Tim Seely

For the American comics artist, see Tim Seeley.

Tim Seely
Born(1935-06-10)10 June 1935
England
Died18 May 2024(2024-05-18) (aged 88)
Alma materRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
OccupationActor
Years active1957–2006
Parents
  • Major Frank Seely
  • Vera Birkin
Relatives

Timothy Ward Seely[1] (10 June 1935 – 18 May 2024) was an English film, radio, television and theatre actor.

Background

Seely was the son of the late Major Frank James Wriothesley Seely (1901–1956), and a great-grandson of Sir Charles Seely, 1st Baronet. His mother was Vera Lilian Birkin, daughter of British Colonel Charles Wilfred Birkin (fourth son of a lace embroidery and tableware magnate of Nottingham, Sir Thomas Isaac Birkin)[2][3] and his American wife, Claire Lloyd Birkin (née Howe). His aunt was Freda Dudley Ward, a mistress of King Edward VIII and wife of William Dudley Ward.

Seely studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[4]

Seely died on 18 May 2024, at the age of 88.[5][6]

Career

In 1957, he made his theatre debut in the play Tea and Sympathy at the London Comedy Theatre. Seely played the young Tom Lee, who fell in love with the senior Laura, played by Elizabeth Sellars.[7] He played the same role in the adaptation at New Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool.[4] There he also played Rodolfo in Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge.[4] In 1958, he acted alongside Maggie Smith at the London St Martin's Theatre in an adaptation of The Stepmother.[4]

Seely was member of the BBC Radio Drama Company, with which he acted the title role in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.[4] He also had roles in various Shakespeare plays, including as Baptista in The Taming of the Shrew, Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Polonius in Hamlet, Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing and the King of France in All's Well That Ends Well.[4]

In the late 1950s, he also took roles in film and television productions. One of his more prominent roles was as Midshipmen Ned Young in the 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty, where Seely appeared alongside Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard.

Filmography and television work

See also

References

  1. ^ Michael Rhodes [@migrhodes] (4 June 2024). "Actor Timothy Ward Seely has died on 18 May 2024, aged 88" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Bygones: The lace dynasty that made Nottingham". Nottingham Post. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ Anonymous. Obituary for her cousin Bindy Lambton, or the former Countess of Durham, published in The Daily Telegraph on 18 February 2003. [1]
  4. ^ a b c d e f [unreliable source?] Staff (undated) "Tim Seely". calvertonvillage.com. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  5. ^ "Timothy Ward Seely 1935–2024". Peerage News. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Timothy Ward Seely". The Telegraph. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  7. ^ Staff (25 May 1957). "'The Doll' Makes London History". The Age (via Google News). Retrieved 10 January 2013. "...and Tim Seely, a 21-year-old actor straight from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art as the boy."