Alan Wheatley(1907-1991)
- Actor
Sharp-featured, incisive Surrey-born actor whose chief trademark was a
memorably mellifluous voice. This, he used to maximum effect as a tool for
impersonating a gallery of suave, urbane - usually rather likeable -
villains, rogues and assorted shady types. He generally tended to imbue these characters with a distinct air of smugly superior disdain.
Alan had reinvented himself
as an actor after abandoning his first profession as industrial
psychologist. He made his theatrical debut in 1928 in "Heartbreak
House" by George Bernard Shaw and
appeared on the London stage two years later. For the remainder of the
decade he made a living as a supporting player (with a penchant for
period costume) in works by Shakespeare,
John Galsworthy,
J.M. Barrie, and
Oscar Wilde. While preferring the intimacy offered by
provincial theatre he also shone on the grander stage of
the Old Vic, and, in 1936, appeared in "St. Helena" on Broadway. That same year,
he made his feature film debut in
The Conquest of the Air (1931).
During World War II, Alan's voice was heard regularly as announcer and
newsreader for the BBC European Service. This led to a constant stream
of work as a radio actor and reader of English literature and poetry.
In the course of the next three decades he impersonated the good
(detective Lord Peter Wimsey) and the bad (Othello, Judas, Richard III)
with equal verve. His television career -- beginning in 1938 -- went along
a similar path. Alan was the very first
'BBC Sherlock Holmes' in 1951, taking his cue for the role from the drawings of Sidney Paget and the descriptions by Arthur Conan Doyle.
The six instalments (all live transmissions) were well-received but did
Alan no favour: the resulting publicity led his agent to ask for higher
salaries and this, in turn, led to fewer job offers.
On the big screen, Alan was best served by being the ill-fated Fred
Hale in Brighton Rock (1948); the
duplicitous traveller on the
Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948);
and the corrupt financier Mark Cruden in
Delayed Action (1954). On
television, he will remain the definitive incarnation of the Sheriff of
Nottingham in
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955).
Alan's sheriff is devious and cunning, a sophisticated arch villain of
great clarity, an equal to the hero - if it were not, of course, for
the ineptitude of his minions. After the end of his tenure as
Richard Greene's nemesis, Alan
popped up as assorted police inspectors, professional types, legal eagles and
men of the cloth, in anything, from
Danger Man (1960) to
Department S (1969). He
retired from the screen in 1970, and died in August 1991 in London at
the age of 84.
memorably mellifluous voice. This, he used to maximum effect as a tool for
impersonating a gallery of suave, urbane - usually rather likeable -
villains, rogues and assorted shady types. He generally tended to imbue these characters with a distinct air of smugly superior disdain.
Alan had reinvented himself
as an actor after abandoning his first profession as industrial
psychologist. He made his theatrical debut in 1928 in "Heartbreak
House" by George Bernard Shaw and
appeared on the London stage two years later. For the remainder of the
decade he made a living as a supporting player (with a penchant for
period costume) in works by Shakespeare,
John Galsworthy,
J.M. Barrie, and
Oscar Wilde. While preferring the intimacy offered by
provincial theatre he also shone on the grander stage of
the Old Vic, and, in 1936, appeared in "St. Helena" on Broadway. That same year,
he made his feature film debut in
The Conquest of the Air (1931).
During World War II, Alan's voice was heard regularly as announcer and
newsreader for the BBC European Service. This led to a constant stream
of work as a radio actor and reader of English literature and poetry.
In the course of the next three decades he impersonated the good
(detective Lord Peter Wimsey) and the bad (Othello, Judas, Richard III)
with equal verve. His television career -- beginning in 1938 -- went along
a similar path. Alan was the very first
'BBC Sherlock Holmes' in 1951, taking his cue for the role from the drawings of Sidney Paget and the descriptions by Arthur Conan Doyle.
The six instalments (all live transmissions) were well-received but did
Alan no favour: the resulting publicity led his agent to ask for higher
salaries and this, in turn, led to fewer job offers.
On the big screen, Alan was best served by being the ill-fated Fred
Hale in Brighton Rock (1948); the
duplicitous traveller on the
Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948);
and the corrupt financier Mark Cruden in
Delayed Action (1954). On
television, he will remain the definitive incarnation of the Sheriff of
Nottingham in
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955).
Alan's sheriff is devious and cunning, a sophisticated arch villain of
great clarity, an equal to the hero - if it were not, of course, for
the ineptitude of his minions. After the end of his tenure as
Richard Greene's nemesis, Alan
popped up as assorted police inspectors, professional types, legal eagles and
men of the cloth, in anything, from
Danger Man (1960) to
Department S (1969). He
retired from the screen in 1970, and died in August 1991 in London at
the age of 84.