John Normington was an
EnglishEngland 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...
actorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who appeared widely on
British televisionPublic television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
from the 1960s until the year of his death. Normington was also a member of the
Royal 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...
performing in more than 20 RSC productions. He performed widely in the
West EndWest End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and at the
National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
.
Early life
John (Nora) Normington was born in
DukinfieldDukinfield is a small town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies in central Tameside on the south bank of the River Tame, opposite Ashton-under-Lyne, and is east of the city of Manchester...
,
CheshireCheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, in 1937 and trained as an
opera singerOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
at the
Northern School of MusicThe Northern School of Music started life as Manchester's branch of the Matthay School of Music. In 1943 it was properly incorporated as the Northern School of Music...
. Following this, he did his National Service and while stationed in
AldershotAldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
joined
FarnhamFarnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
repRepertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
. Normington joined the Repertory Theatre in
OldhamOldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
in 1950, and from 1959 to 1962 he worked at the Library Theatre in
ManchesterManchester 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...
. After a short spell at
The Oxford PlayhouseThe Oxford Playhouse is an independent theatre in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum.- History :...
, John Normington joined the
Royal 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...
in 1963 and played many
ShakespeareanWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
roles. He continued on stage for the rest of his life, with many memorable roles.
Acting career
In 1963, he made his first appearance on television and appeared regularly on the small screen until 2007, the year he died. In the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared in programmes such as
Murder Most English;
The CaesarsThe Caesars is a British television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network in 1968. Made in black-and-white and written and produced by Philip Mackie, it covered similar dramatic territory to the later BBC adaptation of I, Claudius, dealing with the lives of the emperors of...
;
Softly, SoftlySoftly, 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...
;
Nearest and DearestNearest and Dearest is a British television sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1973. A total of 46 episodes were made, 18 in monochrome and 28 in colour...
;
The EdwardiansThe Edwardians is one of Vita Sackville-West's later novels and a clear critique of the Edwardian aristocratic society as well as a reflection of her own childhood experiences. It belongs to the genre of the Bildungsroman and describes the development of the main character Sebastian within his...
;
Crown CourtCrown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....
;
Upstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
(in the episode "
Such A Lovely ManSuch A Lovely Man is the eighth episode of the fifth and final series of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It first aired on 26 October 1975 on ITV.-Background:Such A Lovely Man was recorded in the studio on 17 and 18 April 1975...
"), and
ITV PlayhouseITV Playhouse was a UK comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a...
. Normington also appeared in the
1978 filmThe year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
The Thirty Nine Steps.
During the 1980s, he appeared in
Play for TodayPlay for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
;
Yes, Prime MinisterYes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC Television between 1980–1982 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to 1988. In total there were 38 episodes—of which all but...
(in the episode "
One of Us“One of Us” is the eighth episode of the BBC comedy series Yes, Prime Minister and was first broadcast 27 February 1986.- Plot :Jim Hacker gets back to his apartment above 10 Downing Street just in time to sit down with his wife, Annie, and watch the end of a television news bulletin...
");
Inspector MorseInspector 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....
;
My Family and Other AnimalsMy Family and Other Animals is an autobiographical work by naturalist Gerald Durrell, telling of the part of his childhood he spent on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. It describes the life of the Durrell Family on the island in a humorous manner, and also richly discusses the fauna...
and
Agatha Christie's PoirotAgatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...
. Normington played Morgus in the 1984
Doctor WhoDoctor 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 Caves of AndrozaniThe Caves of Androzani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 8–16 March 1984. It was Peter Davison's last regular appearance as the Doctor, and marks the first appearance of Colin Baker in the role...
and Trevor Sigma in the 1988 serial
The Happiness PatrolThe Happiness Patrol is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 2 November to 16 November 1988.-Plot:...
. The following decade, Normington played roles in programmes such as
The New StatesmanThe New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...
;
Peak PracticePeak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time...
;
Hetty Wainthropp InvestigatesHetty Wainthropp Investigates is a genteel British crime–comedy drama television series which aired from 1996 to 1998 on BBC One. The series starred Patricia Routledge as the title character , Derek Benfield as her patient husband Robert, Dominic Monaghan as their lodger Geoffrey Shawcross...
;
Coronation StreetCoronation 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...
;
The BillThe 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...
, and
David CopperfieldDavid Copperfield is a two part BBC television drama adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield, adapted by Adrian Hodges. The first part was shown on Christmas Day and the second on Boxing Day in 1999...
. In 2001 John Normington appeared in
Love in a Cold ClimateLove in a Cold Climate is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1949. The title is a direct quotation from George Orwell's novel Keep The Aspidistra Flying .-Plot summary:...
.
Later life
In 2004, Normington appeared in
King 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...
in
StratfordStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
. Before the production moved to the West End, he had to withdraw after developing
pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
. He recovered to an extent that he took on further roles on stage and screen. On stage he appeared in
The Voysey InheritanceThe Voysey Inheritance is a play written by the English dramatist Harley Granville-Barker. Originally written in 1905, it was revived at the National Theatre in 2006.It is currently in the public domain.- See also :*...
in 2006 and
The EntertainerThe Entertainer is a 1960 film adaptation of the stage play of the same name by John Osborne, which told the story of a failing third-rate music hall stage performer who tried to keep his career going even as his personal life fell apart....
from March to April 2007, before he pulled out due to ill health. On screen, he appeared in the 2004
Midsomer MurdersMidsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
episode; "Bad Tidings"; the
TorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
episode "
Ghost Machine"Ghost Machine" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It is the third episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 29 October 2006.-Synopsis:...
";
Trial & Retribution XIVTrial & Retribution is a feature-length ITV police proceduraltelevision drama series that began in 1997. It was devised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect. Each episode of the Trial & Retribution series is broadcast over two nights. The...
, and
CasualtyCasualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
in 2007—his final TV appearance. John Normington died, of pancreatic cancer, on 26 July 2007 in the
Chelsea and Westminster HospitalChelsea and Westminster Hospital is a public hospital located on Fulham Road, in the Chelsea area of London, England. It is managed by the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and opened in May 1993.-History:...
,
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
aged 70. He was survived by his partner John Anderson.
External links