Dominic Guard (born 18 June 1956) is an English child psychotherapist and author, formerly an actor.

Early life

Guard was born in London on 18 June 1956. His father,

Philip Guard Philip John Guard (29 November 1928 – May 2024) was an English stage actor who occasionally appeared in film and television. Life and career Philip John Guard was born in Rochford, Essex, on 29 November 1928. Guard appeared occasionally in fil ...

, was an English stage actor, his mother, Charlotte Mitchell, an actress and poet. His older brother

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

, also an actor, was born in 1953. His parents separated when he was twelve. As a 14-year-old, in '' The Go-Between'' (1971), Guard played Leo Colston, the title character who runs messages between two secret lovers and has a momentous 13th birthday. For his performance he won a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

in 1971 as Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. The film won the ''

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

'', the main prize at the

Cannes film festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

Adult actor

Guard later appeared in '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' The Count of Monte Cristo'' (1975) with Richard Chamberlain, ''

Absolution Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Priest#Christianity, Christian priests and experienced by Penance#Christianity, Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, alth ...

'' (1978) alongside

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

and Billy Connolly, ''

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

'' (1982), and in P. D. James's '' An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'' alongside his cousin Pippa Guard. In 1978 Guard voiced the role of Pippin in an animated adaptation of ''The Lord of the Rings''. His brother Christopher Guard starred alongside him in the film, voicing

Frodo Baggins Frodo Baggins ( Westron: ''Maura Labingi'') is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings and one of the protagonists in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Bag ...

. On stage he played Christopher in a 1982 production of '' The Jeweller's Shop'' by Karol Wojtyła, later

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, at the Westminster Theatre, and appeared in a guest role in the 1983 ''

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 ...

'' story '' Terminus''. He continued acting regularly until 2000.

Later career

Guard is now a fully accredited child psychotherapist living in London and has written more than ten books for children, including "Little Box of Mermaid Treasures", "Pirate Fun", "The Dragon Master's Tale", and "Secrets of the Fairy Ring".

Personal life

Guard is the father of two children with the actress Sharon Duce, with whom he appeared in ''Absolution'' (1978).

Work

Films

* '' The Go-Between'' (1971) - Leo Colston * '' The Nelson Affair'' (1973) - George Matcham Jr. * '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975) - Michael Fitzhubert * ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

'' (1975) - Albert Mondego * ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' (1978) - Pippin Took * ''

'' (1978) - Benjamin Stanfield * '' One Fine Day'' (1979) - Rycroft * '' An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'' (1982) - Andrew Lunn * ''

'' (1982) - Subaltern * ''L' Homme qui a perdu son ombre'' (The Man who Lost his Shadow) (1991) - Paul

Television

* '' The Hands of Cormac Joyce'' (Hallmark Hall of Fame) (1972) - Jackie Joyce * '' How Green Was My Valley'' (1976) - Huw Morgan * ''Maybury'' (1981) - Colin Gilbert * '' Cousin Phillis'' (1982) - Paul Manning * ''

Terminus (Doctor Who) ''Terminus'' is the fourth serial of the Doctor Who (season 20), 20th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC One, BBC1 from 15 to 23 February 1983. ...

'' (1983) - Olvir * ''The Hello Goodbye Man'' (1984) - Glen Harris * '' A Woman of Substance'' (1985) - Winston Harte * '' Big Deal'' (series 3) 'Playing the ace' & 'The biggest deal' (1986) - Simon * '' All Creatures Great and Small S7.Ep4 'A Friend for Life (1990) ''-'' Peter Shadwell * ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

- S7.Ep79 'Friday and Counting (1991) - Robin Granger * '' Casualty - S6.E15 'Cascade (1992) - Tim Turner * ''The Gingerbread Girl'' (1993) - David * ''

- S10.Ep71 'Lesson to be Learned (1994) - Vernon Meredith * '' Casualty - S10.E11 'Release (1995) - Philip Hall * '' Wycliffe - S2.Ep6 Happy Families'' (1995) - Mick Brandon * ''

- S12.Ep147 'Black Money (1996) - Tony Baker * ''Annie's Bar'' (1996) - Alistair Read * '' Poirot - S7.Ep2 Lord Edgware Dies'' (2000) - Bryan Martin

References

Bibliography

* Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995''. Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 314–315.

External links

*
THE GO-BETWEEN - Interview With Dominic Guard
YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Guard, Dominic 1956 births Living people BAFTA Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles winners English children's writers English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors English psychologists