PROFILBARU.COM

Pat Roach
Pat Roach
	Roach in an undated publicity shot
Born	Francis Patrick Roach; 19 May 1937; Birmingham, Warwickshire, U.K.
Died	17 July 2004 (aged 67); Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, U.K.
Occupation(s)	Actor, wrestler, author, businessman
Years active	1960–2004
Spouse	Doreen Harris (m. 1957)
Children	2
	Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Judo Pat Roach; Bomber Pat Roach; Big Pat Roach;
Billed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Billed weight	275 lb (125 kg)
Trained by	Alf Kent
Debut	1960
Retired	1998

Francis Patrick Roach (19 May 1937 – 17 July 2004) was an English professional wrestler, martial artist and actor. During an acting career between the 1970s and the 1990s, he appeared in multiple films, usually as a henchman. He appeared in the Indiana Jones film series, as the West Country bricklayer Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in the 1980s British television series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and in the role of Petty Officer Edgar Evans in the television production The Last Place on Earth.

Early life

Roach was born and brought up in Birmingham, West Midlands, the son of Francis "Frank" Roach (born 1905).^{[citation needed]} He was National Judo Champion in 1960, and Midland Area Black Belt Champion in 1962.^[3]

Sports career

Roach boxed as an amateur^[4] before becoming professional as a protege of Jack Solomons.^[5]

He began his professional wrestling career under the name of "Judo" Pat Roach.^[6] After his acting career had begun, he continued to wrestle under the name of "Bomber" Pat Roach, having previously been billed as "Big" Pat Roach before receiving affectionate cheering from the audience. He was trained by Alf Kent and his first official wrestling match was against George Selko in 1960. Roach held both the British and European heavyweight championships at one time.^[7]

Acting career

Roach made his acting debut as the red-bearded bouncer in the Korova Milkbar in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. He worked on another Kubrick film, Barry Lyndon, where he played a hand-to-hand brawler named Toole who engages Ryan O'Neal in a fistfight. Roach went on to play a number of strong-man supporting character roles in films in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, including the nonspeaking role of Hephaestus in Clash of the Titans.

Pat cameoed as a SPECTRE assassin in the 'unofficial' James Bond film Never Say Never Again, and as bandit-warlord Lord Brytag in the sword-and-sorcery film Red Sonja. He appeared as the skull-helmeted General Kael in the film Willow; the evil wizard Thoth-Amon in Conan the Destroyer and as the Celtic chieftain in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

In 1985, he played Petty Officer Edgar Evans in the Central TV serial The Last Place on Earth about Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole. Roach was turned down as Darth Vader in Star Wars;^[8] however, its director, George Lucas, subsequently cast him as several burly villains in the Indiana Jones film series in the 1980s. In Raiders of the Lost Ark he played two roles, the first being a giant Sherpa who fights Jones in the bar in Nepal, the second being a German Luftwaffe mechanic who fistfights with Jones before being killed by an aircraft's propeller blades on the airstrip in Egypt. In the next film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Roach played the Thuggee guard overseer in a mine who fights with Jones before being killed in a rock crusher. His final appearance in the series was as a Gestapo officer in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where he appears only briefly due to the character's fight with Jones having been cut — director Steven Spielberg considered the scene "too long", and served as a subplot.^[9]

On television Roach played the down-to-earth and easy going Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in the long running comedy-drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. He appeared in all four series, but was absent from the final two-part Christmas special.

He appeared as a guest on Central’s Bullseye TV show in 1984.

Personal life

Roach married Doreen Harris in 1957. They had a son and a daughter.^[10]

In the 1990s, Roach owned and co-managed a scrapyard in Saltley, Birmingham.^[11] He also ran a gym on Gravelly Hill North, Erdington, in North-East Birmingham.

Roach died on 17 July 2004 of esophageal cancer.^[12] His body was buried in extension section B at Bromsgrove Cemetery, Worcestershire.^[13]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	A Clockwork Orange	Milkbar Bouncer	Uncredited
1975	Barry Lyndon	Corporal Toole
1979	Unidentified Flying Oddball	Oaf
1980	Rising Damp	Rugby Player
1981	The Monster Club	Great Uncle	Uncredited
	Raiders of the Lost Ark	Giant Sherpa / 1st Mechanic
	Clash of the Titans	Hephaestus
1983	Never Say Never Again	Lippe
1984	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom	Chief Guard
1984	Conan the Destroyer	Man Ape / Thoth-Amon
1985	Red Sonja	Brytag
1988	Willow	General Kael
1989	The Return of the Musketeers	French Executioner
1989	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	Gestapo
1990	Wings of Fame
1990	The Big Man	Billy
1991	Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves	Celtic Chieftain
1996	The Portrait of a Lady	Strongman
1997	Kull the Conqueror	Zulcki
2003	Crust	The Bull

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983–86, 2002–04	Auf Wiedersehen, Pet	Brian "Bomber" Busbridge	Main role
1985	Minder	Painter	Episode: Return Of The Invincible Man
1985	The Last Place on Earth	Edgar Evans	Miniseries
1989	Casualty	Len	Episode: Chain Reaction
1991	The Storyteller: Greek Myths	Atlas	Miniseries
1995	The Bill	Reg Warren	Episode: Swan Song
1996	Heartbeat	The Masked Marvel	Episode: Thanks to Alfred
2001	Starhunter	Goran	Episode: Cell Game
1995	The Detectives	Police Constable	Episode: Twitchers

Championships and accomplishments

Joint Promotions

British Heavyweight Championship (once)
European Heavyweight Championship (twice)

Premier Promotions|Premier Wrestling Federation

Ken Joyce Trophy (1992)

Publications

If, Brewin Books (co-written childhood autobiography)
Pat Roach's Birmingham, Brewin Books (2004)

References

^ "In Remembrance: Pat Roach". The Guardian. London. 19 July 2004.
^ "Pat Roach". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009.
^ "Judo at Kyrle Hall". Sports Argus. 11 November 1967. p. 8. Retrieved 1 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Davies, Rod (28 December 1965). "Boxing". Sports Argus. p. 2. Retrieved 1 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Arnold, Charles (1970). McManus, Mick (ed.). The Mick McManus Wrestling Book. Pelham Books. ISBN 978-0-7207-0334-4.
^ "World-Wide Wrestling". Sports Argus. 2 January 1965. p. 2. Retrieved 1 June 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Garfield, Simon (1997). The Wrestling. London: Faber & Faber. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-5711-9066-9. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
^ "Obituary: Pat Roach". The Guardian. London. 19 July 2004.
^ The Stunts of Indiana Jones (2003; DVD). Paramount Pictures.
^ "Pat Roach". The Daily Telegraph. London. 19 July 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
^ "Pat Roach Biography". Okieshadow. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
^ "Cancer claims life of actor Pat Roach". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 18 July 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
^ Bentley, David (17 July 2014). "Nostalgia: Birmingham's Pat Roach and Auf Wiedersehen Pet". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 25 May 2019.