Don WarringtonMBE (born Don Williams, 23 May 1952) is a Trinidadian-born British actor.[1] He is best known for playing Philip Smith in the ITV sitcomRising Damp (1974–78), and Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective series Death in Paradise (2011–present).
Warrington was born in Trinidad, but moved to Newcastle upon Tyne[3] with his mother and brother at the age of seven,[4] while his sister stayed in Trinidad. His father, Basil Kydd, was a Trinidadian politician who died in 1958.[5]
Warrington attended Harris College (now the University of Central Lancashire) and trained as an actor at the Drama Centre London.[6] As there was already an actor called Don Williams when he joined Equity, he took the stage surname "Warrington" after Warrington Road, the street he grew up on. He started acting in repertory theatre at the age of 17.[7]
He is one of the interviewees on the BBC 2 series Grumpy Old Men, and he appears in a series of Kenco coffee advertisements in the United Kingdom in which he plays an African coffee plantation owner. He regularly provides voice-overs for both BBC television and radio.
Warrington has also appeared in BBC1 sitcom The Crouches, which aired from 9 September 2003 until 2005. He played Bailey, who was Roly's boss at a London Underground station in South London. Roly was played by Robbie Gee. Warrington played the role of the Hospital Chaplain in Casualty,[8] assuming the role of Trevor. He also starred in the 2010 film It's a Wonderful Afterlife.
He also appeared in Grange Hill as Mr Peters, the father of pupil Lauren Peters.
He provided voiceover links, reading out the various methods of contacting the show on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, which was broadcast from 11 January 2010.
Since 2011, Warrington has played Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC show Death in Paradise.[9][10]
He also appeared as jazz musician Frederick J. Louden in a BBC radio production of The Devil's Music, written by Alan Plater. In 2011, Warrington played the father of a suspected terrorist in the last series of the BBC drama Waking the Dead. In 2012, he played master of the college Marcus Harding in “Generation of Vipers”, S6:E2 of Lewis.[8]
Warrington performed in the lead role of King Lear in a 2016 Talawa Theatre Company and Royal Exchange, Manchester production. Mark Shenton wrote in The Stage that "Warrington seizes and owns it with magnetic, majestic power" as "one of many virtues in this outstanding production."[15] Claire Allfree in The Telegraph wrote: "Lear is the Everest of roles, and Don Warrington ... ascends the cliff face with magnificent authority. He rages around his daughters like a hulking thunder cloud in human form, not just the incarnation of absolute rule but of something more ancient and of the earth."[16]
In 2008, Warrington competed in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with the 2005 and 2006 British National Champion in Latin American dance, Lilia Kopylova.[19] After Week 4, Warrington was joint seventh out of the remaining 12 contestants with an average of 24.5 points. In Week 5, he was eliminated, having lost the dance-off against Heather Small, with the first three judges all voting for Small over Warrington.
He joined the show to step out of his comfort zone, and he appreciated the opportunity to learn to dance.[20]
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