John Bach (born 5 June 1946) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-born

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

actor who has acted on stage, television and film over a period of more than four decades. Though born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, he has spent most of his career living and working in New Zealand. International audiences are most likely to have seen Bach as the Gondorian Ranger Madril in the second and third movies of ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003). His leading roles in New Zealand television include playing the titular Detective Inspector John Duggan in the '' Duggan'' telemovies and television series, one of the truckdriving brothers in series'' Roche'', and time on long-running

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' Close to Home''. In 1992 he starred as Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell in the telemovie The Sound and the Silence. In 1999 he played the Earl of Sackville in an episode of the TV miniseries '' A Twist in the Tale''. Bach's Australian work includes science fiction series '' Farscape,'' playing Mike Power in based on a true story mini-series ''The Great Bookie Robbery ''(1986), and as

Sir Ian Hamilton Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, (16 January 1853 – 12 October 1947) was a British Army general who had an extensive British Imperial military career in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Hamilton was twice recommended for the Victoria Cro ...

in the 2015 TV miniseries '' Gallipoli''. In 2010 Bach appeared in NZ science fiction series ''

This Is Not My Life ''This Is Not My Life'' is a New Zealand television mystery-thriller which originally aired from 29 July to 14 October 2010 on Television New Zealand's TV One. Plot Set in the 2020s, the show centres on Alec Ross (Charles Mesure) who awake ...

'' as the sinister Harry Sheridan, as magistrate Titus Calavius in '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'' and in an episode of ''

Legend of the Seeker ''Legend of the Seeker'' is an American television series created by Sam Raimi, based on the fantasy novel series ''The Sword of Truth'' by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series f ...

''. He has also appeared in several New Zealand films, including ''

Utu Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...

'', '' Carry Me Back'', ''

Goodbye Pork Pie ''Goodbye Pork Pie'' is a 1981 New Zealand comedy film directed by Geoff Murphy, co-produced by Murphy and Nigel Hutchinson, and written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune. The film was New Zealand's first large-scale local hit. One book described ...

'', '' The Last Tattoo'', '' Pallet on the Floor'', '' Old Scores'' (in which he had a central role), and ''

Beyond Reasonable Doubt Beyond a reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the balance of probabilities standard commonly used in civil cases, bec ...

''. In 2014 he performed as

body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

for Saruman in place of Christopher Lee, who was unable to fly to New Zealand for

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

on ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'' film series. He appeared as the Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

in the first season of the 2016 Netflix drama series, Roman Empire.

Note

Bach's surname is pronounced "Baitch", and not as in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

pronunciation of the word for small, from which it is derived.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, John 1946 births Living people New Zealand male television actors New Zealand male film actors Welsh emigrants to New Zealand Welsh male television actors Welsh male film actors 20th-century New Zealand male actors 20th-century Welsh male actors 21st-century New Zealand male actors 21st-century Welsh male actors