Ian Raymond Ogilvy (born 30 September 1943) is an English actor, playwright and novelist.

Early life

Ogilvy was born in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

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 ...

, England, to Francis Fairfield Ogilvy, brother of advertising executive David Ogilvy, and actress Aileen Raymond (who had previously been married to actor John Mills). His grandfather, Francis John Longley Ogilvy, was born in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and a self-taught Gaelic-speaker who was a classics scholar and a failed financial broker. He was educated at Sunningdale School,

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, and the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

Career

''Return of the Saint''

Ogilvy is best known as the star of the television series '' Return of the Saint'' (1978–79), in which he assumed the role of

Simon Templar The Saint is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a List of works by Leslie Charteris, series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date other authors collaborat ...

from

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the ...

(1962–69). The role led to his being considered a leading contender for the role of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

in the early 1980s, when Moore announced his intention to leave the role. He never played the part (in part due to Moore's reconsidering his resignation on several occasions), although he did play a Bond-like character in a series of North American TV commercials broadcast in the early 1990s. At least once, in an episode of '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'', "Dragon's Wing II", he played a Bond-like British agent, complete with white dinner jacket. He recorded a series of readings of

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

's James Bond novels in the early 1980s, which were released on

audio cassette The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...

by the ''Listen for Pleasure'' label.

Other notable roles

Ogilvy has had an extensive career in the theatre playing leading roles in many London West End productions, including '' Design for Living'', ''Happy Family'', '' Three Sisters'', '' Rookery Nook'' by Ben Travers, '' Run for Your Wife'', ''The Millionairess'' by Shaw, ''

The Waltz of the Toreadors ''The Waltz of the Toreadors'' (''La Valse des toréadors'') is a 1951 play by Jean Anouilh. Plot This bitter farce is set in 1910 France and focuses on General Léon Saint-Pé and his infatuation with Ghislaine, a woman with whom he danced at a g ...

'', and others. He has also worked widely in the American theatre. Among his films, Ogilvy had a major part in the 1970 epic film ''Waterloo''. He co-starred with

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

in '' The Sorcerers'' (1967); with James Mason,

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music. Darin started ...

, and Geraldine Chaplin in '' Stranger in the House'' (also 1967); with

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...

in '' Witchfinder General'' (also known as ''The Conqueror Worm'', 1968); with Tom Courtenay and Candice Bergen in '' The Day the Fish Came Out'' (1967): with

Meryl Streep Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...

and

Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, producer, dancer, and singer. She achieved stardom and acclaim for playing lighthearted comedic roles in film and television. In a career spanning six decades, she has received ...

in ''

Death Becomes Her ''Death Becomes Her'' is a 1992 American satirical surrealistic black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan. The film stars Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, a ...

'' (1992); with

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage and radio roles. He achieved recognition f ...

in two films for horror specialists Amicus and with

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss ( ; Dreyfus; born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He emerged from the New Hollywood wave of American cinema, finding fame with a succession of leading man parts in the 1970s. He has received an Academy Award, a ...

and Nia Vardalos in '' My Life in Ruins'' (2009) – among others. He was a friend of the film-maker Michael Reeves and starred in all three of Reeves's films: '' Revenge of the Blood Beast'' (1966), ''The Sorcerers'' and ''Witchfinder General''. He also had a role in the short-lived 1990s American soap opera, '' Malibu Shores''. He has had roles in over one hundred television shows, often appearing as a guest star. He appeared in the television series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (as Lawrence Kirbridge). He guest-starred in '' The Avengers'' in the 1968 episode "They Keep Killing Steed" as Baron Von Curt, and on the BBC in Somerset Maugham's ''The Door of Opportunity'', opposite

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

. In 1976, he featured in the pilot episode of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television comedy series ''

Ripping Yarns ''Ripping Yarns'' is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame and transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two se ...

;'' he also appeared in '' I, Claudius'' (1976, as Drusus), and guest-starred in 6 episodes of ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'' and 4 episodes of '' Diagnosis Murder''. He appeared as Edgar Linton in a film version of ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'' (1970) and as Owen Gereth in BBC dramatisation of '' The Spoils of Poynton'' (also 1970). In the 1990s, he guest-starred in the American television series ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'', in the episode " In the Kingdom of the Blind" (1998). The series' star, Bruce Boxleitner, is the former husband of Ogilvy's second wife, actress Kathryn Holcomb. In 2000 he guest starred in '' Dharma & Greg'', season 3 episode 15, "The Trouble with Troubadours", as the sarcastic British hotel night manager. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1979 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.

Writing career

Ogilvy is also a playwright and novelist, currently working on a series of children's books: '' Measle and the Wrathmonk'', '' Measle and the Dragodon'', '' Measle and the Mallockee'', ''Measle and the Slitherghoul'', and ''Measle and the Doompit''. The books have been translated into at least 15 languages. He has written and published two novels – ''Loose Chippings'' and ''The Polkerton Giant'' – and two plays: ''A Slight Hangover'' and ''Swap!'', which ran in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in its third successful year. His memoir, ''Once a Saint'', was published by Little Brown/Constable, in May 2016. His book of film reviews, ''Withering Slights'', based on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page, was published by Spiteful Puppet in 2020.

Personal life

Ogilvy was married to Diane Hart from 1968 to 1983; they had one child. He married Kathryn Holcomb in 1992, and later became a naturalised United States citizen.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogilvy, Ian 1943 births Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors 21st-century English novelists Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English children's writers English emigrants to the United States English male film actors English male dramatists and playwrights English male stage actors English male television actors English people of Scottish descent English screenwriters English male screenwriters People educated at Eton College People educated at Sunningdale School Male actors from Woking 21st-century English screenwriters 21st-century English male writers