Basil Dignam
Birthday: Born in 1905-10-24 in Sheffield, Metropolitan Borough of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK
Deathday: 1979-01-31
Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 - 31 January 1979) was an English character actor.
TV Credits
The Prisoner
Character: Supervisor
After resigning, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is really a bizarre Kafkaesque prison. His warders demand information. He gives them nothing, but only tries to escape....
Department S
Character: Howard Finch
Department S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King, Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst. The trio were agents for a fictional special department of Interpol. The head of Department S was Sir Curtis Seretse....
Elizabeth R
Character: Archbishop Gardiner
This historical mini-series documents the reign of Elizabeth I with each episode focusing on one dramatic period in the lengthy reign of the Virgin Queen, including her ascension to the throne, her various marital intrigues, her problems with her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, and the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada....
Gideon's Way
Character: Commissioner Scott-Marle
Gideon's Way is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on the novels by John Creasey. The series was made at Elstree in twin production with The Saint TV series. It starred Liverpudlian John Gregson in the title role as Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, with Alexander Davion as his assistant, Detective Chief Inspector David Keen, Reginald Jessup as Det. Superintendent LeMaitre, Ian Rossiter as Detective Chief Superintendent Joe Bell and Basil Dignam...
The Avengers
Character:
The Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed. Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King. Later episodes increasingly incorporated elements of science fiction and fantasy, parody and British eccentricity....
War & Peace
Character:
The classic BBC dramatisation of Tolstoy's epic story of love and loss set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Anthony Hopkins heads the cast as Pierre Bezuhov (a role for which he won the 1972 Best Actor BAFTA); Morag Hood is the impulsive and beautiful Natasha Rostova; Alan Dobie is the dour but heroic Andrei Bolkonsky; and David Swift is Napoleon, whose decision to invade Russia in 1812 has far-reaching consequences for Pierre and the Rostov and Bolkonsky families. The twenty-part se...
The Sweeney
Character: Moberly
Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter....
The Persuaders!
Character: Prime Minister Norman Russell
An English aristocrat and an American millionaire come together to tackle crime....
UFO
Character: Cabinet Minister
A secret, high-technology international agency called SHADO defends Earth from alien invaders....
Jason King
Character:
Jason King - a suavely sophisticated former secret agent turned novelist - travels the world searching for material to fill his books, encountering an endless parade of glamorous women, exotic locales, menacing villains and daring intrigue! Before Austin Powers swung into action, Jason King set the standard for the hip crime-fighting international playboy! ...
The Saint
Character: Cmdr. Richardson
Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need....
The Champions
Character: Sir Frederick
The Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company. The series was broadcast in the US on NBC, starting in summer 1968....
Sherlock Holmes
Character:
The first American television series of Sherlock Holmes adventures aired in syndication in the fall of 1954. The 39 half-hour mostly original stories were produced by Sheldon Reynolds and filmed in France by Guild Films, starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion Crawford as Watson. Archie Duncan appeared in many episodes as Inspector Lestrade. Richard Larke, billed as Kenneth Richards, played Sgt. Wilkins in about fifteen episodes. The series' associate producer, Nicole Milinaire, was o...
The New Avengers
Character: Hugh Rydercroft
The New Avengers is a British secret agent fantasy adventure television series broadcast during 1976 and 1977. It is a sequel to the 1960s series The Avengers and was developed by Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens. A joint United Kingdom-France-Canada production, the show picks up the adventures of John Steed and his team of Avengers fighting evil plots and world domination. Whereas in the original series Steed had almost always been partnered with a woman, in the new series he had two partners:...
Interpol Calling
Character: Insp. Hopkins
The adventures of Interpol policemen Duval and Mornay as they fought against international drug-running, homicide, robbery and forgery....
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Character: Rich Merchant
The legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most episodes were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers....
No Hiding Place
Character:
No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart....
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Character: Bishop Gardiner
Series of television plays written by six different authors. Each play is a lavish dramatization of the trials and tribulations surrounding Henry and his wives. Keith Michell ties the episodes together with his dignified and magnetic performance as the mighty monarch....
Man in a Suitcase
Character:
Accused of treason, a former U.S. intelligence officer based in London tries to clear his name, taking on freelance jobs around Europe as he searches for answers....
Sir Francis Drake
Character: Duke Of Alva
Sir Francis Drake was a British adventure television series starring Terence Morgan as Sir Francis Drake, commander of the sailing ship the Golden Hind. As well as battles at sea, sword fights, the series also deals with intrigue at Elizabeth's court, often caused by Spaniard, Mendoza....
Judge Dee
Character:
...
Life of Shakespeare
Character: The Lord Chamberlain
Biography of William Shakespeare....
The Adventurer
Character: John Ballard
The Adventurer is an ITC Entertainment TV adventure series created by Dennis Spooner that ran for one season from 1972 to 1973. It premiered in the UK on 29 September 1972. The show starred Gene Barry as Gene Bradley, a government agent of independent means who poses as a glamorous American movie star....
The Main Chance
Character: Mr. Jory
The Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformation in the life of solicitor David Main who relocates from London to Leeds....
Justice
Character: Sir Jules Larsen
Justice is a British drama television series which originally aired on ITV in 39 hour-long episodes between 8 August 1971 and 16 October 1974. Margaret Lockwood stars as Harriet Peterson a female barrister in the North of England. It was made by Yorkshire Television and was based loosely on Justice Is a Woman, an episode of ITV Playhouse broadcast in 1969 in which Lockwood had previously also played a barrister. The theme music was Crown Imperial by William Walton....
The Stars Look Down
Character: Richard Barras
Mini series about a Northumberland mining village - the daily lives of the inhabitants and the tragedies and disasters that befell them....
Persuasion
Character: Sir Walter Elliot
British television adaptation of the Jane Austen novel of the same name....
Department S
Character: Henry Smith
Department S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King, Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst. The trio were agents for a fictional special department of Interpol. The head of Department S was Sir Curtis Seretse....
Crown Court
Character: Dr. Sissons
Crown Court is an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....
The Protectors
Character: Charles Engleton
The Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It was Anderson's second TV series using live actors as opposed to electronic marionettes, and also his second to be firmly set in contemporary times. It was also the only Gerry Anderson produced television series that was not of the fantasy or science fiction genres. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company. Despite not featuring marionettes or any real science fiction element...
Movie Credits
Corridors of Blood
Character: Hospital Chairman
Dr. Thomas Bolton fights for the use of anesthetic in surgery and uses himself as a guinea pig, but soon finds himself addicted....
Carlton-Browne of the F.O.
Character: Security Officer
Great Britain has had an international agreement for the last 50 years with a small pacific island. It has been ignored until the death of their king brings it to the attention of the Foreign Office in Whitehall. They decide to send Cadogan de Vere Carlton-Browne to re-establish friendly relations....
Naked Evil
Character: Jim Benson
Jamaican obi-man hexes student hostel manager, eventually causing the manager's death, before being killed himself by the manager's vengeful spirit....
The Court Martial of Major Keller
Character: Morrell
Lawrence Payne stars as Major Kellor, a well respected and decorated officer who is being court-martialled for the murder of his commanding officer Colonel Winch. The facts of the case are shrouded by the mayhem of war and the effects that fear, pressure and duty have upon a soldier. Did the Major covet the Colonel's wife? Was the Major ambitious and kill Winch to secure a promotion? Or had the Colonel cracked under the pressure of an illustrious battle career? To prove his innocence Major Kelle...
Son of a Stranger
Character: Dr. Delaney
A young man searches for the father he never knew, who he believes to be a millionaire....
The Depraved
Character: Tom Wilton
Fed up with her wealthy but abusive husband, Tom (Basil Dignam), young English homemaker Laura Wilton (Anne Heywood) conspires with her lover, American Army captain Dave Dillon (Robert Arden), to have her boozy spouse meet an "accidental" demise. But a nosy copper (Denis Shaw) suspects foul play, and soon the lovers' crafty scheme deteriorates into fear, distrust and betrayal. Paul Dickson directs this vintage noir thriller....
Three Sundays to Live
Character: Davitt
Band leader Frank Martin is convicted and sentenced to death for murdering the owner of a club in which he had performed. Frank's innocent of the crime, and singer Ruth Chapman can provide him with an alibi. But Ruth is missing, and records show she died years before. As Frank awaits execution, he enlists the help of his heiress girlfriend and his lawyer to clear his name....
The Secret Partner
Character: Lyle
A shipping tycoon with a record becomes a suspect when money goes missing from the company vault....
The Jokers
Character: David's Bank Manager
Brothers Michael and David Tremayne decide to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, not for criminal purposes, but to make themselves famous....
80,000 Suspects
Character: Health Officer Boswell
A doctor's already-shaky marriage is tested to an even greater extent when he has to contend with a smallpox epidemic....
Up the Creek
Character: Coombes
Bumbling navy officer Lieutenant Humphrey Fairweather (David Tomlinson) is transferred to HMS Berkeley, an old World War II destroyer, to keep him out of harm's way. But together with Chief Petty Officer Doherty (Peter Sellers), Fairweather gets into more trouble than might be thought possible, with events coming to a riotous conclusion when the Admiralty turn up for an inspection of the ship....
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
Character:
Advertising golden boy Andrew Quint is fed up with his fabulously successful life. In very dramatic fashion, he quits his job to return to writing for a small literary magazine. He wants to leave his former life behind, going as far as saying good-bye to his wife and mistresses. He finds, however, that it's not so easy to escape the past....
Seven Seas to Calais
Character: Sir Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Drake fights to take over Spain's treasure routes for Queen Elizabeth I....
Ring of Spies
Character: Second Member at Lords (uncredited)
The film is based on the actual events of the Portland Spy Ring trial in the U.K. A disgruntled Navy Clerk is transferred to a secret research establishment and is subsequently black-mailed/paid by Czech intelligence to procure secrets for them. He seduces the secretary who controls the most secret documents, and they enjoy the fruits of their treachery until the British authorities begin to close in on them....
The Weapon
Character:
A boy accidentally shoots a friend with a gun he found in the rubble of a destroyed building. The gun turns out to be a clue in a ten-year-old murder case....
Suspect
Character: Dr Childs
A government team researching cures for plague find their results put on the Official Secrets list. One of their number is so incensed by this that he lets the maimed and jealous companion of a female colleague draw him into what, technically, could be a treasonable act....
Innocent Sinners
Character: Dyson
A neglected girl in post-World War II London befriends street urchins who help her build a tiny garden in a bombed-out church....
The Cuckoo Patrol
Character: Snodgrass
Freddie and the Dreamers play part of a Scout troupe that get caught up in a series of misadventures on their way to camp....
Victim
Character: Barrister (uncredited)
A web of blackmail and murder attracts the attention of a barrister with a seemingly idyllic life, threatening to derail his career on the path of success....
I'm All Right Jack
Character: Minister of Labour
Naive Stanley Windrush returns from the war, his mind set on a successful career in business. Much to his own dismay, he soon finds he has to start from the bottom and work his way up, and also that the management as well as the trade union use him as a tool in their fight for power....
Touch and Go
Character: Stevens
When Jim Fletcher is told by his firm that his new furniture designs are not in keeping with the firm's image he threatens to resign, and decides to uproot his family and emigrate to Australia - but his problems are only just beginning....
You Pay Your Money
Character: Currie
Crime drama in which a couple get involved in a web of intrigue surrounding the husband's employer....
Further Up the Creek
Character: Flagship Commander
The sequel to 'Up The Creek' sees David Tomlinson return as bumbling navy boffin Lieutenant Humphrey Fairweather. This time he is skipper of the ship Aristotle and, together with his second-in-command, Fairweather wreaks havoc when he is ordered to deliver the Aristotle to its new owners in a mythical Middle-Eastern country....
Gorgo
Character: Admiral Brooks
Greedy sailors capture a giant lizard off the coast of Ireland and sell it to a London circus. Then its mother shows up....
Assignment K
Character: Howlett
Philip Scott, the boss of a toy company, is secretly also the chief of a British spy organization. Scott's cover is destroyed when enemy agents kidnap his girlfriend to force him to reveal the identities of his fellow spies....
Room at the Top
Character: Priest (uncredited)
An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman....
The Quatermass Xperiment
Character: Sir Lionel Dean (uncredited)
The first manned spacecraft, fired from an English launchpad, is first lost from radar, then roars back to Earth and crashes in a farmer's field, and is found to contain only one of the three men who took off in it; and he is unable to talk but appears to be undergoing a torturous physical and mental metamorphosis....
Lawrence of Arabia
Character: Cavalry General at Field Briefing (uncredited)
The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Lawrence becomes a flamboyant, messianic figure in the cause of Arab unity but his psychological instability threatens to undermine his achievements....
The Counterfeit Plan
Character: Police Commissioner
An escaped murderer flees France to England, where he forces an ex-forger, now established as a reputable estate owner, and the forger's daughter who knew nothing of his past, to counterfeit 5-pound notes for mass distribution around the countryside....
Heavens Above!
Character: Prison Governor
A naive but caring prison chaplain, who happens to have the same last name as an upper class cleric, is by mistake appointed as vicar to a small and prosperous country town. His belief in charity and forgiveness sets him at odds with the conservative and narrow-minded locals, and he soon creates social ructions by appointing a black dustman as his churchwarden, taking in a gypsy family, and persuading the local landowner to provide free food for the church to distribute free to the people of the...
10 Rillington Place
Character: Member of Medical Board
The story of British serial killer John Christie, who committed most or all of his crimes in the titular terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans....
Soft Beds, Hard Battles
Character: Brigadier
In this comedy, set during the Nazi occupation of France, Peter Sellers plays most major male parts, so he stars in nearly every scene, always bumbling in inspector Clouseau-style....
The Narrowing Circle
Character: George Pacey
A journalist is framed for the murder of a rival and has to prove his innocence, whatever the cost....
Twisted Nerve
Character: Doctor
Martin Durnley is a young man with an infantilizing mother, resentful stepfather and an institutionalized brother with Down's syndrome. To cope, he retreats into an alternate child personality he calls Georgie. After being caught during a theft attempt at a department store, he befriends a female customer who is sympathetic to him, but his friendship soon turns into obsession....
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
Character: Sir Lionel Henry Lamb, British Ambassador to China
While sailing lawfully up the Yangste in 1949, the British warship Amethyst found its return to the open sea blocked by Communist Chinese shore batteries that unexpectedly opened fire. In charge, Lietenant Commander Kerans was not however prepared for his crew and his ship to remain as a hostage for the Chinese to use as an international pawn....
Smart Alec
Character: Defense Attorney
A young artist plots "the perfect murder" in order to inherit his wealthy uncle's fortune....
The Spider's Web
Character: Hugo
Mystery film based on an Agatha Christie story....
Two on the Tiles
Character: Ship’s Captain
A married couple both face temptations while separated for a few days. The husband meets an attractive female fellow traveler in Paris while the wife accidentally spends a night aboard a Royal Navy ship with a male friend after she is stranded following a party. Despite knowing the essential innocence of both husband and wife, their sinister new butler uses information about their discretions to demand blackmail payments....
Sapphire
Character: Doctor Burgess
Two Scotland Yard detectives investigate the murder of a young woman of mixed race who had been passing for white. As they interview a spate of suspects -- including the girl's white boyfriend and his disapproving parents -- the detectives wade through a stubbornly entrenched sludge of racism and bigotry....
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
Character: Commissioner McCloud (uncredited)
Carol Hammond, daughter of a politician, has vivid nightmares involving sex orgies and LSD. In a dream, she murders a neighbor she envies and wakes up to a real investigation into her neighbor's murder....
Where the Spies Are
Character: Major Harding
A local doctor is recruited as a cold war spy to fulfill a very important secret mission in the Middle East, only to experience that his mission is complicated by a sexy female double agent....
Reach for the Sky
Character: Air Ministry Doctor
The true story of airman Douglas Bader who overcame the loss of both legs in a 1931 flying accident to become a successful fighter pilot and wing leader during World War II....
The Games
Character: Sir Harold
From Great Britain, the United States, France, Italy, Australia and behind the Iron Curtain. They are the most superbly conditioned animals in the world. They are also the pawns of powerful nations, the victims of dangerous drugs and the object of many men's ambitions. Once every four years they come together... for the Olympic Games....
Life for Ruth
Character: Mapleton
John Harris finds himself ostracized and placed on trial for allowing his daughter Ruth to die. His religious beliefs forbade him to give consent for a blood transfusion that would have saved her life. Doctor Brown is determined to seek justice for what he sees as the needless death of a young girl....
Brothers in Law
Character: Mr. Justice Emery
Roger Thursby is an overly keen, newly-qualified barrister who rubs his fellow barristers up the wrong way. When he is thrown in at the deep-end, with a particularly hot-tempered judge and tricky case, Thursby learns how to prove himself not only to the judge and fellow barristers but also to the public gallery....
The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's
Character: Army Officer
The fourth form monsters' latest trick is their best ever – they have burned down St Trinian’s school! As the girls stand trial, the police breathe a sigh of relief, but miraculously the judge's infatuation with a student means the school is freed. For the authorities, it means a new reign of terror as the girls of St Trinian’s regroup with gleeful anticipation....
Fate Takes a Hand
Character: Wheeler
When a mail bag full of post that was taken in a robbery is discovered fifteen years later, a Post Office employee and local reporter decide to deliver the letters to their original intended addressees. This solitary incident has profound ramifications on several of the recipients and this film tells the story of how just five of those letters changed peoples lives forever....
Maytime in Mayfair
Character: Commissionaire (uncredited)
Penniless man-about-town Michael Gore-Brown is delighted to hear he has been left a high-class Mayfair fashion salon. His intention is to sell it as quickly as possible, but on meeting Ellen, chief designer and manager, he quickly changes his mind and turns his attention to courting her....
Hammer the Toff
Character: Superintendent
A detective proves that a Robin Hood-type crook did not steal a metal formula....
The Lady with a Lamp
Character:
Based on the Reginald Berkeley stage play, this compelling historical drama offers a depiction of the life story of Florence Nightingale, the young 19th-century Englishwoman famously drawn to a career in nursing. Traveling to Turkey during the Crimean War, Florence gains a reputation for being devoted to the care of wounded soldiers and for pioneering higher standards for sanitary hospital conditions....
Rotten to the Core
Character: The General
Rogues Jelly Knight, Scapa Flood, and Lennie the Dip leave prison expecting boss The Duke to have their stash ready to share out. Instead, Duke's girl Sara gives them the news Duke is dead and the money gone on nursing care. They soon discover that Duke is actually running Hope Springs Nature Clinic with the help of most of the local villains. Very strange - and the nearby army camp and Sara's encouragement of Lieutenant Vine would seem to be no coincidence either. Written by Jeremy Perkins...
They Can't Hang Me
Character: Wing Commander Riddle
A murderer hopes to escape his death sentence by identifying the leaders of a spy ring....
A Touch of Larceny
Character: Lt. Cmdr. Evans at P.R.O. (uncredited)
After falling in love with an American woman, Virginia Killain, who is engaged to another man, British Naval Commander Max Easton, hatches a plan that will get him enough money to support Virginia in the lifestyle she is accustomed to. Easton's plan is to disappear for a time making it seem that he has defected to the Soviets taking important Naval secrets from his job at the Admiralty and to return and sue the newspapers for slander. Not everything goes as planned for Commander Easton....
Port of Escape
Character: Det. Sgt. Crawford
Two sailors dock in London in search of a good time. But when one of them fatally stabs a man during a scuffle in a bar, the pair flee the scene, commandeer a boat and take the three women on board hostage as they try to outrun the law....
Appointment with Venus
Character: R.A.M.C. Captain
At the outbreak of WWII the British realise they can't prevent the invasion of the Channel Islands. However, someone realises that a prize cow is on the islands and the Nazis mustn't get hold of her. This is the intrepid story of the cow-napping from under the noses of the Nazis....
Laughter in the Dark
Character: Dealer
Swinging London in the 1960's. Deals with the affection of a middle-aged man for a very young woman, resulting in a mutually parasitic relationship....
Rockets Galore
Character: R.A.F. Officer (uncredited)
The inhabitants of Todday are content to live their lives in peace and quiet, until, that is, the government decides their little corner of the world would be the perfect place for a rocket launch site....
His Excellency
Character: Security Officer
A trade union official becomes governor of a British island colony...
Carry On Sergeant
Character:
Sergeant Grimshawe wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with his very last platoon of newly called-up National Servicemen. But a motley bunch they turn out to be, and it's up to Grimshawe to put the no-hopers through their paces....
Master Spy
Character: Richard Horton
Boris Turganev (Murray) is a Russian scientist who has absconded from a Communist prison in an attempt to achieve a better life working for the British. As Boris struggles to make his superiors believe he is there to work and not to spy for the Russians, an office romance blossoms that could put his mission in jeopardy....