Bernard Spear (11 September 1919 – 9 May 2003) was an English actor.

Early life

Spear was born on 11 September 1919 in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, to a Polish-Jewish father and a Russian-Jewish mother. He was educated at Central Federation School in

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 ...

, and worked as a clerk at a tobacco manufacturers before serving in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

during

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

Spear starred in the

BAFTA TV Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...

-winning television play '' Bar Mitzvah Boy'', and also portrayed the dual roles of

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his no ...

's manservant and

Sancho Panza Sancho Panza (; ) is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spain, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, ...

in the 1968 London stage version of ''

Man of La Mancha ''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay '' I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervan ...

''. His film career includes roles in the films '' Drop Dead Darling'' (1966), '' Bedazzled'' (1967), ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

'' (1968), '' The Adventures of Barry McKenzie'' (1972), '' Secrets of a Door-to-Door Salesman'' (1972), '' Wombling Free'' (1977) and '' Yentl'' (1983). His only regular role on television was as Morris Ransome in the soap opera '' Albion Market'' (1985–86).

Personal life

Spear married dancer/writer Mary Newton (pka Logan) in 1949; the couple had one child, Julian, owner of Julian Spear PR (an independent music promotion company for radio and television), who was married to actress Carol Royle. Bernard and Mary remained married until his death in 2003.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1919 births 2003 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Jewish English male actors English people of Polish-Jewish descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent Royal Artillery personnel British Army personnel of World War II Actors from the London Borough of Croydon English male television actors English male film actors English Ashkenazi Jews Military personnel from Surrey Male actors from Surrey People from Croydon {{England-actor-stub