John Thaw
Encyclopedia
John Edward Thaw, CBE
(3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English
actor
, who appeared in a range of television
, stage
and cinema
roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap
, The Sweeney
, Inspector Morse
and Kavanagh QC
.
background, having been born in Gorton
, Manchester
, Lancashire
, to parents John and Dorothy (née Ablott). His father was a long distance lorry driver. He had a difficult childhood as his mother left him when he was seven years old and he didn't see her again until 12 years later. He had a younger brother called Ray. He grew up in the Burnage
area of the city and attended Ducie Technical High School for Boys in Manchester. He entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
at the age of 17, where he was a contemporary of Tom Courtenay
.
he made his stage début in A Shred of Evidence at the Liverpool Playhouse
and was awarded a contract with the theatre. His first film role was a bit part in the 1962 adaptation of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
starring Tom Courtenay and he also acted on-stage opposite Sir Laurence Olivier
in Semi-Detached
(1962) by David Turner
. He appeared in several episodes of the BBC
police series Z-Cars
in 1963–64 as a detective constable with an unusual drink problem - he had a glass head, so couldn't take the alcohol so often part of the copper's work. Between 1964 and 1966 he appeared as the central role of hard-nosed military policeman, Sgt John Mann, in two series of the ABC Weekend Television
/ITV
production Redcap
. He was also a guest star in an early episode of The Avengers
. In 1967 he appeared in the Granada TV
/ITV
series, Inheritance
, alongside James Bolam
and Michael Goodliffe
, as well as appearing in TV plays such as The Talking Head and episodes of series such as Budgie
, where he played against type (opposite Adam Faith
) as an effeminate failed playwright with a full beard and a Welsh accent.
Thaw will perhaps be best remembered for two roles: the hard-bitten Flying Squad
detective Jack Regan in the Thames Television
/ITV
series (and two films) The Sweeney
(1974 – 1978), which established him as a major star in the United Kingdom, and as the quietly spoken, introspective, well-educated and bitter detective Inspector Morse
(1987 – 1993, with specials from 1995 – 1998 and 2000). Starring alongside Kevin Whately
as the put upon Detective Sergeant Lewis, Morse became a cult character - "a cognitive curmudgeon with his love of classical music, his vintage Jaguar and spates of melancholy". Morse became one of the UK's most loved TV series - the final three episodes, shown in 2000, were seen by 18 million people - about one third of the British population. He won "Most Popular Actor" at the 1999 National Television Awards
and won two BAFTA
awards for his role as Morse.
He subsequently played liberal
working class
Lancastrian
barrister
James Kavanagh in Kavanagh QC
(1995 – 1999, and a special in 2001). Thaw also tried his hand at comedy with two sitcoms — Thick as Thieves (London Weekend/ITV
, 1974) with Bob Hoskins
and Home to Roost
(Yorkshire/ITV
, 1985 – 1990). Thaw is best known in America for the Morse series, as well as the BBC
series A Year in Provence
with Lindsay Duncan
.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Thaw frequently appeared in productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company
and Royal National Theatre
. He appeared in a number of films, including Cry Freedom
, where he portrayed the conservative South African justice minister Jimmy Kruger
, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and Chaplin alongside Robert Downey Jr.
for director Richard Attenborough
.
Thaw also appeared in the TV adaptation of the Michelle Magorian
book Goodnight Mister Tom
(Carlton Television
/ITV
), which also starred Nick Robinson
as William Beech. It won "Most Popular Drama" at the National Television Awards
, 1999. In September 2006, Thaw was voted by the general public as number 3 in a poll of TV's Greatest Stars.
He met actress Sheila Hancock
in 1969 on the set of a London comedy So What About Love?. She was married to fellow actor Alexander "Alec" Ross, and after Thaw professed his love to Hancock, she told him that she would not have an affair. After the death of her husband (from oesophageal cancer) in 1971, Thaw and Hancock married on 24 December 1973 in Cirencester
, and he remained with her until his death in 2002 (also from oesophageal cancer).
Thaw had three daughters (all of whom are actors): Abigail "Abs" Thaw
from his first marriage, Joanna "Jo" Thaw from his second, and he also adopted Sheila Hancock's daughter Melanie Jane "Ellie" from her first marriage. Melanie legally changed her name from Ross to Thaw.
Thaw was a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party
.
Thaw was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in March 1993 by Queen Elizabeth II.
In September 2006, Thaw was voted by the general public as number 3, after David Jason
and Morecambe and Wise
, in a poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars for the past 50 years.
in hope of overcoming the illness, and at first seemed to be responding well to the treatment, but in early January 2002 was told that the cancer had spread.
He died on 21 February 2002, seven weeks after his 60th birthday, the day after he signed a new contract with ITV, and the day before his wife's birthday. At the time of his death he was living at his country home, near the villages of Luckington
and Sherston
in Wiltshire
, and was cremated at Westerleigh Crematorium in South Gloucestershire
in a private service. A memorial service was held on 4 September 2002 at St Martin's in the Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, attended by 800 people including Prince Charles and Cherie Blair
.
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...
(3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English
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...
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...
, who appeared in a range of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap
Redcap (TV series)
Redcap is a British television series produced by ABC Weekend Television and broadcast on the ITV network.It starred John Thaw as Sergeant John Mann, a member of the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police and ran for two series and 26 episodes between 1964 and 1966, being about...
, The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
, Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse (TV series)
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
and Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
.
Early life
Thaw came from a working classWorking 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...
background, having been born in Gorton
Gorton
Gorton is an area of the city of Manchester, in North West England. It is located to the southeast of Manchester city centre. Neighbouring areas include Longsight and Levenshulme....
, 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...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, to parents John and Dorothy (née Ablott). His father was a long distance lorry driver. He had a difficult childhood as his mother left him when he was seven years old and he didn't see her again until 12 years later. He had a younger brother called Ray. He grew up in the Burnage
Burnage
Burnage is a neighbourhood of the city of Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire it was included in the county of Greater Manchester in 1974. It is about south of Manchester city centre, bisected by the busy dual carriageway of Kingsway, part of the A34...
area of the city and attended Ducie Technical High School for Boys in Manchester. He entered 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...
at the age of 17, where he was a contemporary of 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...
.
Career
Soon after leaving RADARoyal 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...
he made his stage début in A Shred of Evidence at the Liverpool Playhouse
Liverpool Playhouse
The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actresses, some of which went on to achieve...
and was awarded a contract with the theatre. His first film role was a bit part in the 1962 adaptation of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
"The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" is a short story by Alan Sillitoe which was set in Irvine Beach, and published in 1959 as part of a short story collection of the same name. The work focuses on Colin, a poor Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a blue-collar area, who has bleak...
starring Tom Courtenay and he also acted on-stage opposite Sir 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 Semi-Detached
Semi-Detached (play)
Semi-Detached is a play written by David Turner. It was premiered at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in June 1962 with Leonard Rossiter in the lead role and directed by Tony Richardson....
(1962) by David Turner
David Turner (dramatist)
David Turner was a British playwright.From a working class background, he studied French at Birmingham University and subsequently worked as a school teacher in that city...
. He appeared in several episodes of 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...
police series Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
in 1963–64 as a detective constable with an unusual drink problem - he had a glass head, so couldn't take the alcohol so often part of the copper's work. Between 1964 and 1966 he appeared as the central role of hard-nosed military policeman, Sgt John Mann, in two series of the ABC Weekend Television
Associated British Corporation
Associated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
/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...
production Redcap
Redcap (TV series)
Redcap is a British television series produced by ABC Weekend Television and broadcast on the ITV network.It starred John Thaw as Sergeant John Mann, a member of the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police and ran for two series and 26 episodes between 1964 and 1966, being about...
. He was also a guest star in an early episode of 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...
. In 1967 he appeared in the Granada TV
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
/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...
series, Inheritance
Inheritance (TV series)
Inheritance was a 1967 Granada produced ITV drama based on a 1932 novel by Phyllis Bentley.The ten-part period drama revolved around the fortunes of the Oldroyds, a Yorkshire mill owning family from 1812 to 1965. The early part of the series featured the Luddite riots involving the burning of mills...
, alongside James Bolam
James Bolam
James Christopher Bolam, MBE is a British actor, best known for his roles as Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Dr Arthur Gilder in...
and Michael Goodliffe
Michael Goodliffe
Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts....
, as well as appearing in TV plays such as The Talking Head and episodes of series such as Budgie
Budgie (TV series)
Budgie was a popular British television series starring former popstar Adam Faith which was produced by ITV company London Weekend Television and broadcast on the ITV network between 1971 and 1972....
, where he played against type (opposite Adam Faith
Adam Faith
Terence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...
) as an effeminate failed playwright with a full beard and a Welsh accent.
Thaw will perhaps be best remembered for two roles: the hard-bitten Flying Squad
Flying Squad
The Flying Squad is a branch of the Specialist Crime Directorate, within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Squad's purpose is to investigate commercial armed robberies, along with the prevention and investigation of other serious armed crime...
detective Jack Regan in the Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
/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...
series (and two films) The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
(1974 – 1978), which established him as a major star in the United Kingdom, and as the quietly spoken, introspective, well-educated and bitter detective Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse (TV series)
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
(1987 – 1993, with specials from 1995 – 1998 and 2000). Starring alongside Kevin Whately
Kevin Whately
Kevin Whately is an English actor.Whately is known for his starring role as Neville Hope in the British television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, his role as Dr Jack Kerruish in the drama series Peak Practice, and as Robert "Robbie" Lewis in the crime dramas Inspector Morse and...
as the put upon Detective Sergeant Lewis, Morse became a cult character - "a cognitive curmudgeon with his love of classical music, his vintage Jaguar and spates of melancholy". Morse became one of the UK's most loved TV series - the final three episodes, shown in 2000, were seen by 18 million people - about one third of the British population. He won "Most Popular Actor" at the 1999 National Television Awards
National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
and won two BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
awards for his role as Morse.
He subsequently played liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
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...
Lancastrian
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
James Kavanagh in Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
(1995 – 1999, and a special in 2001). Thaw also tried his hand at comedy with two sitcoms — Thick as Thieves (London Weekend/ITV
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
, 1974) with Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
and Home to Roost
Home to Roost
Home to Roost is a British television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television in the 1980s. Written by Eric Chappell, it starred John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his 18-year-old son Matthew....
(Yorkshire/ITV
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
, 1985 – 1990). Thaw is best known in America for the Morse series, as well as 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...
series A Year in Provence
A Year in Provence
A Year in Provence is a 1989 bestselling autobiographical novel by Peter Mayle about his first year in Provence, and the local events and customs. It was adapted into a television miniseries starring John Thaw and Lindsay Duncan. Reviewers praised its honest style, wit and its refreshing humor...
with Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...
.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Thaw frequently appeared in productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
and 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...
. He appeared in a number of films, including Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods...
, where he portrayed the conservative South African justice minister Jimmy Kruger
Jimmy Kruger
James Thomas "Jimmy" Kruger was a South African politician who rose to the position of Minister of Justice and the Police in the cabinet of Prime Minister John Vorster from 1974 to 1979...
, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and Chaplin alongside Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert John Downey, Jr. is an American actor. Downey made his screen debut in 1970 at the age of five when he appeared in his father's film Pound, and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s he had roles in a series of coming of age films associated with the...
for director Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
.
Thaw also appeared in the TV adaptation of the Michelle Magorian
Michelle Magorian
Michelle Magorian is an English author of children's books, including Goodnight Mister Tom, Back Home and A Little Love Song.- Biography :...
book Goodnight Mister Tom
Goodnight Mister Tom
Goodnight Mister Tom novel by Michelle Magorian. It follows a young boy, William Beech, who is evacuated from London during the Blitz of World War II, and put into the care of Tom Oakley, an elderly recluse...
(Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
/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...
), which also starred Nick Robinson
Nick Robinson (actor)
Nick Robinson is a British actor who has appears regularly on British television, most famously as Willie Beech in Goodnight Mister Tom, starring the late John Thaw. He also played the lead in a three-part series based upon Harry and the Wrinklies, a novel by Alan Temperley, produced by Scottish...
as William Beech. It won "Most Popular Drama" at the National Television Awards
National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
, 1999. In September 2006, Thaw was voted by the general public as number 3 in a poll of TV's Greatest Stars.
Personal life
In 1964, Thaw married Sally Alexander (a theatre stage manager), but they divorced four years later.He met actress Sheila Hancock
Sheila Hancock
Sheila Cameron Hancock, CBE is an English actress and author.-Early life:Sheila Hancock was born in Blackgang on the Isle of Wight, the daughter of Ivy Louise and Enrico Cameron Hancock, who was a publican. Her sister Billie is seven years older...
in 1969 on the set of a London comedy So What About Love?. She was married to fellow actor Alexander "Alec" Ross, and after Thaw professed his love to Hancock, she told him that she would not have an affair. After the death of her husband (from oesophageal cancer) in 1971, Thaw and Hancock married on 24 December 1973 in Cirencester
Cirencester
Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
, and he remained with her until his death in 2002 (also from oesophageal cancer).
Thaw had three daughters (all of whom are actors): Abigail "Abs" Thaw
Abigail Thaw
Abigail Thaw is a British actress. She was born in London to actor John Thaw and his first wife, Sally Alexander. Her stepmother is actress Sheila Hancock...
from his first marriage, Joanna "Jo" Thaw from his second, and he also adopted Sheila Hancock's daughter Melanie Jane "Ellie" from her first marriage. Melanie legally changed her name from Ross to Thaw.
Thaw was a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
Thaw was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent 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...
(CBE) in March 1993 by Queen Elizabeth II.
In September 2006, Thaw was voted by the general public as number 3, after David Jason
David Jason
Sir David John White, OBE , better known by his stage name David Jason, is an English BAFTA award-winning actor. He is best known as the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter on the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses from 1981, the voice of Mr Toad in The Wind In The Willows and as detective Jack...
and Morecambe and Wise
Morecambe and Wise
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...
, in a poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars for the past 50 years.
Illness and Death
A heavy drinker, and a smoker from the age of 12, Thaw was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in June 2001. He underwent chemotherapyChemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
in hope of overcoming the illness, and at first seemed to be responding well to the treatment, but in early January 2002 was told that the cancer had spread.
He died on 21 February 2002, seven weeks after his 60th birthday, the day after he signed a new contract with ITV, and the day before his wife's birthday. At the time of his death he was living at his country home, near the villages of Luckington
Luckington
Luckington is a village in north-west Wiltshire, England, on the road linking Old Sodbury and Malmesbury — the B4040. Its name means a settlement connected with Luca.- People :...
and Sherston
Sherston, Wiltshire
Sherston is a village approximately 5 miles to the west of Malmesbury in the English county of Wiltshire. The population in 2001 was 1418 .- History :...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, and was cremated at Westerleigh Crematorium in South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
in a private service. A memorial service was held on 4 September 2002 at St Martin's in the Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, attended by 800 people including Prince Charles and Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair , known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, is a British barrister working in the legal system of England and Wales. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair; the couple have three sons and one daughter...
.
Honours and awards
- 1989 British Academy Award
- 1992 British Academy Award
- 1994 CBECBECBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
- 1999 "Most Popular Actor" - National TV Awards
- 2001 BAFTA fellowship
Television series
- 1961 The Younger Generation
- 1963–64 "Z-Cars"
- 1965–66 RedcapRedcap (TV series)Redcap is a British television series produced by ABC Weekend Television and broadcast on the ITV network.It starred John Thaw as Sergeant John Mann, a member of the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police and ran for two series and 26 episodes between 1964 and 1966, being about...
- 1966–67 InheritanceInheritance (TV series)Inheritance was a 1967 Granada produced ITV drama based on a 1932 novel by Phyllis Bentley.The ten-part period drama revolved around the fortunes of the Oldroyds, a Yorkshire mill owning family from 1812 to 1965. The early part of the series featured the Luddite riots involving the burning of mills...
- 1974 Thick As Thieves
- 1975–78 The SweeneyThe SweeneyThe Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
- 1983 Mitch
- 1985–89 Home to RoostHome to RoostHome to Roost is a British television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television in the 1980s. Written by Eric Chappell, it starred John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his 18-year-old son Matthew....
- 1987–2000 Inspector MorseInspector Morse (TV series)Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
- 1991 Stanley and the Women
- 1992 A Year in ProvenceA Year in ProvenceA Year in Provence is a 1989 bestselling autobiographical novel by Peter Mayle about his first year in Provence, and the local events and customs. It was adapted into a television miniseries starring John Thaw and Lindsay Duncan. Reviewers praised its honest style, wit and its refreshing humor...
- 1995–2001 Kavanagh QCKavanagh QCKavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
- 1999 Plastic Man
- 2000 Monsignor RenardMonsignor RenardMonsignor Renard was a four part ITV television drama set in occupied France during World War II. It starred John Thaw as Monsignor Augustine Renard, a French priest who is drawn into the Resistance movement. The series was later shown in the U.S...
- 2001 The Glass
TV movies
- 1961 Serjeant Musgrave's DanceSerjeant Musgrave's DanceSerjeant Musgrave's Dance, An Un-historical Parable is a play by English playwright John Arden, written in 1959 and premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on October 22 of that year. In Arden's introductory note to the text, he describes it as "a realistic, but not a naturalistic" play...
- 1963 The Lads
- 1964 I Can Walk Where I Like, Can't I?
- 1964 The Other ManThe Other Man (1964 TV programme)The Other Man is a British television drama written by Giles Cooper and directed by Gordon Flemyng, starring Michael Caine, Siân Phillips and John Thaw...
- 1966 The Making of Jericho
- 1974 Regan
- 1978 Dinner at the Sporting Club
- 1980 Drake's VentureDrake's VentureDrake's Venture is a 1980 film depiction of Francis Drake's voyage of circumnavigation. Produced by Westward Television to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the event, it nevertheless focuses on the voyage's most controversial aspect, the execution of the gentleman Thomas Doughty for mutiny...
- 1984 The Life and Death of King John
- 1984 Killer Waiting
- 1985 We'll Support You Ever More
- 1987 The Sign of Four
- 1992 Bomber HarrisBomber Harris (television film)Bomber Harris is a 1989 television drama based on the life of Arthur Harris. It was directed by Michael Darlow and written by Don Shaw.-Cast:*John Thaw - Arthur Travers Harris*Robert Hardy - Winston Churchill*Frederick Treves - Sir Charles Portal...
- 1993 The Mystery of Morse
- 1994 The Absence of War
- 1996 Into the Blue"
- 1998 Goodnight Mister TomGoodnight Mister Tom (1998 film)Goodnight Mister Tom is a 1998 film adaptation by ITV of the original book of the same name by Michelle Magorian; the cast featured the veteran British actor John Thaw and was directed by Jack Gold.-Plot:...
- 1999 The Waiting Time
- 2000 Inspector Morse: Rest in Peace
- 2001 Hidden Treasure / Buried Treasure
Film
- 1962 Nil Carborundum
- 1962 Smashing Day
- 1962 The Loneliness of the Long Distance RunnerThe Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film)The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a 1962 film, based on the short story of the same name.The screenplay, like the short story, was written by Alan Sillitoe....
- 1963 Five to One
- 1965 Dead Man's Chest
- 1968 The Bofors GunThe Bofors GunThe Bofors Gun is a 1968 British drama film directed by Jack Gold and starring Nicol Williamson, Ian Holm and John Thaw. It was based on the play Events While Guarding The Bofors Gun by John McGrath. It portrays the British peacetime occupation of West Germany following the Second World War.-Cast:*...
- 1970 Praise Marx and Pass the Ammunition
- 1970 The Last GrenadeThe Last GrenadeThe Last Grenade is a 1970 British war film directed by Gordon Flemyng and starring Stanley Baker and Alex Cord as two soldiers of fortune, formerly comrades, who now find themselves on opposite sides...
- 1972 Dr. Phibes Rises AgainDr. Phibes Rises AgainDr. Phibes Rises Again! is a sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes. It was directed by Robert Fuest, and stars Vincent Price as Dr. Anton Phibes.-Plot:...
- 1976 The Sensible Action of Lieutenant Holst
- 1977 Sweeney!Sweeney! (1977 film)Sweeney! is a 1977 British thriller film made as a spin-off from the television show The Sweeney, which ran from 1974 and 1978. It was released on Region 2 DVD in 2007. A sequel Sweeney 2 was released the following year.- Plot :...
- 1978 Sweeney 2Sweeney 2Sweeney 2 is a 1978 film that is a sequel to the 1977 film Sweeney! which was itself a spin-off from the popular British TV show The Sweeney. Some of the action was transferred from the usual London setting to Malta. Denholm Elliot appears as a corrupt ex-officer, who asks his former subordinates...
- 1978 Dinner at the Sporting Club
- 1981 The Grass is SingingThe Grass Is SingingThe Grass Is Singing is the first novel, published in 1950, by British Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing. It takes place in Rhodesia , in southern Africa, during the 1940s and deals with the racial politics between whites and blacks in that country...
- 1987 Asking for Trouble
- 1987 Business As UsualBusiness as Usual (film)Business as Usual is a 1987 drama film written and directed by Lezli-An Barrett, the only feature film of her directing career. It stars Glenda Jackson and John Thaw.-Plot:...
- 1987 Cry FreedomCry FreedomCry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods...
- 1992 Chaplin
- 1996 Masculine Mesculine
Stage
- 1960 A Shred of Evidence
- 1961 The Fire Raisers
- 1962 Women Beware WomenWomen Beware WomenWomen Beware Women is a Jacobean tragedy written by Thomas Middleton, and first published in 1657.-Date:The date of authorship of the play is deeply uncertain. Scholars have estimated its origin anywhere from 1612 to 1627; 1623–24 has been plausibly suggested...
- 1962 Semi-DetachedSemi-Detached (play)Semi-Detached is a play written by David Turner. It was premiered at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in June 1962 with Leonard Rossiter in the lead role and directed by Tony Richardson....
(with Sir Laurence Olivier) - 1964 The FatherThe Father (Strindberg play)The Father is a Naturalistic tragedy by Swedish playwright August Strindberg, written in 1887.-Plot:The story surrounds the conflict of interest between The Captain and his wife, Laura. The Captain is an ex-military hero and a well-respected scientist who fights with his wife about how to raise...
- 1969 So What About Love?
- 1970 Random Happenings in the Hebrides by John McGrath
- 1971 The Lady from the SeaThe Lady from the SeaThe Lady from the Sea is a play written in 1888 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.Kvinnan från havet is a ballet by choreographer Birgit Cullberg, and based on Ibsen's play...
- 1973 Collaborators
- 1976 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...
- 1978 Night and DayNight and Day (play)Night and Day is a 1978 play by Tom Stoppard. The sets and costumes were designed by Carl Toms and it ran for two years at the Phoenix Theatre in central London, UK. The lead roles of Richard Wagner and Ruth Carson were created by John Thaw and Diana Rigg, respectively.The play is post-colonial in...
- 1982 Serjeant Musgrave's DanceSerjeant Musgrave's DanceSerjeant Musgrave's Dance, An Un-historical Parable is a play by English playwright John Arden, written in 1959 and premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on October 22 of that year. In Arden's introductory note to the text, he describes it as "a realistic, but not a naturalistic" play...
- 1983 Twelfth Night
- 1983 The Time of Your LifeThe Time of Your LifeThe Time of Your Life is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened 25 October 1939 at the Booth Theatre in New York City...
- 1983 Henry VIIIHenry VIII (play)The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...
- 1984 PygmalionPygmalion (play)Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
- 1988 All My SonsAll My SonsAll My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller. The play was twice adapted for film; in 1948, and again in 1987.The play opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947 and ran for 328 performances...
- 1993 The Absence of WarThe Absence of WarThe Absence of War is a play by English playwright, David Hare, the final installment of his trilogy about contemporary Britain. The play premiered in 1993 at the Royal National Theatre, London, England....
by David HareDavid Hare (dramatist)Sir David Hare is an English playwright and theatre and film director.-Early life:Hare was born in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex, the son of Agnes and Clifford Hare, a sailor. He was educated at Lancing, an independent school in West Sussex, and at Jesus College, Cambridge...