George Innes


George Innes is a British actor.

Stage career

George Innes was born in Stepney, East London on 8 March 1938, and he began his career on the stage with the National Theatre of Great Britain under Laurence Olivier. Before that, he trained at Toynbee Hall and evening classes at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where he was awarded the Shakespeare Cup for excellence. He appeared in the Bernard Kops play The Dream of Peter Mann at the Edinburgh Festival and on a tour of Great Britain, directed by Frank Dunlop, under whom he had trained at Toynbee Hall and LAMDA. His final year of study and training was at the Bristol Old Vic School. He worked with Dunlop again in The Pantomime at the Bristol Old Vic, before a season at Nottingham Playhouse with Dunlop and John Neville.
Other theatre credits include working for Royal Court Theatre production company in Chips with Everything, which played in the West End and on Broadway. He appeared in Othello with Olivier at the National Theatre at Chichester and The Old Vic. Other performances in this period include roles in Dutch Courtesan, Mother Courage, Hobson's Choice, and The Master Builder. At the National Theatre at South Bank, he appeared in Tom Stoppard's Jumpers, Bedroom Farce, and The Vortex at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles,. In 1993–94 he appeared in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with Simon Curtis directing in Chicago, a production which appeared on Broadway. Returning to London, he performed at the Southwark Playhouse in Rosmersholm and Riders to the Sea.
In 2009 he appeared off-Broadway in The Lodger at the Workshop Theatre. There he developed his one-man show called Tribute, based on the Ages of Man by Sir John Gielgud. It was also performed at The Players, a theatrical club in New York City. The show played during the August 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to excellent reviews. In March 2010, he performed Tribute at the Barron's Court Pub Theatre in London, receiving these reviews: "... the whole show centres around a superb talent: not Gielgud's but that of George Innes. The veteran performer has a marvellously warming presence with a deep velvet voice that could make a line from Avenue Q sound profound... Tribute really is a display of extraordinary talent." He performed the show at the Workshop Theatre in New York, touring westward to California.

Film career

Innes's film career includes Billy Liar, Charlie Bubbles, Before Winter Comes, The Italian Job, The Last Valley, Gumshoe, Pope Joan, Diamonds on Wheels, A Bridge too Far, Sweeney 2, The Medusa Touch, The Odd Job, Quadrophenia, A Tale of Two Cities, Shōgun, Goliath Awaits, Ivanhoe, Ordeal by Innocence and Morons from Outer Space.
His recent films include Shiner, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Last Orders, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Things To Do Before You're 30, Stardust and the Shekhar Kapur directed Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Television career

Innes has been twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his work in television. Credits include classic British and American programmes: Alfred in Upstairs, Downstairs ; "Dirty" Harry in Minder; Jumbo in Budgie ; Wilkins in Danger UXB ; I, Claudius; The Good Life ; Thriller ; Open All Hours; Rumpole of the Bailey; QED; Masada; Hill Street Blues; Magnum, P.I.; Cagney & Lacey; M*A*S*H; Hart to Hart; The Ruth Rendell Mysteries ; Adam Bede; Seekers; Agatha Christie ; Noble House; Midsomer Murders ; Menace; The Brief; Get Some In!; Newhart and After Henry.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleDirectorNotes
1963Billy LiarStampJohn Schlesinger
1968Charlie BubblesGarage AttendantAlbert Finney
1968Before Winter ComesBillJ. Lee Thompson
1969The Italian JobBill BaileyPeter Collinson
1970Scars of DraculaServantRoy Ward BakerUncredited
1971The Last ValleyVornezJames Clavell
1971GumshoeBookshop ProprietorStephen Frears
1972Pope JoanMonkMichael Anderson
1973Diamonds on WheelsInsp. TimothyJerome CourtlandTV movie
1974Where's Johnny?FingersDavid Eady
1977A Bridge Too FarSergeant MacdonaldRichard Attenborough
1977-1981You're Only Young TwiceSergeant HobbleGraeme MuirTV Series
1978The Medusa TouchVan DriverJack Gold
1978Sweeney 2Pete BealeTom Clegg
1978The Odd JobCaretakerPeter Medak
1979QuadropheniaCafe OwnerFranc Roddam
1980ShōgunVinckJerry LondonTV Mini-Series, 5 episodes
1980A Tale of Two CitiesJeremiah 'Jerry' CruncherJim GoddardTV movie
1981Goliath AwaitsDave WinterKevin ConnorTV movie
1982IvanhoeWambaDouglas CamfieldTV movie
1984Ordeal by InnocenceArchie LeachDesmond Davis
1985Morons from Outer SpaceStanley BensonMike Hodges
1988The Most Dangerous Man in the WorldKolevGavin Millar
2000Shiner'Little Pete' JonesJohn Irvin
2001The Life and Adventures of Nicholas NicklebyNewman NoggsStephen WhittakerTV movie
2001Last OrdersBernieFred Schepisi
2002The Great Dome RobberyTerry MillmanGabriel Range
2003Master and Commander: The Far Side of the WorldJoe Plaice, Able SeamanPeter Weir
2004UnstoppableKorean War veteranDavid Carson
2005Things To Do Before You're 30DonSimon Shore
2007StardustSoothsayerMatthew Vaughn
2007Elizabeth: The Golden AgeBurtonShekhar Kapur