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John Phillips

John Phillips

Acting • 1914-07-20 • Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UK

A tall, imposing character actor with a voice to match, John Phillips brought an authoritative manner and dignified military bearing to his many roles on stage and screen. A decorated veteran of the 1944 Normandy Campaign, Phillips frequently appeared on television as uniformed senior officers and police chief constables, from Frontier (1968) to Z Cars (1962). His piercing eyes and forthright manner made him equally suited to portraying magistrates, academics and clergymen. After a long innings with the Birmingham Repertory prior to 1945, he appeared post-war in Bristol and at the Old Vic in London, playing anything from Henrik Ibsen to Shakespeare. He was critically acclaimed for his roles as Henry VIII and Timon of Athens, Prospero and Tamburlaine the Great (in Christopher Marlowe's play)). Acting on screen from the early 1950's, he was insidious as lawyer Tulkinghorn in Bleak House (1959), and lent gravitas to his Norfolk in Richard III (1955) and Grand Duke Nicholas in Fall of Eagles (1974). He was not beyond parodying his screen personae, being droll and stereotypically stiff-upper-lip, as Colonel Harcourt Badger Owen in the uproarious Ripping Yarns (1976) episode 'Escape from Stalag Luft 112 B'. Phillips retired from the stage in the 1980's and made his celluloid curtain call in the eccentric, off-beat comedy Leon the Pig Farmer (1992).

Known For

Jesus of Nazareth7.8

Jesus of Nazareth

1977

The Mummy's Shroud5.4

The Mummy's Shroud

1967

Torture Garden6.2

Torture Garden

1967

The Mouse on the Moon6.3

The Mouse on the Moon

1963

Ascendancy4.7

Ascendancy

1983

The Hallelujah Handshake7.9

The Hallelujah Handshake

1970

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