Edmund Jeremy James Walker (3 February 1935 – 19 July 2019), known professionally as Jeremy Kemp, was an English actor. He was known for his significant roles in the miniseries '' The Winds of War'' and '' War and Remembrance'', the film ''

The Blue Max ''The Blue Max'' is a 1966 war film , WW I film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Karl Michael Vogler, and Jeremy Kemp. The film was made in DeLuxe Color and was one of the last movies filme ...

'', and the television series '' Z-Cars''.

Early life

Kemp was born 3 February 1935 in Chesterfield,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, the son of engineer Edmund Reginald Walker and Elsa May, daughter of Dr. James Kemp, of Sheffield. Edmund Walker was of a Yorkshire landed gentry family that had owned at various times Aldwick Hall at

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, Silton Hall at Northallerton, Ravensthorpe Manor, and Mount St John, at Thirsk."Jeremy Kemp Biography (1935–)"
Film Reference. Retrieved 27 January 2017. Kemp attended Abbotsholme School in Staffordshire from 1943 to 1953. He studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career

As an actor, Kemp adopted his mother's maiden name as his surname. In 1958, he joined the Radio Drama Company by winning the Carleton Hobbs Bursary. He was an original cast member of '' Z-Cars'', playing PC Bob Steele, but left after just over a year in the role. His other television credits include '' Colditz'', '' Space: 1999'', and a number of other series, such as '' Hart to Hart'', '' The Greatest American Hero'', '' The Fall Guy'', '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', '' Conan the Adventurer'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' The Winds of War'', '' War and Remembrance'' and ''

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 ...

''. He played King Leontes in the BBC Television production of '' The Winter's Tale'' (1981). He also appeared as Cornwall in the 1983 TV movie version of ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'', opposite

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

as Lear. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, Kemp had a prominent film career, usually appearing as second male leads or top supporting roles. His films include '' Dr. Terror's House of Horrors'', ''

Operation Crossbow ''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German V-weapons, long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme. The primary V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket, which were launched agai ...

'', ''

'', '' Darling Lili'', '' A Bridge Too Far'', '' The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'', '' Top Secret!'' and ''

Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of ...

''.

Personal life and death

Kemp was an avid bird watcher. Private about his personal life, at various times he lived in Britain and California. Kemp's long-term partner was an American woman, Christopher Harter. Her parents, who had expected a boy, named her in honour of a family friend. Kemp was quoted as saying he found the idea of marriage to be "too tying." He died on 19 July 2019, aged 84, Harter having predeceased him.

Partial filmography

*''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'' (1963) as Agitator *''

Edgar Wallace Mysteries The ''Edgar Wallace Mysteries'' is a British second-feature film series mainly produced at Merton Park Studios for Anglo-Amalgamated. There were 48 films in the series, which were released between 1960 and 1965. The series was screened as ''Th ...

'' (1964 film) as Vince Howard - " Face of a Stranger" episode *'' Dr. Terror's House of Horrors'' (1965) as Jerry Drake (segment 2 "Creeping Vine") *''

'' (1965) as Phil Bradley *'' Cast a Giant Shadow'' (1966) as Senior British Officer *''

'' (1966) as Willi von Klugemann *'' Assignment K'' (1968) as Hal *'' The Strange Affair'' (1968) as Det. Sgt. Pierce *'' A Twist of Sand'' (1968) as Harry Riker *'' Eyewitness'' (1970) as Inspector Galleria *'' Darling Lili'' (1970) as Colonel Kurt Von Ruger *'' The Games'' (1970) as Jim Harcourt *'' Pope Joan'' (1972) as Joan's Father *'' The Belstone Fox'' (1973) as John Kendrick *'' The Blockhouse'' (1973) as Grabinski *'' Lips of Lurid Blue'' (1975) as George Stevens *'' The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'' (1976) as Baron Karl von Leinsdorf *'' The Rhinemann Exchange'' (1977, TV movie) as Geoffrey Moore *'' A Bridge Too Far'' (1977) as R.A.F. Briefing Officer *'' East of Elephant Rock'' (1977) as Harry Rawlins *'' Leopard in the Snow'' (1978) as Bolt *'' Caravans'' (1978) as Dr. Smythe *'' The Treasure Seekers'' (1979) as Reginald Landers *'' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1979) as Duke Michael *'' The Return of the Soldier'' (1982) as Frank *'' The Greatest American Hero'' (1982, TV series, episode: "Divorce, Venusian Style") as Franz Zedlocker *'' The Winds of War'' (1983, TV miniseries) as Brigadier General Armin Von Roon *'' Uncommon Valor'' (1983) as Ferryman *''

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

'' (1984, TV miniseries) as General Gates *'' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' (1984, episode: " The Speckled Band") as Dr. Grimesby Roylott *'' Top Secret!'' (1984) as General Streck *''

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

'' (1986, TV miniseries) as Col. Patrick Gordon * '' Slip-Up'' (1986, TV movie) as Jack Slipper *'' War and Remembrance'' (1988, TV miniseries) as Brigadier General Armin Von Roon *'' When the Whales Came'' (1989) as Mr. Wellbeloved * '' Summer's Lease'' (1989) as Buck Kettering *'' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1990, TV series) as Robert Picard *'' Prisoner of Honor'' (1991, TV movie) as Gen. de Pellieux *''

'' (1994) as Sir John Delaney *'' Angels & Insects'' (1995) as Sir Harald Alabaster

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Jeremy 1935 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama English male film actors English male television actors Male actors from Chesterfield, Derbyshire