Haydn Gwynne

Haydn Gwynne:

† March 21 1957 - October 20 2023

Edit, Oct 26 2023: I'm saddened to hear of the death of Haydn Gwynne, which has come while this salute was in preparation. I try to stick to actors who are still with us, but make an exception here 
 
Smart and classy roles have been the mainstay of Haydn Gwynne's acting career, utilising her rather forbidding aura of upper middle class confidence, feminine strength and intellect. Early roles in the '80s and '90s include 'Lovejoy', 'Poirot', and 'Kavanagh QC'. She then matured into some substantial parts, including 'Peak Practice', Calpurnia in the HBO series 'Rome', and cosy crime stuff like 'Lewis', 'Father Brown', and  'Midsomer Murders' as well as more contemporary/gritty stuff like 'Silent Witness', 'Ripper Street' and 'Sherlock'.       

As ruthlessly critical mum-in-law Joan in 'Uncle' 

TV comedy includes astute journo Alex in 'Drop The Dead Donkey', as well as 'A Very Peculiar Practice', 'Uncle', and playing Camilla to Harry Enfield's Charles in 'The Windsors'. 

In the 'Agatha Christie: Poirot' story 'The Third Girl'

Films include 'Car Trouble' (1986), 'The Pleasure Principle' (1992) with Peter Firth, and more recently, the much vaunted live-action 'Beauty & The Beast' (2017) with Emma Watson.

Haydn Gwynne - imdb

David Horovitch

David Horovitch

A very dependable British actor with a look somewhere between Bob Hope and Droopy, He's possibly best known as eternally on-the-wrong-track Inspector Slack in 'Agatha Christie's Miss Marple', but his lugubriously expressive style has found a place in 'The New Avengers', 'Bulman', 'Boon', 'A Touch of Frost', 'Just William', 'Drop the Dead Donkey', 'Peak Practice', 'Foyle's War' and dozens of others.

The results of sneaking up on Steed at the billiard table in 'The New Avengers'

Listening to Miss Marple explain where he went wrong yet again.

On the silver screen, he's been much less ubiquitous, but can be spotted in the Disney sequel '102 Dalmatians' (2000) as Cruella DeVile's shrink, and in the odd British-set Woody Allen movie 'Cassandra's Dream' (2007) with Ewan MacGregor and Colin Farrell.

Something a bit different in the star-studded 1983 series
'The Cleopatras' as Chickpea, one of the many Ptolemys

In a long and distinguished theatre career, including work with the RSC and Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, he's covered much of the canon, from 'Charley's Aunt', 'An Inspector Calls' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest' to Ibsen, Sheridan, and of course Shakespeare.

David Horovitch-imdb