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Victor Maddern
Victor Maddern
	Maddern in Perry Mason (1963)
Born	Victor Jack Maddern; 16 March 1928; Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, England
Died	22 June 1993 (aged 65); Hackney, London, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation(s)	Actor, businessman
Years active	1950-1992
Spouse	Joan Neuville (m. 1949)
Children	4

Victor Jack Maddern (16 March 1928 – 22 June 1993) was an English actor.^[1] He was described by The Telegraph as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema."^[2]

Life and career

Born in Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, Maddern attended Beal Grammar Boys school and afterwards joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 15 and served in the Second World War from 1943 until its end and was medically discharged in 1946.^[3]

He subsequently trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).^[3] He made his first screen appearance in Seven Days to Noon in 1950, playing a reluctant soldier obliged to shoot a psychotic scientist.^[1] One of his earliest stage roles was as Sam Weller in The Trial of Mr Pickwick (1952).^[4] Appearing as Helicon in a production of Albert Camus' play Caligula (1964), Maddern was singled out for critical praise, and in My Darling Daisy (1970) portrayed the notorious Frank Harris.^[4] He also did two stints in the highly successful Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap - the longest-running production in London's West End.^[4]

From 1950 to the early 1990s, Maddern appeared in films and TV series, often portraying military types, usually cast as sergeants or corporals, as well as privates, seaman or airmen, played either straight or comically,^[5] though one exception to this rule was when he portrayed a deformed hunchback, named Carl, in the horror film Blood of the Vampire (1958). He played minor roles in five Carry On films.^[6] Among his many TV roles were Private Gross in Denis Cannan's Captain Carvallo, old Lampwick's son-in-law in The Dick Emery Show.,^[7]^[8] and Tommy Finch, the British dad in Fair Exchange in 1962–63 on CBS network, one of the first hour-long situation comedies. In 1963, he had a guest role on Perry Mason as jewel smuggler Gilbert Tyrell, in the episode "The Case of the Floating Stones.".^[9] Maddern also appeared in an episode of Dixon of Dock Green which has since been lost, save for an outtake reel in which he repeatedly failed to pronounce "Dock Green Nick".

Besides acting, Maddern ran a script printing business, and in 1991 opened a public speaking school.^[3] A lifelong Conservative Party voter, he offered special rates to Conservative MPs and constituency workers.

In his later years, Maddern devoted much of his time to charitable work.^[5] He was married with four daughters.^[2] He died from a brain tumour in Hackney, London,^[10] in 1993, aged 65.

Partial filmography

Morning Departure (1950) – Leading Telegraphist Hillbrook
Seven Days to Noon (1950) – Private Jackson
The Franchise Affair (1951) – Mechanic
Pool of London (1951) – First Tram Conductor (uncredited)
I’ll Never Forget You (1951) – Geiger Man (uncredited)
High Treason (1951) – Anarchist (uncredited)
His Excellency (1952) – Soldier
Angels One Five (1952) – Airman
The Planter's Wife (1952) – Radio operator (uncredited)
Top Secret (1952) – British N.C.O.
Time Bomb (1953) – Saboteur
Street of Shadows (1953) – Danny Thomas
Sailor of the King (1953) – Signalman Willy 'Misery' Earnshaw
Malta Story (1953) – Grouchy Soldier Clearing Rocks (uncredited)
The Good Beginning (1953) – Bookie's Runner (uncredited)
The Young Lovers (1954) – Sailor (uncredited)
The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954) – Gus Westover
Carrington V.C. (1954) – Sergeant Owen
Fabian of the Yard (1954)
Raising a Riot (1955) – Guardsman (uncredited)
The End of the Affair (1955) – 1st Orator
The Night My Number Came Up (1955) – Engineer
Footsteps in the Fog (1955) – Jones
Josephine and Men (1955) – Henry
The Cockleshell Heroes (1955) – Sergeant Craig
It's a Great Day (1955) – Charlie Mead
Private's Progress (1956) – Pvt. George Blake
The Last Man to Hang (1956) – Bonaker
Child in the House (1956) – Bert
A Hill in Korea (1956) – Pvt. Lindop
The Man in the Sky, aka Decision Against Time (1957) – Joe Biggs
Seven Waves Away (1957) – Willy Hawkins
Saint Joan (1957) – English Soldier
Face in the Night (1957) – Ted
Strangers' Meeting (1957) – Willie Fisher
Barnacle Bill (1957) – Figg
Son of a Stranger (1957) – Lenny
Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) – Sergeant, Parachute Training Instructor (uncredited)
Happy Is the Bride (1958) – Shop Steward
The Safecracker (1958) – Morris
Dunkirk (1958) – Merchant Seaman in Pub
Cat & Mouse (1958) – Superintendent Harding
Blood of the Vampire (1958) – Carl
I Was Monty's Double (1958) – Orderly Sergeant
The Square Peg (1958) – Cpl Motor Pool. (uncredited)
The Siege of Pinchgut (1959) – Bert
I'm All Right Jack (1959) – Knowles
Please Turn Over (1959) – Works Manager
Sink the Bismarck! (1960) – Able Seaman (uncredited)
Carry On Constable (1960) – Detective Sergeant Liddell
Let's Get Married (1960) – Works Manager
Light Up the Sky! (1960) – Lance Corporal Tomlinson
Watch Your Stern (1960) – Sailor fishing for bike
Crossroads to Crime (1960) – Len
Exodus (1960) – Sergeant
Carry On Regardless (1961) – First Sinister Passenger
Raising the Wind (1961) – Removal Man
On the Fiddle (1961) – First Airman
Petticoat Pirates (1961) – CPO Nixon
H.M.S. Defiant (1962) – Bosun Dawlish
The Longest Day (1962) – Camp Cook (uncredited)
Carry On Spying (1964) – Milchmann
Carry On Cleo (1964) – Sergeant-Major
Rotten to the Core (1965) – Anxious O'Toole
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) – Taxi Driver
Circus of Fear (1966) – Mason
The Magnificent Two (1967) – Drunken Soldier
Run Like a Thief (1967) – Abel Baker
Cuckoo Patrol (1967) – Dicko
The Lost Continent (1968) – The Mate
Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher (1968) – First Warder
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) – Junkman
The Bushbaby (1969) – Barman
The Magic Christian (1969) – Hot Dog Vendor
Cromwell (1970) – Executioner (uncredited)
The Magnificent Six and 1/2 (1971)
Steptoe and Son (1972) – Chauffeur
Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World (1973) – Dog Home Manager
Carry On Emmannuelle (1978) – Man in Launderette
Around the World in 80 Days (1989) – Liverpool Ticket Agent
Freddie as F.R.O.7 (1992) – Old Gentleman Raven (voice) (final film role)

Selected television credits

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1958) – Hugo
Sir Francis Drake (1961-1962) – Brewer / Ship's Cook
Fair Exchange (1962-1963) – Tommy Finch
Perry Mason (1963) – Gilbert Tyrell
Mess Mates (1960) – 'Tug' Nelson
Bonanza (1963) – Dave
Crossroads (1964) – Bert Henderson
The Troubleshooters (1965) – Rogers
Gideon's Way (1965) – Charles Randle
Take a Pair of Private Eyes (1966) – Cokey Brock
The Avengers (1966) – Jackson in Episode "The Thirteenth Hole"
The Prisoner (1967) – Bandmaster
The Baron (1967) – Dino
The Wednesday Play (1967) – Wagger
The Saint (1967-1968) – Enrico Montesino
Dixon of Dock Green (1967-1975) – Orrie Heppledene / Forbes / Jimmy Lester / Fred Hall
The Ugliest Girl in Town (1968) – Freddie
Doctor Who - (Fury from the Deep) (1968) – Robson
Softly Softly (1970)
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1970) – Detective Sergeant Watts
The Dick Emery Show (1968-1980) – Ernie
Paul Temple (1971) – Bill Stacey
The Frighteners (4 August 1972, ITV (TV network)) - ep. 'The Disappearing Man' - Harry Henshaw
Crown Court (1973) – Joe Fisk
1990 (1977) – Sammy Calhoun
Together (1980) – Harry Klein
In Loving Memory (1982) – Comic
That's My Boy (1983) – Bluebird Johnny
Miss Marple: The Moving Finger (1985) – Police Constable Johnson
The Beiderbecke Tapes (1987) – Sam Bentley
C.A.B. (1988) – Private Tripe
The Bill (1990) – Mr Grant
The Darling Buds of May (1992) – Fruity Pears