Frank Windsor Higgins (12 July 1928 – 30 September 2020), known professionally as Frank Windsor, was an English actor, primarily known for his roles on television, especially policeman John Watt in ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it deb ...

'' and its spin-offs.

Biography

Windsor attended

Queen Mary's Grammar School Queen Mary's Grammar School (QMGS) is a boys' grammar school with academy status located on Sutton Road, Walsall, England, about a mile from the town centre and one of the oldest schools in the country. The sixth form is coeducational. Admiss ...

, Walsall, and studied speech training and drama at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, London. He played Detective Sergeant John Watt in ''

'' from 1962 to 1965, and thereafter its spin-offs '' Softly, Softly'' (1966–1969), '' Softly, Softly: Taskforce'' (1969–1976), ''

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

'' (1973), and '' Second Verdict'' (1976). He appeared as "Tobin" in Series 6, Episode 9 of '' The Avengers''. In 1969, he appeared in the pilot episode of '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' in the episode " My Late Lamented Friend and Partner" as Sorrensen, a wealthy businessman with a murderous streak. His lighter side was demonstrated in the pilot episode of the

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

'' The Dustbinmen'' in 1968, and as Scoutfinder General in an episode of '' The Goodies''. From 1987 to 1989, he starred in the comedy drama ''Flying Lady'' written by

Brian Finch Brian Finch (25 July 1936 – 27 June 2007) was a British television scriptwriter and dramatist. His longest relationship was with the ITV1 soap opera, '' Coronation Street'', for which he wrote 150 scripts between 1970 and 1989. He also helped t ...

. He also starred as a rather old-fashioned headmaster grappling with problems in education in ''Headmaster'', which started as a single play in ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' in 1974. It was expanded into a six-part series in 1977. He had regular roles in the BBC drama '' Casualty''; the ITV drama ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale—a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their m ...

''; he played

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in ''

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'' (1992); appeared twice in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

''; had various stage roles, and in his later years appeared in television commercials advertising life-assurance policies for people over 50. He was the subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' on 3 December 1975 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

at the Metropolitan Police Sports Club in East Molesey. He was married to Mary Corbett from October 1959 until his death. They had two children. Windsor died at his home in London in September 2020, at the age of 92.

Partial filmography

* '' This Sporting Life'' (1963) – Dentist * '' The Jokers'' (1967) – Policeman in Court (uncredited) * ''

Spring and Port Wine ''Spring and Port Wine'' is a stage play by Bill Naughton and a 1970 British kitchen sink drama film based on it. The drama is set in Bolton and concerns the Crompton family, especially Rafe, the father, and his attempts to assert his authori ...

'' (1969) – Ned Duckworth * '' Dropout'' (1970) * '' Sunday Bloody Sunday'' (1971) – Bill Hodson * '' Assassin'' (1973) – John Stacy * '' Barry McKenzie Holds His Own'' (1974) – Police Sergeant * ''Leyland Cars – The Quality Connection'' (1975) – Police Officer/Commentator * '' Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?'' (1978) – Blodgett * '' The London Connection'' (1979) – McGuffin * ''Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective'' (1981) – Fred Fennell * ''

Coming Out of the Ice ''Coming Out of the Ice'' is a 1982 American made-for-television biographical film of Victor Herman.THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN IN SIBERIA Boston Globe 23 May 1982: 1. It is based upon Herman's 1979 autobiography of the same name. Cast *John Savage ...

'' (1982) – Sam Herman * ''Doll's Eye'' (1982) – Restaurant Businessman * ''

'' – 4 episodes in 1983 and 1989 * '' The Shooting Party'' (1985) – Glass * ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' (1985) – Gen. Washington * '' Out of Order'' (1987) – Traffic Warden * '' All Creatures Great and Small'' (1989) – David Rayner in episode "Mending Fences" * ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' (1991) – Ralph Peagram in episode Raise the Hispanic * ''

'' (1 episode in 1992) – Major Grace * ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of ...

'' (1999) – George Meakham in S2:E2 "Strangler’s Woods" * '' Between Two Women'' (2000) – Mr Walker (final film role)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor, Frank 1928 births 2020 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors People educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School People from Walsall Actors from Staffordshire