Warren Clarke
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Warren Clarke (born Alan James Clarke; 26 April 1947 – 12 November 2014) was an English actor. He appeared in many films after a significant role as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's '' A Clockwork Orange''. His television appearances included '' Dalziel and Pascoe'' (as Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel), '' The Manageress'' and '' Sleepers''.


Early life

Clarke was born in Oldham, Lancashire. His father worked as a stained-glass maker and his mother as a secretary. He left Barlow Hall Secondary Modern School, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, aged 15 and began work at the '' Manchester Evening News'' as a copy boy. He later moved on to amateur dramatics and performed at Huddersfield Rep before working as an actor full-time. During this period he also decided to change his first name to Warren, a name he chose as his girlfriend of the time had a crush on
Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memor ...
. Clarke eventually worked with Beatty on the film '' Ishtar''.


Career

Clarke's first television appearance was in the long-running
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
soap opera ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
'', initially as Kenny Pickup in 1966 and then as Gary Bailey in 1968. His first major film appearance was in Stanley Kubrick's '' A Clockwork Orange'' (1971) where he played a "droog" named Dim opposite Malcolm McDowell. He appeared with McDowell again in the film '' O Lucky Man!'' (1973) and in the TV film ''
Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
'' (1985). Clarke appeared in a wide range of roles in television and film productions including '' The Breaking of Bumbo'' (1970), ''
Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
'' (1970) opposite Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud,
Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...
's '' Antony and Cleopatra'' (1972), '' Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill'' (1972), ''The Frighteners'' (ep.4 "The Minder) (1974), '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' (1979), '' S.O.S. Titanic'' (1979), '' Hammer House of Horror'' (series 1, ep. 2) (1980), '' Hawk the Slayer'' (1980), '' Masada'' (1981)
''Tales of the Unexpected: Never speak ill of the dead''
(1981), '' Enigma'' (1982), '' Lassiter'' (1984), '' Top Secret!'' (1984), '' Ishtar'' (1987) and '' I.D.'' (1995). He played a Russian dissident in
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
's ''
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'' (1982). In
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...
's series '' The Jewel in the Crown'' (1984) Clarke played the role of the overtly homosexual 'Sophie' Dixon, and he was Colonel Krieger in the first series of LWT's '' Wish Me Luck'' (1988). In 1989 Clarke played Captain Lee in the film '' Crusoe''. The same year he played the role of Martin Fisher, the chairman of a football club, in '' The Manageress'' and the role of Managing Director of an engineering firm, Vic Wilcox, in the TV adaptation of the David Lodge novel '' Nice Work''. He also starred in an episode of ''
Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...
'' entitled "Bin Diving". In 1990 he appeared in the episode "Odi, et Amo" of the situation comedy '' Chelmsford 123''. He played Larry Patterson in '' Gone to the Dogs'' (1991), which was followed by the series '' Gone to Seed'' (1992), in which Clarke again starred. He also appeared in '' Our Mutual Friend'' (the 1976 TV mini-series) as Bradley Headstone. In '' Sleepers'' (1991), alongside Nigel Havers, Clarke played one of the two lead roles as two KGB sleeper agents living in Britain and leading their own lives until they are reactivated. He played Bamber in the ITV comedy-drama '' Moving Story'' (1994). His comedic talents can be seen in the one-off special '' Blackadder: The Cavalier Years'', in which he played
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
and in the episode " Amy and Amiability" of the series '' Blackadder the Third''. Beginning in 1996, he starred for eleven series as Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel in the TV series '' Dalziel and Pascoe'', based on the crime novels of Reginald Hill. In 1997 he starred in the drama ''The Locksmith''. Between 2000 and 2003, Clarke played Brian Addis, a father who moved his family from the bustle of London to a
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
farm, in the BBC TV series '' Down to Earth''. He appeared as Mr Boythorn in the
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
dramatisation of ''
Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...
'' (2005) and starred alongside
Anthony Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, ...
in the
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Drama '' The Invisibles'' (2008) and in the
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trilogy '' Red Riding'' (2009). Around the same time, Clarke appeared as Commander Peters in the ITV production of '' Agatha Christie's Marple'' '' Why Didn't They Ask Evans?'' (2009). In 2010 he guested in ITV series '' Lewis'' ("Dark Matter"),
Chuggington ''Chuggington'', also known as ''Chuggington: Tales from the Rails'' in series 6, is a British animated television series aimed at pre-school children, produced by Ludorum plc and Herschend Entertainment Studios. It is broadcast on the BBC's ...
(2010), the BBC series '' Inspector George Gently'' ("Peace and Love", 2010) and played Mr Bott in the BBC's '' Just William''. He guested as Robert Trevanion, the father of
Stephen Tompkinson Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in '' Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in '' Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in '' Ballykissangel'' (1996†...
's character Danny Trevanion, in ''Wild at Heart'' in 2011, as innkeeper Samuel Quested in '' Midsomer Murders'' (" The Night of the Stag", 2011) and as John Lacey in ''
Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...
'' (also 2011). In 2014 he began filming '' Poldark'' as Charles Poldark. The character's final scene in the series, in episode four, in which he lies on his deathbed before dying, was also Clarke's final scene as an actor: he was very ill at the time of filming and died a few weeks later; the first episode of the television series was then dedicated to his memory.


Personal life

Clarke was a keen golfer and had been a Manchester City supporter from the age of seven. Clarke's marriage to his first wife ended in divorce a few years after his parents died. They had a son together, Rowan. He had a daughter, Georgia, by his second wife, Michelle. He lived in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. On 12 November 2014 Clarke died in his sleep after a short illness. He reportedly died penniless; his estate being worth just over £13,000 at his death. Amongst his financial problems, Clarke had apparently lost money investing in the 2013 action film '' The Numbers Station''.


Filmography


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Warren 1947 births 2014 deaths English male film actors English male television actors Male actors from Oldham 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors