Lee Montague


Leonard Goldberg, known professionally as Lee Montague, was an English actor noted for his roles in film and television, usually playing tough guys.

Early life

Montague was born in Bow, London. His family was Jewish: his father was a tailor from Russia, and his mother was from Lithuania.

Career

Montague was a student of the Old Vic Theatre School.
Montague's film credits include The [Camp on Blood Island], Billy Budd, The [Secret of Blood Island], Deadlier Than the Male, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Jesus of Nazareth, Mahler and The Legacy. His theatre credits include: Who Saw Him Die by Tudor Gates staged in 1974 at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket in which he played the part of John Rawlings, the nemesis of former police Superintendent Pratt played by Stratford Johns. On Broadway, he portrayed Gregory Hawke in The Climate of Eden, and Ed in Entertaining Mr. Sloane.
Montague's television credits include: Somerset Maugham TV Theatre, Espionage, The [Four Just Men |The Four Just Men], Danger Man, The Baron, The Troubleshooters, Department S, Dixon of Dock Green, The Sweeney, Holocaust, Space: 1999, Minder, The Chinese Detective, Bergerac, Bird of Prey, Dempsey and Makepeace, Adaptations of [Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde|Jekyll & Hyde], Casualty and Waking the Dead. In the sitcom Seconds Out, he had a regular part as the manager of a boxer played by Robert Lindsay. In Bergerac, he played Henri Dupont in several episodes.
Montague was the first storyteller on the BBC children's programme Jackanory in 1965, and he narrated in List of [Jackanory episodes|fifteen episodes] between 1965 and 1966.

Personal life and death

Montague lived in South End Green, Hampstead, in north west London, for 65 years. He was known locally for helping to save Keats Library.
He was married to Ruth Goring, also an actor, for 67 years, until her death in 2023. He had two children.
On 30 March 2025, Montague died at the age of 97.

Selected filmography