Lionel Jeffries


Lionel Charles Jeffries was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in The Spy with a Cold Nose.

Early life

Jeffries was born in Forest Hill, South London. Both his parents were social workers with the Salvation Army. As a boy, he attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wimborne Minster in Dorset.
In 1945, he received a commission in the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and served in Burma at the Rangoon radio station during the Second World War, being awarded the Burma Star. He also served as a Captain in the Royal West African Frontier Force.

Career

He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He entered repertory at the David Garrick Theatre, Lichfield, Staffordshire for two years and appeared in early British television plays.
Jeffries built a successful career in British films mainly in comic character roles and as he was prematurely bald he often played characters older than himself, such as the role of father to Caractacus Potts in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, although Jeffries was actually six months younger than Van Dyke, who was born on 13 December 1925.
His acting career reached a peak in the 1960s with leading roles in other films like Two-Way Stretch, The Trials of Oscar Wilde, Murder Ahoy!, First Men in the Moon and Camelot.
Jeffries turned to writing and directing children's films, including a well-regarded version of The Railway Children and The Amazing Mr. Blunden. He was a member of the British Catholic Stage Guild. The Railway Children was very successful but Jeffries' later efforts were less so including Wombling Free.
Jeffries had a negative attitude towards television and avoided the medium for many years. He reluctantly appeared on television in an acting role in the 1980 London Weekend Television Dennis Potter drama Cream in My Coffee and realised that television production values were now little different from those in the film industry; as a result he developed a belated career in television. He appeared in an episode of the Thames Television/ITV comedy drama Minder in 1983 as Cecil Caine, an eccentric widower, and in an episode of Inspector Morse in 1990.
He starred as Tom in the Thames/ITV situation comedy Tom, Dick and Harriet with Ian Ogilvy and Brigit Forsyth. During location filming with Ogilvy for a 1983 episode, a stunt involving a car and a lake went very badly wrong, ending up with Jeffries only just managing to get out of the car's front window before the vehicle sank in of water.

Retirement and death

Jeffries began to suffer from vascular dementia in 1998 and retired from acting in 2001. His health declined in the following years. He died on 19 February 2010, at a nursing home in Poole, Dorset. He was 83.
The 2010 BBC TV drama The First Men in the Moon carries the dedication: "For Lionel Jeffries 1926–2010."

Personal life

Jeffries was married to Eileen Mary Walsh from 1951 until his death. They had a son and two daughters. His son Ty Jeffries is a composer, lyricist and cabaret artist. His granddaughter Amy Mason is a novelist and playwright.

Filmography

YearTitleDirectorWriter
1970The Railway Children
1972The Amazing Mr. Blunden
1973Baxter!
1977Wombling Free
1978The Water Babies
1979Nelson's Touch

Acting rolesStage Fright – Bald RADA Student Will Any Gentleman...? – Mr. FrobisherThe Black Rider – Martin BremnerThe Colditz Story – Harry TylerThe Quatermass Xperiment – BlakeNo Smoking – George PogsonAll for Mary – Maitre D', HotelWindfall – Arthur LeeJumping for Joy – Bert BentonBhowani Junction – Captain McDanielThe Baby and the Battleship – GeorgeEyewitness – Man in PubLust for Life – Dr. PeyronHigh Terrace – MonktonUp in the World – WilsonThe Man in the Sky – KeithDoctor at Large – Dr. HatchetHour of Decision – Elvin MainThe Vicious Circle – Geoffrey WindsorBarnacle Bill – GarrodBlue Murder at St Trinian's – Joe ManganDunkirk – Colonel – Medical OfficerCharles and Mary – George DyerUp the Creek – Steady BarkerThe Revenge of Frankenstein – FritzLaw and Disorder – Major ProudfootOrders to Kill – InterrogatorGirls at Sea – Harry, the TouristBehind the Mask – Walter FroyFurther Up the Creek – Steady BarkerNowhere to Go – Pet Shop Clerk Idol on Parade – BertieThe Nun's Story – Dr. Goovaerts Bobbikins – Gregory MasonPlease Turn Over – Ian HowardTwo-Way Stretch – Chief P.O. CroutJazz Boat – Sergeant ThompsonLife Is a Circus – GenieLet's Get Married – MarshThe Trials of Oscar Wilde – John Sholto Douglas, Marquis of QueensberryTarzan the Magnificent – AmesFanny – Monsieur Brun The Hellions – Luke BillingsOperation Snatch – EvansMrs. Gibbon's Boys – Lester GibbonsThe Notorious Landlady – Inspector OliphantKill or Cure – Det. Insp. HookThe Wrong Arm of the Law – Inspector Fred 'Nosey' ParkerCall me Bwana – EzraThe Scarlet Blade – Col. JuddThe Long Ships – AzizFirst Men in the Moon – Cavor / Joseph CavorMurder Ahoy! – Captain Sydney De Courcy RhumstoneThe Truth About Spring – 'Cark' / CarkYou Must Be Joking! – Sgt. Maj. McGregorThe Secret of My Success – Insp. Hobart / Baron von Lukenberg / The Earl of Aldershot / President EstedaThe Spy with a Cold Nose – Stanley FarquharDrop Dead Darling – ParkerOh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad – Airport CommanderCamelot – King PellinoreJules Verne's Rocket to the Moon – Sir Charles DillworthyChitty Chitty Bang Bang – Grandpa Potts12 + 1 – RandomhouseTwinky – SolicitorEyewitness – GrandpaThe Railway Children – Malcolm Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? – Inspector Ralph WilloughbyRoyal Flash – KraftsteinWhat Changed Charley Farthing? – HoulihanWombling Free – Womble The Prisoner of Zenda – General SaptCream in My Coffee – Bernard WilsherFather Charlie - Father CharlieBetter Late Than Never – Bertie HargreavesAbel's Island – Gower Danny, the Champion of the World – Mr. SnoddyA Chorus of Disapproval – Jarvis Huntley-PikeFirst and Last – LaurenceEnding Up – ShortyInspector Morse. The Sins of the Fathers - Charles Radford Jekyll & Hyde – Jekyll's FatherHeaven on Earth – Isaac Muller