Richard Morant
Encyclopedia
Richard Morant was an English
actor
.
Morant was born in Shipston-on-Stour
, Warwickshire
. He was a nephew of actors Bill
and Linden Travers
, and a cousin of actress Penelope Wilton
. He enjoyed a long television and theatre career, first creating an impression as the bully Flashman in a BBC
adaptation of the Thomas Hughes
novel, Tom Brown's Schooldays (1971), and followed this up with a regular role as Dr Dwight Enys in the popular BBC series of Poldark
(1975).
Morant also appeared in several BBC classic serials, including adaptations of Walter Scott
's Woodstock
(1973), as the future Charles II, and The Talisman (1980), as Conrade of Montserrat
.
He played Robespierre in The Scarlet Pimpernel
(1982), and he later played Bunter, the valet of Lord Peter Wimsey
, in the BBC's productions of Strong Poison, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night (all based on Dorothy Sayers's original novels). In 1988 he played Theodore Dyke Acland
in the serial Jack the Ripper
.
His stage appearances included a starring role in Noel Coward
's Private Lives
at the Oxford Playhouse in 1984. The following year he co-starred with Stephanie Beacham
and Pam Ferris
in ITV's rag-trade soap drama, Connie.
, London. After suffering a short illness, Morant died suddenly on November 9, 2011.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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...
.
Morant was born in Shipston-on-Stour
Shipston-on-Stour
Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish on the River Stour about south of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. It is in the northern part of the Cotswolds, close to the boundaries with Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire....
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. He was a nephew of actors Bill
Bill Travers
William Lindon-Travers was an English actor, screenwriter, director and an animal rights activist, known professionally as Bill Travers.-Life and career:...
and Linden Travers
Linden Travers
-Life and career:Travers was born Florence Lindon-Travers in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, the daughter of Florence and William Halton Lindon-Travers. She was the elder sister of Bill Travers, and attended La Sagesse. She made her first stage appearance at the Newcastle Playhouse in 1933...
, and a cousin of actress Penelope Wilton
Penelope Wilton
Penelope Alice Wilton, OBE is an English actress.-Life and career:Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant...
. He enjoyed a long television and theatre career, first creating an impression as the bully Flashman in a 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...
adaptation of the Thomas Hughes
Thomas Hughes
Thomas Hughes was an English lawyer and author. He is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's Schooldays , a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford .- Biography :Hughes was the second son of John Hughes, editor of...
novel, Tom Brown's Schooldays (1971), and followed this up with a regular role as Dr Dwight Enys in the popular BBC series of Poldark
Poldark
Poldark is a BBC television series based on the novels written by Winston Graham which was first transmitted in the UK between 1975 and 1977.-Outline:...
(1975).
Morant also appeared in several BBC classic serials, including adaptations of Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
's Woodstock
Woodstock (novel)
Woodstock, or The Cavalier. A Tale of the Year Sixteen Hundred and Fifty-one is a historical novel by Walter Scott. Set just after the English Civil War, it was inspired by the legend of the Good Devil of Woodstock, which in 1649 supposedly tormented parliamentary commissioners who had taken...
(1973), as the future Charles II, and The Talisman (1980), as Conrade of Montserrat
Conrad of Montferrat
Conrad of Montferrat was a northern Italian nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the de facto King of Jerusalem, by marriage, from 24 November 1190, but officially elected only in 1192, days before his death...
.
He played Robespierre in The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982 film)
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1982 film set during the French Revolution. It is based on the novels The Scarlet Pimpernel and Eldorado by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, and stars Anthony Andrews as Sir Percy Blakeney/The Scarlet Pimpernel, the protagonist, Jane Seymour as Marguerite St...
(1982), and he later played Bunter, the valet of Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a bon vivant amateur sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, in which he solves mysteries; usually, but not always, murders...
, in the BBC's productions of Strong Poison, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night (all based on Dorothy Sayers's original novels). In 1988 he played Theodore Dyke Acland
Theodore Dyke Acland
Theodore Dyke Acland MD, FRCP, FRCS was a British physician, surgeon and author and was the son-in-law of Sir William Gull, a leading London medical practitioner and one of the Physicians-in-Ordinary to HM Queen Victoria...
in the serial Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper (1988 TV series)
Jack the Ripper is a 1988 four-part television movie/mini-series portraying a fictionalized account of the hunt for Jack the Ripper, the unidentified serial killer responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888...
.
His stage appearances included a starring role in Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
at the Oxford Playhouse in 1984. The following year he co-starred with Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham is a British television, film and theatre actress. Making her film debut in 1971's The Nightcomers opposite Marlon Brando and becoming more well-known on British television in the BBC series Tenko and the ITV series Connie , her worldwide breakthrough came as a result of playing...
and Pam Ferris
Pam Ferris
Pamela Ann "Pam" Ferris is a German-born Welsh actress. She is best known for her starring roles on television as Ma Larkin in The Darling Buds of May, as Laura Thyme in Rosemary & Thyme, and for playing Miss Trunchbull in the movie Matilda...
in ITV's rag-trade soap drama, Connie.
Personal life
His first wife was the actress Melissa Fairbanks, a daughter of the actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In 2005 he became the sole owner of an established company specialising in carpets and fine textiles, headquartered in Notting HillNotting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
, London. After suffering a short illness, Morant died suddenly on November 9, 2011.