Bernard Frederic Bemrose Kay (23 February 1928 – 25 December 2014) was an English actor with an extensive theatre, television, and film repertoire.

Early life

Kay began his working life as a reporter for the ''

Bolton Evening News ''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and online every day, it is pa ...

'', and a stringer for the ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. He was conscripted in 1946 and started acting in the army. Kay gained a scholarship to study at the Old Vic Theatre School and became a professional in 1950, as a member of the company which reopened the

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 ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

Kay appeared in hundreds of television productions including ''

Emmerdale Farm ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin ...

'', ''

The Champions ''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on ...

'', ''The Cellar and the Almond Tree'', ''Clayhanger'', ''

A Very British Coup ''A Very British Coup'' is a 1982 novel by British Labour politician Chris Mullin. The novel has twice been adapted for television; as '' A Very British Coup'' in 1988 and as '' Secret State'' in 2012. Plot Harry Perkins is the left-wing Leade ...

'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', ''

Casualty 1909 ''Casualty 1900s'', broadcast in the U.S. as ''London Hospital'', is a British hospital drama inspired by but otherwise unrelated to BBC One drama ''Casualty''. It places the viewer in the Receiving Room of the London Hospital, in London's ...

'', ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'', ''

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 and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'', ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery fiction, mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the title character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician whi ...

'', ''

Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

'' and '' London's Burning'' in 1989. He also portrayed a mutant in the '' Space: 1999'' episode "A Matter of Balance". Kay portrayed Captain

Stanley Lord Stanley Phillip Lord (13 September 1877 – 24 January 1962) was the British captain of the SS ''Californian'' on the night the RMS '' Titanic'' sank on 15 April 1912. The ship, which was primarily a freighter that could carry a small numbe ...

of the SS ''Californian'' in the BBC dramatisation ''Trial by Inquiry: Titanic'' in 1967. The 1970s saw Kay play the role of Philip Bentley in ''

The Protectors ''The Protectors'' is a British action thriller television series created by Gerry Anderson. It starred Robert Vaughn as Harry Rule, Nyree Dawn Porter as the Contessa Caroline di Contini, and Tony Anholt as Paul Buchet. It was Anderson's seco ...

'' episode ''A Pocketful of Posies'' (1973) and appear as the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

crime boss Harry Scott in an episode of the hard-hitting British police drama '' The Professionals'', the episode entitled ''When the Heat Cools Off'' (1978). Kay's later television credits include as bandit leader Cordova in the ''

Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...

'' television episode "Alejandro Rides Again" in 1991 which was filmed in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain. Kay also gave a sympathetic performance as Korporal Hartwig in an early episode of ''

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig (district), Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C prisoner-of-war camp, POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situa ...

''. Kay appeared four times in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' series in various roles, most notably as

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

in the classic ''Doctor Who'' story '' The Crusade'' in 1965. He also appeared in the serials ''

The Dalek Invasion of Earth ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' is the second serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Martin, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in six week ...

'' (1964), ''

The Faceless Ones ''The Faceless Ones'' is the Doctor Who missing episodes, mostly missing eighth serial of the Doctor Who (season 4), fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts fro ...

'' (1967) and ''

Colony in Space A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

'' (1971). In 2006, he guest-starred in the ''Doctor Who'' audio adventure '' Night Thoughts''. Kay's best-known film appearance was his role as a Bolshevik leader in '' Doctor Zhivago'' (1965).

Stage

Kay also acted extensively on the stage. In 1952, for the Nottingham Rep, he learned, rehearsed, and played ''Macbeth'' in less than 24 hours. In 1984, he played Shylock in a British Council tour of Asia, ending in Baghdad, in the middle of the Iraq/Iran war. Other theatre includes ''An Inspector Calls'' (

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ...

), ''Macbeth'' (Nottingham Playhouse), ''Titus Andronicus'' (European Tour), '' A Man for All Seasons'' (International Tour), ''The Merchant of Venice'' (International Tour), ''Galileo'' (Young Vic), ''Death of a Salesman'' (Lyric Theatre, Belfast)—for which he was nominated as best actor in the RITA awards in 1998—and ''Halpern and Johnson'' (

New End Theatre The New End Theatre, Hampstead, was an 80-seat fringe theatre venue in London, at 27 New End in the London Borough of Camden which operated from 1974 until 2011. It was founded in 1974 by Buddy Dalton in the converted mortuary of the now-defun ...

). He twice appeared at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: in 2006 in ''After Haggerty'' and in 2010 in ''Dream of the Dog''.

Personal life

Kay was married to the actress

Patricia Haines Patricia Haines (3 February 1932 – 25 February 1977) was an English actress, best known for her television work. She was married to Michael Caine from 1954 to 1958. Career Haines was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. She is best ...

from 1963 until her death from cancer in 1977; he never remarried, and was said to have been grief-stricken for the rest of his life. Kay had no children of his own, but was stepfather to Haines’s daughter from her first marriage to the actor

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

. He died in London on Christmas Day in 2014, at the age of 86. In the 2006 New Writing Ventures awards, Kay won the Creative Non-fiction prize for the first chapter of his unpublished memoir ''Maybe A Bastard'', which covered his childhood in Bolton. It remained unpublished at his death.

Selected filmography

* '' Carry On Sergeant'' (1958) – Injured Recruit * '' Backfire!'' (1962) – Fire Chief * ''

'' (1965) –

* '' Doctor Zhivago'' (1965) – Kuril, The Bolshevik * ''

'' (1967) – Inspector Crossland * ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' (1967, TV Series) –

Aslan Aslan () is a major character in C. S. Lewis's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' series. Unlike any other character in the Narnian series, Aslan appears in all seven chronicles. Aslan is depicted as a Talking animals in fiction, talking lion and is ...

* ''

They Came from Beyond Space ''They Came from Beyond Space'' is a 1967 British Eastmancolor science fiction film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Robert Hutton, Jennifer Jayne, Zia Mohyeddin and Bernard Kay. It was produced by Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subots ...

'' (1967) – Richard Arden * '' The Shuttered Room'' (1967) – Tait * '' Torture Garden'' (1967) – Dr. Heim (segment 2 "Terror Over Hollywood") * ''

Interlude Interlude may refer to: *a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production *''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production *a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...

'' (1968) – George Selworth * ''

Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He was mainly active in East Anglia and claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that titl ...

'' (1968) – Fisherman * '' Darling Lili'' (1970) – Bedford * ''

Trog ''Trog'' is a 1970 British science fiction horror film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Joan Crawford, Michael Gough and Bernard Kay. The screenplay was by Peter Bryan, John Gilling and Aben Kandel. The film concerns the discovery ...

'' (1970) – Inspector Greenham * ''

'' (1971) – Caldwell * '' The Hunting Party'' (1971) – Buford King * '' Running Scared'' (1972) – Mr. Willis * ''

Lady Caroline Lamb Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist, best known for '' Glenarvon'', a Gothic novel. In 1812, she had an affair with Lord Byron, whom she described as "mad, bad, a ...

'' (1972) – Benson * '' The Hiding Place'' (1975) – Fred Koonstra * ''

Voyage of the Damned ''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an Ensemble cast, all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, Lynne Frederick and Malco ...

'' (1976) – Cuba Harbour pilot (uncredited) * '' Spy Story'' (1976) – Commander Wheeler * ''

Sweeney! ''Sweeney!'' is a 1977 British action crime drama film and extension of the ITV television series '' The Sweeney'' which aired on ITV from 1975 to 1978. The film performed well enough at the box office that a sequel, '' Sweeney 2'', was relea ...

'' (1977) – Matthews * ''

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger ''Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger'' is a 1977 fantasy adventure film directed by Sam Wanamaker and featuring stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film stars Patrick Wayne, Taryn Power, Jane Seymour and Patrick Troughton. The third and f ...

'' (1977) – Zabid * '' The Professionals'' (1978) – Harry Scott * ''

The Great Riviera Bank Robbery ''The Great Riviera Bank Robbery'', also known as ''Dirty Money'' and ''Sewers of Gold'', is a 1979 British heist film written and directed by Francis Megahy and starring Ian McShane, Warren Clarke, Stephen Greif and Christopher Malcolm. In the ...

'' (1979) – Commissaire * ''

The Case of Marcel Duchamp ''The Case of Marcel Duchamp'' is a 1984 British mystery film directed by David Rowan and starring Guy Rolfe, Raymond Francis, Harold Innocent and Juliet Hammond. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson come out of retirement to solve a final case ...

'' (1984) * ''The Most Dangerous Man in the World'' (1988) – Dogan * '' London's Burning'' (1989) – Chief Fire Officer * ''

A Ghost in Monte Carlo ''A Ghost in Monte Carlo'' is a 1951 novel by Barbara Cartland. Film The book was adapted for made-for-television film in 1990 starring Lysette Anthony, Marcus Gilbert, Sarah Miles and Oliver Reed. Synopsis Eighteen-year-old Mistral is a ...

'' (1990) – Police Chief Gutier * ''

'' (1994) – Mr Phillips * '' Steal This Movie'' (2000) – John Hoffman * '' Foyle's War: The White Feather'' (2002) – Robert Woolton * ''Puritan'' (2005) – The old man * '' Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman'' (2005) – Uncle Tom * ''

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

'' (2006) – Bothringaye * ''

Psychosis In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or inco ...

'' (2010) – Reverend Swan (final film role)

References

External links

*
Obituary
(''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'')
Obituary
(''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'')
Obituary: Bernard Kay, actor
(''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'')
Bolton-born Doctor Who actor Bernard Kay dies
(''

The Bolton News ''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and o ...

'')
Bernard Kay Tribute
* Margarete Forsyth

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Bernard 1928 births 2014 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School British Army soldiers English male film actors English male television actors Male actors from Bolton Military personnel from the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton