Alan Wheatley

Alan Wheatley

Born (1907-04-19)19 April 1907
Tolworth, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
Died 30 August 1991(1991-08-30) (aged 84)
Westminster, London, England, UK
Cause of death Heart attack
Occupation Actor and radio announcer
Years active 1936 - 1987

Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 30 August 1991) was an English actor and former radio announcer. He is perhaps best known for playing the polished villain the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1950s TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, with Richard Greene playing Robin Hood. In 1951, Wheatley had played Sherlock Holmes in the first TV series about the fictional detective, but no recordings of it are known to exist.

Life and career

Born in Tolworth, Surrey, the son of a bank clerk, William Henry Wheatley and his wife, Rose (née Towers), Alan Wheatley worked as a radio announcer before turning to stage and screen acting in the 1930s, as a player during the black-and-white era of film and television. He had originally been an industrial psychologist. Wheatley made his film debut in Conquest of the Air (1936), which remained unreleased for four years. During the Second World War, he worked for BBC Radio, as both an actor and an announcer.

Wheatley starred as Sherlock Holmes in the 1951 BBC TV series, which was the first such series though not the Holmes character's first appearance on television. The program aired live for six episodes, and apparently no recordings were made. In the later Robin Hood series, Wheatley appeared regularly as the Sheriff in the first three seasons; in the fourth and final season, his role was mostly taken over by that of the Deputy Sheriff (John Arnatt) as a result of Wheatley's departure from the series. He also had roles in Danger Man and The Avengers. Wheatley played the first character to be killed on-screen by a Dalek in Doctor Who, when he appeared as Thal leader Temmosus in the 196364 serial The Daleks.

His film credits include: Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), The Rake's Progress (1945), Brighton Rock (1947), Calling Paul Temple (1948), The Pickwick Papers (1952), Spaceways (1953), Simon and Laura (1955), A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964) and Tomorrow at Ten (1964) among others. He also appeared in Inn for Trouble (1960), a film spin-off of the TV comedy The Larkins.

Wheatley was also a prolific stage actor. His theatre credits included Clifford Bax's The House of Borgia (1935), the lead in This Way to the Tomb, and the tormented soul, Harry, in The Family Reunion. He appeared in two versions of the thriller play Rope, in 1950 and 1953, and starred as Abanazar in the Cole Porter musical pantomime Aladdin' at the London Coliseum in 1960. He also played the Abbé in a BBC radio adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, with the young Andrew Sachs (as Dantes) in 1987, and the High Lama in the 1981 BBC Radio 4 "Classic Serial" version of Lost Horizon, with Derek Jacobi as Hugh Conway.

Wheatley died in Westminster, London in 1991[1] of a heart attack, aged 84.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1936 The Conquest of Air Borelli
1937 William Tindale William Tindale
1945 The Rake's Progress Edwards
Caesar and Cleopatra Persian
1946 Appointment with Crime Noel Penn
Spring Song Menelli
1947 Jassy Sir Edward Walker
The End of the River Irygoyen
Brighton Rock Fred Hale
1948 Corridor of Mirrors Edgar Orsen
Counterblast M.W. Kennedy
Calling Paul Temple Edward Lathom
Sleeping Car to Trieste Karl / Charles Pool
1949 It's Not Cricket Felix
For Them That Trespass Librarian Uncredited
1951 Home to Danger Hughes
1952 Whispering Smith Hits London Reith
The Pickwick Papers Fogg
1953 Spaceways Dr Smith
The Limping Man Inspector Braddock
Small Town Story Nick Hammond
1954 The Javenese Dagger Victor short film
The Diamond Thompson Blake
The House Across the Lake Inspector MacLennan
Delayed Action Mark Cruden
Elizabethan Express Narrator Voice
1955 Simon and Laura Adrian Lee
1958 The Duke Wore Jeans King of Ritallia
1960 Inn for Trouble Harold Gaskin
1961 Frederic Chopin Unknown short film
The Shadow of the Cat Inspector Rowles
1963 Master Spy Paul Skelton
Tomorrow at Ten Assistant Commisoner Bewley
1964 A Jolly Bad Fellow Epicene
Clash By Night Ronald Grey-Simmons

Television

Year Title Role Episode(s) TV Movies
1937 The Importance of Being Earnest Lane
1938 The Gaylord Quex Unknown
Bardell Against Pickwick Sam Weller
Julius Caesar Titinius
The Importance of Being Earnest Lane
1939 Edna's Fruit Hat Sid
The Tempest Alonso
Caesar's Friend Judas
Katharine and Petruchio Hortensio
Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress Schniedekind
The Chance of a Lifetime Joe Bessano
Magic The Stranger
Fiat Justitia Unknown
Mr. Jones Dines Out The waiter
The Circle Arnold Cheney
1946 A Phoenix to Frequent Tegeus-Chromis
Bardell against Pickwick Sam Weller
1947 Everyman Five Wits
Caesar's Friend Judas
The Little Dry Thorn Lot
The Round Dozen Ashenden
Edward II Gaveston
The Coventry Nativity Play Herod
1948 Volpone Mosca
King Lear King's fool
He That Should Come
1949 The Happiest Days of Your Life Mr. Billings
The Coventry Nativity Play Herod
1950 Mrs. Dot James Blenkinsop
Triple Bill Unknown
Treasures in Heaven Andrew Carne
The Tragedy of King Richard III King Richard III
1950

1951

BBC Sunday-Night Theatre Rupert Cadell

Humphrey Rhodes

Roderigo

Richard de Beauchamp

Fainall

Lozovsky

Sire de Maletroit

Season 1: (3 episodes)

Season 2: (4 episodes)

1951 Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes Season 1: (6 episodes)
The Inch Man Tommy Mitzner Season 1, Episode 6: "Moments so Few"
1952 The Twelfth Brother Pharaoh TV Short
1953 Rope Rupert Cadell TV Movie
Jesus of Nazareth Pilate TV MIni-series (uncredited)
1954 Prelude to Glory Marquis of Conygham TV Movie
1955-

1960

The Adventures of Robin Hood Sheriff of Nottingham Season 1: (26 episodes)

Season 2: (26 episodes)

Season 3: (21 episodes)

Season 4: (8 episodes)

1956 Rheingold Theatre Nicolis Season 4, Episode 7: "Dimitrios"
Colonel March of Scotland Yard O'Brien Season 1, Episode 9: " The Second Mona Lisa"
Adventure Theater Victor Season 1, Episode 2: " The Javanese Dagger"
The Count of Monte Cristo Bennet

Colonel Michelle

Season 1: (2 episodes)
1957

1958

The New Adventures of Charlie Chan Professor Ambrose

Pietro Monti

Season 1: (2 episodes)
1958 Tales from Dickens Mr. Murdstone Season 1: (2 episodes)
1958

1962

1965

ITV Play of the Week Jonathan Brewster

Unknown

Cardinal of Palermo

Season 3, Episode 50: "Arsenic and Old Lace"

Season 8, Episode 7: "When the Kissing Had to Stop"

Season 11, Episode 2: "The Successor"

1959 A Farthings Damages Marcus Dane TV Movie
1960 International Detective Colonel Duggan Season 1, Episode 14: "The Oakland Case"
An Arabian Night Jafar TV Movie
No Hiding Place Dandy Henderson Season 2, Episode 20: "Two-Time Loser"
1961 Danger Man Alexis Season 1, Episode 33: "The Hired Assassin"
You Can't Win Hearn Season 1, Episode 3; "Professional Status"
Gilbert and Sullivan: The Immortal Jesters Richard D'Oyly Carte Season 1: (3 episodes)
1961

1963

Maigret UnknownJulien Chabot Season 2, Episode 6: "The Lost Sailor"

Season 4, Episode 2: "The Fontenay Murders"

1962 The Six Proud Walkers Oscar Lilywhite Season 1: (2 episodes)
1963 It Happened Like This Hastings Season 1, Episode 5: "The missing Line"
1964 Doctor Who Temmosus Season 1: (2 episodes)
The Protectors James Benson Season 1, Episode 12: "Channel Crossing"
The Midnight Men Prince Rohat Season 1, Episode 1: "The Man from Miditz"
1964

1965

Crane Michaud

Dr. Hilfe

Season 2, Episode 13: " Man Without A Past"
1965 Danger Man Solicitor Season 1, Episode 14: " Such Men are Dangerous"
1967 The Baron Lord Mountford Season 1, Episode 23: "The Edge of Fear"
Mystery Hall Alex Ramsey Season 1: (6 episodes)
1969 The Avengers Dangerfield Season 7, Episode 25: "Who Was That Man I Saw You With?"
1970 Department S Carter Season 2, Episode 19: "A Ticket to Nowhere", (Last appearance)

References

  1. GRO Register of Deaths: SEP 1991 15 1514 WESTMINSTER - Alan Wheatley, DoB = 19 Apr 1907 aged 84

External links

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