Anthony Valentine (17 August 1939 – 2 December 2015) was an English actor best known for his television roles: the ruthless Toby Meres in Callan (1967–72), the sadistic Major Horst Mohn in Colditz (1972–74), Bob in Tales of the Unexpected, the suave titular gentleman thief in Raffles (1977), and the murderous Baron Gruner in the Sherlock Holmes episode "The Illustrious Client" (1991).
Anthony Valentine | |
|---|---|
 as A. J. Raffles (1977) | |
| Born | 17 August 1939 Blackburn, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 2 December 2015 (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1949-2015 |
| Spouse | |
Early life and education
Valentine was born in Blackburn, Lancashire; he moved with his family to Chiswick, West London when he was 6 years old, going on to attend Acton County Grammar School.[1]
Career
Aged 9, Valentine was spotted tap-dancing in a stage version of Robin Hood at Ealing Town Hall.[2] He made his acting debut at age 10 in the Nettlefold Studios film No Way Back (1949), and at age 12 he was a boy sleuth in The Girl on the Pier (1953).[3] He worked regularly as a child actor for the BBC, most notably as Harry Wharton in the 1950s adaptation of Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School, having initially played Lord Mauleverer in earlier episodes.[1]
In 1958, he appeared in a television production of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman, with Laurence Olivier as Borkman and Irene Worth as his wife, as part of ITV's The Play of the Week series.[4]
Valentine was best known for his striking performances in particular television roles: ruthless Toby Meres in the series Callan (1967–72), sinister Luftwaffe officer Major Horst Mohn in the BBC drama Colditz (1974), the dashing eponymous role in Yorkshire TV's Raffles (1975-1977), and suave crook George Webster in The Knock (1994–96).[5]
Valentine's early stage credits include: the premiere of Arnold Wesker's Chicken Soup with Barley (Royal Court Theatre, 1958); John Osborne's Epitaph for George Dillon (Royal Court Theatre, 1958); Australian drama The Shifting Heart (Duke of York's Theatre, 1959, with Leo McKern); John Mortimer's Two Stars for Comfort (Garrick Theatre, 1962, with Trevor Howard); the original cast of Half a Sixpence (Cambridge Theatre, 1963, with Tommy Steele); and The Platinum Cat (Wyndham's Theatre, London, 1965, with Kenneth Williams).[6]
Later stage credits include: No Sex Please We're British (Strand Theatre, 1971); Anthony Shaffer's Sleuth (St Martin's Theatre, 1972, with Marius Goring); a revival of Hans Christian Andersen (London Palladium, 1977, again with Tommy Steele); 'Art' (Wyndham's Theatre, 1999–2000); and he played Cardinal Monticelso in Webster's The White Devil (Lyric Theatre, 2000).[6]
Valentine made his debut as a writer and director in 1998 at The Mill at Sonning with The Waiting Game. He went on to direct regularly at the Mill, productions including: Separate Tables (2005), The Odd Couple (2009) and California Suite (2012).[6] On 12 November 2005 Valentine became a patron of the Thwaites Empire Theatre in his birthplace, Blackburn.[1]
He narrated three Wildlife Explorer documentary films: Powerful Predators, Animal Defences, and Weird and Wonderful. He was also the voice of Dr. X on American heavy metal band Queensrÿche's 1988 album Operation: Mindcrime.[1] He narrated a 1980 NOVA documentary entitled It's About Time, presented by Dudley Moore and featuring science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. He also voiced a television commercial for Gordon's gin.
Death
Valentine died on 2 December 2015 in Guildford, Surrey.[2] He had suffered from Parkinson's disease since 2012. He was survived by his wife, actress Susan Skipper. The couple married in 1982, having met during the filming of the successful Raffles television series, and later appeared together again in a television film of Ivor Novello's show The Dancing Years (1979).[7]
Interviewed in 1995, Valentine recalled two earlier brushes with death. First, when he was dangerously ill with meningitis at the age of 26; second in 1974, when caught up in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, he holed up for two days in a holiday hotel as gunfire raged outside. "I've always felt that everything since has been an incredible bonus," he said.[3]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | No Way Back | Little Fighting Boy | |
| 1953 | The Girl on the Pier | Charlie Chubb | |
| 1954 | Adventure in the Hopfields | Uncredited | |
| 1955 | The Brain Machine | Tony (Charlie's Son) | |
| 1956 | Fun at St. Fanny's | Schoolboy in Audience | Uncredited |
| 1960 | The Flesh and the Fiends | Student | Uncredited |
| 1962 | The Damned | Teddy Boy | Uncredited |
| 1963 | West 11 | Man at Party | |
| 1970 | Performance | Joey Maddocks | |
| 1972 | Tower of Evil | Dr Simpson | |
| 1976 | To the Devil a Daughter | David Kennedy | |
| 1979 | Escape to Athena | SS Major Volkmann | |
| 1981 | The Monster Club | Mooney | (segment "Vampire Story") |
| 1982 | The Plague Dogs | Civil Servant #4 | Voice |
| 1988 | A Father's Revenge | Vickers | TV movie |
| 1988 | The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission | Colonel Clark | TV movie |
| 1995 | Jefferson in Paris | British Ambassador | |
| 1997 | The House of Angelo | Lord Travers | |
| 1998 | Cuisine américaine | Wellington | |
| 2002 | Two Men Went to War | Sergeant Major Dudley |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | John Gabriel Borkman | Erhart, in ITV's The Play of the Week production. | |
| 1961 | A for Andromeda | Corporal | "The Miracle" and "The Last Mystery" |
| 1967-1972 | Callan | Toby Meres | |
| 1967, 1968 | The Avengers | 1) George Cunliffe 2)Calvin |
1)"The Bird Who Knew Too Much" 2)"Killer" |
| 1969 | Softly, Softly | Yob | "A Quantity of Gelignite" |
| 1969 | Dr Finlay's Casebook | Bruce Cameron | 3 episodes |
| 1969 | Scobie in September | Vickers | 5 episodes |
| 1970 | Department S | Gregory | "The Soup of the Day" |
| 1970 | Codename | Philip West | |
| 1971-1974 | Justice | James Eliot | |
| 1971 | Budgie | Jeff Staines | "Grandee Hotel" |
| 1972 | Pathfinders | Squadron Leader Jim Stanton | "One Man’s Lancaster" |
| 1972 | Z-Cars | Bright | "Not Good Enough" (Parts 1 & 2) and "Connor" |
| 1974 | Colditz | Major Horst Mohn | |
| 1975, 1977 | Raffles | A. J. Raffles | |
| 1975 | Thriller | Garard | "The Crazy Kill" |
| 1975 | Space: 1999 | Male Alien | "War Games" |
| 1979-1983 | Minder | Maurice Michaelson | |
| 1980, 1982 | Tales of the Unexpected | 1) Roland Trent 2) Bob |
1) "I'll Be Seeing You" 2) "The Absence of Emily" |
| 1980 | Hammer House of Horror | Cliff | "Carpathian Eagle" |
| 1981 | Masada a.k.a. The Antagonists | Merovius, Head Tribune | |
| 1982 | Airline | Dickie Marlowe | "Look After Number One" |
| 1983 | Bergerac | Lionel | "Prime Target" |
| 1984 | Killer | Robin | "Killer Exposed" |
| 1984-1986 | Robin of Sherwood | Baron de Belleme | |
| 1986-1991 | Lovejoy | Michael Seymour | "The Judas Pair" and "Just Desserts" |
| 1989 | Boon | Sammy Robinson | "Do Not Forsake Me" |
| 1991 | The House of Eliott | Victor Stride | |
| 1991 | The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes | Baron Gruner | "The Illustrious Client" |
| 1993 | Riders | Colonel Carter | |
| 1994, 1997 | The Detectives | 1) Chauffeur 2) Grey Wolf |
1) "Never Without Protection" 2) "The Curse Of The Comanches" |
| 1994-1996 | The Knock | George Webster | |
| 1998 | The Bill | Paul Chambers | "Too Many Cooks" |
| 2001 | Waking the Dead | Patrick Mantel | "A Simple Sacrifice" |
| 2002 | New Tricks | Spitz Snr | "Creative Problem Solving" |
| 2005 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Giovanni Gallaccio | "After the Funeral" |
| 2005-2008 | The Commander | Edward Sumpter | "Virus", "Blackdog" and "Blacklight" |
| 2006 | Heartbeat | Mac MacKenzie | "This Happy Breed" |
| 2006 | Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial | Prison Commandant Colonel Burton C. Andrus | |
| 2007 | The Last Detective | Jimmy "The Gent" Vincent | "Once Upon a Time on the Westway" |
| 2009 | Casualty | Edward | "The Price we Pay" |
| 2009-2010 | Coronation Street | George Wilson | 16 episodes |
References
- ^ a b c d Toby Hadoke (2015). "Anthony Valentine obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ a b Anthony Hayward (2015). "Anthony Valentine: Actor who made his name playing a hitman in Callan and a Luftwaffe officer in Colditz". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ a b "Anthony Valentine, actor - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ "John Gabriel Borkman (1958)". BFI.
- ^ "Lives remembered: Anthony Valentine - Star who made bad guys a speciality". Express.co.uk. 5 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Obituary: Anthony Valentine". The Stage. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ "Colditz star Anthony Valentine dies at 76". BBC News. 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
External links
- Anthony Valentine at IMDb
- Anthony Valentine profile, Aveleyman.com; accessed 1 January 2016.