Jon James Lamont Whiteley (19 February 1945 – 16 May 2020)Jon Whiteley, Fifties child star who afterwards became an eminent curator at the Ashmolean Museum – obituary
/ref> was a Scottish child film actor and in adult life a distinguished art historian.

Life and career

The

Monymusk Monymusk () is a planned village in the Marr area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. History Malcolm Canmore first established Celtic foundation on the site in 1078 The Culdees of Munimusc are recorded as inhabiting the site in 1170. Monymusk Pri ...

-born Whiteley appeared in five films during his brief acting career, and it was for the second of these, '' The Kidnappers'' (US: ''The Little Kidnappers'', 1953), that he, along with co-star Vincent Winter, was awarded an

Academy Juvenile Award The Academy Juvenile Award, also known informally as the Juvenile Oscar, was a Academy Honorary Award, Special Honorary Academy Awards, Academy Award bestowed at the discretion of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences#Current administr ...

. He appeared in only three more films, including '' The Spanish Gardener'' (1956), before his film acting career was effectively put on hold when his mother insisted on him passing the

eleven-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...

exam. After appearing twice more for TV credits, his acting career ended. Whiteley was educated at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

, whereafter he became a respected art historian at the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He wrote his doctorate on the revival in painting of themes inspired by antiquity in mid-nineteenth-century France. He catalogued all the French Drawings in the Ashmolean, and authored and co-authored several books on artists including Ingres, Puvis de Chavannes and

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...

. He published a book on the Ashmolean's Stringed Instruments in 2009, and was working on a catalogue of the later French paintings in the Museum. His wife was art historian Linda Whiteley; the couple had two children. He was made a chevalier (knight) of the French Order of Arts and Letters in May 2009. The cause of his death was

Glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...

(also known as glioblastoma multiforme or GBM). This is the most aggressive type of cancerous brain tumour in adults. The date or location of his funeral is not known. He is buried in Botley cemetery, Oxford.

Filmography

Works

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whiteley, Jon 1945 births 2020 deaths Scottish male film actors Scottish male child actors British art historians Academy Juvenile Award winners Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres People associated with the Ashmolean Museum 20th-century British historians 20th-century Scottish male writers 21st-century British historians 21st-century British male writers People from Monymusk