Murray Melvin



Murray Melvin:
† Aug 10 1932 - April 14 2023

What, really? Yes, you may be surprised to see me add Murray Melvin to this particular blog, celebrating as it does the tier of British actors who are much admired but just below the status of household name. He's certainly a touchstone for that most inventive and creative period in British film and drama, the kitchen-sink school of the '60s, Joan Littlewood's visionary open-door theatre and the work of the British film outsider auteurs who went on to great things. Yet, outside an increasingly rarefied audience for classic cinema, his name might not be on every lip.        


In 'A Taste of Honey' 

A truly individual actor, Murray Melvin's acid-camp performances are always mesmerising in their precision, microtonally nuanced in emotion. His path took him from West End office clerk to sweeping the stage at the East London's Theatre Royal Stratford East, where Joan Littlewood nurtured a company of remarkable natural actors plucked from all walks of society. She chose him to play the implicitly gay Geoffrey in the ground-breaking play 'A Taste Of Honey', a role he reprised in the film version in 1961, winning himself a Best Actor award at Cannes.        

As the feckless Lupin Pooter in Ken Russell's 
1964 film for the BBC, 'Diary Of A Nobody' 

His other early film appearances include Joseph Losey's 'The Criminal' (1960), 'Petticoat Pirates' (1962), 'HMS Defiant' (1962), 'Sparrows Can't Sing' (1963), the with-it 'Kaleidoscope' (1967), and a pair of '60s classics; 'Alfie' (1966) and 'Smashing Time' (1967).

Reunited with Rita Tushingham at the day-glo end of
the '60s with a cameo in 'Swinging Time' (1967)  

The next decade saw things step up a bit in terms of arthouse cinema, with his old friend Ken Russell, in 'The Boy Friend (1971), 'The Devils' (1971) and 'Lisztomania' (1975), with Stanley Kubrick in 'Barry Lyndon' (1975), and in the likes of 'A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg' (1972) and 'The Bawdy Adventures Of Tom Jones' (1976).      



In Ken Russell's inquisition emission, 'The Devils' (1971)

During this long purple patch there were small-screen roles in 'The Avengers', Ken Russell's TV movie 'Isadora' (1966) with Vivian Pickles, 'The Flaxton Boys', 'Bulman', 'The Onedin Line' and a smattering of Plays for Today. He also turns up in the odd thing like 'Super Gran', the star-studded 1999 TV movie of 'Alice In Wonderland', and the obscure but well-liked Canadian sci-fi series 'Starhunter'

Unmistakably neat and dapper, the astute and erudite  
 Mr Melvin is a popular interviewee for students of the arts. 

At the grand age of 89 (at time of writing), I'm pleased to see that Mr Melvin is still quite active and busy. His work since the '90s has included the film version of 'The Phantom Of The Opera (2004), and 'Jonathan Creek' and 'Torchwood' on television. Familiar rather than unknown then, I hope this small salute will alert new viewers to his unique cinematic presence.    

Postscript:
You can (as of Sep 2021) watch the 1964 Ken Russell film 'Diary Of A Nobody' via the YouTube link below. It stars Bryan Pringle and features a great cast including other Familiar Unknown alumni: Avril Elgar, Brian Murphy, Vivian Pickles and Jonathan Cecil. With harmonium score by Ivor Cutler. Enjoy.

'Diary Of A Nobody: The Domestic Jottings Of A City Clerk'   

 
Murray Melvin-imdb

Paul Copley

Paul Copley:

Ubiquitous and adaptable Yorkshire actor with a gentle, burry voice, massively in demand for his ability to convince in roles ranging from the jolliest of uncles to the grimmest of villains, in everything from suburban sitcoms to heavyweight period drama. One of his biggest recent jobs has been playing Mr Mason, one of the few likeable characters in  'Downton Abbey', but his television CV from the early '70s to today is quite exceptional in its scope and quality.     

As honest farmer Mr Mason in 'Downton Abbey'

As well as 'Downton', he pops up in some other flag-waving series of the British television renaissance of the last decade, like 'Life on Mars', Torchwood' and 'Shameless'. And picking a few TV highlights from further back, you'll see him in Alan Plater's Chaucer-goes-Rugby-League series 'Trinity Tales', the Ben Kingsley 'Silas Marner', the 1977 BBC 'Treasure Island', the influential 'Cracker', 'Queer as Folk', 'The Lakes' and as the irascible seaman Matthews in the long-running 'Hornblower' franchise (photo top).

Perhaps not too convincing with the Cockney accent as
one of Terry's old schoolmates in 'Minder'

A quick run-down of his more everyday appearances would include everything from 'Tenko' and 'Secret Army' to 'Minder' and 'Strangers', with the inescapable cop and hospital stuff such as 'Heartbeat', 'Holby City', 'Peak Practice', 'Casualty', 'The Bill' and 'Doctors'.   

Turning informant in 'New Tricks'

In the movies, his younger days saw him cast in war movies 'A Bridge Too Far' (1977) and 'Zulu Dawn' (1979),  the controversial TV movie 'Death of a Princess' (1980) and later a supporting role in 'The Remains of the Day (1993). He has appeared in a number of shorts and low-budget films, including 'The Day My Nan Died' with Alison Steadman and Deddie Davies.  

Under a mop of '70s curls in n 'Alfie Darling' (1976) with
Alan Price and Vicki Michelle

Trivia: Fans of kids' TV might remember him from the spooky 'Ghost In The Water' which is now apparently lost to posterity, 'Gruey', 'Grange Hill' and a few schools' programmes. 

He also provided the voiceover for the horrible bleach-sloshing paranoia fest 'How Clean Is Your House?'. 

Paul Copley - imdb

Roger Ashton-Griffiths

Roger Ashton-Griffiths:

The name might mean nothing to you, but pale and jowly Roger Ashton-Griffiths has appeared in a number of high-profile films, including Terry Gilliam's 'The Brothers Grimm' and 'Brazil', Martin Scorsese's 'Gangs of New York' (playing Phineas T Barnum), Roman Polanski's 'Pirates', Peter Greenaway's 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover' and Woody Allen's 'You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'.

Originally trained as a singer, he was a member of the ENO before making his TV debut as a red-painted demon in an episode of 'The Young Ones' alongside the late David Rappaport. This seems to have led directly into a steady stream of work from the mid-'80s onwards.  

As Orgo the Demon in 'The Young Ones'

As well as the big cinema names listed above, he was seen in a roll-call of some of the most popular, if not always primetime, television of the last three decades: ' Young Indiana Jones Chronicles', 'Cadfael', 'The Darling Buds of May', 'C.A.T.S. Eyes', 'Lovejoy', 'Grange Hill' and inevitably, 'The Bill'. Recent interesting parts have included 'Torchwood' and that great salvation for the British character actor,  'Game of Thrones' in which he plays high lord something-or-other Mace Tyrell.

In the Matthew Holness short 'A Gun for George' (2011)

As Dr Johnson in 'Samuel Johnson: The Dictionary Man'

 Other appearances include the very dark comedy short (by 'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' maverick Matthew Holness) 'A Gun For George'. He is also cast as Alfred Hitchcock in Olivier Dahan's forthcoming 'Grace of Monaco' (2014), which sounds interesting, not least for having Robert Lindsay playing Aristotle Onassis.

Roger Ashton-Griffiths-imdb