John Derek Carson-Parker (28 February 1927 – 5 November 2016), known as John Carson, was an English actor known for his appearances in film and television.

Early life and education

Born to English parents in Colombo,

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

(now Sri Lanka), where his father worked on tea and rubber plantations, he was educated in Australia and went to Britain to do national service as an artillery officer in an anti-aircraft regiment between 1944 and 1945. He then studied law at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

before leaving for New Zealand, where he worked in amateur theatre before returning to Britain to begin his professional career. His stage appearances included the original productions of '' A Man For All Seasons'' and '' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg''.

Career

Making his film debut in 1947, Carson carved out a career appearing in low-budget British films such as '' Seven Keys'' (1961), '' Smokescreen'' (1964), and '' Master Spy'' (1964). His saturnine looks and sinister voice (sometimes compared with

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

) led to him starring in a number of horror films including '' The Night Caller'' (1965), '' The Plague of the Zombies'' (1966), '' The Man Who Haunted Himself'' (1970), '' Taste the Blood of Dracula'' (1970), and '' Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter'' (1972). Beside his appearances in horror films he was also known for his many villainous turns in adventure series of the 1960s, such as ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Epic film, epic swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and written by Norman Reilly Ra ...

'', '' The Avengers'', '' The Saint'', ''

Adam Adamant Lives! ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. The titular character w ...

'', '' The Baron'', ''

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'', ''

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'' and '' Department S''. His long and varied list of television credits include '' Emergency - Ward 10'', ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'', ''

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

'', '' Armchair Theatre'', '' Maigret'', '' Out of the Unknown'', '' Emma'' (as Mr. Knightley), ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' is a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 1955 ...

'', ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

'', '' The New Avengers'', '' Telford's Change'', '' Secret Army'', ''

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

'', '' The Professionals'', '' Tales of the Unexpected'', ''

Hammer House of Horror ''Hammer House of Horror'' is a British horror anthology television series produced in Britain in 1980. Created by Hammer Films in association with Cinema Arts International and ITC Entertainment, it consists of 13 hour-long episodes, origin ...

'', ''

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'' ('' Snakedance''), ''

Shaka Zulu Shaka kaSenzangakhona (–24 September 1828), also known as Shaka (the) Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reform ...

'' and '' Poirot''. He was also the voice-over performer in Sunsilk TV commercials. He joined the BBC oil industry drama '' The Troubleshooters'' in its final series as new deputy chairman James Langley. A spin-off starring his character was considered, but never made it to production.

Personal life

Carson moved with his family to South Africa in 1983 and continued to work in film and television. He died at his home in Cape Town on 5 November 2016 at the age of 89. Married twice, he was survived by his second wife, novelist Luanshya Greer, a British actress, who is best known for her roles on television during the 1960s. In 1966, she had changed her forename from Pamela to Luanshya, and become a writer for TV shows including ''

'', '' Thriller'' and ''

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

''. Carson was also survived by his six children, four from his first marriage, Richard, Chris, Katie and Harry, and two from his second marriage, Ben and Suzanna.Notice of death of John Carson
announcements.telegraph.co.uk; accessed 13 February 2019.

Selected filmography

Film

* '' Conspiracy in Teheran'' (1946) * '' Quentin Durward'' (1955) - Duke of Orléans * '' Ramsbottom Rides Again'' (1956) - (uncredited) * '' Intent to Kill'' (1958) - Hospital Receptionist * '' The Lady Is a Square'' (1959) - Reporter (uncredited) *'' Identity Unknown (1960 film)'' (1960) - Ray (uncredited) * '' Seven Keys'' (1961) - Norman * '' Guns of Darkness'' (1962) - First Officer * ''

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 ...

'', '' Locker Sixty-Nine'' (1962) - Miguel Terila * '' The Set Up'' (1963) - Insp. Jackson * '' Master Spy'' (1963) - Richard Colman * ''

Accidental Death An accidental death is an unnatural death that is caused by an accident, such as a slip and fall, traffic collision, or accidental poisoning. Accidental deaths are distinguished from death by natural causes, disease, and from intentional homici ...

'' (1963) - Paul Lanson * '' Smokescreen'' (1964) - Trevor Bayliss * ''

'', '' Act of Murder'' (1964) - Tim Ford * '' The Night Caller'' (1965) - Major * '' The Plague of the Zombies'' (1966) - Squire Clive Hamilton * '' Thunderbird 6'' (1968) - Captain Foster (II) (voice) * '' Taste the Blood of Dracula'' (1970) - Jonathon Secker * '' The Man Who Haunted Himself'' (1970) - Ashton * ''Male Bait'' (1971) * '' Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter'' (1974) - Dr. Marcus * ''Skating on Thin Uys'' (1985) - BBC Man * ''Survivor'' (1987) - Engineer Councillor * ''Tenth of a Second'' (1987) - Man from Organization * ''City of Blood'' (1987) - Prime Minister * ''An African Dream'' (1987) - Harry Endicott * ''Diamonds High'' (1988) - Heinrich * '' The Last Warrior'' (1989) - Priest * ''

Schweitzer Schweitzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), German theologian, musician, physician, and medical missionary, winner of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize * Anton Schweitzer (1735–1787), German op ...

'' (1990) - Horton Herschel * '' The Sheltering Desert'' (1991) - Harding * ''The Last Hero'' (1991) - Fred Zimmerman * ''My Daughter's Keeper'' (1991) - Bernard Eton * '' Woman of Desire'' (1994) - Judge Parker * '' Mandela and de Klerk'' (1997, TV Movie) - Willem de Klerk * ''Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target'' (1998) - President Farrington * '' I Dreamed of Africa'' (2000) - Pembroke Headmaster * '' The Deal'' (2008) - Nigel Bland * '' Doomsday'' (2008) - George Dutton

TV

* '' Story Parade - The Caves of Steel'' (1964) - R. Daneel Olivaw * ''

'' * ''

'' (1958-1959) - Sir Robert / Sir Roderick / Sir Morten / Guard Captain * '' Armchair Theatre'' (1958-1959) - Aengus MacOgue / Tom Brook / Borghem * '' Emergency - Ward 10'' (1959) - Donald Latimer * '' The Adventures of William Tell'' (1959) - Fritz * ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' (1962) - Monks * '' Maigret'' (1963) - Richard Gendreau-Balthazar * '' The Avengers'' (1963-1965) - Fitch / Marten Halvarssen / Ariston * ''

Hereward the Wake Hereward the Wake (Old English pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/ , modern English pronunciation / ) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resistance to the Norman Conquest of E ...

'' (1965) -

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

* '' Dombey and Son'' (1969) * '' Out of the Unknown'' (1971) - Allen Meredith * '' Emma'' (1972) - Mr. Knightley * ''

'' (1976) - Joe Conway / Francis Spurling * '' The New Avengers'' (1976) - Freddy * '' Secret Army'' (1977) - Hans Van Reijn * '' Kidnapped'' (1978) - James More * '' The Professionals'' (1978) - Brian Forrest * '' Telford's Change'' (1979) - Jean Dieber * '' Tales of the Unexpected'' (1980) - Arthur * ''

'' (1980) - Charles Randolph * ''

'' (1983, Serial: '' Snakedance'') - Ambril * '' Strangers and Brothers'' (1984) - Jago * ''

'' (1986) - Lord Kimberley * '' Poirot'' (1989-2005) - Richard Abernethie / Sir George Carrington * '' Maigret'' (1997) - Docteur

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, John 1927 births 2016 deaths Male actors from Colombo Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford English male stage actors English male film actors English male television actors English expatriates in South Africa 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors