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Jack May

Birthday: Born in 1922-04-23 in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Deathday: 1997-09-19

Jack May was a mellifluous-voiced actor best known for playing butlers and establishment figures, often representing Britain's interests in far-flung corners of the empire. With regards the former, he memorably played William E. Simms, former music hall artise turned manservant to Gerald Harper's titular swashbuckling adventurer in '60s TV cult classic Adam Adamant Lives! as well as providing the voice of Igor, the long-suffering valet in Cosgrove Hall's 1980s animation Count Duckula. His film credits included the district commissioner in 1975's The Man Who Would Be King and the prosecuting naval attorney in the remake of The Bounty (1984). For many, May was Nelson Gabriel 'the most disreputable character in Ambridge' in BBC Radio 4's long-running soap The Archers. May took the role of the shady rogue, later antique dealer and wine bar owner, in 1952 and continued to play him right up until the year of his death, 1997. This 45 year stint made May, at the time, the fourth-longest serving soap opera star in the world. He died at the age of 75, on 19 September 1997, survived by his wife, the actress Petra Davies, his daughter Henrietta, and son David.

TV Credits

Adam Adamant Lives!

Character:

Adam Adamant Lives! is a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, the show was a comedy adventure that took a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of an Edwardian....

Jeeves and Wooster

Character: Vicar

Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy-drama series adapted by Clive Exton from P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 1990 to 1993, starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, a young gentleman with a "distinctive blend of airy nonchalance and refined gormlessness", and Stephen Fry as Jeeves, his improbably well-informed and talented valet. Wooster is a bachelor, a minor aristocrat and member of the idle rich. He and his friends, who are mainly members of The Drones Cl...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Character: Garkbit (Head Waiter)

Don't Panic! The story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman who life was spared by his friend, who turned out to be an alien, while the planet Earth is destroyed. His friend tells him about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a guide with anything you ever needed, and wanted to know. They travel across the galaxy, meeting friendly, and not so friendly characters in order to find the great question (the answer being 42)....

Softly, Softly

Character:

Softly, Softly is a British television drama series, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966. It centred around the work of regional crime squads, plain-clothes CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern, supposedly in the Bristol area of England....

Shoestring

Character:

Shoestring was a BBC television show set in Bristol. It featured a private detective with his own show on Radio West, the local radio station. The programme ran between 30 September 1979 and 21 December 1980, in two series with 21 one hour-long episodes. Star Trevor Eve decided not to return to the role after two series, as he wanted to diversify into theatre roles, so the same production team changed the format to be based in Jersey and created Bergerac, also about a detective returning to wor...

Count Duckula

Character: Igor

Count Duckula is a vegetarian vampire duck, coming into the world as an accident. Unlike his family and ancestors, he has no bloodlust, as when he was reincarnated, blood was omitted and replaced with ketchup....

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....

UFO

Character: English Delegate

A secret, high-technology international agency called SHADO defends Earth from alien invaders....

Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Character:

Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show stars Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative Lee Stetson who begin a strange association, and eventual romance, after encountering one another in a train station....

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot

Character: Caradoc

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network. The series starred William Russell as the eponymous Sir Lancelot, a Knight of the Round Table in the time of King Arthur at Camelot....

Dr. Finlay's Casebook

Character:

Dr Finlay's Casebook is a television series that was broadcast on the BBC from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's novella ‘Country Doctor’, the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae during the late 1920s. Cronin was the primary writer for the show between 1962 and 1964....

Van der Valk

Character: Minister

Van der Valk is a British television series that was produced by Thames Television for the ITV network. It starred Barry Foster in the title role as Dutch detective Commissaris "Piet" van der Valk. Based on the characters and atmosphere of the novels of Nicolas Freeling, the first series was shown in 1972....

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....

Target

Character:

A crime drama set in Southampton following a team of detectives and the cases they solve....

An Age of Kings

Character:

A linking together of Shakespeare's history plays chronicling the rise and fall of monarchs over the 86 years between Richard II and Richard III....

The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel

Character: Citizen (uncredited)

The second collection of short stories written by Baroness Orczy about the gallant English hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel and his League....

The Main Chance

Character: Derrick Asher

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....

Dawson's Weekly

Character:

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A Horseman Riding By

Character:

Having been invalided out of the Boer War, Paul Craddock buys Shallowford, a manor house and estate in Devon, with money from his late father's scrap-yard business. He soon becomes a much-respected "Squire" who is determined to treat all his tenant farmers fairly, unlike his predecessor....

The BBC Television Shakespeare

Character:

The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and produced by BBC Television. It was transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985 and spanned seven series. Development of the series began in 1975 when Messina saw that Glamis Castle would make a perfect location for an adaptation of Shakespeare's play As You Like It. On returning to London, he envisioned an entire series devoted exclusivel...

You Can't Win

Character:

You Can't Win was a 1966 British television series made by ITV as an adaptation of the novels Scenes from Provincial Life and Scenes from Married Life by William Cooper. It stars Ian McShane as protagonist Joe Lunn, an English provincial grammar school physics teacher in 1939 who later moves to London and into the English establishment....

The Agatha Christie Hour

Character:

This ten episode program was based on ten short stories written by Agatha Christie but with wide-ranging themes. Some were romances, some had supernatural themes and a couple were adventures. The common link was that all came from the talented pen of Agatha Christie, all were entertaining and each drama was carefully crafted and well cast with many of Britain's best known actors of the time represented....

The Main Chance

Character: Harry Turner

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....

All Creatures Great and Small

Character: Reverend Henty

All Creatures Great and Small is a British television series, based on the books of the British veterinary surgeon Alf Wight, who wrote under the pseudonym James Herriot. Ninety episodes were aired over two three-year runs. The first run was based directly on Herriot's books; the second was filmed with original scripts....

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Character: James Ladbroke, Q.C.

Adaptations of mystery stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's contemporary rivals in the genre....

Pride and Prejudice

Character: Mr. Collins

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A for Andromeda

Character: Major Quadring

Set in 1970, a team of scientists decipher a mysterious signal from space and discover that it provides instructions to build a powerful super-computer. Once built, this computer provokes argument between two of leading team members, Fleming and Dawnay, over the machine's real intentions as it provides further instructions to create a living organism, which Dawnay starts to develop. Later it appears to compel lab assistant Christine to commit suicide, and when the organism is fully developed, it...

Budgie

Character: Mr. Pratt

Budgie is a popular British television series starring former popstar Adam Faith which was produced by ITV company London Weekend Television and broadcast on the ITV network between 1971 and 1972. The series was created by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall . The show was produced by Verity Lambert, Rex Firkin was the Executive producer....


Movie Credits

The Man Who Would Be King

Character: District Commissioner

A robust adventure about two British adventurers who take over primitive Kafiristan as "godlike" rulers, meeting a tragic end through their desire for a native girl. Based on a short story by Rudyard Kipling....

The Doctor and the Devils

Character: Dr Stevens

In Victorian England, two grave robbers supply a wealthy doctor with bodies to research anatomy on, but greed causes them to look for a more simple way to get the job done....

Brief Encounter

Character: Boat Rental Man (uncredited)

Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love....

The Bounty

Character: Prosecuting Captain

The familiar story of Lieutenant Bligh, whose cruelty leads to a mutiny on his ship. This version follows both the efforts of Fletcher Christian to get his men beyond the reach of British retribution, and the epic voyage of Lieutenant Bligh to get his loyalists safely to East Timor in a tiny lifeboat....

The Men of Sherwood Forest

Character:

Robin Hood is persuaded by two nobles whom he believes to be loyal to King Richard to recover secret plans attaining to the rescue of the king from captivity in Germany. Though disguised as a troubadour, Robin is betrayed and captured. Lady Alys and the merry men help him escape in time to foil an intended ambush on King Richard as he returns from the Crusades....

The Gentle Sex

Character: Postman (uncredited)

During the War seven women from very different backgrounds find themselves together in the Auxiliary Territorial Services. They are soon drilling, driving lorries, and manning ack-ack batteries....

Emma's Time

Character: Emma's father

After the death of novelist Robert Kelvin, his mistress Emma tries to adjust and reflects upon their relationship....

The Professionals

Character: Edwards

A renowned safecracker and his crew try to rob a bank by entering the vault through the sewer system....

There Was a Crooked Man

Character: Police Sergeant

When a law-abiding demolition expert is duped by a gang of criminals into helping them he is caught and jailed. When he is released he goes straight and then notices a leading citizen in his town is cheating his neighbours....

A Night to Remember

Character: Steerage Passenger (uncredited)

The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows....

Night After Night After Night

Character: Judge Lomax

There's a killer on the loose in London, and whilst our typically craggy copper DI Rowan investigates, Judge Lomax is busy in court, dishing out harsh sentences to everyone who comes before him....

The Traitors

Character: Burton

The cat and mouse game between government agents and a spy ring that has taken secret documents from a plane crash in Germany, not far from an US military research centre....

The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

Character: Garkbit (Head Waiter)

An Earth Man and his alien friend escape an exploding Earth, and set forth on an odd adventure across the universe with a known fugitive....

The Blue Lamp

Character: Old Man in Crowd (Uncredited)

P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s....

Pool of London

Character: Sailor on the Dunbar (uncredited)

Jewel thieves, murder, and a manhunt swirl around a sailor off a cargo ship in post-war London....

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Character: Price (uncredited)

Academy Award-honoree Peter O'Toole stars in this musical classic about a prim English schoolmaster who learns to show his compassion through the help of an outgoing showgirl. O'Toole, who received his fourth Oscar-nomination for this performance, is joined by '60s pop star Petula Clark and fellow Oscar-nominee Michael Redgrave....

A Prize of Arms

Character: MO

A criminal gang sets out to pull off the heist of a large army payroll....

Trog

Character: Dr. Selbourne

Anthropologist Dr. Brockton unearths a primitive troglodyte -- an Ice Age "missing link": half-caveman, half-ape -- in a local cave. Through medical experimentation, she manages to communicate with him and domesticate him before he's let loose by an irate land developer and goes on a rampage, terrorizing the local citizenry....

Solo for Sparrow

Character: Inspector Hudson

A group of crooks accidentally kill an elderly shop assistant while stealing the keys to the jewellery shop where she works. When his superiors think that the case is better handed over to Scotland Yard, the local detective inspector, Sparrow, decides to go solo to investigate the crime himself....

Cat Girl

Character: Richard Johnson

A psychiatrist treats a woman who is convinced that she turns into a killer leopard because of a family curse....

The Silent Enemy

Character: Navy Doctor

The Mediterranean, 1941/42 - Axis forces are using frogmen and manned torpedoes to attack previously impregnable harbours. The Allied forces need to come up with something to answer this threat, which they find in the form of Lt. Lionel "Buster" Crabb....

Whinfrey's Last Case

Character: General Chapman

In 1913 the British government, hearing that the Germans are planning World War I, ask top agent Whinfrey to intervene, but instead he decides to go on holiday to Cornish fishing village Torpoint. Here he believes he has stumbled upon a smuggling ring, but in fact they are Germans who are masquerading as locals in an advance invasion party. The British arrive and arrest them, believing that Whinfrey deliberately planned everything - though it is apparent that he did not....

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

Character: Dr. Schultz

Concerned about his friend's cocaine use, Dr. Watson tricks Sherlock Holmes into travelling to Vienna, where Holmes enters the care of Sigmund Freud. Freud attempts to solve the mysteries of Holmes' subconscious, while Holmes devotes himself to solving a mystery involving the kidnapping of Lola Deveraux....

The Life and Times of David Lloyd George

Character: Lord Runciman

The Life and Times of David Lloyd George charts the life of the controversial Liberal politician with Philip Madoc in the titular role. The title theme, Chi Mai, was by Ennio Morricone...

Deadlock

Character: Postman

A murderous twin gets his comeuppance....

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Character: Shopkeeper

A wily slave must unite a virgin courtesan and his young smitten master to earn his freedom....

Henry VIII

Character: Lord Chancellor

Henry is a proud monarch who flies in the face of the church in seeking to divorce Queen Katherine and marry Anne Bullen. As cardinal Wolsey, the powerful Lord Chancellor of England, attempts to bend Rome to the King's wishes, the court reverbates with political intrigue and accusations of treachery....

This Happy Breed

Character: Mourner

In 1919, Frank Gibbons returns home from army duty and moves into a middle-class row house, bringing with him wife Ethel, carping mother-in-law Mrs. Flint, sister-in-law Sylvia and three children. Years pass, with the daily routine of family infighting and reconciliation occasionally broken by a strike or a festival....

Millions Like Us

Character: Old Man

When Celia Crowson is called up for war service, she hopes for a glamorous job in one of the services, but as a single girl, she is directed into a factory making aircraft parts. Here she meets other girls from all different walks of life and begins a relationship with a young airman....

Big Zapper

Character: Jeremiah Horn

A female private detective, Harriet Zapper, is hired by a rich old man to find his missing children, and becomes involved in counterfeiting and murder....

How I Won the War

Character: Toby

An inept British WWII commander leads his troops to a series of misadventures in North Africa and Europe....

The Shooting Party

Character: Sir Harry Stamp

1913, shortly before the outbreak of WWI. A group of aristocrats gathers at the estate of Sir Randolph Nettleby for a weekend shoot. As the terminal decrepitude of a dying class is reflected in the social interactions and hypocrisy of its members, only world weary Sir Randolph seems to realise that the sun is setting....

Johnny Frenchman

Character: Choir Member (uncredited)

The fisherman from a Cornish village have a friendly rivalry with the fishermen (and one formidable woman) from a French port. Then war comes and they must all rethink their petty differences....

The Return of the Soldier

Character: Brigadier General

The horrors of World War I have robbed returning veteran Chris Baldry of his memory. The traumatized soldier doesn't even recognize his own wife, Kitty, or remember their years together. While Baldry attempts to cope with the unfamiliar surroundings of his own home, he seeks out the company of an old flame from his childhood, Margaret Grey. His amnesia also makes him a ready target for the affections of his older cousin, Jenny....

Hard Road

Character: Psychiatrist

When Kelly and Max, two 13-year olds from widely different social backgrounds, form an unlikely alliance and take off in Max's father's Ferrari for an illegal trip to Brighton. On the way they discover more about life and each other than they had bargained for....

Willie's War

Character: Grandfather

When 10-year-old Willie is evacuated from the East End of London, he is chosen by Zander, 13-year-old son of an army captain, to be his companion in a rambling country house....

A Swarm in May

Character: Mr. Ardent - the Headmaster

John Owen returns to the Choir School at the start of term to find that he is the youngest Singing Boy in the school. This means he must also be Beekeeper - a traditional role. One of the traditional duties of the Beekeeper is to sing a solo in the Cathedral. Owen hates and dreads the prospect, so he persuades the smallest boy in the school, Iddingley, to take his place. Then, while exploring one of the Cathedral towers without permission, Owen finds something which makes him change his mind, an...

Doctor Who: The Space Pirates

Character: General Hermack

The TARDIS materialises in Earth's future on a space beacon just before it is attacked by pirates. The travellers find themselves trapped in a sealed section of the beacon. It is blown apart and flown to where the pirates will plunder it of the precious mineral argonite. They witness a conflict between the pirates and the Interstellar Space Corps, led by General Hermack and Major Warne. The ISC are convinced that the pirates' mastermind is an innocent yet eccentric space mining pioneer named Mi...

A Twist of Sand

Character: Inspector Seekert

A former British Naval Officer now makes his living by smuggling goods around the Mediterranean. After being forced to dump his cargo after nearly being caught by the authorities in Malta, he is eager to recoup his losses. When a former colleague appears and tells a wild story about smuggling diamonds out of South West Africa, he sees his chance to make a lot of money.......

The Gay Dog

Character: Pub Customer

Jim Gay loves his racing greyhound but, out of town, he finds a dog with a better chance to win. His friends bet on his dog while he bets against....

Behind the Headlines

Character:

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Saraband for Dead Lovers

Character: Reveller

Sophie Dorothea is a young woman forced into a loveless marriage with Prince George Louis of Hanover. George Louis is later crowned King George I of England. Despairing of ever experiencing true love, the depressed queen finds life at court no solace. Sophie then falls for a dashing Swedish soldier of fortune, Count Konigsmark....


Made by Yusuf Kıtlık