Andy Bradford

 

Andy Bradford:

Although a much-lauded name in the British film and TV industry, largely through his excellent work as a stuntman and fight co-ordinator, Andy Bradford isn't all that well known as an actor, despite having appeared in a pretty interesting cross-section of productions over the years. My personal favourite being the still-chilling and odd TV play 'Robin Redbreast'. More widespread fame has come from his role in 'Star Wars' (1977), playing a death star officer. In the canon of literature that has sprung up from the films' fanbase, his character has been retro-conned as Lieutenant Tanbris.   

In 'The Family Way' (1966)

In the folk horror Play for Today, 'Robin Redbreast' 
with the late Anna Cropper in 1970 

As agent 009 in 'Octopussy' (1983) pursued
by two deadly assassins 

Beginning with an uncredited appearance in 'Carry On Cowboy' (1965), Andy Bradford has cropped up in a surprising list of TV favourites. There's been a mix of cop shows such as 'Z-Cars', 'Special Branch', 'Dixon of Dock Green', all the way up to 'Taggart' and several episodes of 'The Bill', as well as the expected action series where his stunt skills obviously came in handy, including 'The Protectors', 'The Adventurer', 'The Professionals', 'The Sandbaggers' and later, 'Dempsey & Makepeace'.  

Bradford (far right) in 'Catweazle', as one of 
Sam's roleplaying Norman knight pals

Other, less expected, shows include 'Catweazle', 'Mr Bean', no fewer than four different characters in the distinctly action-light 'Crown Court', as well as soaps such as 'Coronation Street' and"Emmerdale Farm'. He also presented episodes of the soothingly educational schools television show 'Watch'. All very redolent stuff for me, and perhaps some of you.

Andy Bradford-imdb

John Nettleton

John Nettleton: 

† Feb  5 1929 – July 12 2023

A stalwart interpreter for the viewing public of the blandly powerful faces of the establishment, John Nettleton is probably most associated with the role of Sir Arnold Robinson, the civil service grandee in 'Yes Minister', and he appeared as a Tory MP in the equally satirical (if rather broader) political comedy 'The New Statesman'. 

In 'The Avengers' episode, 'The See-Through Man'

Among his well-remembered roles in television are those in 'The Avengers' ('The See-Through Man', in the Diana Rigg era, and 'The Rotters' with Linda Thorson), and in several other cult adventure properties of the time such as 'The Champions', 'Department S' and later 'The Protectors'. 'Doctor Who' fans may remeber him as the Reverend Ernest Matthews in the 1989 story Ghost Light, while mystery TV obsessives might cite his turns in 'The Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes', 'Tales Of The Unexpected', 'Haunted', 'Shadows' and 'Out Of The Unknown. He also graced popular favourites from 'Minder' and 'The Professionals' to 'Rumpole Of The Bailey' and 'The Adventures Of Black Beauty'. And let us not forget the authoritative voiceovers for Valerie Singleton's 'Blue Peter: Special Assignment' historical and factual programmes.

With Celia Imrie in a religious skit on
'Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV' 

In middlebrow TV drama, he brought his patrician demeanour to the screen many times and can be seen as Francis Bacon in 'Elizabeth R', 'The Country Wife' , 'Brideshead Revisited', 'The Flame Trees of Thika', 'The Citadel', 'Martin Luther, Heretic', 'Longitude' and 'Kingdom'. Other smaller comedy turns, which rather pale beside his 'Yes, Minister' years, include 'Please Sir!', 'If It Moves File It', 'Doctor at Large' and 'Brass'. 

Production still from the ABC series 'Haunted' from 1968

Born in 1929, John Nettleton is now into his 90s and, I hope, enjoying a pleasant retirement.
[edit 12/7/23 - John Nettleton has sadly passed on since this salute was first uploaded. Guardian obit is here]
   

John Nettleton-imdb

Leon Lissek

Leon Lissek: 

Although born in Australia, Leon Lissek has spent the majority of his long acting career in the UK where his mobile features and expressive eyes have made him a memorable face in a range of supporting roles. Which isn't to say that he is simply a master of the shrug, gape or head-shake, as a series of slightly more substantial acting successes makes clear.     

In the Hammer horror 'Countess Dracula' (1971)

A few major films have featured his talents, such as 'Nicholas & Alexandra' (1971) which featured a Tom Baker as Rasputin, and alongside Albert Finney's Poirot in 'Murder On The Orient Express' (1974, ), as well as 'Sweeney 2' (1978), 'Time Bandits' (1981), 'Personal Services' (1987), and 'The Unbearable Lightness Of Being' (1988). There's also an early role in the revered 'Marat/Sade' (1967). It's in television though, that he has really made the bigger impression.   

In the dock in a 'Crown Court' story from 1973 

With equal aplomb, Leon Lissek has met with television's casting demands for Jewish rabbis, businessmen and revolutionaries, Spanish priests and waiters, Arab sheikhs, French maitre d's, and various Greeks, Russians, Hungarians and Mexicans. You could have spotted him in police and adventure shows ranging from 'Softly Softly', 'Special Branch', 'Z-Cars' and 'Van Der Valk' to 'The Avengers', 'The Protectors', 'The Return Of The Saint' and 'The Professionals'.       

Continental shenanigans in 'Return Of The Saint'

He seems to have returned to Australia for a spell in the mid-'70s, to appear as a regular in 'The Sullivans', and several other Australian programmes. In the UK, lighter fare included low-brow comedies 'Not On Your Nellie' and 'Take A Letter Mr Jones', and kids TV 'Tottering Towers', 'Robert's Robots' and 'The Famous Five.' Better things were around the corner though, with his performance in the big-budget TV drama 'Shogun' as Father Sebastio.    

Waiting for the bathroom in an episode of
the BBC sitcom 'Ever Decreasing Circles'    

The '80s and '90s saw a sprinkling of quality drama - 'Our Friends In The North', 'The Final Cut', 'Cambridge Spies' - and occasional small roles in some popular productions such as 'Ever Decreasing Circles', 'A Fine Romance' and so on, culminating in a stint on 'EastEnders' with the legendary Stella Tanner, as Bruno and Luisa Di Marco, before the cast was dramatically pruned in late 1998.       

Playing Lavoisier in 'Marat/Sade' (1967)

Leon Lissek-imdb

Derren Nesbitt

Derren Nesbitt:


'Oooh, he's a bad devil', as my late grandmother would say. The broad, leering, insinuating face of Derren Nesbitt was once an invariable cipher for cunning and villainy on the screen. He's had a long, if patchy career in the movies, with his most famous role being the strangely stylised Nazi Major von Hapen in 'Where Eagles Dare' (1968). Part of that patchiness is down to a notorious real-life attack on his wife in 1972. The papers widely reported the details of the assault which included a vicious thrashing with a leather strap.

Not surprisingly, film work dropped off after that. Pre-'72 highlights include 'A Night To Remember' (1958), a fight scene in 'Room At The Top' (1959), the tense, heist-gone-wrong, B-movie 'The Man In The Back Seat' (1961), 'The Blue Max' (1966), the Sinatra spy-thriller 'The Naked Runner' (1967), 'Monte Carlo Or Bust' (1969) and 'Burke & Hare (1972). After the court case, he spent some time in Australia, but also appeared in a string of smutty low-budget movies, including Dick Emery's 'Ooh You Are Awful' (1972), and his self-penned confessions-style effort 'The Amorous Milkman' (1975), possibly one of the dreariest sex comedies ever made, which is saying something. He was later partly rehabilitated by the alternative Comic Strip crowd, and appears in 'Eat The Rich' (1987), while maverick of mediocrity Michael Winner had him in 'Bullseye!' (1990) with Michael Caine and Roger Moore.        
 
  

'Burke & Hare' (1972)

On TV, it was a similar story, with appearances in old favourites like 'Danger Man', 'Doctor Who', 'The Saint', Man In A Suitcase', 'The Prisoner' and 'UFO' followed by a long period in the wilderness. By the early '80s there was a bit more on offer for him, including 'The Comic Strip Presents' and villain roles in a few detective series.  






As Number Two in 'The Prisoner'

As a SHADO astronaut in 'UFO'

He's still around, in Sussex it seems, catch up with his story here.

Derren Nesbitt - imdb  

Shane Rimmer

Shane Rimmer: 

† May 28 1929 – Mar 29 2019

Yes, he's Canadian, but his career has been almost exclusively UK-based since 1958, and as he's the unmistakable voice of 'Thunderbirds' Scott Tracy, he now belongs to us. As well as nearly every Gerry Anderson production from the mid-'60s to 'Dick Spanner', he has been the go-to-guy for American character roles in films including 'The Spy Who Loved Me' (1977), 'Out Of Africa' (1985), 'Whoops Apocalypse' (1988), 'Rollerball' (1975), 'Dr Strangelove' (1964) and 'Gandhi' (1982). Disconcerting sometimes in other parts when you expect him to say "F.A.B, Virgil" at any moment.

Rimmer provided the voice of Scott Tracy in 'Thunderbirds' 

In Rollerball (1975)

Shane Rimmer - imdb profile