Hugh Armstrong (3 June 1944 – 26 January 2016) was a British stage, television and film actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the monster in the 1972 cult British horror movie, '' Death Line'', and as Harry Wax in '' How to Get Ahead in Advertising'', acting alongside Richard E. Grant.Obituary in ''Eagle News'', The Magazine of the Old Bedford Modernians' Club, Issue 113, Summer 2016, p.24 His obituary, written in the magazine of his old school by Clive Akass, stated that 'life was Hugh's theatre. He was a travelling entertainment and until the illness that marred his later years, and sometimes even then, he brought laughter wherever he went'.

Life

Armstrong was born in 1944 and educated in

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at Bedford Modern School. After a brief spell in the army he decided to take up acting, initially training at the Rose Bruford drama school. Armstrong's first major role was as Ted the chauffeur in the 1968 film '' Prudence and the Pill'', starring

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and

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. His next major role was playing the monster in '' Death Line'' alongside

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career. Pleas ...

and Christopher Lee; his performance was said to have achieved the impossible by making a 'grotesque violent cannibal seem pitiful and sympathetic'. Following his role in the 1972 film, '' Eagle in a Cage'', Armstrong spent many years travelling the world, spending several years in India. He formed a theatre company at the Pune ashram of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and under his direction the company toured India, at one point performing before

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. As a member of the

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he left India for the United States, but left before the movement's scandalous collapse in

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. Armstrong returned to the UK to work in film and television productions. He appeared as Jun Priest in the 1982 film, '' The Beastmaster'', and played Harry Wax in '' How to Get Ahead in Advertising'' alongside Richard E. Grant. He took part in a number of television series throughout the 1990s and his final role was in the 2007 TV movie, '' Stuart: A Life Backwards''. In addition to his work in film and television, Armstrong was a member of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

and later the National Theatre. In 1975 he played R.P. McMurphy in ''One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'' at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool alongside

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work in numerous stage, television and film productions, he has received several awards including a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, and ...

and

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a Go ...

. Armstrong died on 26 January 2016. In the magazine of Armstrong's old school, Clive Akass wrote: 'Life was Hugh's theatre. He was a travelling entertainment and until the illness that marred his later years, and sometimes even then, he brought laughter wherever he went'.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Hugh 1944 births 2016 deaths Military personnel from Nottinghamshire 20th-century British Army personnel British Army soldiers English male film actors English male stage actors People from Retford English male television actors People educated at Bedford Modern School Male actors from Nottinghamshire