Wensley Pithey

Wensley Pithey
Born	21 June 1914 Cape Town, South Africa
Died	10 November 1993 (1993-11-11) (aged 79) London, England
Occupation	Actor
Notable work	Sunday Night Theatre

Wensley Ivan William Frederick Pithey (21 June 1914 – 10 November 1993) was a South African character actor who had a long stage and film career in Britain.^[1][2]

Biography

Pithey was born in Cape Town, South Africa.^[1] A graduate of the University of Cape Town where he studied music and drama, he travelled to Britain in 1947.^[3] He appeared in various Shakespearean roles in his long career (memorably as Sir Toby Belch) as well as appearing in Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie.^[3] He also directed and produced plays in the West End and appeared in a range of roles on television including the 1976 drama Edward and Mrs Simpson (as Winston Churchill – a role he also played in the miniseries Ike) as well as Special Branch and Poldark.^[1][4] His British television appearances included Danger Man (1961) among others.^[5] He also played the title role Detective Superintendent Charlesworth in a number of BBC series including Charlesworth at Large (1958) and its sequel Charlesworth the following year. In 1964 he played a ballistics expert in the BBC series Call the Gun Expert.

Between 1961 and 1976, Pithey appeared in German TV commercials as a fake coffee expert for Tchibo.^[6]

Filmography

Film

• The Mark of Cain (1947) as Opera House Attendant (uncredited)
• London Belongs to Me (1948) as First Warden
• It's Hard to Be Good (1948) as Vicar (uncredited)
• Cardboard Cavalier (1949) as Jailer
• Your Witness (1950) as Alfred
• Guilt Is My Shadow (1950) as Tillingham
• The Woman's Angle (1952) (uncredited)
• Brandy for the Parson (1952) as Circus Owner
• Father's Doing Fine (1952) as Policeman (uncredited)
• Lady in the Fog (1952) as Sid - the Barman
• The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) as A Policeman
• The Diamond (1954) as Springwell Police Sergeant (uncredited)
• The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954) as Hugo
• Isn't Life Wonderful! (1954) as Sam
• Tiger in the Smoke (1956) as Detective Sergeant Pickett
• You Can't Escape (1956) as Constable Wagstaff
• Doctor at Large (1957) as Sam - Poacher
• Kill Me Tomorrow (1957) as Inspector Lane
• Hell Drivers (1957) as Pop
• The Long Haul (1957) as Minor Role
• Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957) as Brigadier (uncredited)
• Serious Charge (1959) as Police Sergeant
• Make Mine Mink (1960) as Superintendent (uncredited)
• The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960) as Chief Constable
• Snowball (1960) as Jim Adams
• The Barber of Stamford Hill (1962) as Mr. O
• The Boys (1962) as Mr. Coulter
• The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965) as Teacher
• Oliver! (1968) as Dr. Grimwig
• Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) as Archduke Franz Ferdinand (uncredited)
• One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975) as Bromley
• The Saint and the Brave Goose (1979) as Franklyn
• Red Monarch (1983) as Voroshilov
• White Mischief (1987) as Sheridan
• American Friends (1991) as Cave

Television

• Little Women (1950–1951) as Mr. James Laurence
• Midshipman Barney (1951) as Snarks
• Sunday Night Theatre (1951–1957) as Multiple roles
• Robin Hood (1953) as Friar Tuck
• Wednesday Theatre (1953) as Tom Pascoe
• A Castle and Sixpence (1954) as Mr. Parsons
• The Gentle Falcon (1954) as Innkeeper
• Fabian of the Yard (1956) as Jerry Watson
• David Copperfield (1956) as Captain Mercier Mr. Tungay
• Play of the Week (1956–1967) as Multiple roles
• Assignment Foreign Legion (1957) as Captain Mercier
• Overseas Press Club – Exclusive! (1957) as Father Tsouderos
• Mister Charlesworth (1957) as Det. Chief Insp. Charlesworth
• Nicholas Nickleby (1957) as Vincent Crummles
• Shadow Squad (1957) as Inspector Smith
• Big Guns (1958) as Det. Supt. Charlesworth
• Caxton's Tales (1958) as Mortimer Benson
• The Diary of Samuel Pepys as Viscount Brouncker
• The Firm of Girdlestone (1958) as Dr. Dimsdale
• The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1958) as James Collins
• Ivanhoe (1958) as Earl of Pembroke
• Charlesworth at Large (1958) as Det. Supt. Charlesworth
• Armchair Theatre (1958–1960) as Multiple roles
• The Last Chronicle of Barset (1959) as Mr. Walker
• Charlesworth (1959) as Det. Supt. Charlesworth
• Probation Officer (1960) as Mr. Moffat
• Yorky (1960) as Fred Piggott
• The Larkins (1960) as George Potter
• Somerset Maugham Hour (1960) as Willem
• Persuasion (1960–1961) as Mr. Musgrove
• No Hiding Place (1961) as Joe Smith
• Dixon of Dock Green (1961) as Paul Wigram
• Danger Man (1961) as Senor Lazar
• Here's Harry (1961) as Police Chief
• Boyd Q.C. (1961) as Mr. Wodhurst
• Deadline Midnight (1961) as Frederick Hall
• Sir Francis Drake (1961) as Davey Preston
• Jacks and Knaves (1961) as Chief Inspector
• BBC Sunday-Night Play (1961) as Col. Von Schwendi
• Zero One (1962) as Unknown role
• The Scales of Justice (1962) as Mr. Robbins
• Playbox (1962–1963) as Barrington Blizard, QC
• Suspense (1963) as Bradwell
• Man of the World (1963) as President Ruschek
• The Saint (1963) as Insp. Claude Teal
• Teletale (1963) as Prof. Bür-Malottke
• The Plane Makers (1964) as Bill Ingram
• Sergeant Cork (1964) as Bill Ingram
• Call the Gun Expert (1964) as Robert Churchill
• Love Story (1964) as Jack Wightman
• Gideon's Way (1964) as Supt. Bill Hemmingway
• The Airbase (1965) as Mr. Swearingen
• The Sullavan Brothers (1965) as Corcoran
• Blackmail (1965) as Eric Palmer
• Mrs Thursday (1966) as George Dunrich
• City '68 (1967–1968) as Alderman Sankey
• Her Majesty's Pleasure (1968) as Governor
• Callan (1969) as Det. Insp. Charwood
• Special Branch (1969) as Det. Supt. Eden
• Nearest and Dearest (1970) as Leonard Longbottom
• The Main Chance (1970) as Lord Bennett
• Doomwatch (1972) as Dr. Ericson
• The Adventurer (1972) as Nicholas
• Coronation Street (1972–1974) as Wilfred Perkins
• Sykes (1973) as Multiple roles
• Zodiac (1974) as Inspector Duggan
• Poldark (1975) as Jeffrey Clymer
• Beasts (1976) as Mr. Liversedge
• Premiere as Chief Insp. Lymington
• The Devil's Crown (1978) as Saladin
• Edward and Mrs. Simpson (1978) as Winston Churchill
• Return of the Saint (1979) as Franklyn
• Ike (1979) as Winston Churchill
• The Old Curiosity Shop (1979–1980) as The Single Gentleman
• The Gentle Touch (1982) as Dr. Quesne
• Number 10 (1983) as Edward VII
• Love and Marriage (1984) as Owen Merrick
• Howards' Way (1986) as George Johnson
• In Sickness and in Health (1987) as Equerry
• Blind Justice (1988) as Sir Charles Bingham
• Lipstick on Your Collar (1993) as Elderly Gentleman

References

1. "Wensley Pithey". Archived from the original on 1 March 2017.
2. "Wensley Pithey - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie".
3. "Obituary: Wensley Pithey". Independent.co.uk. 25 November 1993.
4. "BFI Screenonline: Special Branch (1969-74)".
5. "BFI Screenonline: Danger Man (1960-67) Credits".
6. "Filmous".

External links

• Obituary in The Independent
• Wensley Pithey at IMDb