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 '... Emmanuelle' (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

Frank Windsor

Frank Windsor:

† July 12 1927 – Sep 30 2020

I suppose I can hardly count such a famous actor as unknown, but the reassuringly wholesome rumpled features of Frank Windsor have been seen more widely than just in the venerable cop dramas 'Z-Cars' and 'Softly Softly; Taskforce' or adverts for pension plans and stairlifts. Starting as an actor in the late '50s, he never played the dashing leading man, but more often the trusty retainer or honest yeoman. 

Frank Windsor (second from left), between co-stars
James Ellis and Stratford Johns with the cast of 'Z-Cars'

TV jobs include the sci-fi serial 'A for Andromeda', 'The Avengers', 'Randall & Hopkirk, Deceased', the title role in the series 'Headmaster', and the not very memorable limo-hire drama 'Flying Lady'. More recent appearances cover the usual suspects 'Boon', 'Casualty', 'Chancer', 'Midsomer Murders', 'Judge John Deeds' and so on. 

On the big screen he is far less ubiquitous, but pops up in favourites like 'This Sporting Life' (1963), 'Spring and Port Wine ' (1971) and 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' (1971), as well as duffers such as 'Barry McKenzie Holds His Own' (1974), and heist romp 'The Omega Connection/The London Connection' (1979), often in a pastiche version of his familiar copper persona. 

Dependable rather than riveting. Hence the insurance adverts.                 

Frank Windsor - imdb profile

Maurice Roëves

Maurice Roëves 

† Mar 19 1937 – July 15 2020

With his dark chiselled features, Maurice Roëves has something of the malevolent Sean Connery about him, perhaps tempered with a touch of veteran footballer Ian St John. And like those two, he is proud to consider himself a Scotsman, albeit one who was accidentally born in Sunderland. 

One of his early accomplishments was taking on the role of Stephen Dedalus in Joseph Strick's film version of 'Ulysses'. Surrounded by prodigious Irish acting talent and thrown into the midst of Joyce's complex writing, he pulls off quite a coup. The film was considered an artistic success, with no attempt made to disguise the actors' wardrobe and Dublin locations of 1966, but showing a determination to stick to the word and spirit of the 1904-set novel. Milo O'Shea's star turn as Leopold Bloom, and the unflinching commitment to the original's earthy language (including the first screen use of the word 'fuck') and extended sexual themes were what made the headlines in the end.             

In the film version of James Joyce's 'Ulysses' (1967) with
veteran Irish actor David Kelly

Other feature film appearances include a lot of war movies: 'Oh! What A Lovely War' (1969), 'When Eight Bells Toll' (1971), 'Young Winston' (1972), 'The Eagle Has Landed' (1976), 'Escape To Victory' (1981), 'Who Dares Wins' (1982), an exception to the war theme was  Roman Polanski's ill-fated 'A Day At The Beach' (1970).  

In the silly world cup/war movie 'Escape To Victory' (1981)  

While all this film work was coming in during the '70s and '80s, Roëves also found himself in demand for television, appearing in 'Jason King', 'The Sweeney', 'Doomwatch', 'Family At War', 'Warship', 'Target', 'Danger UXB', 'The Chinese Detective' and the final Peter Davison 'Doctor Who' story 'The Caves Of Androzani'. He was also a regular storyteller on 'Jackanory' during its heyday between 1971 and 1979.

As a revolutionary in an episode of 'Jason King'
with the unmistakable Peter Wyngarde   

In '70s crime-boss mode in an episode of 'The Sweeney'

    

It seems that around this time his acting talents and televisual good looks were attracting the attention of producers across the Atlantic and parts started to be offered in US shows, such as 'Magnum PI', 'Hunter', 'Remington Steele', long-running US soap opera 'Days Of Our Lives', Civil War drama 'North & South', and later in the '80s adding 'Cheers', 'Jake & The Fatman' and 'Murder She Wrote' to the mix.

Bringing down the St Patrick's Day vibe at the bar in 'Cheers'
with his grim repertoire of rebel songs and massacre ballads    

Meanwhile, back in the UK things were also going along nicely, with roles in steady fare like 'Lytton's Diary', 'Bergerac', 'Rumpole Of The Bailey', and starring in the STV drama 'Bookie'. Possibly the highlight of this period was the densely written, but engaging John Byrne comedy drama 'Tutti Frutti' with Robbie Coltrane, Emma Thompson, and Richard Wilson. 

Channelling some Gene Vincent into the TV drama 
'Tutti Frutti', perhaps via Alvin Stardust

Roëves plays the ageing rocker Vincent Diver with a mix of brooding aggression and sadness that contributes greatly to a memorable slice of '80s TV, particularly as lead man Coltrane gives the impression of punching a little above his weight, theatrically speaking.     

As prison warden Miller in 'Judge Dredd' (1995)

 Since the '90s, Maurice Roëves has straddled the film and TV worlds, working in Hollywood and the UK. Television work includes 'Baywatch' and 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' (making him a member of the exclusive club of actors to have been in 'Star Trek' and 'Doctor Who'), alongside some stuff a lot closer to home. UK shows include 'Rab C Nesbitt', 'The New Statesman', 'A Touch Of Frost', 'Waking The Dead', and the BBC's prestigious 'Vanity Fair', as well as some bread-and-butter work on 'EastEnders', 'The Bill', 'Casualty' and 'Skins'. 

Colonel Munro parleys for terms of surrender in 'Last Of The Mohicans' (1992)

Movie work stretches from his impressive portrayal of redcoat Colonel Munro in 'The Last Of The Mohicans' (1992), to 'The Big Man' (1992), 'Judge Dredd' (1995), 'The Acid House' (1998), 'Beautiful Creatures' (2000), 'Hallam Foe' (2007), Welsh horror 'The Dark' (2005), 'The Damned United' (2009), 'Brighton Rock' (2010) and 'Macbeth' (2015).

All in all, quite an impressive career for a distinctive and familiar face yet one to which too few of us could put a name. I hope this small salute can redress that a little.         

Maurice Roeves-imdb


Post script, regarding pronunciation. I found this in an interview online. 

MR: No, it's Row-eaves. There's two dots above the "e", indicates the beginning of the second word. The two dots are called a dialysis* ... The name goes back to Prussian times. It's a Prussian name, I guess. It's like Noël.

* He means diaeresis.

David Daker

David Daker: 
† Sep 29 1935 - Apr 30 2026

Stolid bloodhound type with a classic comb-over, he has played convicts, dads, lorry-drivers, coppers (eg Constable Culshaw in 'Z-Cars'), teachers, heavies, and various nervous, shifty types. Films include a role as the disinterested dad in Terry Gilliam's 'Time Bandits' (1981),  and 'Stardust' (1974), 'The Black Windmill' (1974) and 'Britannia Hospital' (1982). 

On TV he has been seen in 'Dick Turpin', 'Minder', 'Boon', 'UFO', 'Juliet Bravo', and the last resort of the British character actor, 'Holby City'. An old dependable.

And let's not forget his appearance as medieval warrior Irongron, the first human to encounter a Sontaran in Dr Who.

David Daker - imdb profile