Larry Dann

Larry Dann:  

Although he was a prolific child actor in the '50s, an alumni of Joan Littlewood's ground-breaking Theatre Workshop and a stalwart of late-era Carry Ons, many will recognise Larry Dann most easily from his long stint (1984-92) in 'The Bill' as desk sergeant Alec Peters.

'Carry On Teacher' (1959). It would be decades later 
that he returned to the franchise in its fading years 

From the late '40s and into the '50s, Larry Dann would appear (usually uncredited) as a little boy in a slew of British films, including the Oscar-nominated UK/US production 'Edward, My Son' (1949), 'Made in Heaven' (1952), the Norman Wisdom comedy 'Trouble in Store' (1953), and 'The Million Pound Note' (1954) with Gregory Peck. By his latter teens he had moved on to juvenile roles such as his memorable turn in 'Carry On Teacher' (1959) 

Unlike many of his contemporaries, the golden era of '60s cult TV and film seemed to slightly pass him by. He was in plain fare of the 'Dixon of Dock Green' and 'Z Cars' variety, and missed out on a permanent role in the genre-defining UK soap 'Coronation Street' as bad boy Dennis Tanner, with the part recast after the pilot. Other TV included 'No Hiding Place' and 'The Plane Makers' - popular shows in their time but with no great following today.

In an episode of the 1970 mystery series
'Tales of Unease', with Ursula Mohan. 

Films offered other possibilities, and he crops up in the likes of 'Bulldog Breed' (1960), another Norman Wisdom vehicle, and the Joe Brown pop-romp 'What a Crazy World' (1963). Later on there's 'Before Winter Comes' (1969), a little-remembered cold war comedy-drama starring David Niven and Topol, but also featuring many British character actor favourites such as Tony Selby, George Innes and Christopher Sandford. 

  

A more starring role in 'Ghost Story' (1974) 

The early '70s is interesting for that mix of arthouse pretention, schlock horror and prurient comedy. All of which are reflected in Larry Dann's CV. There's 'Whirlpool' (1970), an interesting 'Psycho'-meets-'Peeping Tom' effort in which he plays a pub landlord, and 'Our Miss Fred' (1972), the feeble Danny LaRue v the Nazis farce, both negligible roles. 'Ghost Story' (1974) gives him a lot more to get his teeth into, a supernatural horror with a decadent interwar setting and a time slipping Marianne Faithfull. (It also features a rare acting role for Vivian MacKerrell - the real-life inspiration for Withnail.) 

Then of course there's the unholy trinity of last-gasp 'Carry On' films: '...Behind' (1975); '...England' (1976); and '...Emmannuelle' (1978).   

'Carry On Behind' (1975), with Carol Hawkins,
Sherrie Hewson and Brian Osborne

Coming more up to date, we can add a few more primetime appearances, mostly one-offs, in comedies and dramas such as 'Robin of Sherwood', 'Angels', the upper-class potboiler 'Chelworth', and 'The Detectives' with Jasper Carrott and Robert Powell. 

It's in the long-running police series 'The Bill' that Larry Dann really became a well known face on the nation's small screens. His character, Desk Sergeant Alec Peters, becoming the plot  pivot for many of the storylines, finally racking up 229 appearances over 20 years.

It's an interesting story that follows the British film and TV industry through its most fertile period, and one you can read more about, as he has committed his memories to print in his memoir. Available from his publisher here. 

Larry Dann-imdb

John Castle

John Castle:

A serious actor, strikingly handsome in a sullen way, looking rather like a cross between Derek Jacobi and Oliver Reed. Trained at RADA, he hit the acting scene with a modest bang, securing early appearances in 'Blow Up' (1966), 'The Lion in Winter' (1968), and the most talked-about TV show of the day, 'The Prisoner', though he didn't seem to quite grab the public imagination like some of his illustrious young contemporaries. He played Caesar in Charlton Heston's unloved film version of 'Antony & Cleopatra' (1972) and the Duke in 'The Man of La Mancha' (1972), but then things seemed to go a little bit quiet.  

As Number 12 in 'The Prisoner' episode 'The General'

At the circus with Charlton Heston in 'Antony & Cleopatra' (1972)

There was a certain amount of television drama in the late '60s and early '70s, such as Johnny Speight's 'If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have to Invent Them' and a sprinkling of one-offs like 'ITV Sunday Night Theatre', and 'The Wednesday Play'. His next high profile role was as Postumus in the BBC's toga-ripper 'I, Claudius', which seemed to kick-start another spate of varyingly prestigious work. There are quite a few costume dramas and period pieces, which seem to suit his austere, brooding presence, such as 'The Fight Against Slavery', 'King John', 'Lillie', 'Penmarric' and a Jeremy Brett 'Sherlock Holmes'. He also plays Teddy, the destructive love-interest in 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' with Geraldine McEwan. There were also a few action and police jobs like 'Strangers', 'The New Avengers', 'Softly, Softly' and 'The Professionals'. Not much in the way of comedy.

In the BBC's 2013 Christmas ghost story, MR James's "The Tractate Middoth'

The '80s and beyond have seen more of the same on TV, with the emphasis on providing some slightly sinister class to cosy crimes, ho-hum hospitals and political potboilers. Less cosy, perhaps, was the unenviable job of portraying racist historian David Irving in 'The Holocaust on Trial'. The big screen has also not been as forthcoming with good parts as one might hope, offering only the likes of 'RoboCop 3' (1995), Finnish mid-ocean thriller 'Merisairas' (1996), the Richard Gere Old Testament epic, 'King David (1985) and a few others.   

He is, however, in the excellent Mark Gatiss adaptation of the MR James ghost story, 'The Tractate Middoth', which is where I was reminded of his great presence and ability. 

Salvte. 

John Castle - imdb

Douglas Wilmer

Douglas Wilmer: 

† Jan 8th 1920 – Mar 31st 2016

With his powerful, craggy features, just a fraction too exaggerated for romantic leads, Douglas Wilmer, now 92, has enjoyed a fantastic career as a character actor without ever quite becoming a household name. The list of classic films he appeared in is pretty impressive and includes sword and sandal favourites 'El Cid' (1961), 'Cleopatra' (1963), Jason and the Argonauts' (1963), and 'Fall of the Roman Empire' (1964).    It was about this time that he was chosen to play Sherlock Holmes in a TV adaptation of 'The Speckled Band' which led to a further 12 stories screened in 1965, briefly making him a popular television celebrity. He was seen in a number of quality shows of the '60s and early '70s, such as 'The Avengers', The Saint', 'The Baron', 'Mogul', 'UFO', 'Space: 1999' and, cleverly, as Professor Von Dusen in 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes'.         
 

As Sherlock Holmes in the popular mid-'60s TV adaptation

As King Pelias who sends Jason on his mission in the
Ray Harryhausen epic 'Jason and the Argonauts' (1963) 

There was still plenty of movie work on offer: see for example his turn as Baron Hartog in the fabulous Hammer negligee-ripper 'The Vampire Lovers' (1970) with Peter Cushing, George Cole and a bevy of fanged females including Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith.


 

'The Vampire Lovers' (1970) 

Douglas Wilmer - imdb