Alan MacNaughtan (4 March 1920 – 29 August 2002) was a Scottish actor, born in

Bearsden Bearsden ( ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. The Roman Empire, Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town, and the remains of ...

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

, Scotland. He was educated at

the Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldes ...

, trained at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

, and graduated in 1940 with the Bancroft Gold Medal. An experienced

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

, West End and Broadway

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, he became active in television and certain films between 1954 and 1999.

Television career

MacNaughtan played many guest roles in productions of the 1960s and 1970s including ''

Dr. Finlay's Casebook ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'' is a television drama series that was produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's 1935 novella ''Country Doctor'', the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fiction ...

'', '' The Avengers'', '' The Baron'', ''"The Maze"'' (ATV/ITC, 1966), '' Department S'', ''Who Plays the Dummy?'' (ATV/ITC, 1969), '' The Saint'', '' The Professionals'', ''A Stirring of Dust'' (LWT/Avengers Mark 1, 1978). He also played Major Brenan, a deceptive MI5 agent in '' The Ghost Talks (Randall and Hopkirk Deceased)'' in 1969. MacNaughtan's sharp blue eyes and features meant that he often played a villain in such ITC series. He appeared at

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

's National Theatre in roles which brought "considerable acclaim"; including in 1972, as Walter Burns in a revival of '' The Front Page''. MacNaughtan played Sir Geoffrey Wellingham in

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

's '' The Sandbaggers'', Dr. Crawley in

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

's '' Mr Palfrey of Westminster'', and portrayed the acerbic teacher Howarth in the 1981 BBC serial '' To Serve Them All My Days''. He played the role of Sir Percy Browne, head of MI5, in '' A Very British Coup'' in 1988. His last role was an appearance in ''

Kavanagh QC ''Kavanagh QC'' is a British television series made by Central Television for ITV between 3 January 1995 and 25 April 2001. All five series are available on DVD in both Region 1 and Region 2. Plot The series starred John Thaw as barrister J ...

'' in 1999.

Films

He made a few appearances in films including starring alongside

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the Hous ...

as his disapproving brother-in-law in the then controversial '' Victim'' (1961). He also had roles in '' Frankenstein Created Woman'' (1967), '' Patton'' (1970), '' Family Life'' (1971), '' Shadowlands'' (1985), '' The Last Days of Patton'' (1986), '' Blue Ice'' (1992), and '' The Commissioner'' (1998). He was a friend of actor

Alec McCowen Alexander Duncan McCowen, (26 May 1925 – 6 February 2017) was an English actor. He was known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. Early life McCowen was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Mary (née Walkden), a dancer ...

. MacNaughtan died of cancer on 29 August 2002, aged 82.

Filmography

References

External links

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Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macnaughtan, Alan 1920 births 2002 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Scottish male stage actors Scottish male film actors Scottish male television actors People from Bearsden People educated at the Glasgow Academy Male actors from East Dunbartonshire