Dotrice was born in Guernsey, Bailiwick of Guernsey on 26 May 1923[1] to Neva (née Wilton; 1897–1984) and Louis Dotrice (1896–1991).[2] He served as a wireless operator/air gunner with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and was imprisoned in a German prisoner of war camp from 1942 to 1945, after being shot down in an Avro Lancaster R5840 of No.106 Squadron based at Coningsby, all seven airmen of the crew being taken Prisoner of War.[3]
Dotrice was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the early 1960s played a variety of roles, including Caliban in The Tempest, opposite Tom Fleming's Prospero (dir: Peter Brook), John of Gaunt and Hotspur opposite David Warner's Richard II, and Justice Shallow, opposite Hugh Griffith as Falstaff in Henry IV, and then Edward IV in the Hall/Barton-adapted Shakespeare cycle The Wars of the Roses, later broadcast by the BBC.
Dotrice played the part of John Aubrey in Brief Lives, a one-man play devised and directed by Patrick Garland in which he held the stage for almost three hours (including the interval, during which he would feign sleep).[3] Premiering in 1967 at the Hampstead Theatre in London, the play later toured England, before two productions on Broadway.[5] In 1968 it moved to the Criterion Theatre in the West End, where it ran for 400 performances before transferring to the Mayfair Theatre.[6] He revived the role in 2008, again under Patrick Garland's direction.[7]
These runs, combined with extensive international touring, earned Dotrice a place in the Guinness World Records for the greatest number of solo performances (1,782).[4]
His other one-man productions included Mister Lincoln in 1979, and Churchill in 1982, both premiering in Washington, D.C. at Ford's Theatre.[8]
Dotrice played "Father" in the 1980s TV series Beauty and the Beast and Father Gary Barrett, a Catholic priest, in the 1990s series Picket Fences. His acting career dates from 1945 in a revue called Back Home, performed by former prisoners-of-war in aid of the Red Cross.[4] In an episode of Angel (1999), part of the Buffyverse, he played the role of Roger Wyndam-Pryce, the overbearing father of the character Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.[6] An earlier science-fiction role was Commissioner Simmonds in two episodes of the 1970s series Space: 1999. In 1998 Dotrice appeared in three episodes of the series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as Zeus.[9]
Shortly after filming for the second season commenced it was confirmed that Dotrice would be returning to play "Wisdom Hallyne the Pyromancer",[12] who is featured in the installments "The Ghost of Harrenhal" and "Blackwater".[12]
Radio and audiobooks
In 1982 BBC Radio 4 broadcast Dotrice's reading of G.B. Edwards' novel The Book of Ebenezer Le Page in twenty-eight 15-minute parts on its Woman's Hour segment.[13] The producer subsequently wrote that the serialisation was "without question the most popular serial I have ever done in the 500 or so I have produced in the last 21 years ...".[14]
He subsequently performed "The Islander", a stage version of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, to critical success at the Theatre Royal Lincoln.[6] In 2012 AudioGO produced a complete and unabridged recording of Ebenezer Le Page, which is available on Audible.[14]
Dotrice recorded audiobooks for each book in George R. R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire.[15] In 2011 he was awarded the world record for most character voices in an audiobook for his recording of A Game of Thrones, which contained 224.[13][16][17]
Dotrice also narrated many storybook adaptations for Disney Records, including The Little Mermaid and Pooh's Heffalump Movie, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award.[5]
Personal life and death
Dotrice was married to Kay Newman (1929–2007), a television and stage actress, from 1947 until her death in 2007.[18] They had three daughters—Michele, Yvette and Karen—all of whom have acted at various times in their lives. He was the father-in-law of actors Edward Woodward (Michele) and Alex Hyde-White (Karen).[10]
