James Maxwell (actor)
Encyclopedia
James Maxwell was an American actor
, theatre director and writer, particularly associated with the Royal Exchange
Theatre in Manchester
.
, USA, but spent most of his career in the United Kingdom
and died in London
. He came to England at the age of 20 to train at the Old Vic
theatre school. While there he met fellow students Casper Wrede and Richard Negri
(co-founders of the Royal Exchange 25 years later).
and the Piccolo Theatre in Manchester he started to collaborate with the directors Michael Elliott
and Casper Wrede, initially with the 59 Theatre Company. He translated Georg Buchner
’s Danton's Death
for the opening production at the Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith). Elliott and Wrede went on to run the Old Vic
company and Maxwell joined them to act in several of the productions including The Merchant of Venice
and Measure for Measure
.
The group then joined with Braham Murray
in Manchester to form the 69 Theatre Company. Maxwell adapted Daniel Deronda
; directed by Elliott and starring Vanessa Redgrave
it was subsequently televised. He acted in many productions for the company including Prospero
in The Tempest
in 1969 and Thomas More
in A Man for All Seasons
in 1975. He also directed Arms and the Man
with Tom Courtenay
, Jenny Agutter
and Brian Cox in 1973.
Based upon the success of this collaboration the group started to look for a permanent theatre in Manchester
and eventually a new theatre was built inside the disused Royal Exchange
with Maxwell as one of the founding artistic directors. He appeared in both the opening productions: Kleist's The Prince of Homburg
and Sheridan's The Rivals
and remained an artistic director until his death in 1995. As well as acting in many productions over the course of 20 years, he adapted several novels including The Count of Monte Cristo
, Pride and Prejudice
and The Moonstone
. He also directed over 20 productions. As Braham Murray recalled. “As an artist he was multi-talented and practised each of his skills with discretion. As a writer; he translated many works, as a director he was particularly skilful at comedy. He loved to make people laugh, but it was as an actor that he would want to be remembered.”
in a BBC2
drama
series, Shadow of the Tower, but it did not have the same popular success as The Six Wives of Henry VIII, which was its predecessor drama. His other television credits include a prominent role in the 1978 Doctor Who
story Underworld
. He also appeared as Osmond in a television serial of Henry James
' Portrait of a Lady (1967), The Avengers
and The Saint
.
He was also seen in the films Private Potter
(1962), Far from the Madding Crowd
(1967), Otley
(1968) and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
(1970). The first and last of these directed by his friend and colleague Casper Wrede.
His Ghost is rumoured to haunt the Royal Exchange, as seen in an episode of the TV show, Most Haunted
.
in 1952 and the couple had two sons. They met at the Old Vic theatre school and she appeared in many of Maxwell’s productions. He died in 1995.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, theatre director and writer, particularly associated with the Royal Exchange
Royal Exchange, Manchester
The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed Victorian building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street...
Theatre in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.
Early life
He was born in Worcester, MassachusettsWorcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, USA, but spent most of his career in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and died in 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...
. He came to England at the age of 20 to train at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
theatre school. While there he met fellow students Casper Wrede and Richard Negri
Richard Negri
Richard Negri was a British theatre director and designer.-Early life:Richard Negri was born on 27 June 1927 in Stamford Hill, London to parents of Italian origin: Riccardo Negri and Teresa Manattini. The family moved to Chingford in Essex where he was educated...
(co-founders of the Royal Exchange 25 years later).
Work in the theatre
After seasons at the Bristol Old VicBristol Old Vic
The Bristol Old Vic is a theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, King Street, in Bristol, England. The theatre complex includes the 1766 Theatre Royal, which claims to be the oldest continually-operating theatre in England, along with a 1970s studio theatre , offices and backstage facilities...
and the Piccolo Theatre in Manchester he started to collaborate with the directors Michael Elliott
Michael Elliott
Michael Elliott, OBE was an English theatre and television director.-Early life:He was born in London the son of a clergyman, Canon Elliott and was educated at Radley College and Keble College, Oxford...
and Casper Wrede, initially with the 59 Theatre Company. He translated Georg Buchner
Georg Büchner
Karl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose. He was the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. Büchner's talent is generally held in great esteem in Germany...
’s Danton's Death
Danton's Death
Danton's Death was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution.-History:Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Realism in the so-called Vormärz era in German history and literature...
for the opening production at the Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith). Elliott and Wrede went on to run the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
company and Maxwell joined them to act in several of the productions including The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
and Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
.
The group then joined with Braham Murray
Braham Murray
Braham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
in Manchester to form the 69 Theatre Company. Maxwell adapted Daniel Deronda
Daniel Deronda
Daniel Deronda is a novel by George Eliot, first published in 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the contemporary Victorian society of her day...
; directed by Elliott and starring Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
it was subsequently televised. He acted in many productions for the company including Prospero
Prospero
Prospero is the protagonist in The Tempest, a play by William Shakespeare.- The Tempest :Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, who was put to sea on "a rotten carcass of a butt [boat]" to die by his usurping brother, Antonio, twelve years before the play begins. Prospero and Miranda survived,...
in The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
in 1969 and Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
in A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt. An early form of the play had been written for BBC Radio in 1954, and a one-hour live television version starring Bernard Hepton was produced in 1957 by the BBC, but after Bolt's success with The Flowering Cherry, he reworked it for the stage.It was...
in 1975. He also directed Arms and the Man
Arms and the Man
Arms and the Man is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid in Latin:"Arma virumque cano" ....
with Tom Courtenay
Tom Courtenay
Sir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
, Jenny Agutter
Jenny Agutter
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" Agutter is an English film and television actress. She began her career as a child actress in the mid 1960s, starring in the BBC television series The Railway Children and the film adaptation of the same book, before moving on to adult roles and relocating to Hollywood.She...
and Brian Cox in 1973.
Based upon the success of this collaboration the group started to look for a permanent theatre in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and eventually a new theatre was built inside the disused Royal Exchange
Royal Exchange, Manchester
The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed Victorian building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street...
with Maxwell as one of the founding artistic directors. He appeared in both the opening productions: Kleist's The Prince of Homburg
The Prince of Homburg
The Prince of Homburg, or in German Der Prinz von Homburg or Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, can refer to the following:-People:*Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg , also known as Prince Friedrich of Homburg -Artistic works:*The Prince of Homburg , a play written 1809/10 by Heinrich von Kleist...
and Sheridan's The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
and remained an artistic director until his death in 1995. As well as acting in many productions over the course of 20 years, he adapted several novels including The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
, Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
and The Moonstone
The Moonstone
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. The story was originally serialized in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered Wilkie...
. He also directed over 20 productions. As Braham Murray recalled. “As an artist he was multi-talented and practised each of his skills with discretion. As a writer; he translated many works, as a director he was particularly skilful at comedy. He loved to make people laugh, but it was as an actor that he would want to be remembered.”
Theatre Productions at the Royal Exchange
The productions directed by Maxwell during his time as artistic director include:- Present LaughterPresent LaughterPresent Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
by Noel CowardNoël CowardSir 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...
with Albert FinneyAlbert FinneyAlbert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
(1977) - The Skin of Our TeethThe Skin of Our TeethThe Skin of Our Teeth is a play by Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 1942...
by Thornton WilderThornton WilderThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
. Directed by Richard Negri and James Maxwell with Olive McFarland and Lee MontagueLee MontagueLee Montague is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television, usually playing tough guys.Film credits include: Moulin Rouge, The Camp on Blood Island, The Savage Innocents, Billy Budd, The Secret of Blood Island, Deadlier Than the Male, The Legacy and Brother Sun, Sister...
(1977) - The Schoolmistress by Arthur Wing PineroArthur Wing PineroSir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...
with Patricia RoutledgePatricia RoutledgeKatherine Patricia Routledge, CBE is an English character comedy actress and singer. She is best known for her role as character Hyacinth Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp in the British television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
(1979) - The Corn is GreenThe Corn is GreenThe Corn Is Green is a semi-autobiographical play by Emlyn Williams.At its core is L. C. Moffat, a strong-willed English school teacher working in a small poverty-stricken coal mining town in the late 19th century...
by Emlyn WilliamsEmlyn WilliamsGeorge Emlyn Williams, CBE , known as Emlyn Williams, was a Welsh dramatist and actor.-Biography:He was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family in Mostyn, Flintshire....
with Avril ElgarAvril ElgarAvril Elgar is an English stage, radio and television actress.She trained at the London Old Vic Theatre School...
and Alan Parnaby (1981) - Treasure IslandTreasure IslandTreasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
adapted by James Maxwell with Clive Duncan and Ronald Forfar (1981) - While the Sun Shines by Terence Ratigan with Paul BarberPaul BarberPaul Barber is an actor from Liverpool. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he is best known for playing Denzil in Only Fools and Horses and Horse in The Full Monty.- Early life :...
, Mick FordMick FordMick Ford is a British actor, screenwriter and playwright, best known for his portrayal of intellectual convict Archer in the cinema version of Scum. He also played Chico Barnes in the TV series based on the Dick Francis racing thrillers...
and Caroline GoodallCaroline GoodallCaroline Cruice Goodall is a British actress and screenwriter.-Biography:Goodall was born in London, England to a journalist mother and a publisher father...
(1983) - Hay FeverHay FeverHay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
by Noel CowardNoël CowardSir 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...
with Richard McCabeRichard McCabeRichard McCabe is a Scottish actor.-Biography:Richard McCabe was born in Glasgow to a Scottish father and French mother . He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , where he won several awards. Following the early death of his father and his mother's re-marriage, he grew up in Sussex where...
, Dilys Hamlett and Marsha HuntMarsha HuntMarsha Hunt may refer to:* Marsha Hunt * Marsha Hunt...
(1985) - ZackZack (play)Zack is a 1920 play by British playwright Harold Brighouse. It was one of several of Brighouse's plays performed by the Manchester's Gaiety Theatre....
by Harold BrighouseHarold BrighouseHarold Brighouse was an English playwright and author whose best known play is Hobson's Choice. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Stanley Houghton, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists.-Early life:Harold Brighouse was born in Eccles, Salford, the...
with Tim Healy and Bridget TurnerBridget TurnerBridget Turner is a British actress.She has worked with a number of very famous actors including Peter O'Toole, Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk Douglas, Bernard Blier, Trevor Howard, Bernadette Lafont and Richard Burton and Christina Ricci.On May 8, 2009 John Cleese stated in an interview that Bridget was...
(1986) - Among Barbarians by Michael WallMichael WallMichael Wall , was a British playwright. He wrote over forty plays, the most well-known of which are Amongst Barbarians and Women Laughing....
. World premiere with Dominic KeatingDominic KeatingDominic Keating is a British television, film and theatre actor, known for his portrayal as Lt. Malcolm Reed on Star Trek: Enterprise.- Biography :...
, Tariq Yunus and Avril ElgarAvril ElgarAvril Elgar is an English stage, radio and television actress.She trained at the London Old Vic Theatre School...
(1989) - She Stoops to ConquerShe Stoops to ConquerShe Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. It is one of the few plays from the 18th...
by Oliver GoldsmithOliver GoldsmithOliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
with Una StubbsUna StubbsUna Stubbs is an English actress and former dancer who has appeared extensively on British television and in the theatre, and less frequently in films. She is particularly known for her roles in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and Aunt Sally in the children's series Worzel Gummidge.-Film and...
, Ewan HooperEwan HooperEwan Hooper is a Scottish actor who is a graduate from, and now an Associate Member of, RADA. Hooper was the motivating force in the foundation of the Greenwich Theatre, which opened in 1969. Hooper was the founder director of the Scottish Theatre Company formed in Glasgow in the 1980s...
, Andy SerkisAndy SerkisAndrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
and Lorraine AshbourneLorraine AshbourneLorraine Ashbourne is an English stage, film and television actress.-Career:She has appeared on British television series and television movies, including: The Street,True Dare Kiss, Thin Ice, In a Land of Plenty,...
(1990) - Pride and PrejudicePride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
. World premiere adapted and directed by James Maxwell with Avril ElgarAvril ElgarAvril Elgar is an English stage, radio and television actress.She trained at the London Old Vic Theatre School...
, Melanie Thaw, Rufus SewellRufus SewellRufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
, Ben DanielsBen DanielsBen Daniels is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art , he has taken on roles in numerous productions...
and Helen McCroryHelen McCroryHelen Elizabeth McCrory is a British actress. She portrayed Cherie Blair in both the 2006 film The Queen and the 2010 film The Special Relationship. She also portrayed Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films....
(1991) - The Doctor's Dilemma by George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
with Jeremy ClydeJeremy ClydeMichael Thomas Jeremy Clyde is an English actor and musician. The son of Lady Elizabeth Wellesley, he made his first public appearance as a pageboy at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1953...
, Trevor BaxterTrevor BaxterTrevor Baxter is a British actor and playwright.He is perhaps best remembered for his appearance in the 1977 Doctor Who serial The Talons of Weng-Chiang as Professor George Litefoot. He reprised his role of Professor Litefoot in an episode of audio series, Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles:...
and Clive OwenClive OwenClive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
(1991) - Blithe SpiritBlithe Spirit (play)Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
by Noël CowardNoël CowardSir 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...
with Miranda Foster and Susie BlakeSusie BlakeSusie Blake is a British actress.-Personal life:Blake trained at the Arts Educational School and LAMDA in London. She is the granddaughter of the actress Annette Mills and a great - niece of the actor Sir John Mills...
(1991) - Sidewalk Sidney by Rhandi McWilliams. World premiere with Eddie Osei and Charlie Caine (1992)
- An Ideal HusbandAn Ideal HusbandAn Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
by Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
with Brenda BlethynBrenda BlethynBrenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, Robert GlenisterRobert GlenisterRobert Lewis Glenister is a British actor known for his roles as con man Ash "Three Socks" Morgan in the British TV series Hustle, and Nicholas Blake in the BBC spy drama Spooks.-Career:...
, Una StubbsUna StubbsUna Stubbs is an English actress and former dancer who has appeared extensively on British television and in the theatre, and less frequently in films. She is particularly known for her roles in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and Aunt Sally in the children's series Worzel Gummidge.-Film and...
and Tom ChadbonTom ChadbonTom Chadbon is an English actor, who has spent the larger part of his career appearing on British television. While principally a character actor, he has occasionally had leading or recurring roles....
(1992) - The MoonstoneThe MoonstoneThe Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. The story was originally serialized in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered Wilkie...
. Adapted and directed by James Maxwell with Struan RodgerStruan RodgerStruan Rodger is a British actor who has appeared widely in a range of supporting roles. His first feature film role was as Eric Liddell's friend and running coach Sandy McGrath, in the Oscar-winning 1981 film, Chariots of Fire....
(1993) - The Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
by Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
with Sam WestSam WestSamuel Filmore West was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for three different teams between and . Listed at 5' 11", 165 lb., West batted and threw left handed. He was born in Longview, Texas....
, Neil DudgeonNeil DudgeonNeil Dudgeon is a British actor best known for his many television appearances, most often in crime drama.-Early Life:Dudgeon was born 1 January 1961 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, and attended Danum Grammar School among others. He established himself as an actor in school plays and went on to study...
and Avril ElgarAvril ElgarAvril Elgar is an English stage, radio and television actress.She trained at the London Old Vic Theatre School...
(1994) - The Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
adapted by James Maxwell and Jonathon Hackett. World premiere directed by Braham MurrayBraham MurrayBraham Murray, OBE is an English theatre director. He has been an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since its foundation in 1976.-Early years:...
with David ThrelfallDavid ThrelfallDavid Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show.-Early life:...
and Colin ProckterColin ProckterColin Prockter is an actor and TV writer who has appeared on many TV series and films since the 1960s. Colin is probably best known for his role as Eddie Maddocks in Coronation Street .-Filmography:-Other works:...
(1994) - Absurd Person SingularAbsurd Person SingularAbsurd Person Singular is a 1972 play by Alan Ayckbourn. Divided into three acts, it documents the changing fortunes of three married couples...
by Alan AyckbournAlan AyckbournSir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
with Trevor CooperTrevor CooperTrevor "Trev" Cooper is an English actor.-Background:Cooper studied law at Kingston Polytechnic and graduated with a masters degree in law from the University of Warwick...
, Margo GunnMargo GunnMargo Gunn born 8 February 1956 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, is an English actress and a fully qualified Drama teacher of Drama and Theatre Studies. She appeared in Taggart "Cold Blood" in 1987 as Geraldine Keenan and again in "The Knife Trick" in 2009, as Pippa Harris, a friend of...
, Denys Hawthorne, Patrick O’Kane and Amanda BoxerAmanda BoxerAmanda Boxer is an English actress who is best known for her television work and her performance in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at the Almeida Theatre and The Painter by Rebecca Lenkiewicz at the Arcola Theatre....
(1994)
Work in television and film
Although the theatre was always his first love he appeared in television and film. His best-known television role was as King Henry VIIHenry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
in a BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
series, Shadow of the Tower, but it did not have the same popular success as The Six Wives of Henry VIII, which was its predecessor drama. His other television credits include a prominent role in the 1978 Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story Underworld
Underworld (Doctor Who)
Underworld is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 January - 28 January 1978.-Synopsis:...
. He also appeared as Osmond in a television serial of Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
' Portrait of a Lady (1967), The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
and The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
.
He was also seen in the films Private Potter
Private Potter
Private Potter is a 1962 British drama film directed by Caspar Wrede and starring Tom Courtenay, Mogens Wieth, Ronald Fraser, and James Maxwell.-Plot:...
(1962), Far from the Madding Crowd
Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 film)
Far from the Madding Crowd is a 1967 British drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted from the book of the same name by Thomas Hardy. It was Schlesinger's fourth film and marked a stylistic shift away from his earlier works which explored contemporary urban mores. The cinematography was by...
(1967), Otley
Otley (film)
Otley is a 1968 British comedy thriller film.-Outline:Gerald Arthur Otley , a hapless and light-fingered antiques dealer, is mistaken for a spy and grows into the part - to such an extent that the real spy falls in love with him...
(1968) and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1970 film)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a joint Norwegian-British 1970 film based on the novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with the same name...
(1970). The first and last of these directed by his friend and colleague Casper Wrede.
His Ghost is rumoured to haunt the Royal Exchange, as seen in an episode of the TV show, Most Haunted
Most Haunted
Most Haunted is a British paranormal documentary reality television series. The series was first shown on 25 May 2002 and ended on 21 July 2010. It was broadcast on Living and presented by Yvette Fielding. The programme was based on investigating purported paranormal activity...
.
Personal life
He married the actress Avril ElgarAvril Elgar
Avril Elgar is an English stage, radio and television actress.She trained at the London Old Vic Theatre School...
in 1952 and the couple had two sons. They met at the Old Vic theatre school and she appeared in many of Maxwell’s productions. He died in 1995.
Selected filmography
- Design for LovingDesign for LovingDesign for Loving is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring June Thorburn, Pete Murray and Soraya Rafat. Its plot concerns a beatnik who becomes a top fashion model...
(1962) - The Evil of FrankensteinThe Evil of FrankensteinThe Evil of Frankenstein is a 1964 British horror film made by Hammer Studio. Directed by Freddie Francis, the film stars Peter Cushing and New Zealand wrestler Kiwi Kingston....
(1964)