Rupert Davies
Rupert Lisburn Gwynne Davies FRSA was a British actor best remembered for playing the title role in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of Maigret, based on Georges Simenon's novels.
Life and career
Military service
Davies was born in Liverpool. After service in the British Merchant Navy, he was a Sub-Lieutenant Observer with the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. In 1940, the pilot of his Swordfish aircraft in which Davies was aboard ditched into the sea off the Dutch coast, following which he was captured and interned in the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp. He made three attempts to escape, all of which failed. During his captivity, he began to take part in theatre performances, entertaining his fellow prisoners.
Acting
On his release Davies resumed his career in acting almost immediately, starring in an ex-prisoner of war show, Back Home, which was hosted at the Stoll Theatre, London. In 1959, he played the role of the Colonel in Alun Owen's The Rough and Ready Lot when it received its stage debut on 1 June 1959 in a production by the 59 Theatre Company at the Lyric Opera House, Hammersmith, as well as in the television adaptation which was broadcast that September.
He became a staple of British television, appearing in numerous plays and series, including Quatermass II, Ivanhoe, Emergency – Ward 10, Danger Man, Man in a Suitcase, The Champions, Doctor at Large, Arthur of the Britons and War and Peace. He also provided the voice of Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine in the Gerry Anderson series Joe 90. A pipe smoker, like Jules Maigret, in 1964, having released a 45rpm single "Smoking My Pipe" late the previous year that capitalised on the Maigret opening sequence, he became the first person to win the Pipe Smoker of the Year award.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in October 1962, hosted by Eamonn Andrews in central London.
Davies also played supporting roles in many films, appearing briefly as George Smiley in The Spy Who Came In from the Cold. He also appeared in several horror films in the late 1960s, including Witchfinder General and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, as well as such international films as Waterloo and Zeppelin.
Death
He died of cancer in London in 1976, leaving a wife, Jessica, and two sons, Timothy and Hoagan. Davies is buried at Pistyll Cemetery, near Nefyn, Gwynedd, Wales.
Selected filmography
Private Angelo Seven Days to Noon as Bit Part The Dark Avenger as Sir JohnThe Traitor as ClintonThe Key as BakerNext to No Time as Auction Organiser Sea Fury as BosunViolent Moment as Bert GlennonBreakout as MorganIdol on Parade as Sergeant Life in Emergency Ward 10 as R.S.O. Tim HunterSapphire as Jack FerrisJohn Paul Jones as British CaptainBobbikins as Jock FlemingDevil's Bait as LandlordDanger Tomorrow as Dr. Robert CampbellThe Criminal as EdwardsThe Spy Who Came In from the Cold as George SmileyThe Uncle as David MortonThe Brides of Fu Manchu as Jules MerlinTarget for Killing as Kommissar SaadiFive Golden Dragons as Comm. SandersSubmarine X-1 as Vice-Adm. Redmayne Witchfinder General as John LowesDracula Has Risen from the Grave as MonsignorCurse of the Crimson Altar as The VicarThe Oblong Box as KempWaterloo as GordonThe Firechasers as PrenticeThe Night Visitor as Mr. ClemensZeppelin as Captain WhitneyDanger Point as ManFrightmare as Edmund YatesKing Arthur, the Young Warlord as Cerdig, Chief of the Saxons
Selected television roles
Quatermass II as Vincent Broadhead Sailor of Fortune as Various roles My Friend Charles as Robert Brady The Adventures of Aggie as Ollie NickellFolio - The Unburied Dead as Canoris The Honourable Member as Robert Whitlock MP The Adventures of Charlie Chan as Inspector Duff The Adventures of Robin Hood as Simon DexterIvanhoe as Brother GarethThe Adventures of Ben Gunn as Captain FlintThe Invisible Man as DushkinArmchair Theatre as Various roles Interpol Calling as CoetzeeThe Flying Doctor as Frank SelbyThe Third Man as Inspector Arthur Shillings World Theatre as CookSuspense as Michael CroweThe True History of Passion as CaiaphusMaigret as Inspector Jules Maigret Danger Man as Colonel GravesFestival as Chief of PoliceThe Wednesday Play - The Big Breaker as Councillor Wally CrossFront Page Story as Felix RackstroITV Play of the Week - The Successor as Cardinal of BolognaMan in a Suitcase as Santiago GomezThe Champions as VossJoe 90 as Professor Ian 'Mac' Maclaine BBC Play of the Month - Maigret at Bay as Inspector Jules MaigretNever Mind the Quality, Feel the Width as Bishop FlynnBiography as Sir Almroth WrightDoctor at Large as Inspector BarkerMan at the Top as Harvey ClaytonThirty-Minute Theatre - The Proposal as LomovThe Man Outside as Baker War and Peace as Count Rostov Arthur of the Britons as Cerdig Orson Welles Great Mysteries - A Terribly Strange Bed as LemerleMarked Proposal as Dr. Jack Morrison Father Brown as Colonel Arthur DrucePlay for Today - The After Dinner Game as Bartley Humbolt