Basil David Moss (25 May 1935 – 28 November 2020) was a British character actor, who featured regularly on television in the 1960s and on radio in the 1970s.

Early life

He was educated at St Paul's School, which he followed with actor's training. Despite leaving St Paul's in 1953, Moss's connections with the school remained strong throughout his life, both through his involvement in the Pauline Meetings and his work for the Old Pauline Club.

Acting career

In the early 1960s, he had a long-running screen role as Alan Drew in the BBC TV series ''

Compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a t ...

''. He later had an even longer-lasting part in the radio soap, '' Waggoners' Walk'', which ran for more than a decade and achieved ratings of four million listeners on Radio Two in the United Kingdom. This grew so popular that it nearly caused the cancellation of ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

''. His credited film roles include appearances in ''

One Brief Summer ''One Brief Summer'' is a 1971 British drama film directed by John Mackenzie, the first feature film he directed. It stars Felicity Gibson and Clifford Evans. The British Film Institute called it "one of many '60s films to explore a relations ...

'' (1970) and ''

Clinic Exclusive ''Clinic Exclusive'' (also known as ''Clinic Xclusive, With These Hands'' and ''Sex Clinic'') is a 1971 British erotic film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Georgina Ward, Alexander Davion, Carmen Silvera and Windsor Davies. Plot Julie Mas ...

'' (1971). As he grew older, Moss did less acting in order to concentrate on other interests, although he continued to appear in comic roles, including ''

The Gigolos ''The Gigolos'' is a 2005 British comedy film directed by Richard Bracewell, starring Sacha Tarter, Trevor Sather and Ben Willbond alongside Susannah York, Anna Massey, Angela Pleasence and Siân Phillips. Bracewell's debut feature, ''Th ...

''. He died on 28 November 2020, at the age of 85.

Music

Basil played the piano and jazz trumpet and his band, Basil Moss and His Chicago Jazzmen, continued performing until 2014.

Filmography

*'' I Was Happy Here'' (1966) *'' You Only Live Twice'' (1967) – British Navy Officer on Submarine (uncredited) *''

Doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

'' (1969) – Monitoring Station Technician (uncredited) *''

'' (1971) – John Robertson *''

'' (1972) – Philip Eveleigh *''

'' (2006) – Basil

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Basil 1935 births 2020 deaths English male film actors English male radio actors English male television actors Male actors from London People educated at St Paul's School, London