Victor Jack Maddern (16 March 1928 – 22 June 1993) was an English actor.[1] He was described by The Telegraph as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema."[2]
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,[5] one exception to this rule was when he portrayed a deformed hunchback, named Carl, in the horror film Blood of the Vampire (1958), 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.[6] 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.,[7][8] and Tommy Finch, the British dad in Fair Exchange in 1962–63 on CBS network, one of the first hour-long situation comedies. In 1963, he had a guest role on Perry Mason as jewel smuggler Gilbert Tyrell, in the episode "The Case of the Floating Stones.".[9] 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.[3] 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.[5] He was married with four daughters.[2] He died from a brain tumour in Hackney, London,[10] in 1993, aged 65.
