Peter Vaughan is 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...
character actorA character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British
filmA 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...
and
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
productions. He has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as
policeThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts. He is best known for his role as
GroutyGenial' Harry Grout, or Grouty, as he is often referred to, was a character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge. Despite appearing in only three episodes and the film, he is one of the best-remembered characters from the series. He was played by Peter Vaughan.Slade Prison is officially run by the...
in the sitcom
PorridgePorridge is a dish made by boiling oats or other cereal meals in water, milk, or both. It is usually served hot in a bowl or dish...
and also had a recurring role alongside
Robert LindsayRobert Lindsay may refer to:*Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie , Scottish chronicler*Robert Lindsay , English actor*Robert Lindsay , British Olympic track and field athlete...
in
Citizen SmithCitizen Smith is a British television sitcom. The show was written by John Sullivan, who later wrote Only Fools and Horses. The pilot was transmitted on 12 April 1977 in the Comedy Special series of one-off plays, and the series proper ran from 3 November 1977 to 31 December 1980.Citizen Smith...
, written by the late
John SullivanJohn Sullivan was the third son of Irish immigrants, a United States general in the Revolutionary War, a delegate in the Continental Congress and a United States federal judge....
.
Personal life
He was born
Peter Olm in
WemWem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre for the northern area committee of Shropshire Council, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem. Wem railway station is on the Shrewsbury to Crewe railway line...
,
ShropshireShropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
and he was brought up in
StaffordshireStaffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
where he attended
UttoxeterUttoxeter is a historic market town in Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. The current population is approximately 13,711, though new developments in the town will increase this figure. Uttoxeter lies close to the River Dove and is near the cities of Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and...
Grammar School. After leaving school he joined
WolverhamptonWolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
Repertory theatre and gained experience in other repertory theatres before army service. Vaughan has been married twice, on the first occasion to
Billie WhitelawBillie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
. His second wife is actress Lillias Walker, with whom he lives in the village of
Mannings HeathMannings Heath is a village in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, on the A281 a few miles south-east of the town of Horsham. It lies in the civil parish of Nuthurst....
, in
West SussexWest Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, having previously lived in
CrawleyCrawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
,
West SussexWest Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
.
Career
In film, he made his debut in 1959 and continued to play small roles for several years, before gaining his first starring role in a minor picture called
SmokescreenSmokescreen is a 1964 British crime thriller, written and directed by Jim O'Connolly, and starring Peter Vaughan.-Cast:* Peter Vaughan as Roper* John Carson as Trevor Bayliss* Yvonne Romain as Janet Dexter* Gerald Flood as Graham Turner...
(1964). He became known for his performances on television, including supporting roles in
PorridgePorridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland...
(as
"Genial" Harry GroutGenial' Harry Grout, or Grouty, as he is often referred to, was a character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge. Despite appearing in only three episodes and the film, he is one of the best-remembered characters from the series. He was played by Peter Vaughan.Slade Prison is officially run by the...
) and
Citizen SmithCitizen Smith is a British television sitcom. The show was written by John Sullivan, who later wrote Only Fools and Horses. The pilot was transmitted on 12 April 1977 in the Comedy Special series of one-off plays, and the series proper ran from 3 November 1977 to 31 December 1980.Citizen Smith...
(although his role in the latter series was taken over by
Tony SteedmanTony Steedman was an English character actor, perhaps best known for his role as Socrates in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure....
). Vaughan's role in
Porridge brought him a great deal of public recognition, despite the fact that his character appeared in only three episodes and the film of the series.
In 1967, he got second billing opposite Frank Sinatra in the movie 'The Naked Runner'. However, his performance was not well received by critics who accused him of overacting in his role as a British agent.
In 1969, he appeared in
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)Randall and Hopkirk , first transmitted during 1969-70, is a British private detective television series starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, respectively. The series was originally created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman...
in the episode "
Never Trust a Ghost"Never Trust a Ghost" is the fourth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 12 October 1969 on ITV. Directed by Jeremy Summers.-Synopsis:While out on a late-night stroll...
". In December 1972, he appeared as Mr. Paxton in the BBC television adaptation of the
M. R. JamesMontague Rhodes James, OM, MA, , who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College . He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are regarded as among the best in the genre...
ghost story
A Warning to the Curious"A Warning to the Curious" is a ghost story by M.R. James, found in his book A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories first published in 1925. The tale tells the story of Paxton, an amateur archeologist who travels to "Seaburgh" and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of...
, shown as part of their annual series
A Ghost Story for ChristmasA Ghost Story for Christmas is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One from 1971 to 1978, and later revived in 2005 on BBC Four. With one exception, the original instalments are directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and the films are all shot on 16 mm...
.
Shot during 10 months in 1979, Peter Vaughn starred as Billy Fox in the groundbreaking and high budget 13-part Thames Television saga,
FoxFox is a British television drama series produced by Euston Films and Thames Television for the ITV network in 1980.The thirteen-part series was based around the lives of the titular Fox family, who lived in London and had gangland connections....
(1980), written by Trevor Preston, directed by Jim Godard, and produced by
Verity LambertVerity Ann Lambert, OBE was an English television and film producer. She is best known as the founding producer of the science-fiction series Doctor Who, a programme which has become a part of British popular culture, and for her association with Thames Television...
. As other Fox family members it also starred
Elizabeth Spriggs-Early life and career:Born in Buxton, Derbyshire as Elizabeth Jean Williams, Spriggs had an unhappy childhood and grew up entirely without affection, particularly from her distant, domineering father, a master builder and farmer. She studied at the Royal College of Music and taught speech and...
,
Ray WinstoneRaymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...
, and
Bernard HillBernard Hill is a British actor of film, stage and television. In a career spanning thirty years, he is best known for playing Yosser Hughes, the troubled 'hard man' whose life is falling apart in Alan Bleasdale's groundbreaking 1980s TV drama, Boys from the Blackstuff...
. He played Mr. Freeman in Karel Reisz's 1980
The French Lieutenant's WomanThe French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1981 film directed by Karel Reisz and adapted by playwright Harold Pinter. It is based on the novel of the same title by John Fowles...
, the first star billing for
Meryl StreepMary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
and
Jeremy IronsJeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
.
Vaughan was heard as
DenethorDenethor II of the House of Húrin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Return of the King, which is the third and final part of his novel The Lord of the Rings. In the novel, he is the 26th and penultimate ruling Steward of Gondor....
in the celebrated 1981
BBC RadioBBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
production of
The Lord of the RingsIn 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo instalments...
.
Vaughan later attained particular acclaim for his supporting role as the eventual
Alzheimer'sAlzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
sufferer Felix Hutchinson across thirty years of his life in
Our Friends in the NorthOur Friends in the North is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC Two in early 1996...
(
BBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, 1996), a role which gained him a Best Actor nomination at the 1997
British Academy Television AwardsThe British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
. He has also appeared in many literary adaptations, such as
Bleak HouseBleak House was the second adaptation by the BBC of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name. The novel was adapted by Arthur Hopcraft....
(BBC, 1985) and
Our Mutual FriendOur Mutual Friend is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life" but is also about human...
(BBC Two, 1998). Other television work includes the espionage thriller
Codename: KyrilCodename: Kyril is a 208-minute British serial, first broadcast in 1988. It is a Cold War espionage drama, starring Ian Charleson, Edward Woodward, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and Richard E. Grant...
(1988), in a lead role as the head of the KGB.
Perhaps his highest-profile film performance was as the father of
Anthony HopkinsSir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
's character in
The Remains of the DayThe Remains of the Day is a 1993 Merchant Ivory film adapted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant, Mike Nichols and John Calley. It starred Anthony Hopkins as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton with James Fox,...
(1993). He was also cast in
Terry GilliamTerrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
's
The Man Who Killed Don QuixoteThe Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a planned feature film by director Terry Gilliam. As documented in Lost in La Mancha, production originally commenced in October 2000, but stopped within a week due to a serious injury to Jean Rochefort, who had been cast for the title role of Don Quixote...
, but had not shot any material before that project was abandoned. He had previously appeared for Gilliam in
Time BanditsTime Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film produced and directed by Terry Gilliam.Terry Gilliam wrote the screenplay with fellow Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin, who appears with Shelley Duvall in the small, recurring roles of Vincent and Pansy. The film is one of the most famous of more than...
and
BrazilBrazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
. He also appeared as a memorably menacing character in
Straw Dogs (1971), with Bill Murray in a film of
W. Somerset MaughamWilliam Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
's novel
The Razor's EdgeThe Razor's Edge is the second film version of W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel. The film was released in 1984 and stars Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Catherine Hicks, Denholm Elliott and James Keach...
and in 1997 he appeared alongside
Robert CarlyleRobert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
and Ray Winstone in
FaceFace is a British crime drama directed by Antonia Bird and written by Ronan Bennett. It stars Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone and features the acting debut of rock singer Damon Albarn.-Plot Summary:...
. Possibly his most unusual role was as SS
OberstgruppenführerOberst-Gruppenführer was the highest commissioned SS rank with the exception of Reichsführer-SS, which was a special rank held by Heinrich Himmler...
Artur Nebe in the 1994 film of
Robert Harris'Robert Dennis Harris is an English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter.-Early life:Born in Nottingham, Harris spent his childhood in a small rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, from visits to the local...
s novel
FatherlandFatherland is a bestselling 1992 thriller by the English writer and journalist Robert Harris. It takes the form of a high concept alternative history set in a world in which Nazi Germany won World War II.The novel was an immediate bestseller in Britain...
.
In 1986, he appeared in the
promotional videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for
Kate BushKate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
's "
Experiment IV"Experiment IV" is a song by the British singer Kate Bush. It was released as a single on 27 October 1986, in order to promote Bush's greatest hits album The Whole Story...
" single. In 2007, he starred in the television serial
MobileMobile is a 3-part British television drama series with an interweaving plot based around a fictional mobile phone operator and the adverse-effect of mobile phone radiation to health. The series was screened by ITV in the UK, during March 2007. The cast includes Jamie Draven, Neil Fitzmaurice,...
and as Uncle Alfie in the film
Death at a Funeral. In 1991, he played John Turner in an episode of the
Granada TelevisionGranada 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....
's
The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the name given to the TV series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced by British television company Granada Television between 1984 and 1994, although only the first two series bore that title on screen. The series was broadcast on the ITV network in the UK,...
titled "
The Boscombe Valley Mystery"The Boscombe Valley Mystery", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by British author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the fourth of the twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in the Strand Magazine in 1891.-Plot summary:Lestrade summons Holmes to a...
".
In 2011, Vaughan starred as Michael Dodd in the BBC courtroom drama
SilkSilk is a British television drama series produced by the BBC and first shown in 2011. Written by Peter Moffat, the series follows a set of barristers, and what they do to attain the rank of Queen's Counsel, known as 'taking silk'.-Origin:...
. He also plays the role of Maester Aemon in the HBO series
Game of ThronesGame of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...
.
Filmography
- The 39 Steps
The 39 Steps is a 1959 British thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas, starring Kenneth More and Taina Elg. It is a remake of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, based on the novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan....
(1959)
- Sapphire
Sapphire is a 1959 British crime drama. It focused on racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies. The film was directed by Basil Dearden, and stars Nigel Patrick, Earl Cameron and Yvonne Mitchell. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Film and screenwriter Janet Green won a 1960 Edgar...
(1959)
- Village of the Damned
Village of the Damned is a 1960 British science fiction film by German director Wolf Rilla. The film is a fairly faithful adaptation of the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. The lead role of Professor Gordon Zellaby was played by George Sanders. This film was #92 on Bravo's 100 Scariest...
(1960)
- Make Mine Mink
Make Mine Mink is a 1960 British comedy directed by Robert Asher and featuring Terry-Thomas, Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques, Billie Whitelaw, Elspeth Duxbury, Jack Hedley and Raymond Huntley, with cameos by Kenneth Williams and Irene Handl. A group of misfits go on a spree, stealing mink coats...
(1960)
- Two Living, One Dead
Two Living, One Dead is a 1961 Anglo-Swedish existentialist thriller, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Patrick McGoohan, Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.-Background:...
(1961)
- The Court Martial of Major Keller
The Court Martial of Major Keller is a 1961 British film directed by Ernest Morris and written by Brian Clemens. It starred Laurence Payne, Susan Stephen and Austin Trevor. The film is based around the court martial for murder of Major Keller, a British army officer during the Second World War....
(1961)
- I Thank a Fool
I Thank a Fool is a 1962 British crime film made by Eaton and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Robert Stevens and produced by Anatole de Grunwald from a screenplay by Karl Tunberg based on the novel by Audrey Erskine Lindop...
(1962)
- The Devil's Agent
The Devil's Agent is a 1962 drama film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Peter van Eyck, Marianne Koch, Christopher Lee and Macdonald Carey. It was a co-production between Britain, West Germany and the Republic of Ireland and was an English-language version of the German film Im Namen...
(1962)
- The Punch and Judy Man
The Punch and Judy Man is a British comedy film from 1963 directed by Jeremy Summers. It was Tony Hancock's second film in a starring role, following The Rebel .-Plot:...
(1963)
- The Victors
-Overview:The film follows a group of U.S. soldiers through Europe during World War II, from Britain in 1942, through the fierce fighting in Italy and France, to the uneasy peace of Berlin. It is adapted from a collection of short stories called The Human Kind by British author Alexander Baron,...
(1963)
- Smokescreen
Smokescreen is a 1964 British crime thriller, written and directed by Jim O'Connolly, and starring Peter Vaughan.-Cast:* Peter Vaughan as Roper* John Carson as Trevor Bayliss* Yvonne Romain as Janet Dexter* Gerald Flood as Graham Turner...
(1964)
- Fanatic (1965)
- Rotten to the Core (1965)
- The Naked Runner
The Naked Runner is a 1967 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Frank Sinatra, Peter Vaughan, Edward Fox. It was the last film Sinatra made with Warner Bros...
(1967)
- The Man Outside
The Man Outside is a British film released in 1968. It was previously exhibited in Austria and West Germany in 1967. The story is based on the novel Double Agent by Gene Stackleborg.-Cast:* Van Heflin as Bill MacLean* Heidelinde Weis as Kay Sebastian...
(1967)
- The Bofors Gun
The 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:*...
(1968)
- Hammerhead
Hammerhead is a 1968 British thriller film directed by David Miller and starring Vince Edwards, Judy Geeson and Diana Dors. A criminal mastermind attempts to steal NATO secrets, while an American agent is hot on his trail. It is based on the novel by James Mayo, and produced by Irwin Allen and...
(1968)
- A Twist of Sand
A Twist of Sand is a 1968 British adventure film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Richard Johnson, Jeremy Kemp, Honor Blackman and Peter Vaughan.-Cast:* Richard Johnson as Geoffrey Peace* Honor Blackman as Julie Chambois* Jeremy Kemp as Harry Riker...
(1968)
- Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great is a 1969 epic film which portrayed Alfred the Great's struggle to rid Wessex of the invading Danes, in the 870s AD. It starred David Hemmings in the title role.-Plot:...
(1969)
- Eyewitness
Eyewitness is a 1970 British drama film directed by John Hough.-Cast:* Mark Lester as Ziggy* Lionel Jeffries as Grandpa* Susan George as Pippa* Jeremy Kemp as Inspector Galleria* Peter Vaughan as Paul Grazzini* Tony Bonner as Tom Jones...
(1970)
- A Taste of Excitement (1970)
- Straw Dogs (1971)
- The Pied Piper
The Pied Piper is a 1972 British-American directed by Jacques Demy and starring Jack Wild, Donald Pleasence and John Hurt and featuring Donovan and Diana Dors. It is loosely based on the legend of the Pied Piper.-Cast:* Donovan ... The Piper...
(1972)
- Savage Messiah
Savage Messiah is a 1972 British biographical film of the life of French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, made by Russ-Arts and distributed by MGM. It was directed and produced by Ken Russell with Harry Benn as associate producer, from a screenplay by Christopher Logue, based on the book Savage...
(1972)
- A Warning to the Curious
"A Warning to the Curious" is a ghost story by M.R. James, found in his book A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories first published in 1925. The tale tells the story of Paxton, an amateur archeologist who travels to "Seaburgh" and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of...
(1972)
- The Return (1973)
- The Blockhouse
The Blockhouse is a 1973 film, based on a novel by Jean-Paul Clébert. It was directed by Clive Rees and starred Peter Sellers and Charles Aznavour. It was filmed entirely in Guernsey in the Channel Islands and was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival...
(1973)
- The MacKintosh Man
The Mackintosh Man is a 1973 British cold war spy thriller film directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman, James Mason, Dominique Sanda and Ian Bannen. It was produced by John Foreman and William Hill as associate producer from a screenplay by Walter Hill and William Fairchild based on the...
(1973)
- Massacre in Rome
Massacre in Rome is a 1973 film directed by George Pan Cosmatos about the Ardeatine massacre which occurred at the Ardeatine caves in Rome, 24 March 1944, committed by the Germans as a reprisal for a partisan attack.-Summary:...
(1973)
- Intimate Reflections
Intimate Reflections is a 1975 British independent drama film directed by Don Boyd and starring Anton Rodgers, Lillias Walker, Sally Anne Newton and Jonathan David. It was Boyd's first feature film and premiered at the 1975 London Film Festival...
(1974)
- Symptoms
Symptoms is a 1974 British horror film directed by José Ramón Larraz. It was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. Although circulated privately through bootlegs, the original prints are missing, and was last shown on British television in 1983....
(1974)
- 11 Harrowhouse
11 Harrowhouse is a 1974 British film directed by Aram Avakian. It was adapted by Charles Grodin based upon the novel by Gerald A. Browne with the screenplay by Jeffrey Bloom...
(1974)
- Malachi's Cove
Malachi's Cove is a 1974 British-Canadian drama film directed by Henry Herbert and starring Donald Pleasence, Veronica Quilligan and Peter Vaughn. It is based on the short story Malachi's Cove by Anthony Trollope and is also known as The Seaweed Children. A girl who works gathering seaweed on the...
(1974)
- Valentino (1977)
- Zulu Dawn
Zulu Dawn is a 1979 war film about the historical Battle of Isandlwana between British and Zulu forces in 1879 in South Africa. The screenplay was by Cy Endfield, from his book, and Anthony Story. The film was directed by Douglas Hickox...
(1979)
- Porridge
Porridge is a 1979 film based upon the television series of the same name which was released under the title Doing Time in the United States....
(1979)
- Time Bandits
Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film produced and directed by Terry Gilliam.Terry Gilliam wrote the screenplay with fellow Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin, who appears with Shelley Duvall in the small, recurring roles of Vincent and Pansy. The film is one of the most famous of more than...
(1981)
- The French Lieutenant's Woman
The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1981 film directed by Karel Reisz and adapted by playwright Harold Pinter. It is based on the novel of the same title by John Fowles...
(1981)
- The Razor's Edge
The Razor's Edge is the second film version of W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel. The film was released in 1984 and stars Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Catherine Hicks, Denholm Elliott and James Keach...
(1984)
- Forbidden
Forbidden is a 1984 drama film directed by Anthony Page and starring Jacqueline Bisset, Jürgen Prochnow and Irene Worth. The plot is loosely based on a true story originally told in the non-fiction book The Last Jews In Berlin by Leonard Gross about a countess who hides her Jewish boyfriend in her...
(1984)
- Brazil
Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
(1985)
- Haunted Honeymoon
Haunted Honeymoon is a 1986 comedy movie starring Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Dom Deluise, and Jonathan Pryce. Wilder also served as the film's writer and director. The film also marked Radner's final appearance prior to her death of ovarian cancer in 1989....
(1986)
- King of the Wind
King of the Wind is a 1989 British adventure film directed by Peter Duffell and starring Richard Harris, Glenda Jackson and Frank Finlay. It is based on the novel King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. The film depicts the life of an Arab colt in eighteenth century Britain.-Cast:* Richard Harris ......
(1989)
- Mountains of the Moon
Mountains of the Moon is a 1990 theatrical film depicting the 1857-58 journey of Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke in their expedition to central Africa — the project that culminated in Speke's discovery of the source of the Nile River. The expedition led to a bitter rivalry between the...
(1990)
- The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day is a 1993 Merchant Ivory film adapted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant, Mike Nichols and John Calley. It starred Anthony Hopkins as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton with James Fox,...
(1993)
- Fatherland (1994)
- The Secret Agent (1996)
- The Crucible (1996)
- Face
Face is a British crime drama directed by Antonia Bird and written by Ronan Bennett. It stars Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone and features the acting debut of rock singer Damon Albarn.-Plot Summary:...
(1997)
- The Good Son (1998)
- Les misérables
Les Misérables is a 1998 film adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, directed by Bille August. It stars Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes....
(1998)
- The Legend of 1900
The Legend of 1900 is a 1998 film directed by the Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore, starring Tim Roth. This is Tornatore's first English-language film. The film is inspired by a theater monologue, Novecento, by Alessandro Baricco...
(1998)
- An Ideal Husband (1999)
- Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)
Kiss Kiss is a 2000 English comedy film written and directed by Stewart Sugg. It features Stellan Skarsgård, Chris Penn, and Paul Bettany.- Plot :Felix is a hit-man who wants out of the business...
(2000)
- Canone inverso - making love (2000)
- Hotel Splendide
Hotel Splendide is a 2000 British independent dark comedy film, written and directed by Terence Gross and starring Toni Collette and Daniel Craig. The film appeared in a number of British and European film festivals but was not released in the US, although it did appear on cable networks on...
(2000)
- The Mother
-Plot:May is an ordinary grandmother from Northern England. When her husband dies on a family visit to London, she recedes into the background of her busy, metropolitan children's lives. Trapped in an unfamiliar city, far from home, May fears that she has become another invisible old lady whose...
(2003)
- The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is a 2004 film about the life of English comic actor Peter Sellers, based on Roger Lewis' book of the same name...
(2004)
- The Queen of Sheba's Pearls
The Queen of Sheba's Pearls is a 2004 Swedish-British drama film set in England post WWII. Helena Bergström plays Nancy Ackerman who mysteriously arrives on the Pretty family doorstep. Ackerman looks eerily similar to Jack Bradley's mother who inexplicably died in an WWII-related accident 8 years...
(2004)
- Care (2006)
- Death at a Funeral (2007)
- Is Anybody There? (2008)
- Albatross
Albatross is a 2011 British coming-of-age comedy drama film directed by Niall MacCormick and written by Tamzin Rafn. It stars Sebastian Koch, Julia Ormond, Felicity Jones and Jessica Brown-Findlay. The film's premise revolves around a teenage aspiring writer entering the lives of a dysfunctional...
(2010)
- Silk
Silk is a British television drama series produced by the BBC and first shown in 2011. Written by Peter Moffat, the series follows a set of barristers, and what they do to attain the rank of Queen's Counsel, known as 'taking silk'.-Origin:...
(2011)
- Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...
(2011)
- Doc Martin
Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson and Dominic Minghella. The show is filmed on location in the fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, United Kingdom, with filming of most interior scenes...
(2011)
External links
- http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/313826/there-are-unfortunately-a-lot-of-us-old-guys-around.thtml