William Abney (actor)

William Edward Charles Wootton Abney (7 January 1921 – 9 August 1997) played Reverend Copley on ''

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 ...

'' in 1977, and Jim Lorimer in 1980. His other television credits include '' The Adventures of William Tell'', '' Crossroads'', ''

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, ...

'', ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'', '' All Creatures Great and Small'', '' Robin's Nest'' and '' The Return of Sherlock Holmes''. The son of Henry Charles Wootton Abney, of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

family of Abney of Measham Hall,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, by his wife, Janet Bentley Littlejohn, Abney was educated at

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a Private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principle ...

and the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

. His stage work included West End roles in the original production of '' Carrington V.C.'' in 1953, and (as Giles Ralston) in Agatha Christie's ''

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The play opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemi ...

'' in 1956-1959. As a film actor, Abney appeared in '' Horrors of the Black Museum'' (1959), '' Never Take Sweets from a Stranger'' (1960), ''

Two-Way Stretch ''Two-Way Stretch'', also known as ''Nothing Barred'', is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Robert Day and starring Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Lionel Jeffries and Bernard Cribbins. The screenplay is by Vivian Cox, John Warren ...

'', (1960), '' Cone of Silence'' (1960), '' The City of the Dead'' (1960), '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973), '' The Legacy'' (1979), '' North Sea Hijack'' (1980) and ''

Curse of the Pink Panther ''Curse of the Pink Panther'' is a 1983 comedy film and a continuation of ''The Pink Panther'' series of films created by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. The film was one of two produced concurrently following the death of the series' star Pe ...

'' (1983). As a writer, Abney wrote the story for "Poor Butterfly" (1969), an episode of ''

Journey to the Unknown ''Journey to the Unknown'' is a British anthology television series, produced by Hammer Film Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. It aired on ABC from September 26, 1968, to January 30, 1969.1921 births 1997 deaths People educated at Cranleigh School English male film actors English male television actors English television writers Actors from the London Borough of Havering 20th-century English male actors English male television writers 20th-century English screenwriters Male actors from Essex People from Upminster {{UK-stage-actor-stub