Ray Burdis

Ray Burdis: 

Affable Cockney bovver boy type who started out as a teen actor in the '70s, matured into a regular in TV comedy and drama in the '80s, and has since gone on to make a name for himself as a director of Brit hardcase and gangster movies. Early appearances include 'Four Idle Hands' (a sort of prototype 'Tucker's Luck' with a pre-'Quadrophenia' Phil Daniels), 'Graham's Gang', 'The Tomorrow People' and the Pauline Quirke/Flintlock kid's comedy vehicle 'You Must Be Joking'. He was also the lead in the bizarre 25-minute flashback Public Information Film 'Twenty Times More Likely' with a teenage Gillian Taylforth, as a doomed reckless biker.

In one of several biker-themed Public Information Films

A tense moment from 'The Professionals'

The big turning point seems to be Alan Clarke's hard hitting Borstal drama, 'Scum' (1979, and original TV version 1977) in which he plays opposite Ray Winstone. Other, less harrowing adult acting roles have included being Michael Elphick's son Nick in 'Three Up, Two Down', as well as 'Operation Good Guys' and the mid-life crisis sitcom 'Manchild'.




In 'Manchild'

These days he fits in a little bit of acting around his career as a writer, director and producer. He helmed the claustrophobic 'The Final Cut' in 1998 and 'Love Honour and Obey' in 2000, both with Ray Winstone, and there's some more in the pipeline for 2013. The boy done good.

Ray Burdis - imdb

John Bluthal

John Bluthal: 

† Aug 4 1929 – Nov 15 2018

It's pretty likely that much loved actor John Bluthal is mostly recognised by the recent generation of TV viewers for his portrayal of Frank, the sensitive, elderly, gay parishioner of 'The Vicar of Dibley'. To older viewers he is unmistakable as one of Spike Milligan's mischievous cronies from his 'Q' series (see also: Keith Smith; Sheila Steafel) or possibly as Manny Cohen, the archetypal Jewish tailor from the long-running sitcom 'Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width'. 
  

As Frank in 'The Vicar of Dibley'

In fact, the tailor schtick was to prove a bit of a recurring theme (see: Solly Salmon in 'Minder', and similar turns in 'Allo Allo' and 'Super Gran', not to mention 'Carry On Don't Lose your Head'). Of Polish Jewish heritage, he has been called upon to portray an extensive range of ethnicities, particularly during the pre-correctness years of British TV: Pakistani, Italian, Greek, Irish, American, Indian, Russian, and many more. It's helped him rack up a phenomenal list of classic TV credits: Comedies from 'Hancock', 'Sykes' and 'The Goodies' to 'Not Only But Also' and 'One Foot In The Grave'; dramas like 'The Saint', 'The Avengers', 'The Baron' and 'Man In A Suitcase' from the cult TV era, through to the post-'80s plod of 'Morse', 'Bergerac', 'Casualty' and 'The Life and Loves of a She-Devil'.

Bluthal was the voice of Commander Zero in Gerry Anderson's 'Fireball XL-5' and also the voice of HBX Belgrade in the Hancock episode 'The Radio Ham'. 
                

 

In 'Doctor Down Under'

With Spike Milligan in Q7

In the cinema, his talents were on show in 'The Mouse in the Moon' (1963), the kitchen-sink classic 'This Is My Street' (1964), 'Help!' (1965), 'The Knack' (1965), 'Casino Royale' (1967), 'Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River' (1968), 'The Bliss of Mrs Blossom' (1969), The Return of the Pink Panther' (1975), and 'The Fifth Element' (1997). 

With Leo McKern in 'Help!' (1965)

"A licence for my… minkey?" 'The Return of the Pink Panther' (1975)

John Bluthal - imdb

Tom Chadbon

Tom Chadbon: 
† February 27 1946 - July 18 2026

As familiar as your front-room furniture, the perpetually disconcerted Mr Chadbon has spent a lot of time occupying screenspace, yet remains stubbornly anonymous. His fleshy, yet handsomely even, features might ring bells from his leading role in 1995's 'Crown Prosecutor'. No? Me neither. He also enjoyed substantial recurring roles in 'Chancer', 'The Liver Birds','Where the Heart Is', and the Robson Green psych-cop nonsense 'Wire in the Blood'. He's also good as Inspector Hawkins (pictured above) in the Jeremy Brett 'Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'.

In The Alf Garnett Saga' (1972) enjoying some spliff
purchased from Derek Griffiths down the dole office.

Guest appearances and smaller parts have covered a lot of the best British television shows, including: 'Out of the Unknown', 'Softly, Softly', 'Tales of the Unexpected', 'The New Statesman', 'Foyle's War', 'Between the Lines', 'Rebecca', and 'Taggart, as well as 'Peak Practice', 'Casualty', 'Hetty Wainthropp Investigates', 'Silent Witness', 'The Bill', 'Holby City', 'Heartbeat' and of course, 'Midsomer Murders'. He joins that elite club of actors who have appeared in two 'Doctor Who' stories: 'City of Death' in 1979 (Tom Baker), and in the 1986 (Colin Baker) story, 'The Trial of a Time Lord', opposite Michael Jayston, a particularly booming Brian Blessed and Linda Bellingham in a big hat. 

'City of Death'

'Trial of a Time Lord'

As well as the 'Doctor Who' connections, he has a few claims to fame in the world of cult TV: 'The Protectors', 'Bulman' and 'Arthur of the Britons', but perhaps the best are as Avon's old enemy, Del Grant, in 'Blake's 7'...

As Del Grant in the 'Blakes 7' episode 'Countdown'

...and Nigel Kneale's 1972 Christmas Day sci-fi/ghost tale, 'The Stone Tape', in which he gets to deliver the big pay-off line.

As Hargrave in 'The Stone Tape'

Tom Chadbon - imdb 

Judy Cornwell

Judy Cornwell: 

Okay, so here's someone who is perhaps not so very unknown. Yes, it's Hyacinth's sister Daisy: possessive snuggler of Geoffrey Hughes' s Onslow in 'Keeping Up Appearances', and as it transpires, a very accomplished and respected figure in the acting profession. You've seen her in TV dramas like 'Mill on the Floss', 'Persuasion', 'David Copperfield' and 'The Good Companions'. And she's had a regular role in 'EastEnders' as Queenie Trott, the horrid mother of jokey storyline (and eventually murder) victim Heather Trott.

Originally a dancer, she's swished dynamically from dolly-birds and parlour maids to matrons and matriarchs with some style. I can't remember (even though the theme tune was one of my favourite bits of library music) the comedy series 'Moody & Pegg' in which she starred with the late Derek Waring, but her name has been no stranger to the Radio Times and TV Times. See, for example: 'Doctor Who', 'Bergerac', 'Rumpole of the Bailey', 'Boon', and no less than three guest spots in 'Doctors'.

On the big screen there was Marty Feldman's anarchic advertising satire 'Every Home Should Have One' (1970), she played Filligree Fondle in the psychedelic Anthony Newley and Joan Collins sex-comedy 'Can Hieronymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?' (1969), and was in the rather more thoughtful 'Two for the Road' (1967) with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney.

More recently, there's been 'Mad Cows' (1999), and she was a charming Mrs Claus in the 'Santa Claus: The Movie' (1985) with Dudley Moore.

Judy Cornwell - imdb

Robert Longden

Robert Longden: 

The distinctively camp, adenoidal tones of actor Robert Longden have been heard in some minor classics of British TV. His whimsical annunciation (somewhere between Georgina Hale and Julian Clary) and strangely boyish manner means he tends to appear in eccentric pieces, notably Alan Plater's Beiderbecke trilogy, in which he played Mr Pitt, the quietly subversive planning officer. 

 

Other TV roles date from the early '70s to the '00s, and include: 'The Fenn Street Gang', Sapper Copping in 'Danger UXB' (pictured above), 'Peter Cook & Co', 'Wood & Walters', 'Boon', 'The Gentle Touch', a string of TV movie whodunits and the unavoidable 'Casualty' and 'Doctors'. His showreel would suggest that he's keeping fairly busy, but I don't think he quite hooked as many primetime shows as he deserved. 

He was in a few feature films, mostly mildly embarrassing, such as 'Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall' (1974), 'Confessions of a Window Cleaner' (1974) and 'Escort Girls' (1975).   

He's still acting on the stage, it seems, and not just pantomime dames. He also found time to write the cult Melville-meets-St Trinian's play, 'Moby Dick: The Musical'. 


Robert Longden - imdb

Stanley Lebor

Stanley Lebor: 

† Sep 24, 1934 - Nov 23, 2014

Look at that face. The prominent nose and chin, the Balkan 'tache, the unwavering cynical gaze. It's a bit strange, then, that we're probably most familiar with Stanley Lebor from his rather uncharacteristic role as deadpan deadly dull Howard in 'Ever Decreasing Circles', because he's actually more often seen in villainous and sinister parts. His severe countenance has made him popular with casting directors looking for evil henchmen, Cold War assassins, gypsy chieftans and taciturn farmhands.  

      

His better TV work includes: 'Department S', 'Jason King', 'Doomwatch', 'The Protectors', 'The Tomorrow People', 'Hammer House of Horror', 'The Naked Civil Servant', 'The Borrowers', 'Reilly, Ace of Spies' and as a commendable Inspector Lestrade in the '80s Holmes series, 'The Baker Street Boys'. He played Leon the sinister butler in the Scottish kids adventure serial 'Huntingtower', and a memorable rival bodyguard in the 'Minder' episode 'The Bengal Tiger'. The one with the arranged-marriage scam run by Arthur's newsagent Mr Muckerjee that ends with a messy punch-up in an Indian restaurant.     

He's been in a few big-screen films. The long-lost Donald Pleasance comedy 'Arthur! Arthur!' (1969) is one I'd like to see, but there was also 'Up the Front' (1972), 'Nothing But The Night' (1973), 'Flash Gordon' (1980), 'Tarka the Otter' (1979), and 'Gandhi' (1982).   


Stanley Lebor - imdb

Conrad Phillips

Conrad Phillips: 

† 13 April 1925 – 13 January 2016

With his thick black hair and dramatic eyebrows, here's a handsomely serious face from the past –  yet happily Mr Phillips is still with us. An almost-leading-man, who briefly attained star status in the late '50s in the swashbuckling adventure series 'William Tell', he was sometimes given top billing in a series of minor British movies up to the early '60s, before settling into a long and productive character career.

Some of those feature films were minor cult classics, like the grand guignol melodrama 'Circus of Horrors' (1961), and the feline psychological horror 'The Shadow of the Cat' (1961), but most fit firmly into the police pot-boiler category. Take your pick from 'Three Steps to the Gallows' (1953), 'The White Trap' (1959), 'Witness In The Dark' (1960), 'The Fourth Square' (1962) and quite a few others.   

About to take aim at that apple in 'William Tell'

Fortunately, TV was in need of accomplished actors with handsomely serious faces, and offered parts in the likes of 'The Saint', 'The Avengers', 'The Prisoner', 'Callan' and even 'UFO' (playing a sea captain whose ship is sunk by a flying saucer).

By this time a little grey was showing and he found a stream of steady work through the latter '70s and into the '80s, in comedies such as 'Fawlty Towers', 'The Gaffer', 'Never the Twain', and 'Sorry!', and in dramas ranging from 'Crown Court' and 'Emmerdale Farm' to 'Hannay' and 'Robin of Sherwood'. 

Now retired from acting (internet sources differ on his birth year between 1925 and 1930) he lives in Wiltshire and enjoys the odd pint of real ale. Solid performance all round.                    

As a doctor in 'The Prisoner', (Episode: 'The General')  

Another dissatisfied guest at 'Fawlty Towers', (Episode: 'The Wedding Party')

Update Jan 13, 2016: Sad to hear that Conrad Phillips has died aged 90.

Conrad Phillips - imdb