Dotrice, Roy 1925–

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Dotrice, Roy 1925-

PERSONAL

Born May 26, 1925 (some sources say 1923), in Guernsey, Channel Islands, England; son of Louis and Neva (maiden name, Wilton) Dotrice; married Kay Newman (an actress), August 8, 1947; children: Michele (an actress), Karen (an actress), Yvette (an actress). Education: Studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art; attended Dayton Academy and State of Guernsey Intermediate College. Politics: Conservative. Religion: Church of England.

Addresses:

Agent—Boutique Agency, 10 Universal City Plaza, Suite 2000, Los Angeles, CA 91608.

Career:

Actor, director, and writer. Began acting while a prisoner of war in Stalagluft Three, Silesia, Germany, during World War II; appeared with Liverpool Repertory, Manchester Repertory, and Oldham Repertory, 1945-55; founded the Guernsey Repertory Theatre Company as an actor and director, 1955-57; appeared with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company from 1958-60, became Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, appearing 1961-65. Military: Royal Air Force, 1940-45.

Member:

Actor's Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, Garrick Club, Players Club.

Awards, Honors:

Emmy Award, 1965, for The Caretaker; BBC Television Actor of the Year Award, 1968, for Brief Lives; TV Award, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1969, for Misleading Cases; Drama Desk Award nomination, outstanding actor in a play, 1975, for Brief Lives; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best actor, 1981, for A Life; Dramalogue Award, 1982 and 1984; Antoinette Perry Award, best performance by a featured actor in a play, Outer Critics Circle Award, outstanding featured actor in a play, Drama Desk Award, best featured actor—play, Jeff Award, actor in a supporting role—play, Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee, 2000, all for A Moon for the Misbegotten.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

(London debut) Back Home Revue, Stoll Theatre, 1945.

Egeus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, 1959.

Duke of Burgundy, King Lear, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, 1959.

Vincentio, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, 1960.

Antenor, Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, 1960.

Father Ambrose, The Devils, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, England, 1961.

Firs, The Cherry Orchard, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1961.

Simon Chachava, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1962.

William Marshall, Curtmantle, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1962.

Ajax, Troilus and Cressida, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1962.

Caliban, The Tempest, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1963.

Title role, Julius Caesar, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1963.

Duke of Bedford, Henry VI, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1963.

Title role, Edward IV, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1963.

Edward IV, Richard III, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1963.

John of Gaunt, Richard II, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1964.

Hotspur, Henry IV, Part I, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1964.

Shallow, Henry IV, Part II, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, 1964.

Duke of Bedford, Henry VI, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, then Aldwych Theatre, London, 1964.

Title role, Edward IV, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, then Aldwych Theatre, 1964.

Edward IV, Richard III, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, then Aldwych Theatre, 1964.

Jan Puntila, Squire Puntila and His Servant Matti, Aldwych Theatre, 1965.

The Investigation (concert reading) Aldwych Theatre, 1965.

John Aubrey, Brief Lives (one-man play), Hampstead Theatre Club, London, 1967.

(New York debut) John Aubrey, Brief Lives, John Golden Theatre, 1967.

Man, World War 2 ½, New Theatre, London, 1967.

John Morley, The Latent Heterosexual, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1968.

William Clark Brackman, God Bless, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1968.

John Aubrey, Brief Lives, Criterion Theatre, London, 1969.

Peer, Peer Gynt, Chichester Festival, Chichester, England, 1970.

Matthew Cragg, The Hero, Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1970.

James Blanch, One at Night, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1971.

Adam, Mother Adam, Arts Theatre, London, 1971.

Dr. Arnold, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Cambridge Theatre, London, 1972.

Title role, Gomes, Queen's Theatre, London, 1973.

John Aubrey, Brief Lives, Booth Theatre, New York City, 1974.

Stranger, The Dragon Variation, Duke of York's Theatre, London, 1977.

Boanerges, The Apple Cart, Phoenix Theatre, London, 1977.

Professor Van Helsing, The Passion of Dracula, Queen's Theatre, 1978.

Fagin, Oliver!, Albery Theatre, London, 1979.

Title role, Mister Lincoln, Capital Theatre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 1979, then Morosco Theatre, New York City, 1980.

Fortune, NY, 1981.

Drumm, A Life, Morosco Theatre, 1981.

Pope Pius VIII, Kingdoms, Cort Theatre, New York City, 1981, then Washington, DC.

Falstaff, Henry IV, American Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, CT, 1982-83.

Polonius, Hamlet, American Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, 1982-83.

Kingdoms, Cort Theatre, 1983.

Title role, Churchill, Ford's Theatre, Washington, DC, then Huntington Hartford Theatre, Los Angeles, 1983.

The Genius, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1984.

Down an Alley Filled with Cats, Plaza Theatre, Dallas, TX, 1984.

Dr. Stockman, Enemy of the People, Roundabout Theatre, New York City, 1985.

Great Expectations, Old Vic Theatre, London, 1985.

David Bliss, Hayfever, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1985-86, then Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, 1986.

Max, The Homecoming, Criterion Center Stage Right, New York City, 1991.

George Bernard Shaw, The Best of Friends, Westside Theatre Upstairs, New York City, 1993.

Phil Hogan, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, then Walter Kerr Theater, New York City, 2000.

Martin Venderhof, You Can't Take It With You, Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, 2005.

George Bernard Shaw, The Best of Friends, Hampstead Theatre Club, 2006.

Major Tours:

Move Over Mrs. Markham, Australian cities, 1972.

Oliver Crown, Lucy Crown, U.K. cities, 1976.

Sir Anthony Eden, Suez, U.K. cities, 1977.

Iago, Othello, Australian cities, 1978.

Film Appearances:

(Uncredited) Dandy Nicholls, The Criminal (also known as The Concrete Jungle), 1960.

Jensen, The Heroes of Telemark (also known as Anthony Mann's "The Heroes of Telemark"), Columbia, 1964.

David Carland, A Twist of Sand, United Artists, 1968.

Gossip, Lock Up Your Daughters!, Columbia, 1969.

Martin Carr-Gibbons, The Buttercup Chain, Columbia, 1971.

General Alexeiev, Nicholas and Alexandra, Columbia, 1971.

John Williams, Tomorrow, 1972.

Henrik Vinther, One of Those Things (also known as Haendeligt uheld), 1972.

Charles Gregory, "Wish You Were Here," Tales From the Crypt, 1972.

Hide and Seek, 1972.

Not Now, Comrade, 1976.

(Uncredited) Voice of Benson, Saturn 3 (also known as Saturn City and Saturn Three), 1980.

The Evil Fucaire/Ye Old Jailer, Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers, Orion, 1984.

Leopold Mozart, Amadeus (also known as Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus"), Orion, 1984.

Abbott Reeves, Eliminators, 1986.

King George IV, Shaka Zulu, 1987.

Voice of narrator, The Prince and the Pauper (also known as Mickey's "The Prince and the Pauper"), 1990.

Zanuck, Suburban Commando, 1991.

The Good Policeman, 1991.

Jeeves, The Lounge People, 1992.

Anton Pamchenko, The Cutting Edge, 1992.

Cyrus Miles, Swimming with Sharks (also known as The Boss and The Buddy Factor), 1994.

Reverend Thomas Cheever, The Scarlet Letter, 1995.

Quillian Mann-Fanciful, The Colour of Funny, 1999.

Himself, The Making of "The Haunting" (documentary), 1999.

Dr. John Bachman, Alien Hunter, Screen Gems, 2003.

Anaxagoras, Olympiad 448 B.C.: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas, 2004.

Lord Carter, These Foolish Things, Outsider Pictures, 2006.

Jack Rawlings, Played, Lions Gate Films, 2006.

Television Appearances; Series:

Himself, BBC3, 1965.

Albert Haddock, Misleading Cases (also known as A. P. Herbert's "Misleading Cases"), 1967.

Storyteller, Jackanory, BBC1, 1970-71.

Cure Ponosse, Clochmerle, 1972.

Charles Dickens/John Dickens, Dickens of London, 1977.

Father (Jacob Wells), Beauty and the Beast, CBS, 1987.

Doctor Henry Croft, Going to Extremes, ABC, 1992.

Father Gary Barrett, Picket Fences, CBS, 1992-95.

Mr. Big, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, CBS, 1996.

Seamus Madigan, Madigan Men, ABC, 2000.

Frank Buchanan, Life Begins, ITV and Showtime, 2005-2006.

Anaxagoras, From Aristotle to Hawking, 2007.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Edward IV, War of the Roses, 1966.

Charles Dickens/John Dickens, Dickens of London, 1976.

Luther Frye, Family Reunion, 1981.

George IV, Shaka Zulu, Fox, 1986.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Abe Grayf, Treasure Island, 1957.

Soldier, The Government Inspector, 1958.

The Kiss of Blood (also known as Late Night Horror: The Kiss of Blood), 1968.

Chekhov, 1970.

Commissioner Simmonds, Alien Attack, 1976.

Israel Tonge, Stargazy on Zummerdown, 1978.

Abraham Lincoln, Mister Lincoln, 1981.

The king, The Dancing Princess, 1984.

The Corsican Brothers (also known as Vendetta), 1985.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Young Harry Houdini, 1987.

Payton Massey, The Lady Forgets, CBS, 1989.

Charles Truman MP, For the Greater Good, 1991.

Dr. Burnham, Children of the Dark, CBS, 1994.

Ambrose Booth, Like Father, Like Santa, Fox Family, 1998.

Commander Finot, La Femme Musketeer (also known as Lady Musketier—Alle fur eine), 2004.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Evelyn Orcham, Imperial Palace, 1969.

Voice, The Ascent of Man, 1973.

Himself, The Making of "The Corsican Brothers," 1984.

Leo, Carmilla, Showtime, 1989.

Camp Hollywood, 2004.

Also appeared in Dear Liar; Brief Lives.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Donald Timwood, "A Cold Peace," Armchair Theatre, ABC [United Kingdom], 1965.

"Amerika," Theatre 625, BBC, 1966.

Fogarty, The Liars, Granada, 1966.

Scott, "Don't Forget You're Mine," Public Eye, ITV, 1966.

Davies, "The Caretaker," ITV Play of the Week (also known as Play of the Week), ITV, 1966.

Hopkiss, "The Haunting of Aubrey Hopkiss," Blackmail, ITV, 1966.

Dad, "Dial Rudolph Valentino One One," The Wednesday Play, BBC, 1967.

Douglas Stone, "The Kiss of Blood," Late Night Horror, BBC, 1968.

Father, "The Youngest Comrade," The Jazz Age, BBC, 1968.

Freddy Lamb, "Crack Shot," The Gold Robbers, LWT, 1969.

Kayo Hathaway, "Bad Bad Jo Jo," Tales of Unease, 1970.

Simon Carne, "The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds," The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, 1971.

"Roy Dotrice," This Is Your Life, ITV, 1974.

Commissioner Simmonds, "Earthbound," Space: 1999 (also known as Spazio: 1999), 1975.

Commissioner Simmonds, "Breakaway," Space: 1999 (also known as Spazio: 1999), 1975.

Tramp, "Squatters," Sykes, 1976.

Harcourt, "Tropical Madness," Magnum, P.I., 1981.

Lord Hedriks, "God Save the Queen," Tales of the Gold Monkey (also known as Tales of the Golden Monkey), 1983.

Victor Janoff, "Steele Eligible," Remington Steele, 1984.

Courtney Perterson, "Max's Waltz," Hart to Hart, 1984.

Charles Jourdan, "The Spy Who Mugged Me," The A-Team, 1986.

Vampire, "My Ghostwriter-The Vampire," Tales from the Darkside, 1987.

Peter Vanderdonk, "Rip Van Winkle," Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's "Faerie Tale Theatre"), 1987.

The King, "The Dancing Princess," Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's "Faerie Tale Theatre"), 1987.

Charlie McGuinness, "Trial by Ordeal," The Equalizer, 1989.

Bishop Pine, "Final Confession," Hunter, 1990.

Professor Chandler Fitzpatrick, "The Great Twain Robbery, " Murder, She Wrote, CBS, 1990.

Leo, "Carmilla," Nightmare Classics, 1990.

Dr. Howard Sorenson, "The Legacy of Borbey House," Murder, She Wrote, CBS, 1993.

Pete, "The Faygitive," Wings, NBC, 1993.

Alex Vedder, "McKenzie, Brackman, Barnum & Bailey," L.A. Law, NBC, 1994.

The elder, "The Greatest Love Story Never Told," Earth 2, NBC, 1995.

The elder, "After the Thaw," Earth 2, NBC, 1995.

Dr. Myles Purcell, "School for Murder," Murder, She Wrote, CBS, 1995.

Father Gary Barrett, "Final Judgment," Picket Fences, CBS, 1995.

Voice of Frederick, "The Lion and the Unicorn," Batman: The Animated Series (animated; also known as Batman and The Adventures of Batman & Robin), 1995.

Frederick Lantze, "The Fall of Night," Babylon 5 (also known as B5), TNT, 1995.

Mr. Wilford, "Brothers Grim," Strange Luck, Fox, 1995.

Major Nicholson, "Escape," Tales from the Crypt (also known as HBO's "Tales from the Crypt"), HBO, 1996.

Mr. Big, "The Kidnapping Episode," Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 1996.

Voice of Keene Marlowe, "Six Forgotten Warriors-Chapter One," Spider-Man (animated), 1997.

Voice of Keene Marlowe, "Six Forgotten Warriors-Chapter Three: Secrets of Six," Spider-Man (animated), 1997.

Voice of Keene Marlowe, "Six Forgotten Warriors-Chapter Four: The Six Fight Again," Spider-Man (animated), 1997.

Voice of Keene Marlowe, "Six Forgotten Warriors-Chapter Five: The Price of Heroism," Spider-Man (animated), 1997.

Zeus, "Twilight," Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, 1998.

Zeus, "Top God," Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, 1998.

Zeus, "Reunions," Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, 1998.

Jerome Karlsfield, Promised Land, CBS, 1998.

Archibald Chandler, "Data World," Sliders, Sci-Fi Channel, 1999.

Himself, "The Haunting," HBO First Look, HBO, 1999.

The seer, "The Seer," Sliders, Sci-Fi Channel, 2000.

Micah, "Holy of Holies," Touched by an Angel, CBS, 2001.

Jarvis Leeds, "Son of a Preacher Man," Just Shoot Me!, 2003.

Tomasz Zelinsky, "Roots," Doctors, BBC, 2003.

Roger Wyndam-Pryce, "Lineage," Angel (also known as Angel: The Series), Fox, 2003.

George Tunstall, "Sticks and Stones," Casualty, BBC1, 2005.

Charlie, "Are You Jim's Wife?," The Afternoon Play, BBC, 2006.

Mr. Carter, "Give Peace a Chance," Heartbeat (also known as Classic Heartbeat), ITV, 2006.

WRITINGS

Television Episodes:

Wrote episodes of Beauty and the Beast, CBS.

SIDELIGHTS

CTFT learned that while he was serving his country during World War II as an air gunner for the Royal Air Force, Dotrice was captured by the Germans and was held a prisoner of war from 1942-45. Roy Dotrice's London debut, the revue Back Home, was performed as a benefit for the Red Cross by former prisoners of war. Dotrice holds the world record for longest running performance (over four hundred) for his portrayal of John Aubrey in Brief Lives, which is also his favorite role.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

The New York Times, October 27, 1991, p. H5; March 10, 2000, p. B2.

The Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2000, p. W13.