Victor Maddern
Victor Jack Maddern was an English actor. He was described by The Telegraph as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema".
Life and career
Born in Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, Maddern attended Beal Grammar Boys school and afterwards joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 15 and served in the Second World War from 1943 until its end and was medically discharged in 1946.
He subsequently trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his first screen appearance in Seven Days to Noon in 1950, playing a reluctant soldier obliged to shoot a psychotic scientist. One of his earliest stage roles was as Sam Weller in The Trial of Mr Pickwick. Appearing as Helicon in a production of Albert Camus' play Caligula, Maddern was singled out for critical praise, and in My Darling Daisy portrayed the notorious Frank Harris. He also did two stints in the highly successful Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap, the longest-running production in London's West End.
From 1950 to the early 1990s, Maddern appeared in films and TV series, often portraying military types, usually cast as sergeants or corporals, as well as privates, seaman or airmen, played either straight or comically; one exception to this was when he portrayed a deformed hunchback, named Carl, in the horror film Blood of the Vampire, and another was when he played the lead role of a crippled-bartender-turned-murderer in Street of Shadows in 1953. He played minor roles in five Carry On films. Among his many TV roles were Private Gross in Denis Cannan's Captain Carvallo, old Lampwick's son-in-law in The Dick Emery Show, and Tommy Finch, the British dad in Fair Exchange in 1962–63 on the CBS network, one of the first hour-long situation comedies. In 1963, he had a guest role in Perry Mason as jewel smuggler Gilbert Tyrell, in the episode "The Case of the Floating Stones". Maddern also appeared in an episode of Dixon of Dock Green which has since been lost, save for an outtake reel in which he repeatedly failed to pronounce "Dock Green Nick".
Besides acting, Maddern ran a script-printing business, and in 1991 opened a public speaking school. A lifelong Conservative Party voter, he offered special rates to Conservative MPs and constituency workers.
In his later years, Maddern devoted much of his time to charitable work. He was married with four daughters. He died from a brain tumour in Hackney, London, in 1993, aged 65.
Partial filmography
Morning Departure - Leading Telegraphist HillbrookSeven Days to Noon - Private JacksonThe Franchise Affair - MechanicPool of London - First Tram Conductor I’ll Never Forget You - Geiger Man High Treason - Anarchist His Excellency - SoldierAngels One Five - AirmanThe Planter's Wife - Radio operator Top Secret - British N.C.O.Time Bomb - SaboteurStreet of Shadows - Danny ThomasSailor of the King - Signalman Willy 'Misery' EarnshawMalta Story - Grouchy Soldier Clearing Rocks The Good Beginning - Bookie's Runner The Young Lovers - Sailor The Sea Shall Not Have Them - Gus WestoverCarrington V.C. - Sergeant OwenFabian of the Yard Raising a Riot - Guardsman The End of the Affair - 1st OratorThe Night My Number Came Up - EngineerFootsteps in the Fog - JonesJosephine and Men - HenryThe Cockleshell Heroes - Sergeant CraigIt's a Great Day - Charlie MeadPrivate's Progress - Pvt. George BlakeThe Last Man to Hang - BonakerChild in the House - BertA Hill in Korea - Pvt. LindopThe Man in the Sky, aka Decision Against Time - Joe BiggsSeven Waves Away - Willy HawkinsSaint Joan - English SoldierFace in the Night - TedStrangers' Meeting - Willie FisherBarnacle Bill - FiggSon of a Stranger - LennyCarve Her Name with Pride - Sergeant, Parachute Training Instructor Happy Is the Bride - Shop StewardThe Safecracker - MorrisDunkirk - Merchant Seaman in PubCat & Mouse - Superintendent HardingBlood of the Vampire - CarlI Was Monty's Double - Orderly SergeantThe Square Peg - Cpl Motor Pool. The Siege of Pinchgut - BertI'm All Right Jack - KnowlesPlease Turn Over - Works ManagerSink the Bismarck! - Able Seaman Carry On Constable - Detective Sergeant LiddellLet's Get Married - Works ManagerLight Up the Sky! - Lance Corporal TomlinsonWatch Your Stern - Sailor fishing for bikeCrossroads to Crime - LenExodus - SergeantCarry On Regardless - First Sinister PassengerRaising the Wind - Removal ManOn the Fiddle - First AirmanPetticoat Pirates - CPO NixonH.M.S. Defiant - Bosun DawlishThe Longest Day - Camp Cook Carry On Spying - MilchmannCarry On Cleo - Sergeant-MajorRotten to the Core - Anxious O'TooleBunny Lake Is Missing - Taxi DriverCircus of Fear - MasonThe Magnificent Two - Drunken SoldierRun Like a Thief - Abel BakerCuckoo Patrol - DickoThe Lost Continent - The MateDecline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher - First WarderChitty Chitty Bang Bang - JunkmanThe Bushbaby - BarmanThe Magic Christian - Hot Dog VendorCromwell - Executioner The Magnificent Six and 1/2 Steptoe and Son - ChauffeurDigby, the Biggest Dog in the World - Dog Home ManagerCarry On Emmannuelle - Man in LaunderetteAround the World in 80 Days - Liverpool Ticket AgentFreddie as F.R.O.7 - Old Gentleman Raven
Selected television credits
The Adventures of Robin Hood - HugoSir Francis Drake - Brewer / Ship's CookFair Exchange - Tommy FinchPerry Mason - Gilbert TyrellMess Mates - 'Tug' NelsonBonanza - DaveCrossroads - Bert HendersonThe Troubleshooters - RogersGideon's Way - Charles RandleTake a Pair of Private Eyes - Cokey BrockThe Avengers - Jackson in Episode "The Thirteenth Hole" The Prisoner - BandmasterThe Baron - DinoThe Wednesday Play - WaggerThe Saint - Enrico MontesinoDixon of Dock Green - Orrie Heppledene / Forbes / Jimmy Lester / Fred HallThe Ugliest Girl in Town - FreddieDoctor Who - - RobsonSoftly Softly Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) - Detective Sergeant WattsThe Dick Emery Show - ErniePaul Temple - Bill StaceyThe Frighteners - ep. 'The Disappearing Man' - Harry HenshawCrown Court - Joe FiskMen of Affairs - Removal man1990 - Sammy CalhounMr. Big - Fick MackYou're Only Young Twice - FingersTogether - Harry KleinIn Loving Memory - ComicThat's My Boy - Bluebird JohnnyMiss Marple: The Moving Finger - Police Constable JohnsonThe Beiderbecke Tapes - Sam BentleyC.A.B. - Private TripeThe Bill - Mr GrantThe Darling Buds of May - Fruity Pears