Derek Bond
| Derek Bond | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Derek William Douglas Bond 26 January 1920 Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Died |
15 October 2006 (aged 86) Wandsworth, London, England |
| Years active | 1938–1998 |
| Spouse(s) |
Annie Glover (1977-2006) (his death) Ann Grace (1942-?) (divorced) 1 child Gail Miller (1970-?) (divorced) 1 child |
Derek William Douglas Bond, MC (26 January 1920 – 15 October 2006) was a British actor.
Life and career
Derek Bond was born on 26 January 1920 in Glasgow, Scotland. He attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Hampstead, London.[1] He saw active service with the Grenadier Guards in North Africa during the Second World War, for which he was awarded the Military Cross.[2] He spent the last few months of the war in Stalag VII-A, a Bavarian POW camp.[1]
He enjoyed a varied film, stage and television career, which began in 1938 with experience with the Finchley Amateur Dramatic Society. His conventional good looks secured him a number of dramatic and light comedy roles. He made a lasting impression in the title role of the Ealing Studios production of Nicholas Nickleby (1947).
As well as acting, he wrote a number of scripts; his first drama for television was Unscheduled Stop, produced for ITV's Armchair Theatre in 1968 and directed by Toby Robertson.[3]
He was President of the Actors' Union Equity for a tempestuous period during the 1980s. In 1984, because of his intention to perform in South Africa (the country's apartheid system was the cause of a UN-backed cultural boycott), a motion urging Bond to resign was proposed, but rejected, in July 1984. He later resigned when a ban on members working in South Africa became union policy after his return to the UK.[1]
Derek Bond was married three times. He died on 15 October 2006, in London, and is survived by his third wife Annie, a son, a daughter and a stepson.
Selected filmography
- The Captive Heart (1946)
- Nicholas Nickleby (1947) (title role)
- The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947)
- Uncle Silas (1947)
- Broken Journey (1948)
- Scott of the Antarctic (1948) (as Oates)
- Marry Me! (1949)
- Poet's Pub (1949)
- Christopher Columbus (1949)
- Tony Draws a Horse (1950)
- Trouble in Store (1953)
- Svengali (1954)
- Gideon's Day (1958)
- The Hand (1960)
- Wonderful Life (1964)
- Saturday Night Out (1964)
- Press for Time (1966)
- Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1966)
- When Eight Bells Toll (1971)
Selected television appearances
- Picture Parade (co-presenter)
- Cooperama (with Tommy Cooper, 1966)
- Callan (1969)
References
War Memoirs, Steady, Old Man! Don't You Know There's a War on? Derek Bond, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 1990. ISBN 0850520460
- 1 2 3 Gavin Gaughan Obituary: Derek Bond, The Guardian, 8 November 2006
- ↑ Steady, Old Man! Don't You Know There's a War on? Derek Bond, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 1990. ISBN 0850520460
- ↑ White, Leonard. Armchair Theatre: The Lost Years. Kelly Publications, 2003: p. 211