Michael Deacon (1933–2000) was a Scottish

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. His many stage appearances included roles for venues such as the

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. History The original ''Hampstead Theatre Clu ...

Mercury Theatre, Colchester The Mercury Theatre is a theatre in Colchester, producing highly regarded original work under the title "Mercury Productions" and also receiving touring shows. The theatre has two auditoria, and is led by Steve Mannix (Executive Director & CEO ...

, Pentameters Theatre and the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

. In 1995, he played the title role in ''Who is Eddie Linden'' at The Old Red Lion in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

. The play was adapted by William Tanner from

Sebastian Barker Sebastian Smart Barker FRSL (16 April 1945 – 31 January 2014) was a British poet notable for a visionary manner that has been compared to William Blake in its use of the long ecstatic line and its "ability to write lyric poetry which used simp ...

's biography of poet and literary magazine editor

Eddie Linden Edward Sean Linden (born John Edward Glackin; 5 May 1935 – 19 November 2023) was a Scottish-Irish poet, literary magazine editor, and political activist. From 1969 to 2002, he published and edited the poetry magazine ''Aquarius'', which '' Th ...

. Deacon was also a highly distinguished radio actor, particularly for the BBC. His BBC Radio work ranged from productions of major classics and important new works to the long-running soap opera ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

'', in which he played the Vicar of Ambridge, Jerry Buckle. He also provided the voice of

Gríma Wormtongue Gríma, called (the) Wormtongue, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He serves as a secondary antagonist there; his role is expanded in '' Unfinished Tales''. He is introduced in ''The Two Towers'' as the ...

in the animated film ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1978) and can be heard in many roles in commercially available audio productions of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

plays. He also played many television roles and was in the film '' A Kind of Loving'' (1962), directed by

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...

, playing Les. He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

on 26 December 2000 in Northwood,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, England.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deacon, Michael Scottish male television actors Scottish male film actors 1933 births 2000 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in England 20th-century Scottish male actors