Edward Harry Kelsey (4 June 193023 April 2019) was an English actor. He was best known for voicing the role of Joe Grundy for 34 years in ''

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 ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

and for voicing various other characters on television.

Early life and career

Kelsey was born on 4 June 1930 in

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, and educated at

Churcher's College Churcher's College is a private co-educational fee-charging day school, founded in 1722. Churcher’s College is regarded as a leading private school in the south of England. The Senior School (ages 11–18) is in the market town of Petersfiel ...

. In 1954, he joined the

Radio Drama Company The Radio Drama Company is a company of actors formed by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1939, at the beginning of the Second World War. It is sometimes referred to as RDC, or the Rep, a survival from its original name, the Drama Re ...

by winning the Carleton Hobbs BursaryCarleton Hobbs Bursary winners
at BBC.co.uk, accessed 23 January 2018 He was known for voicing the characters of Colonel K and Baron Silas Greenback in the animated series ''

Danger Mouse Danger Mouse is a British action cartoon which has had two incarnations: * ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series * ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series ...

'' produced by

Cosgrove Hall Cosgrove Hall Films was a British animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, headquartered in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was a major producer of children's television and animated programmes/films, which are s ...

. He also appeared on such British television programmes as ''

The Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

'', '' Softly, Softly'', ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–1943), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders ...

'', '' Public Eye'', ''

Dempsey and Makepeace ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' is a British television crime drama made by LWT for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. Lead roles were played by Michael Brandon (Lieutenant Dempsey) and Glynis Barber (Sergeant Makepeace), who got married ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Juliet Bravo ''Juliet Bravo'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC One, BBC1. The theme of the series concerned ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'', ''

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Vicar of Dibley ''The Vicar of Dibley'' is a British sitcom. It consists of three series, which aired on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2000, and several specials, the most recent of which aired on 23 December 2020. It is set in the fictional Oxfor ...

'', ''

Reilly, Ace of Spies ''Reilly, Ace of Spies'' is a 1983 British television programme dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian-born adventurer who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the United Kingdom and the British Empire. Among his exploits ...

'', '' Shoestring'', ''

Wives and Daughters ''Wives and Daughters, An Every-Day Story'' is a novel by English author Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the ''Cornhill Magazine'' as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. It was partly written whilst Gaskell was staying with the sa ...

'', ''

Anna of the Five Towns ''Anna of the Five Towns'' is a novel by Arnold Bennett, first published in 1902 and one of his best-known works. Plot background The plot centres on Anna Tellwright, daughter of a wealthy but miserly and dictatorial father, living in the P ...

'', '' Campion'', ''

The Tripods ''The Tripods'' is a series of young adult science fiction novels by John Christopher. The series takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is enslaved by "Tripods"—gigantic three-legged walking machines piloted by an alien rac ...

'' and ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''. He acted in three ''

'' stories, as a slave buyer in '' The Romans'', Resno in ''

The Power of the Daleks ''The Power of the Daleks'' is the Doctor Who missing episodes, completely missing third serial of the Doctor Who (season 4), fourth season of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly part ...

'' and Edu in ''

The Creature from the Pit ''The Creature from the Pit'' is the third serial of the 17th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 27 October to 17 November 1979. It was the first se ...

''. He voiced Mr. Growbag in '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' (2005), several characters in Cosgrove Hall's ''

Victor and Hugo The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

'', '' The Reluctant Dragon'', and ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'' (television and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

), H.H. Junketbury in ''

The Talking Parcel ''The Talking Parcel'' (also published as ''The Battle for Castle Cockatrice'') is a 1974 book by Gerald Durrell in which children are transported to the fantasy land of Mythologia to save it from cockatrices. They are aided by a talking parrot ...

'', Farmer Listener and Forester in ''

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship ''The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship'' is a made-for-television stop motion-animated film released in the United Kingdom on 27 December 1990 on ITV, based on the Eastern European folk tale. It was co-produced with WGBH Boston for broa ...

'' and also for the voice of "The Thing" in another Cosgrove Hall production, ''

Truckers A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

'', based on a book by

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

Death

He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 23 April 2019 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, West Midlands. He was 88 years old.

Filmography

References

External links

*
The Archers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelsey, Edward 1930 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English male film actors English male radio actors English male soap opera actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors Male actors from Hampshire People educated at Churcher's College Actors from Petersfield