Peter Woodthorpe (1931-2004), actor
Edwin King
mention before, but there's an obit in the Independent at
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=554511
He had a huge range, but is now probably best-known as the pathologist in
Inspector Morse and as *the* voice of Gollum, in the BBC production of Lord
of the Rings.
Hyfler/Rosner
"Edwin King" <edwin...@DESPAMvirgin.net> wrote in message
news:onvWc.347$Vl4...@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
Photos:
http://www.monkeyheaven.com/dubbing_peterw.html
http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/christmas-carol/1984-xmas-old-joe.html
Bob Feigel
wrote:
Damn! I was hoping he was not who I thought he was ... but he was.
Another fine actor gone. RIP
"When weaving nets, all threads count." - Charlie Chan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
Hyfler/Rosner
August 30, 2004
Peter Woodthorpe, a British Character Actor, Dies at 72
By KATHRYN SHATTUCK
Peter Woodthorpe, the defiantly eccentric character actor
who played a significant role in the British postwar
theatrical revolution, died on Aug. 13. He was 72.
His death was reported in The Guardian of London.
While performing with the Marlowe Society as a Cambridge
undergraduate, the Yorkshire-born Mr. Woodthorpe was spotted
by the young director Peter Hall, who cast him as Estragon
in the original 1955 production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting
for Godot" at the Arts Theater Club in London.
A harbinger of the modern theater movement in Britain,
"Godot" - frequently described as a play in which nothing
happens, twice - excited controversy. Befuddled critics
argued over its merits; performances were punctuated by
shouts of displeasure and the slamming of seats.
Playing alongside the seasoned actor Paul Daneman's Vladimir
as one of a pair of tramps eternally waiting for something
to alleviate their boredom, Mr. Woodthorpe nonetheless
commanded attention as a fascinating oddball, whose nasal
whine and fleshy face made him instantly recognizable. By
the time Kenneth Tynan of The Observer described "Godot" as
"a conversational necessity for many years" and Mr.
Woodthorpe's portrayal of Estragon as "compassionate
lunacy," both the play and the actors' careers were well on
their way.
Attendance improved, and "Godot" moved to the West End,
where Mr. Woodthorpe played opposite Hugh Burden and, after
the play's closing, found himself much in demand. In 1956 he
joined the English Stage Company as Wang, the water seller,
opposite Peggy Ashcroft in Brecht's "Good Woman of Setzuan."
The next year he starred as the Yorkshire lad Noaks in
"Zuleika," an ill-conceived musical rendition of Max
Beerbohm's novel "Zuleika Dobson."
Mr. Woodthorpe toured Britain with Lynn Fontanne and Alfred
Lunt in Friedrich Dürrenmatt's "Visit" as the weak-willed
Professor Muller, and repeated the role in Peter Brook's
1958 Broadway production, which opened the Lunt-Fontanne
Theater.
Returning to Britain, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial
Theater Company at Stratford-on-Avon, playing Flute in Mr.
Hall's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Roderigo
to Paul Robeson's Othello and Junius in Laurence Olivier's
revival of "Coriolanus."
In 1960 Mr. Woodthorpe created the role of Aston, a reticent
man living alone in a cluttered top-floor room of an
abandoned house in a poor London district, who takes in an
old derelict, in Harold Pinter's first smash hit, "The
Caretaker," opposite Donald Pleasence and Alan Bates. The
role, which includes a challenging second-act speech about
his character's removal to a mental hospital, was among Mr.
Woodthorpe's most magnetic performances, earning him praise
as "magnificent" from Noël Coward and a Clarence Derwent
award for best supporting actor.
Two years later Mr. Woodthorpe joined Olivier in the opening
season of the Chichester Festival among a glittering cast
that included Michael Redgrave, Sybil Thorndike, Joan
Plowright, John Neville and Rosemary Harris. But his parts
were small or undistinguished and, prone to alienating
colleagues and directors with his biting comments, he was
not invited to rejoin Olivier when the National Theater
opened at the Old Vic.
Mr. Woodthorpe went on to appear as a deliriously all-out
Lord Foppington in John Vanbrugh's "Relapse" and the
predatory Kimberley in Pauline Macaulay's "Creeper" while
taking over from Mr. Pleasence the title role in Jean
Anouilh's "Poor Bitos."
He returned to Broadway in 1968 for a George Abbott
production of the E. Y. Harburg-Jule Styne musical "Darling
of the Day," about an artist who, disenchanted with success,
fakes his death. Despite its sterling pedigree, that show,
plagued by road troubles and coinciding with a newspaper
strike, was a costly flop.
After a stellar first decade Mr. Woodthorpe found his career
on the downslide, tempered by prevailing theatrical tastes
as well as by his infamous outspokenness. In 1970, however,
he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, where
his luster was restored by his near-perfect casting as Toad
in A. A. Milne's "Toad of Toad Hall," and a richly textured
portrayal of the Actor in Maxim Gorky's "Lower Depths."
He was once again at the top of his form as Nils Krogstad
opposite Claire Bloom's Nora in the 1973 West End revival of
Ibsen's "Doll's House" and in the 1976 John Mortimer double
bill "Heaven and Hell." His more recent stage credits
included Eugene O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra" and the
1995 National Theater production of Rodney Ackland's
"Absolute Hell."
Mr. Woodthorpe appeared in more than 40 films and television
shows, including memorable stints as Gollum in a 1978
animated film of "The Lord of the Rings" and its 1981 BBC
Radio adaptation.
Edwin King
"Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:413328d8$0$19704$61fe...@news.rcn.com...
> NY Times obit ~
>
>
> August 30, 2004
> Peter Woodthorpe, a British Character Actor, Dies at 72
>
> By KATHRYN SHATTUCK
>
>
> His death was reported in The Guardian of London.
You read it here first...
Hyfler/Rosner
"Edwin King" <edwin...@DESPAMvirgin.net> wrote in message
Way to go, Edwin. That's the way we like it here.