William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career.

Family

Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the son of Eleanor Winifred (née Lillico) and Norman Denham. He was the third child of four: Norman Keith (1907), Winifred Joan (1908), and Charles (1915). He was educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

and trained as a lift engineer. Like fellow actor James Robertson Justice, he played amateur rugby for

Beckenham RFC Beckenham Rugby Football Club is in Beckenham in South East London. The club was founded in 1894. The men's first XV currently compete in newly created Regional 2 South East - a league at the sixth tier of the English rugby union system - after ...

. In 1936, he married Elizabeth Dunn, with whom he had two sons and a daughter: Christopher (born 1939), Timothy (born 1946) and Virginia (born 1948). Elizabeth died in 1971. He was awarded the OBE in 1992. He died on 24 July 2002, aged 92 at Denville Hall in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

Career

Denham eventually became an actor in 1934, and appeared in live television broadcasts as early as 1938, continuing to perform in that medium until 1997. Denham initially made his name in radio comedy series such as '' ITMA'' and '' Much Binding in the Marsh'', which established him as a familiar radio character (providing over sixty different voices, female as well as male, according to a radio interview in November 1988), and later provided all the voices for the animated version of ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to c ...

'' (1954). ''

British Pathé 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, ...

'' chose him to narrate the voiceover for their 1950's film, 'All in a Day'. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Blore in 1954's ''

The Purple Plain ''The Purple Plain'' is a 1954 British war film directed by Robert Parrish, with Gregory Peck playing a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot serving in the Royal Air Force in the Burma campaign in the closing months of the Second World War, who is ba ...

''. Other film credits include '' 23 Paces to Baker Street'' (1956), '' Night of the Demon'' (1957), '' Two-Way Stretch'' (1960), ''

Sink the Bismarck! ''Sink the Bismarck!'' is a 1960 black-and-white CinemaScope British war film based on the 1959 book '' The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck'' by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert.Weiler, A.H ...

'' (1960), ''

H.M.S. Defiant ''H.M.S. Defiant'' (released as ''Damn the Defiant!'' in the United States) is a British naval war CinemaScope and Technicolor film from 1962 starring Alec Guinness and Dirk Bogarde. It tells the story of a mutiny aboard the fictitious ship of ...

'' (1962), '' Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines'' (1965), '' The Day of the Jackal'' (1973), '' Minder on the Orient Express'' (1985) and ''

84 Charing Cross Road ''84, Charing Cross Road'' is a 1970 book by Helene Hanff, later made into a stage play, television play, and film, about the twenty-year correspondence between the author and Frank Doel, chief buyer of Marks & Co antiquarian booksellers, loca ...

'' (1987). Among his television appearances were as the father in ''

Talking to a Stranger ''Talking to a Stranger'' (1966) is a British television drama, written by John Hopkins for the BBC, which consists of four separate plays recounting the events of one weekend from the viewpoints of four members of the same family. The play cycl ...

'' (1966), '' The Lotus Eaters'' (1972–73), as Archbishop Lang in '' Edward & Mrs Simpson'' (1978),

Gerrit Dou Gerrit Dou (7 April 1613 – 9 February 1675), also known as Gerard Douw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre scenes and is noted for his ...

in '' Schalcken the Painter'' (1979), '' All Passion Spent'' with Dame

Wendy Hiller Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller, (15 August 1912 – 14 May 2003) was an English film and stage actress who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly 60 years. Writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation ''Rating the Movie Stars'', desc ...

(1986), as Mr Justice Gwent-Evans in an episode of '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' (1987), '' Behaving Badly'' (1989), '' Inspector Morse'' (1991) and as Sir Max Spence in an episode of ''

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 ...

'' ("Benin Bronze", 1992). He also appeared in the ''Sherlock Holmes'' story "

The Last Vampyre "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 Sherlock Holmes stories collected between 1921 and 1927 as ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in the January 1924 issues ...

" (1993), with

Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He played fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series from 1984 to 1994 in all 41 episodes. His ...

starring as Sherlock Holmes. He also appeared (heavily made-up) in another Sherlock Holmes episode, starring Douglas Wilmer as Holmes, " The Retired Colourman", first shown by the BBC in 1965. He made a guest appearance in the BBC science fiction television series ''

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 ...

'' in the 1984 serial ''

The Twin Dilemma ''The Twin Dilemma'' is the seventh and final serial of the 21st season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 March to 30 March 1984. In the serial, the al ...

'', the first story to star

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series ''Docto ...

in the title role as the

sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time on the series was comparatively brief and turbulent, Ba ...

. He later appeared in the ''Doctor Who'' radio serial ''

The Paradise of Death ''The Paradise of Death'' is a 5-part BBC radio drama, based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. Production and broadcast history This was the second radio serial ...

'' in 1993 alongside

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...

. As The Honourable Mr Justice Stephen Rawley in two episodes in 1977 of the BBC TV prison comedy ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

'', he ends up sharing a cell with

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and '' Open All Hours''. ...

's Fletcher, whom he had sentenced. In further radio work, he starred in a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

version of the '' Oldest Member'', based on stories by

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

, from 1994 to 1999, as Rumpole in '' Rumpole: The Splendours and Miseries of an Old Bailey Hack'', as Dr. Alexandre Manette in ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in ...

'', as 'Father' in Peter Tinniswood's ''Winston'' series, and also as Chief Inspector

Jules Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...

in several series beginning in 1976. He also portrayed Hercule Poirot in a BBC radio dramatisation of ''

The Mystery of the Blue Train ''The Mystery of the Blue Train'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by William Collins & Sons on 29 March 1928 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in th ...

'' (1985). In his book ''British Film Character Actors'' (1982), Terence Pettigrew noted that Denham "had one of the best-known bald heads in British films. His face was a minor work of art, a bright-eyed pixie face hand-painted on an egg. It could be kindly, sympathetic, gnomish and infinitely expressive. He also had one of the most listenable and controlled of English-speaking voices, a legacy from his many years in radio."

Selected filmography

* ''

The Man Within ''The Man Within'' (1929) is the first novel by author Graham Greene. It tells the story of Francis Andrews, a reluctant smuggler, who betrays his colleagues, and the aftermath of his betrayal. It is Greene's first published novel. (Two earlier a ...

'' (1947) as Smuggler * '' The Upturned Glass'' (1947) as Mobile Policeman * '' They Made Me a Fugitive'' (1947) as Mr Fenshaw * ''

Holiday Camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

'' (1947) as Camp Doctor * '' Jassy'' (1947) as Jim Stoner * '' Captain Boycott'' (1947) as Lt. Col. StrickLand * '' Fame Is the Spur'' (1947) as Prison Doctor No. 2 (uncredited) * ''

Take My Life ''Take My Life'' is a 1947 British crime film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt and Marius Goring. It was adapted from Winston Graham's 1947 novel of the same name. It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on loca ...

'' (1947) as Defending Counsel * ''

The End of the River ''The End of the River'' is a British drama film made in Belém, Brazil about a Brazilian Indian boy who leaves the jungle to the city, where he is accused of murder. It was directed by Derek Twist and written by Wolfgang Wilhelm, based on ...

'' (1947) as Defending Counsel * '' Easy Money'' (1948) as Detective-Inspector Kirby * ''

Blanche Fury ''Blanche Fury'' is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger and Michael Gough. It was adapted from a 1939 novel of the same title by Joseph Shearing. In Victorian era Englan ...

'' (1948) as Maj. Fraser * ''

Escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some s ...

'' (1948) as Crown Counsel * '' Daybreak'' (1948) as Inspector * '' Miranda'' (1948) as Cockle Vendor * ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'' (1948) as Chief of Police * '' My Brother's Keeper'' (1948) as Supt. Trent * ''

London Belongs to Me ''London Belongs to Me'' (also known as ''Dulcimer Street'') is a British film released in 1948, directed by Sidney Gilliat, and starring Richard Attenborough and Alastair Sim. It was based on the novel ''London Belongs to Me'' by Norman Colli ...

'' (1948) as Jack Rufus * '' The Blind Goddess'' (1948) as Johnson, The Butler * ''

Quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

'' (1948) as Coroner (segment "The Allen Corn") * '' Here Come the Huggetts'' (1948) as 1st Engineer * ''

Look Before You Love ''Look Before You Love'' is a 1948 British drama film directed by Harold Huth and starring Margaret Lockwood, Griffith Jones and Maurice Denham. Plot summary A woman working in the British Embassy in Brazil falls in love and marries a man, bu ...

'' (1948) as Fosser * '' Once Upon a Dream'' (1949) as Vicar * '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) as Ship Captain * '' It's Not Cricket'' (1949) as Otto Fisch * '' A Boy, a Girl and a Bike'' (1949) as Bill Martin * '' Poet's Pub'' (1949) as PC Windle * '' Don't Ever Leave Me'' (1949) as Mr Knowles * '' Madness of the Heart'' (1949) as Simon Blake * ''

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

'' (1949) as Wing Cmdr. Hewitt * '' The Spider and the Fly'' (1949) as Colonel de la Roche * '' Traveller's Joy'' (1950) as Fowler * '' No Highway'' (1951) as Major Pearl (uncredited) * '' Time Bomb'' (1953) as Jim Warrilow * '' The Net'' (1953) as Prof. Carrington (uncredited) * ''

Street Corner A streetcorner or street corner is the location which lies adjacent to an intersection (road), intersection of two roads. Such locations are important in terms of local planning and commerce, usually being the locations of street signs and lamp post ...

'' (1953) as Mr. Dawson * '' Malta Story'' (1953) as British Officer (uncredited) * '' The Million Pound Note'' (1954) as Jonathan Reid * ''

Eight O'Clock Walk ''Eight O'Clock Walk'' is a 1954 British drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Richard Attenborough, Cathy O'Donnell, Derek Farr and Maurice Denham. Its plot involves a taxi driver who is tried for the murder of a young girl on a bo ...

'' (1954) as Horace Clifford * ''

'' (1954) as Blore * '' Carrington V.C.'' (1954) as Lt Col Reeve * ''

'' (1954) as All Animals (voices) * '' Doctor at Sea'' (1955) as Easter * '' Simon and Laura'' (1955) as Wilson * '' 23 Paces to Baker Street'' (1956) as Inspector Grovening * '' The Spanish Gardener'' (1956) as Pedro (voice) * '' Checkpoint'' (1956) as Ted Thornhill * '' Barnacle Bill'' (1957) as Crowley * '' Night of the Demon'' (1957) as Professor Harrington * ''

The Captain's Table ''The Captain's Table'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Jack Lee based upon a novel by Richard Gordon. It stars John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins and Nadia Gray, and featured Maurice Denham, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier, ...

'' (1959) as Major Broster * ''

Our Man in Havana ''Our Man in Havana'' (1958) is a novel set in Cuba by the British author Graham Greene. He makes fun of intelligence services, especially the British MI6, and their willingness to believe reports from their local informants. The book predates ...

'' (1959) as Admiral * '' Two-Way Stretch'' (1960) as The Governor * ''

'' (1960) as Commander Richards * '' The Greengage Summer'' (1961) as Uncle William * '' The Mark'' (1961) as Arnold Cartwright * '' Invasion Quartet'' (1961) as Dr Barker * '' Damn the Defiant'' (1962) as Mr Goss (Ship's Surgeon) * '' The King's Breakfast'' (1963) as Narrator (voice) * '' The Very Edge'' (1963) as Crawford * '' Paranoiac'' (1963) as John Kossett * '' Long Past Glory (TV film)'' (1963) as Charles * ''

The 7th Dawn ''The 7th Dawn'' is a 1964 Technicolor drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring William Holden, Capucine and Tetsurō Tamba. The film, set during the Malayan Emergency, is based on the 1960 novel ''The Durian Tree'' by Michael Keon and ...

'' (1964) as Tarlton * ''

Operation Crossbow ''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme. The main V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket – these were launched against Brita ...

'' (1965) as RAF Officer * ''

Hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

'' (1965) as Hemmings * '' Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines'' (1965) as Trawler Skipper * '' The Alphabet Murders'' (1965) as Japp * '' The Nanny'' (1965) as Dr. Beammaster * '' The Heroes of Telemark'' (1965) as Doctor * ''

The Uncle ''The Uncle'' is a 1965 British drama film directed by Desmond Davis and starring Rupert Davies. Premise Seven-year-old Gus (Robert Duncan) faces trouble when his difficult seven-year-old nephew Tom (Christopher Arris) arrives to spend the summ ...

'' (1965) as Mr. Ream * '' The Night Caller'' (1965) as Dr Morley * ''

After the Fox ''After the Fox'' ( it, Caccia alla volpe) is a 1966 heist comedy film directed by Vittorio De Sica and starring Peter Sellers, Victor Mature and Britt Ekland. The English-language screenplay was written by Neil Simon and De Sica's longtime c ...

'' (1966) as Chief of Interpol * '' Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon'' (1967) as Narrator (voice, uncredited) * ''

The Long Duel ''The Long Duel'' is a 1967 British adventure film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Yul Brynner, Trevor Howard, Charlotte Rampling and Harry Andrews. It is set in British-ruled India of the 1920s but was filmed in Spain. Plot Superintendent ...

'' (1967) as Governor * ''

Danger Route ''Danger Route'' is a 1967 British spy film directed by Seth Holt for Amicus Productions and starring Richard Johnson as Jonas Wilde, Carol Lynley and Barbara Bouchet. It was based on Andrew York's 1966 novel ''The Eliminator'' that was the w ...

'' (1967) as Peter Ravenspur * '' Torture Garden'' (1967) as Uncle Roger (segment 1 "Enoch") * ''

Attack on the Iron Coast ''Attack on the Iron Coast'' is a 1967 DeLuxe Color Anglo-American Oakmont Productions international co-production war film directed by Paul Wendkos in the first of his five-picture contract with Mirisch Productions, and starring Lloyd Bridges, ...

'' (1968) as Rear Admiral Sir Frederick Grafton * '' Negatives'' (1968) as The Father * ''

Some Girls Do ''Some Girls Do'' is a 1969 British comedy spy film directed by Ralph Thomas. It was the second of the revamped Bulldog Drummond films (following 1967's ''Deadlier Than the Male'') starring Richard Johnson as Drummond, made following the succes ...

'' (1969) as Mr. Mortimer * '' Midas Run'' (1969) as Charles Crittenden * '' A Touch of Love'' (1969) as Doctor Prothero * '' The Best House in London'' (1969) as Editor of ''The Times'' * ''

The Virgin and the Gypsy ''The Virgin and the Gipsy'' is a short novel (or novella) by English author D.H. Lawrence. It was written in 1926 and published posthumously in 1930. Today it is often entitled ''The Virgin and the Gypsy'' which can lead to confusion because fir ...

'' (1970) as The Rector * '' Countess Dracula'' (1971) as Master Fabio, Castle Historian * '' Sunday Bloody Sunday'' (1971) as Mr Greville * ''

Nicholas and Alexandra ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' is a 1971 British epic historical drama film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, from a screenplay written by James Goldman and Edward Bond, based on Robert K. Massie's 1967 book of the same name, which is a partial ...

'' (1971) as Kokovtsov * '' The Day of the Jackal'' (1973) as General Colbert * ''

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (gi ...

'' (1973) as Johann von Staupitz * '' Fall of Eagles'' (1974) as Kaiser

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...

* '' Shout at the Devil'' (1976) as Mr Smythe * '' Julia'' (1977) as Undertaker * '' Secret Army — Series 1 Episode 14: Good Friday'' (1977) as Father Girard * '' Martin Luther, Heretic'' (1983) as Father Staupitz * '' The Chain'' (1984) as Grandpa * ''

Mr Love ''Mr. Love'' is a 1985 British comedy film directed by Roy Battersby and starring Barry Jackson, Maurice Denham and Margaret Tyzack. It was made by Goldcrest Films. Its budget was £486,000.Alexander Walker, ''Icons in the Fire: The Rise and F ...

'' (1985) as Theo * ''

'' (1987) as George Martin * '' Miss Marple —

4.50 from Paddington ''4.50 from Paddington'' is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in November 1957 by Collins Crime Club. This work was published in the United States at the same time as ''What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw!'', by Dodd, Mead. Th ...

'' (1987) as Luther Crackenthorpe * '' Inspector Morse'' (1991) as Lance Mandeville * '' Casualty'' (1997) as Mr Turnbull

References

External links

*
Maurice Denham's stage performances listed in archive of Theatre Collection University of Bristol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denham, Maurice 1909 births 2002 deaths 20th-century English male actors Animal impersonators English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors Male actors from Kent Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Tonbridge School People from Beckenham