John Wilson Stratton (7 November 1925 – 25 October 1991) was a British actor, born in

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, where he kept his permanent home. He is perhaps best known for his early film roles during the fifties, where he played the young apprentice parts of Ferraby and Ward opposite Jack Hawkins in both '' The Cruel Sea'' (1953) and '' The Long Arm'' (1956) respectively. He played a similar role on television in the third Quatermass serial ''

Quatermass and the Pit ''Quatermass and the Pit'' is a British television science-fiction serial transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's ''Quatermass'' serials, although the chief character, Profe ...

'', essaying the role of Captain Potter opposite André Morell's Professor Bernard Quatermass. Older and less boyish by the sixties, he emerged as character actor of some range, playing numerous roles in many television programmes of the decade including the part of alcoholic journalist Fred Blane in ''

It's Dark Outside ''The Odd Man'' was a police series produced by ITV Granada, Granada Television, running over four series between 1960 and 1963. The character of pompous police Chief Inspector Charles Rose (William Mervyn) at the start of series 3 cemented t ...

''. Other TV appearances include ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was 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 19 ...

'', ''

The Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes ** Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...

'', ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canad ...

'', '' The Man in Room 17'', '' Public Eye'', ''Mr. Rose'', ''

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 in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...

'', '' Sherlock Holmes'' (playing Inspector Athelney Jones), ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

'', '' UFO'' ( "E.S.P." episode), '' The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes'', '' Hadleigh'', '' The Forgotten Story'', '' Softly, Softly'', ''

The Pallisers ''The Pallisers'' is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels. Set in Victorian era England with a backdrop of parliamentary life, Simon Raven's dramatisation covers six of Anthony Trollope's novels and follows the ...

'', '' Fall of Eagles'', '' Backs to the Land'', '' The Professionals'', '' Doctor Who'' (in the serial ''

The Two Doctors ''The Two Doctors'' is the fourth serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 16 February to 2 March 1985. The serial is set on an alien ...

''), ''

Juliet Bravo ''Juliet Bravo'' is a British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC1. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over c ...

'', The Trinity Tales and ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

''.

Selected filmography

* '' The Small Back Room'' (1949) - Young Army Officer at Committee Meeting (uncredited) * '' The Cure for Love'' (1949) - Sam * '' Seven Days to Noon'' (1950) - Army Mechanic (uncredited) * '' Appointment with Venus'' (1951) - 1st.R.A.F. Officer * '' The Happy Family'' (1952) - David * '' The Cruel Sea'' (1953) - Lieutenant Ferraby * '' The Long Arm'' (1956) - Detective Sergeant Ward * ''

The Man in the Sky ''The Man in the Sky'' (released in the U.S. as ''Decision Against Time'') is a 1957 thriller drama film starring Jack Hawkins and produced by Ealing Films, Michael Balcon's new company, set up after Rank had sold Ealing Studios in Ealing Green ...

'' (1957) - Peter Hook * '' Seven Waves Away'' (1957) - Jimmy 'Sparks' Clary * '' The Challenge'' (1960) - Rick * '' Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell'' (1974) - Asylum Director

References

External links

* 1925 births 1991 deaths English male television actors People from Clitheroe 20th-century English male actors {{UK-tv-actor-1920s-stub