popular English novelist and dramatist, many of whose works have been adapted for television and are still widely read.-Childhood in London and Surrey:...

's Where There's A Will in 1955 and also appeared in the film adaptation that same year, his first film, and then Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

 and Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

 (1955). Having established himself, he also worked in Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Woodward first appeared on Broadway in Rattle of a Simple Man (1963) and the musical comedy High Spirits
High Spirits (musical)
High Spirits is a musical with a book, lyrics, and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, about a man's problems caused by the spirit of his dead wife....

 (1964–1965), which won three Tony Awards, followed by the 1966 comedy The Best Laid Plans. In 1970, after Woodward played Sidney Carton in the West End musical "Two Cities" based on Dickens's novel, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

 invited him to choose his own role in the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...

, and he chose Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....

 (1971).

In 2004, Woodward, alongside Australian actor Daniel MacPherson
Daniel MacPherson
Daniel Donald MacPherson is an Australian actor and television presenter, best known for his roles as; Joel Samuels on Neighbours, PC Cameron Tait on British police drama The Bill, and Detective Senior Constable Simon Joyner in City Homicide...

, appeared as God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 in a revival of The Mystery Plays
The Mysteries
The Mysteries is a version of the medieval English mystery plays presented at London's National Theatre in 1977. The cycle of three plays tells the story of the Bible from the creation to the last judgement....

 at Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

. From a cast of hundreds of local actors, Joseph McManners
Joseph McManners
Joseph McManners is an English actor and singer. He lives on a non-working farm in Petham near Canterbury and recently left Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys for Tonbridge School after being awarded a drama and academic scholarship.-Singing career:McManners decided to become a singer after he...

 and Thomas James Longley
Thomas James Longley
Thomas James Longley is a British actor and model. Hailing from the historical English city of Canterbury, he grew up performing in plays throughout the Kent and London fringe scenes...

 also featured with smaller speaking roles.

Film

He made occasional appearances until taking the role of Police Sergeant Neil Howie in the thriller The Wicker Man in 1973. Many critics have cited the final scene in The Wicker Man as one of the greatest visual shots in cinema history. Woodward was offered a cameo role in the 2005 remake but declined. He also appeared in the 1982 film Who Dares Wins
Who Dares Wins (film)
Who Dares Wins is a 1982 British film starring Lewis Collins, Judy Davis, Richard Widmark and Edward Woodward, directed by Ian Sharp. The title is the motto of the elite Special Air Service ....

, also known as The Final Option, as Commander Powell.

Woodward played the title role in the 1980 Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n biographical film drama Breaker Morant
Breaker Morant (film)
Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian film about the court martial of Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant...

, which was highly acclaimed and his presence brought the film worldwide attention. Woodward also had a supporting role in the 2007 action comedy Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz is a 2007 British action dark comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. The three had previously worked together on the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead as well as the television series Spaced...

.
His last lead film role was that of the Reverend Frederick Densham in A Congregation of Ghosts
A Congregation of Ghosts
A Congregation of Ghosts is a 2009 film directed by Mark Collicott. It is based on the true story of the Reverend Frederick Densham. The film was shot on location in rural Cornwall in England.-Background:...

; the story of an eccentric vicar who is said to have alienated his congregation and preached to cardboard cut-outs.

Robin Hardy, who directed The Wicker Man, said, "He was one of the greatest actors of his generation, without a doubt, with a broad career on American television as well as on British film."
Sir Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...

 once said of him, "He was one of the nicest and most co-operative actors I've ever met or worked with."

In 1990 Woodward was the narrator for the official FIFA film of the 1990 World Cup entitled 'Soccer Shoot-Out'.

Television

During his career Woodward appeared in many television productions. In the early 1960s he was a jobbing actor who made a number of minor TV appearances in supporting roles. His casting as Guy Crouchback in the 1967 adaption of Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...

's Sword of Honour
Sword of Honour
The Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh is his look at the Second World War. It consists of three novels, Men at Arms , Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender , which loosely parallel his wartime experiences...

 trilogy, dramatised by Giles Cooper
Giles Cooper
Giles Stannus Cooper was an Anglo-Irish playwright and prolific radio dramatist, writing over sixty scripts for BBC radio and television. He was awarded the OBE in 1960 for "Services to Broadcasting"...

 and directed by Donald McWhinnie, established him as an actor of quality and standing. Crouchback was the central character in Waugh's iconic three novels set against the background of Britain's involvement in World War II. This black and white TV dramatisation is now much less well known than a more lavish 2001 colour version with Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...

 playing the part of Crouchback. However, the 1967 dramatisation enjoyed a high profile at the time and it featured several leading actors of that era including Ronald Fraser
Ronald Fraser
Ronald Fraser was an English character actor, who appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whilst also appearing in many popular TV shows.-Background:...

, Freddie Jones
Freddie Jones
Frederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...

, Vivian Pickles
Vivian Pickles
Vivian Pickles , is an English actress.She began her career as a child star after being chosen by Mary Field for a series of Saturday Morning children's films, including the lead roles in Jean's Plan and the serial The Adventures of Peter Joe...

, Nicholas Courtney
Nicholas Courtney
William Nicholas Stone Courtney was an English television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...

 and James Villiers
James Villiers
James Michael Hyde Villiers was a British character actor and a familiar face on British television...

. Moreover, Evelyn Waugh had met and approved Giles Cooper as the scriptwriter, having their schooling at Lancing College
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...

 in common, albeit more than a decade apart.

In 1967 he was cast as David Callan in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 Armchair Theatre
Armchair Theatre
Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television after 1968....

 play A Magnum for Schneider, which later became the spy series Callan
Callan (TV series)
Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972...

, one of his early television roles and one in which he demonstrated his ability to express controlled rage. His iconic performance assured the series success from 1967 to 1972, with a film appearing in 1974. He also appeared opposite Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

 in a 1978 adaptation of Saturday, Sunday, Monday in the Laurence Olivier Presents
Laurence Olivier Presents
Laurence Olivier Presents is a British television series made by Granada Television which ran from 1976 to 1978.The plays, with the exception of Hindle Wakes, all starred Laurence Olivier. Some of the plays were based on productions staged at the National Theatre during the period when Olivier was...

 anthology series.

The success of Callan typecast him somewhat, but the enduring success of the genre allowed him to gain leading roles in similar productions, though none would prove as iconic as Callan. In 1977 he starred in two series of the BBC2 dystopian drama 1990
1990 (TV series)
1990 is a British then-futuristic political drama television series produced by the BBC and shown in 1977 and 1978.- Plot :The series is set in a dystopian future in which Britain is under the grip of the Home Office's Department of Public Control , a tyrannically oppressive bureaucracy riding...

, about a future Britain lurching into totalitarianism.

The late 1970s were spent on both stage and film, but it was not until he took the lead role in the American television series The Equalizer
The Equalizer
The Equalizer is an American television series that ran for four seasons, initially on CBS, between 1985 and 1989. It starred Edward Woodward as an aging New York vigilante with a mysterious past...

 (1985–89) as a former British intelligence operative that he found recognition and popularity exceeding that of Callan. After filming a few episodes of the third season, Woodward suffered a massive coronary. For several episodes, additional actors were brought in to reduce the workload on Woodward as he recovered from the condition. The first episode filmed following Woodward's heart attack involved his character being severely injured by a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

 bullet, providing Woodward with a chance to rest over several episodes. Later in the season, Woodward resumed his full duties and carried the show through an additional, fourth season during the 1988-1989 season. During this period he also starred in the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 espionage thriller, Codename: Kyril
Codename: Kyril
Codename: Kyril is a 208-minute British serial, first broadcast in 1988. It is a Cold War espionage drama, starring Ian Charleson, Edward Woodward, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and Richard E. Grant...

 (1988), as an MI6 double agent.

Subsequently he starred in the short-lived CBS series Over My Dead Body, which ran in 1990, playing a mystery writer who gets involved solving real crimes. In 1994 and 1997 Woodward starred in the BBC drama Common As Muck
Common As Muck
Common As Muck was a comedy drama serial made by the BBC about the lives of a crew of binmen; it ran for two series.-Characters:-Series One :...

 in which he played a binman called Nev.

In 1993, Woodward appeared in the Welsh-language drama, Tan ar y Comin. Versions were made in both English and Welsh, and Woodward appeared in both, being specially coached in the latter since he did not speak a word of the language.

In 1999 Woodward appeared alongside his son Peter in The Long Road, an episode of the Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...

 spin off, Crusade
Crusade (TV series)
Crusade is a spin-off TV show from J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5. Its plot is set in AD 2267, five years after the events of Babylon 5, and just after the movie A Call to Arms. A race called the Drakh have released a nanovirus plague on Earth, which will destroy all life on Earth within five...

, on which Peter was a regular cast member. While both actors were playing the part of unrelated Technomages, the on-screen chemistry between them was clear.

His career continued with TV guest star roles including an appearance in The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1986, and on the USA Network from 1987 to 1989...

 and Mr. Jones (aka Philip, codename 'Flavius') in the series La Femme Nikita. He also guest starred with his son Tim
Tim Woodward
-Biography:Woodward was born in London, England, the son of actors Edward Woodward and Venetia Mary Barrett.He is probably best known for his roles in the 1970s BBC drama Wings, the 1990s ITV soap opera Families and the 2000s ITV police drama Murder City...

 and grandson Sam as a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 gangster family in a special storyline for The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...

 in 2008. In March 2009, he joined EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

 for six episodes, playing Tommy Clifford.

Woodward was a wargamer and hosted a series of programmes for Tyne Tees Television in 1978 about the hobby with fellow enthusiast Peter Gilder, who built and owned the beautiful Gettysburg diorama used for one of the gaming scenes from the 1974 film Callan.

Recording artist

His capability as tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

 enabled him to record twelve albums of romantic songs, as well as three albums of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and fourteen books to tape. His vocal capability and acting skill enabled him to make a number of appearances when time allowed on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Edwardian era music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 programme, The Good Old Days
The Good Old Days
The Good Old Days is a popular BBC television light entertainment programme which ran from 1953 to 1983.It was performed at the Leeds City Varieties and recreated an authentic atmosphere of the Victorian–Edwardian music hall with songs and sketches of the era performed by present-day...

.

Awards

In 1969 and 1970, he was Television Actor of the Year, and Best Actor at the Sun Awards in 1970, 1971 and 1972. Woodward won the 1970 BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his title role in Callan. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (OBE) in 1978. At the 1987 Golden Globe Awards, he won Best Actor in a Dramatic TV Series for his role of Robert McCall in The Equalizer. At the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 from 1986 to 1990, he was nominated each year for The Equalizer.
  • Golden Globe - 1987
  • RTS Television Actor of the Year - 1969, 1970
  • Sun Award for Best Actor - 1970, 1971, 1972
  • Order of the British Empire
    Order of the British Empire
    The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

     - 1978
  • BAFTAAward for Best Actor
  • Emmy Award
    Emmy Award
    An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

     nominated

Stage

  • 1955 - Where There's a Will
  • 1958 - Romeo and Juliet
  • 1958 - Hamlet
  • 1962 - Rattle of a Simple Man
  • 1968 - Two Cities
  • 1971 - Cyrano de Bergerac
  • 1971 - The White Devil
  • 1973 - The Wolf
  • 1975 - Male of the Species
  • 1976 - On Approval
  • 1978 - The Dark Horse
  • 1980 - The Beggar's Opera (also director)
  • 1980 - Private Lives
  • 1982 - The Assassin
  • 1982 - Richard III
  • 1992 - The Dead Secret

Films

  • 1955 - Where There's a Will
    Where There's a Will (1955 film)
    Where There's a Will is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Kathleen Harrison, George Cole, Leslie Dwyer and Michael Shepley...

  • 1960 - Inn for Trouble
    Inn for Trouble
    Inn for Trouble is a 1960 British comedy film - a movie spin-off of the 1950s sitcom 'The Larkins' - starring Peggy Mount, David Kossoff and Leslie Phillips....

  • 1964 - Becket
    Becket
    Becket or The Honor of God is a play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's murder in 1170. It contains many historical inaccuracies, which the author acknowledged.-Background:Anouilh's...

  • 1969 - File of the Golden Goose
  • 1970 - Incense for the Damned
    Incense for the Damned
    ----Incense for the Damned is a 1970 British horror film starring Patrick Macnee and Peter Cushing.-Plot:The film centers on a young student who has disappeared in Greece. When his friends search for him they notice that wherever he has been a number of murders have taken place...

  • 1972 - Sitting Target
    Sitting Target
    Sitting Target is a 1972 British film directed by Douglas Hickox and shot in London.-Plot:It is a violent crime thriller starring Oliver Reed as Harry Lomart, a convicted murderer, and Ian McShane as Birdy Williams, as two convicts planning a breakout. Before the two men can abscond to another...

  • 1972 - Young Winston
    Young Winston
    Young Winston is a 1972 British film based on the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.The film was based on the book My Early Life: A Roving Commission by Winston Churchill. The first part of the film covers Churchill's unhappy schooldays, up to the death of his father...

  • 1973 - Hunted
  • 1973 - The Wicker Man
  • 1974 - Callan
    Callan (film)
    Callan is a 1974 British thriller film directed by Don Sharp and starring Edward Woodward, Eric Porter and Carl Möhner. It was based on the television series Callan.-Cast:* Edward Woodward ... David Callan* Eric Porter ... Hunter...

  • 1975 - Three for All
    Three for All
    Three for All is a 1975 British comedy film directed by Martin Campbell and starring Adrienne Posta, Robert Lindsay, Paul Nicholas, Edward Woodward, Richard Beckinsdale and John Le Mesurier....

  • 1977 - Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers
  • 1980 - Breaker Morant
    Breaker Morant (film)
    Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian film about the court martial of Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant...

  • 1981 - The Appointment
    The Appointment
    The Appointment is a 1969 psychological drama from director Sidney Lumet and writer James Salter, based on the story by Antonio Leonviola.-Plot synopsis:...

  • 1981 - Wet Job (TV)
  • 1982 - Who Dares Wins
    Who Dares Wins (film)
    Who Dares Wins is a 1982 British film starring Lewis Collins, Judy Davis, Richard Widmark and Edward Woodward, directed by Ian Sharp. The title is the motto of the elite Special Air Service ....

  • 1983 - Operation Comeback (Love is forever)
  • 1984 - Champions
    Champions (1983 film)
    Champions is a 1983 film based on the true story of jockey Bob Champion. It is directed by John Irvin, written by Evan Jones, and stars John Hurt, Edward Woodward and Jan Francis....

  • 1984 - A Christmas Carol
    A Christmas Carol (1984 film)
    A Christmas Carol is a 1984 made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name. The film is directed by Clive Donner who had been an editor of the 1951 film Scrooge and stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge...

  • 1985 - Arthur the King
  • 1986 - King David
    King David (film)
    King David is a 1985 film about the second king of Israel, David. It was filmed in 1984 in Matera and Craco, Italy. It was directed by Bruce Beresford and starred Richard Gere in the title role.-Cast:*Richard Gere as "David"*Edward Woodward as "Saul"...

  • 1987 - Uncle Tom's Cabin
  • 1989 - The Man In The Brown Suit
  • 1990 - Over My Dead Body
  • 1990 - Hands of a Murderer
  • 1990 - Mister Johnson
    Mister Johnson
    Mister Johnson is a 1990 American drama film based on the 1939 novel by Joyce Cary. The film was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival, where Maynard Eziashi won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.The film was shot in Toro, Nigeria...

  • 1990 - Soccer Shootout - Official Film 1990 World Cup (Narrator)
  • 1993 - Deadly Advice
    Deadly Advice
    Deadly Advice is a 1994 British comedy drama film directed by Mandie Fletcher and starring Jane Horrocks, Brenda Fricker and Edward Woodward.-Plot:The daughters of a domineering mother aspire to break free of her control and form romantic attachments....

  • 1994 - A Christmas Reunion
  • 1995 - The Shamrock Conspiracy (TV)
  • 1996 - Harrison: The Cry Of The City (TV)
  • 1996 - Gulliver's Travels
  • 1999 - Marcia's Dowry
  • 2007 - Hot Fuzz
    Hot Fuzz
    Hot Fuzz is a 2007 British action dark comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. The three had previously worked together on the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead as well as the television series Spaced...

     (as Tom Weaver)
  • 2009 - A Congregation of Ghosts
    A Congregation of Ghosts
    A Congregation of Ghosts is a 2009 film directed by Mark Collicott. It is based on the true story of the Reverend Frederick Densham. The film was shot on location in rural Cornwall in England.-Background:...

     (as the Reverend Frederick Densham)

Television series

  • 1967 - Sword of Honour
  • 1967-72, 1981 - Callan
    Callan (TV series)
    Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972...

  • 1972 - Whodunnit?
    Whodunnit!
    Whodunnit? is a British television game show, broadcast between 1972 and 1978 for ITV by Thames Television.It was written by Lance Percival and Jeremy Lloyd, and hosted first by Edward Woodward, then by Jon Pertwee...

     (as host)
  • 1977 to 1978 - 1990
    1990 (TV series)
    1990 is a British then-futuristic political drama television series produced by the BBC and shown in 1977 and 1978.- Plot :The series is set in a dystopian future in which Britain is under the grip of the Home Office's Department of Public Control , a tyrannically oppressive bureaucracy riding...

  • 1977 to 1978 - The Bass Player and the Blonde
    The bass player and the blonde
    The Bass Player and the Blonde was a television play in the ITV Playhouse series, first broadcast 14 June 1977. It was followed up with a three-part serial with the episodes given the names of musical terms: Rondo , Allegro , and Andante .In the play and the series, George Manghan, a middle aged,...

  • 1978 - Laurence Olivier Presents
    Laurence Olivier Presents
    Laurence Olivier Presents is a British television series made by Granada Television which ran from 1976 to 1978.The plays, with the exception of Hindle Wakes, all starred Laurence Olivier. Some of the plays were based on productions staged at the National Theatre during the period when Olivier was...

    : Saturday, Sunday, Monday
  • 1981 - Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
  • 1981 - Nice Work
  • 1985-89 - The Equalizer
    The Equalizer
    The Equalizer is an American television series that ran for four seasons, initially on CBS, between 1985 and 1989. It starred Edward Woodward as an aging New York vigilante with a mysterious past...

  • 1987 - Codename: Kyril
    Codename: Kyril
    Codename: Kyril is a 208-minute British serial, first broadcast in 1988. It is a Cold War espionage drama, starring Ian Charleson, Edward Woodward, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and Richard E. Grant...

  • 1990 - Over My Dead Body
  • 1991 - In Suspicious Circumstances
  • 1991 - America at Risk
  • 1994&97- Common as Muck
  • 1998 - CI5: The New Professionals
    CI5: The New Professionals
    CI5: The New Professionals is a British crime drama that aired on the Sky1 satellite channel from 19 September to 19 December 1999. An updating of the late 1970s television series The Professionals, the series is set in a fictional government agency CI5 .-Synopsis:The original group of three men...

  • 1999 - Crusade
    Crusade (TV series)
    Crusade is a spin-off TV show from J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5. Its plot is set in AD 2267, five years after the events of Babylon 5, and just after the movie A Call to Arms. A race called the Drakh have released a nanovirus plague on Earth, which will destroy all life on Earth within five...

  • 2000 - La Femme Nikita
  • 2001 and 2007 - Messiah, BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     drama series
  • 2007 - Five Days
    Five Days
    Five Days is a British dramatic television series produced by the BBC in association with Home Box Office . The first series was first broadcast on BBC One from 23 January to 1 February 2007, and repeated on BBC Four from 9 April to 13 April 2007....

    , BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     and HBO drama mini-series
  • 2008 - The Bill
    The Bill
    The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...

     2 episodes - As Johnie Jackson
  • 2009 - EastEnders
    EastEnders
    EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

     6 episodes

Made-for-TV films

  • 1983 - Merlin and the Sword (U.S. title, Arthur the King)
  • 1983 - Love is Forever
  • 1984 - A Christmas Carol
  • 1986 - Uncle Tom's Cabin
  • 1988 - The Man in the Brown Suit
  • 1990 - Hands of a Murderer
  • 1995 - The Shamrock Conspiracy

Television specials

  • 1969 - Omnibus: Scott Fitzgerald
  • 1970 - Bit of a Holiday
  • 1971 - Evelyn
  • 1979 - Rod of Iron
  • 1980 - The Trial of Lady Chatterley
  • 1980 - Blunt Instrument
  • 1981 - Wet Job
  • 1986 - The Spice of Life
  • 1988 - Hunted
  • 1990 - Hands of a Murderer, or The Napoleon of Crime
  • 1991 - In My Defence
  • 1994 - Harrison
  • 1995 - Cry of the City
  • 1995 - Gulliver's Travels

External links

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