John Woodvine
Encyclopedia
John Woodvine is an English
stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.
, County Durham
, England
, the son of Rose (née
Kelly) and John Woodvine. He was educated at Lord William's School, Thame
, Oxfordshire
and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
.
company in the 1950s. In 1957, along with Russell Napier
, John Carlisle
, and Edgar Lustgarten
, Woodvine appeared in the 63-episode American Broadcasting Company
anthology television series, Scotland Yard
. Woodvine's role was that of Inspector Kingdom.
Woodvine also had a long career with the Royal Shakespeare Company
, having appeared in 1976 opposite Ian McKellen
and Judi Dench
as Banquo
in the acclaimed Trevor Nunn
production of Macbeth
, which was later recorded for television. He also appeared in the RSC's 1980 landmark production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
, starring as the story's primary antagonist, Ralph Nickleby.
Woodvine frequently played police officers from early in his career, including in the seminal British drama series Z Cars in the 1960s and Softly, Softly
in the 1970s. He re-created his role of Inspector Kingdom in the 1970s police drama New Scotland Yard
. He is also particularly remembered as the disgruntled former policeman who took the lead character hostage in a 1983 episode of Juliet Bravo
. His role as a policeman even extended to playing the traditional village 'bobby', as Constable Tedder in the BBC television adaptation of Arthur Ransome's Big Six, and Coot Club.
Woodvine played Macduff in the 20 September 1970 Play of the Month
television broadcast of Macbeth
, the Marshal in the 1979 Doctor Who
serial The Armageddon Factor
and Chief Superintendent Ross in Edge of Darkness
, and appeared in several episodes of the 1985 television adaptation of The Tripods
. He also played a memorable role as Prior Mordrin in the 1987 ITV series Knights of God
. More recently he played Frank Gallagher's father, Neville, in the Channel 4
offbeat drama Shameless, and PC Tony Stamp's father Norman in The Bill
. In 2008, he appeared in the BBC2 comedy Never Better
and as Joe Jacobs in the ITV1 soap Emmerdale
. In 2010, he appeared as Alan Hoyle in Coronation Street
.
His film roles include the 1981 John Landis
film An American Werewolf in London
(he later re-created his film role for the BBC Radio One adaptation of the film). He also appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1972 Richard Attenborough
film Young Winston
. Woodvine also starred as "Arthur Birling" in the BBC World Service
radio adaptation of An Inspector Calls
and as "Dr. Byron Caligari" in the BBC Radio 4
macabre comedy series The Cabaret of Dr Caligari
.
(a role he repeated with Prospect Theatre Company).
In 1954 he played Caspar Darde in Captain Carvallo on a tour of service establishments.
He joined the Old Vic
company in September 1954, ‘walking on’ in Macbeth
. Later in the same season he played Vincentio in The Taming of the Shrew
(November 1954); Duke (Senior) in As You Like It
(March 1955); Vernon in Part 1 and Lord Chief Justice in Part 2 of Henry IV
(April 1955); Flavius in Julius Caesar
(September 1955); Rugby in The Merry Wives of Windsor
(September 1955); Cleomenes in The Winter's Tale
(November 1955); and the Bishop of Ely and Macmorris in Henry V
(December 1955).
In 1956 his roles for the company included Roderigo in Othello
(February); Calchas in Troilus and Cressida
(April); Murderer in Macbeth
(May); Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet
(June); and Lord Scroop of Berkeley in Richard II
(July). These four last-named productions toured, including a three-week season at the Winter Garden Theatre
in New York in December 1956 and January 1957. Returning to the company in September 1959, he played Careless in The Double Dealer (William Congreve
); Mowbray in Richard II
; and Nym in The Merry Wives of Windsor
.
His subsequent roles have included:
. He was previously married to Hazel Wright, and their daughters are the voice coach Emma Woodvine and the actress Mary Woodvine
.
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...
stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.
Early life
Woodvine was born in South ShieldsSouth Shields
South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, 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...
, the son of Rose (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Kelly) and John Woodvine. He was educated at Lord William's School, Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
and trained for the stage at 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...
.
Career
Woodvine worked with the Old VicOld 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 in the 1950s. In 1957, along with Russell Napier
Russell Napier
Russell Gordon Napier was an Australian actor.Russell Napier was born in Perth, Western Australia. Originally a lawyer, Napier was active as an actor from 1947 to 1974, playing both comedic and dramatic roles in both cinema and television. Notably, he starred in a live BBC television production...
, John Carlisle
John Carlisle (actor)
John Carlisle is a British television and stage actor.John Carlisle had regular roles in Emergency - Ward 10, Scotland Yard on ABC, 1957–1958, and the London Weekend Television series New Scotland Yard as Detective Sergeant Ward.He also appeared in the BBC series The Omega Factor as the morally...
, and Edgar Lustgarten
Edgar Lustgarten
Edgar Marcus Lustgarten was a British broadcaster and noted crime writer.His books included crime fiction, but most were accounts of true-life criminal cases. The legal justice system and courtroom procedures were his main interests and his writings reflect this...
, Woodvine appeared in the 63-episode American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
anthology television series, Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (TV series)
Scotland Yard is a half-hour ABC crime/drama television series, which uses police files from the British Scotland Yard investigative force in the shaping of each episode. The series aired on Sunday evenings in the 1957-1958 season, having premiered on November 17, 1957, but the sixty-three episodes...
. Woodvine's role was that of Inspector Kingdom.
Woodvine also had a long career 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...
, having appeared in 1976 opposite Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
and Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
as Banquo
Banquo
Banquo is a character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth. In the play, he is at first an ally to Macbeth and they are together when they meet the Three Witches. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his...
in the acclaimed Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
production of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, which was later recorded for television. He also appeared in the RSC's 1980 landmark production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (play)
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is an eight-hour stage play, presented over two performances, adapted from the Charles Dickens novel of the same name by David Edgar. Directed by John Caird and Trevor Nunn, it opened on 5 June 1980 at the Aldwych Theatre in London. The music and lyrics...
, starring as the story's primary antagonist, Ralph Nickleby.
Woodvine frequently played police officers from early in his career, including in the seminal British drama series Z Cars in the 1960s and Softly, Softly
Softly, Softly (TV series)
Softly, Softly is a British television drama series, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966. It centred around the work of regional crime squads, plain-clothes CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern - supposedly in the Bristol and Chepstow area of the UK...
in the 1970s. He re-created his role of Inspector Kingdom in the 1970s police drama New Scotland Yard
New Scotland Yard (TV series)
New Scotland Yard was a police drama series produced by London Weekend Television of the ITV network between 1972 and 1974. It featured the activities of two officers from the Criminal Investigations Department in the Metropolitan Police force headquarters at New Scotland Yard, as they dealt with...
. He is also particularly remembered as the disgruntled former policeman who took the lead character hostage in a 1983 episode of Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo is a British television series, which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1985. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire.-Programme name:...
. His role as a policeman even extended to playing the traditional village 'bobby', as Constable Tedder in the BBC television adaptation of Arthur Ransome's Big Six, and Coot Club.
Woodvine played Macduff in the 20 September 1970 Play of the Month
Play of the Month
Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles...
television broadcast of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, the Marshal in the 1979 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...
serial The Armageddon Factor
The Armageddon Factor
The Armageddon Factor is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 January to 24 February 1979...
and Chief Superintendent Ross in Edge of Darkness
Edge of Darkness
Edge of Darkness is a British television drama serial, produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six fifty-five minute episodes in late 1985...
, and appeared in several episodes of the 1985 television adaptation of The Tripods
The Tripods
The Tripods is a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV-series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s....
. He also played a memorable role as Prior Mordrin in the 1987 ITV series Knights of God
Knights of God
Knights of God was a British science fiction children's television serial, produced by TVS and first broadcast on ITV in 1987. It was written by Richard Cooper, a writer who had previously worked in both children's and adult television drama...
. More recently he played Frank Gallagher's father, Neville, in the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
offbeat drama Shameless, and PC Tony Stamp's father Norman in 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, he appeared in the BBC2 comedy Never Better
Never Better
Never Better is a British television sitcom which started on BBC Two on 10 January 2008. It stars Stephen Mangan as recovering alcoholic Keith Merchant and Kate Ashfield as his suffering wife Anita...
and as Joe Jacobs in the ITV1 soap Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
. In 2010, he appeared as Alan Hoyle in Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
.
His film roles include the 1981 John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
film An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror film, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne....
(he later re-created his film role for the BBC Radio One adaptation of the film). He also appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1972 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...
film 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...
. Woodvine also starred as "Arthur Birling" in the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
radio adaptation of An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls is a play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed in 1945 in the Soviet Union and 1946 in the UK. It is considered to be one of Priestley's best known works for the stage and one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre...
and as "Dr. Byron Caligari" in the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
macabre comedy series The Cabaret of Dr Caligari
The Cabaret of Dr Caligari
The Cabaret of Dr Caligari was a BBC Radio 4 comedy series first broadcast in November and December 1991. It was written by Alan Gilbey, and produced by Anne Edyvean....
.
Theatre
John Woodvine made apprentice appearances with James Cooper's Renegades Theatre Company in Ilford, where he played such parts as the Conjur Man in Dark of the Moon and Claudius in HamletHamlet
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...
(a role he repeated with Prospect Theatre Company).
In 1954 he played Caspar Darde in Captain Carvallo on a tour of service establishments.
He joined 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 in September 1954, ‘walking on’ in Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
. Later in the same season he played Vincentio in The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
(November 1954); Duke (Senior) in As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
(March 1955); Vernon in Part 1 and Lord Chief Justice in Part 2 of Henry IV
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV , and Henry V...
(April 1955); Flavius in Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
(September 1955); Rugby in The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
(September 1955); Cleomenes in The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, some modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some critics, among them W. W...
(November 1955); and the Bishop of Ely and Macmorris in Henry V
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
(December 1955).
In 1956 his roles for the company included Roderigo in Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
(February); Calchas in Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was also described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus...
(April); Murderer in Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(May); Tybalt in 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...
(June); and Lord Scroop of Berkeley in Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
(July). These four last-named productions toured, including a three-week season at the Winter Garden Theatre
Winter Garden Theatre
The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1634 Broadway in midtown Manhattan.-History:The structure was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt in 1896 to be the American Horse Exchange....
in New York in December 1956 and January 1957. Returning to the company in September 1959, he played Careless in The Double Dealer (William Congreve
William Congreve
William Congreve was an English playwright and poet.-Early life:Congreve was born in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, England . His parents were William Congreve and his wife, Mary ; a sister was buried in London in 1672...
); Mowbray in Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
; and Nym in The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
.
His subsequent roles have included:
- Harry V.Esterbrook in Inherit the WindInherit the Wind (play)Inherit the Wind is a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. The play, which debuted in 1955, is a parable that fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means to discuss the then-contemporary McCarthy trials.-Background:...
, St Martin's TheatreSt Martin's TheatreSt Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in West Street, near Charing Cross Road, in the London Borough of Camden. It was designed as one of a pair of theatres with the Ambassadors Theatre by W.G.R...
, March 1960 - General Lew Wallace in The Andersonville TrialThe Andersonville TrialThe Andersonville Trial was a television adaptation of a 1959 hit Broadway play by Saul Levitt, presented as an episode of PBS's 1970-71 season of Hollywood Television Theatre....
, MermaidMermaid TheatreThe Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
, June 1961 - Vasquez in Tis Pity She's a Whore, Mermaid, August 1961
- Long John Silver in 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...
, Mermaid, December 1961 - Pentheus in The BacchaeThe BacchaeThe Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...
, Mermaid, February 1964 - Title role in MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Mermaid, April 1964 - Simon Eyre in The Shoemaker's HolidayThe Shoemaker's HolidayThe Shoemakers' Holiday, or the Gentle Craft is an Elizabethan play written by Thomas Dekker. It was first performed in 1599 by the Admiral's Men. It falls into the sub-genre of city comedy.The play was first published in 1600 by the printer Valentine Simmes...
, Mermaid, July 1964 - Theseus in Oedipus at ColonusOedipus at ColonusOedipus at Colonus is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles...
, Mermaid, May 1965 - Cutler Walpole in The Doctor's Dilemma, Comedy Theatre, June 1966
- Badger in Toad of Toad HallToad of Toad HallToad of Toad Hall is the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. It was written by A. A. Milne, with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson....
, Comedy Theatre, December 1966 - Jackie in Close the Coalhouse Door (Alan PlaterAlan PlaterAlan Frederick Plater, CBE, FRSL was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.-Career:...
), Fortune TheatreFortune TheatreThe Fortune Theatre is a 432 seat West End theatre in Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, built in 1922-4 by Ernest Schaufelberg for impresario Laurence Cowen. The façade is principally bush hammered concrete, with brick piers supporting the roof...
, October 1968 - Warrant Office Ormsby in Poor Horace, Lyric TheatreLyric Theatre (London)The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
, May 1970 - Joe Wilson in a solo performance Joe Lives!, Newcastle University and Greenwich TheatreGreenwich TheatreThe Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.-Building history:The building was originally a music hall created in 1855 as part of the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house, but the Rose and Crown Music Hall was...
, June 1971 - Claudius in HamletHamletThe 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...
, Prospect Company tour, August 1971 - Joined the Actors' Company in 1973 playing Sir Wiful Witwoud in The Way of the WorldThe Way of the WorldThe Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...
, (Edinburgh FestivalEdinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
); Orlovsky in The Wood Demon; Kent in King LearKing LearKing Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
: including performances in all three parts at the Brooklyn AcademyBrooklyn Academy of MusicBrooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
, New York, January 1974 and Wimbledon TheatreNew Wimbledon TheatreThe New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J B Mullholland. Built on the site of a large house with spacious grounds the theatre was designed by...
, March–May 1974. - Cardinal in ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, March 1974, and Pontagnac in Ruling the Roost (FeydeauGeorges FeydeauGeorges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
farce), Wimbledon, April 1974 - Staller in Stallerhof (Franz Xaver KroetzFranz Xaver KroetzFranz Xaver Kroetz is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. His plays have been translated and performed internationally.-Life:Kroetz attended an acting school in Munich and the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna...
), Hampstead Theatre, February 1975 - Gerald in The Formation Dancers (Frank MarcusFrank MarcusFrank Marcus was a British playwright, best known for The Killing of Sister George.-Life:Frank Ulrich Marcus was born 30 June 1928 into a Jewish family in Breslau . They came to England as refugees in 1939...
), Yvonne Arnaud TheatreYvonne Arnaud TheatreThe Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, Surrey presents in-house productions which often tour and transfer to London's West End. Other performances include opera, ballet and pantomime. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, the company has two performance venues, a main theatre and the smaller Mill...
, Guildford, May 1975 - Joined the RSC for the 1976 Stratford season, playing Duke of Cornwall in King LearKing LearKing Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
; Dogberry in Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
; Polixenes in The Winter's TaleThe Winter's TaleThe Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, some modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some critics, among them W. W...
; and Banquo in MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(the latter also at The Other PlaceThe Other PlaceThe Other Place may refer to:* The Other Place , a 1999 young adult novel* The Other Place, a collection of short stories by J. B...
, August 1976, and Donmar WarehouseDonmar WarehouseDonmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
, September 1977). - Doctor Pinch in The Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of Errors (1976 musical)The Comedy of Errors is a musical with a book and lyrics by Trevor Nunn and music by Guy Woolfenden. It is based on the William Shakespeare play of the same title, which previously was adapted for the musical stage as The Boys from Syracuse by Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and George Abbott in 1938...
, RSC AldwychAldwych TheatreThe Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
, June 1977 - Repeated the roles of Dogberry and Capulet at the RSC Aldwych, June–July 1977
- Subtle in The AlchemistThe Alchemist (play)The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature...
. RSC The Other Place, May 1977; and RSC Aldwych, December 1977 - Fainall in The Way of the WorldThe Way of the WorldThe Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...
, RSC Aldwych, January 1978 - Alexander in Every Good Boy Deserves FavourEvery Good Boy Deserves FavourEvery Good Boy Deserves Favour is a stage play by Tom Stoppard with music by André Previn. It was first performed in 1977. The play criticizes the Soviet practice of treating political dissidence as a form of mental illness. Its title derives from the popular mnemonic used by music students to...
, RSC Mermaid, June 1978 - For the 1979 RSC Stratford season he played Sir John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, and the title role in Julius CaesarJulius Caesar (play)The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
; also playing Falstaff and Malvolio at the RSC Aldwych, 1980 season - Ralph Nickleby in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (David EdgarDavid Edgar (playwright)David Edgar is a British playwright and author who has had more than sixty of his plays published and performed on stage, radio and television around the world, making him one of the most prolific dramatists of the post-1960s generation in Great Britain.He was resident playwright at the Birmingham...
), RSCRoyal Shakespeare CompanyThe 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...
Aldwych TheatreAldwych TheatreThe Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
, June 1980-June 1981; (re-staged at the Old VicOld VicThe 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...
for television recording, July–August 1981) - Charles Merrythought in The Knight of the Burning PestleThe Knight of the Burning PestleThe Knight of the Burning Pestle is a play by Francis Beaumont, first performed in 1607 and first published in a quarto in 1613. It is notable as the first whole parody play in English...
(Beaumont and FletcherBeaumont and FletcherBeaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I ....
), in repertory RSC Aldwych, April–June 1981 - Ralph Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby, Plymouth Theatre, NY, October 1981-January 1982
- Mr Prince in Rocket to the MoonRocket to the Moon (play)Rocket to the Moon is a 1938 play by the American playwright Clifford Odets. It was adapted for television by the BBC in 1986, with John Malkovich and Connie Booth in the lead roles....
(Clifford OdetsClifford OdetsClifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social protester.-Early life:Odets was born in Philadelphia to Romanian- and Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Louis Odets and Esther Geisinger, and raised in Philadelphia and the Bronx, New York. He dropped out of high...
), Hampstead TheatreHampstead TheatreHampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...
, August 1982 and Apollo TheatreApollo TheatreThe Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
, September–November 1982 - Sir John Falstaff in ‘’The Henrys’’ (Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and Henry V), English Shakespeare CompanyEnglish Shakespeare CompanyThe English Shakespeare Company was an English theatre company founded in 1986 by Michael Bogdanov and Michael Pennington to present and promote the works of William Shakespeare on both a national and an international level....
, Old Vic, March–May 1987 - Gregor Hasek in Between East and West (Richard NelsonRichard NelsonRichard Nelson may refer to:* Richard Nelson , anthropologist and writer* Richard Nelson , Episcopal bishop in America...
). Hampstead, December 1987-January 1988 - Gens in Ghetto (Joshua Sobol), National Theatre, Olivier, April–November 1989
- Chris Christopherson in Anna ChristieAnna ChristieAnna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:...
(Eugene O'NeillEugene O'NeillEugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
), Young Vic, June–July 1990 - Shylock in The Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of VeniceThe 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 the title role in VolponeVolponeVolpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable...
, English Shakespeare Company, Lyric HammersmithLyric HammersmithThe Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
, February–March 1991 - Duncan in MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, and Prospero in The TempestThe TempestThe 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,...
, English Shakespeare Company, Lyric Hammersmith, November–December 1992 - George H Jones in MachinalMachinalMachinal is a play written by American playwright and journalist Sophie Treadwell, inspired by the real life case of convicted and executed murderess Ruth Snyder...
(Sophie TreadwellSophie TreadwellSophie Treadwell , was a leading American playwright and journalist of the first half of the 20th century. Among her prominent works are Machinal and Intimations For Saxophone...
), National Theatre, Lyttelton, October 1993- February 1994 - Monsewer in The HostageThe Hostage (play)The Hostage is a loose 1958 English version, with songs, adapted in a much longer text from a one-act Irish language play An Giall, by its author, Brendan Behan.-Plot:...
(Brendan BehanBrendan BehanBrendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
), RSC Barbican, September–October 1994 - Priuli in Venice Preserv'dVenice Preserv'dVenice Preserv'd is an English Restoration play written by Thomas Otway, and the most significant tragedy of the English stage in the 1680s. It was staged first in 1682, with Thomas Betterton as Jaffeir and Elizabeth Barry as Belvidera...
(Thomas OtwayThomas OtwayThomas Otway was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for Venice Preserv'd, or A Plot Discover'd .-Life:...
), Almeida TheatreAlmeida TheatreThe Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
, October–December 1995 - Jacques in As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, RSC Barbican, October 1996-March 1997 - Sir Henry Clinton in The General from America (Richard Nelson), RSC The Pit, February–April 1997
- Aslaksen in An Enemy of the PeopleAn Enemy of the PeopleAn Enemy of the People is an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen wrote it in response to the public outcry against his play Ghosts, which at that time was considered scandalous...
(Ibsen), National Theatre Olivier, September 1997-January 1998 - Jack Donovan in Give Me Your Answer, Do! (Brian Friel), Hampstead, March–May 1998
- Flavius in Timon of AthensTimon of AthensThe Life of Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon , generally regarded as one of his most obscure and difficult works...
, RSC Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, August 1999; and RSC Barbican, March–April 2000 - King Philip II of Spain in Don CarlosDon CarlosDon Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
(Schiller), RSC The Pit, January–April 2000 - Edgar Johnson in Life After Life (Paul Jepson/Tony ParkerTony ParkerWilliam Anthony "Tony" Parker is a French professional basketball player who currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA....
), National Theatre Lyttelton Loft, May–June 2002 - The Player King in HamletHamletThe 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...
, RSC Courtyard Theatre, Stratford, July 2008;
Filmography
- The Walking StickThe Walking StickThe Walking Stick is a 1970 film directed by Eric Till and starring David Hemmings and Samantha Eggar. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Winston Graham...
(1970) - The DevilsThe Devils (film)The Devils is a 1971 British historical drama directed by Ken Russell and starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave. It is based partially on the 1952 book The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley, and partially on the 1960 play The Devils by John Whiting, also based on Huxley's book...
(1971) - Young WinstonYoung WinstonYoung 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...
(1972) - Assault on Agathon (Greece, 1975)
- An American Werewolf in LondonAn American Werewolf in LondonAn American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror film, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne....
(1981) - Squaring the Circle (Stoppard 1983)
- And a Nightingale Sang (1988)
- Danny, the Champion of the WorldDanny, the Champion of the World (film)Danny, the Champion of the World is a 1989 film starring British Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons, with his son, Samuel Irons, in the title role. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, and tells of a father and son who conspire to thwart a local businessman's plans to buy...
(1989) - Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë's Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë's Wuthering Heights was a 1992 feature film adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights directed by Peter Kosminsky....
(1992) - PersuasionPersuasion (1995 film)Producer Fiona Finlay had for several years been interested in making a film based on the novel Persuasion, and approached screenwriter Nick Dear about adapting it for television...
(1995) - The SecretThe SecretA secret is information kept hidden. Secret or The Secret may also refer to:-Music:* Secret , a South Korean girl group* Il segreto di Susanna; or Suzanna's Secret, one-act opera by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari...
(2002) - Vanity FairVanity Fair (2004 film)Vanity Fair is a 2004 British-American costume drama film directed by Mira Nair and adapted from William Makepeace Thackeray's novel of the same name...
(2004) - Englishman trying to flee Brussels - Miss Potter (2006)
Private life
John Woodvine is married to actress Lynn FarleighLynn Farleigh
-Television and film:Lynn Farleigh is perhaps best known for playing: Helen Wycliffe in Wycliffe; Krupskaya opposite Patrick Stewart's Lenin in the historical BBC drama Fall of Eagles; and the glamorous Vivien Ashton in the second series of the LWT secret agent series Wish Me Luck broadcast in...
. He was previously married to Hazel Wright, and their daughters are the voice coach Emma Woodvine and the actress Mary Woodvine
Mary Woodvine
Mary Woodvine is a British actress who appeared as Mary Harkinson in EastEnders in 2003. Her father, John Woodvine, is also an actor.She has also appeared in Doc Martin, Born and Bred, Casualty, Pie in the Sky, Down to Earth and Heartbeat. In 1994 she played the role of Aurelia Took in Space...
.