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John Wood (English actor)

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Alma mater
  
Role
  
English actor

Name
  
John Wood


Years active
  
1952–2008

Occupation
  
Actor

John Wood (English actor) John Wood Actor Known for Nimbleness Dies at 81 The

Born
  
5 July 1930 (
1930-07-05
)
Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom

Died
  
August 6, 2011, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Spouse
  
Sylvia Vaughan (m. 1977–2011)

TV shows
  
The Truckies, Catwalk, Barnaby Rudge

Movies
  
WarGames, Ladyhawke, Chocolat, Lady Jane, Uncovered

Similar People
  
Dabney Coleman, Alfred Molina, Hugh O'Conor, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench

John Wood, CBE (5 July 1930 – 6 August 2011) was an English actor noted for his performances in Shakespeare and for his long association with Tom Stoppard.

Contents

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Life and career

John Wood was born in Derbyshire, England, and was educated at Bedford School. He did his national service as a lieutenant with the Royal Artillery, where he was invalided out after being accidentally shot in the back and later almost killed in a jeep accident.

He read law at Jesus College, Oxford. He was president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. He had seen Sir John Gielgud as Angelo in Peter Brook's 1950 Stratford-upon-Avon production of Measure for Measure, "and suddenly knew what I wanted to do". He played Malvolio – "looking as lean, lanky and statuesque as Don Quixote," said the Oxford Mail – in a Mansfield College gardens production of Twelfth Night with Maggie Smith as Viola. He directed and starred in a student production of Richard III and invited one of the leading critics of the day, Harold Hobson, to the performance, telling Hobson that he would be "wanting in his duties" to ignore a Richard III that was "finer than Olivier's". Out of curiosity, Hobson went to the performance, and reported that he had seen "something not to be missed"; the young actor had a "sardonic, amused condescension and visible superiority complex", and the critic foresaw "a considerable future". Wood graduated from Oxford in 1953.

In 1954 he joined the Old Vic company playing a string of small roles over two years as the company staged the complete First Folio of Shakespeare plays. Wood dismissively described these roles as "the cheapest way of getting a Shakespearean costume on stage", although Kenneth Tynan thought his Lennox to Paul Rogers' Macbeth "cut like a razor through the stubble of fustian". Other roles included Bushy and Exton in Richard II, Sir Oliver Martext in As You Like It, Pistol in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Helenus in Troilus and Cressida in a company that also included many future famous actors.

Wood made his West End debut as Don Quixote in Peter Hall's staging of Tennessee Williams's Camino Real (Phoenix, 1957). He then joined George Devine's English Stage Company, which was about to change the course of new British drama at the Royal Court. Wood read scripts, co-directed a Sunday production, and appeared in Nigel Dennis's The Making of Moo (1957). Wood returned to the West End in Peter Hall's production of The Brouhaha (Aldwych, 1958), in which he had only a small part; but as Peter Sellers's understudy he played a leading role 15 times.

Despairing of a successful career, he rejected several offers from Hall in the early 1960s to join the newly formed Royal Shakespeare Company, electing instead to appear on television, in A Tale of Two Cities and Barnaby Rudge, among other productions. He returned to the West End in 1961 as Henry Albertson in the whimsical off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks, at the Apollo. Most of the next six years were spent in a variety of films and TV programmes. Three of his last TV performances were in short plays written by Tom Stoppard for “Thirty Minute Theatre”: "Teeth" (February 1967) and “Another Moon Called Earth” (28 June 1967), and an Avengers episode, "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" (February 1967).

His association with Stoppard brought Wood back to the stage in his New York debut. Wood played Guildenstern in the Broadway premiere of Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Wood’s performance earned a Tony nomination as Guildenstern. While in America he starred in two Jerry Lewis films, One More Time and Which Way to the Front?. Wood recalled of Lewis: "He taught me never to be afraid to take a risk. There was only one response, laughter, to the most horrific, cruel thing you can imagine."

He returned to England to play Frederick the Great in Romulus Linney’s The Sorrows of Frederick at the Birmingham Rep in 1970. The same year he had his first real London success in Harold Pinter's revival of James Joyce's Exiles, "uncover(ing) characteristic layers of meaning hidden within the text". His performance as Richard Rowan, a self-tortured author with a need to be deceived by his wife, was "lugubrious and brooding, sudden and snappish, a reptile with a quick, dangerous tongue". His performance won the Bancroft Gold Medal 1970 award for Most Promising Actor.

Wood joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in 1971 under Peter Hall, and where he remained for several seasons. In 1971 he played Yakov Bardin in Maxim Gorky's Enemies, “far gone in booze, self-loathing and despair". His 1972 performance as Brutus in Julius Caesar was his breakthrough performance, leaner and hungrier than Cassius, "with weary disdain", "superbly realising that Brutus is a figure close to Hamlet". At the RSC he also played Sir Fopling Flutter in George Etherege's Restoration comedy The Man of Mode, Mark in Jean Genet's The Balcony, and a narcissistic Saturninus in Titus Andronicus. After the two Roman plays, Wood was acclaimed "the most intellectually exciting actor in Britain" by Sheridan Morley.

He made a "spindly, lecherous and slightly manic husband" in John Mortimer's Collaborators (Garrick, 1973) alongside Glenda Jackson. Returning to the RSC he took the title role in William Gillette's 1899 drama Sherlock Holmes. The RSC took the production to Broadway in late 1974, attracting his second Tony nomination in 1975. It was the start of period of seven years alternating between London and New York City.

Before transferring to America, Wood took on the role of the diplomat Henry Carr in the 1974 premiere of Tom Stoppard's Travesties. Stoppard wrote the part of Carr specifically for Wood, meaning Trevor Nunn was able to secure Travesties for the RSC. As Carr, Wood alternated between the dual roles of a querulous geriatric and his younger snobbish self remembering his encounters with James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and Lenin in 1917 Zurich. Wood was awarded the Evening Standard Best Actor award. Travesties transferred to Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in 1975, and Wood won a Tony Award in 1976 and also a Drama Desk Award for his performance.

At the RSC in 1976 with Tom Conti, Bob Hoskins, T.P. McKenna and Zoe Wannamaker, he took the lead, General Bugoyne, in George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple and the title role in "the ideal midlife crisis play", as Chekhov's Ivanov. In summer 1977 he took the role of the lunatic Ivanov, who imagines he owns an orchestra, in Tom Stoppard and André Previn's political oratorio Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, directed by Trevor Nunn at the Royal Festival Hall. In autumn 1977 he played the title role in a Broadway production of Tartuffe (translated by Richard Wilbur) at Circle in the Square Theatre. In February 1978 Wood was in the Broadway success, Ira Levin's comic thriller Deathtrap in which he originated the role of Sidney Bruhl, the murderous playwright. Explaining his decision to take the part (a more commercial and contemporary venture than he was normally associated with), Wood told Newsweek, "I just wanted to get onstage in ordinary pants and do one-liners." His performance won the 1978 Outer Critics Circle Outstanding Actor in a Play award. Wood returned to London as Richard III in a 1979 National Theatre production of the Shakespeare play, but his performance received mixed reviews. At the National Theatre at the same time he was also in Arthur Schnitzler's Undiscovered Country, adapted by Stoppard. Wood returned to Broadway in November 1981, taking over from Ian McKellen as Salieri in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus until spring 1982.

From 1983 and 1986 he acted in a variety of Hollywood films, including WarGames (1983), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1984), Ladyhawke (1985), and Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986). He then played the Player in the 1987 New York revival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Wood then returned to England and the RSC for three towering roles over the next three years. In 1988 he played an acclaimed and successful Prospero in Nicholas Hyner's production of The Tempest. The critic Irving Wardle said that Wood "lit up the text like an electric storm, and simply had no rival as a source of nervous energy on a stage." Michael Billington wrote that Wood's Prospero "struck me as the best I had ever seen". His Solness in Adrian Noble's 1989 production of Ibsen's The Master Builder was as critically lauded. In the same 1989 RSC season he played Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner directed by Gene Saks.

His King Lear in Nicholas Hytner's 1990 production was called his "crowning achievement" with one of his most compelling performances, in which he seemed (to Michael Billington) "to reinvent King Lear on the spot". His performance won the Evening Standard award for Best Actor of 1991. In that RSC season, he also played Don Armado in Terry Hands production of Love's Labour's Lost.

Thereafter Wood appeared in far fewer plays but returned to playing character roles in TV and films, including Shadowlands (1993), Nicholas Hytner's The Madness of King George (1994) scripted by Alan Bennett, Sabrina (1995) and Ian McKellen's fascist-themed Richard III (1995). He also played Baron de Charlus in the 1997 radio adaptation of Harold Pinter's screenplay of Marcel Proust's A la Recherche du Temps Perdu.

In 1994 he played the East End gangster in Philip Ridley's Ghost from a Perfect Place at the Hampstead theatre. Wood returned to the National Theatre in 1997 for Richard Eyre's production of The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard. Wood played the aging classical scholar and poet A.E. Housman in a role written specifically for him by Stoppard, and for which he received a nomination for an Olivier Award.

He played Spooner at the National Theatre in 2001 in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land. He last appeared on stage in 2005 at the National Theatre in both parts of Henry IV. He was supposed to appear in the Robert Altman-directed Resurrection Blues by Arthur Miller at the Old Vic but had to withdraw because of illness. Wood made his last television appearance guesting on Lewis in 2007.

Wood was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2007. He was married twice. He had one son, former British Ambassador to China, Sebastian Wood, with his first wife, Gillian Neason. With his second wife, Sylvia Vaughan, he had another son and two daughters. John Wood died of brain cancer on 6 August 2011.

Awards

Wood won a Tony Award in 1976 for the role of Henry Carr in Stoppard's Travesties, and was nominated for an Olivier Award in 1997 for the role of A.E. Housman – which he originated – in Stoppard's The Invention of Love.

Wood received two other Tony Award nominations: for the role of Sherlock Holmes in a revival of William Gillette's play, and for the role of Guildenstern in Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. In 1994 he received much acclaim for his role of Travis Flood in Philip Ridley's controversial play Ghost from a Perfect Place.

Wood was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours of 2007 in the United Kingdom.

Filmography

Actor
2008
When I Grow Up I Want to Be White (Short) as
Narrator
2007
Inspector Lewis (TV Series) as
Edward le Passiter
- Expiation (2007) - Edward le Passiter
2005
The White Countess as
Prince Peter Belinsky
2004
Foyle's War (TV Series) as
Sir Michael Waterford
- Enemy Fire (2004) - Sir Michael Waterford
2004
The Rocket Post as
Sir Wilson Ramsay
2004
The Return of the Dancing Master (TV Movie) as
Jonas Andersson
2003
Imagining Argentina as
Amos Sternberg
2002
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (TV Movie) as
Wetherby
2002
Napoléon (TV Mini Series) as
Pape Pie VII
- 1800-1807 (2002) - Pape Pie VII
- 1795-1800 (2002) - Pape Pie VII
2001
Victoria & Albert (TV Mini Series) as
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
2001
Love in a Cold Climate (TV Mini Series) as
Lord Merlin
2001
The Body as
Cardinal Pesci
2000
Chocolat as
Guillaume Blerot
1998
The Canterbury Tales (TV Series) as
The Knight
- The Journey Back (2000) - The Knight (voice)
- Leaving London (1998) - The Knight (voice)
2000
The Little Vampire as
Lord McAshton
2000
Longitude (TV Movie) as
Sir Edmund Halley
1999
Mad Cows as
Alistair
1999
The Venice Project as
The Viscount
1999
An Ideal Husband as
Lord Caversham
1998
The Avengers as
Trubshaw
1998
The Revengers' Comedies as
Col. Marcus
1997
The Gambler as
The General
1997
Metroland as
The Retired Commuter
1997
Family Money (TV Series) as
Tom
- Episode #1.4 (1997) - Tom
- Episode #1.3 (1997) - Tom
1997
Kavanagh QC (TV Series) as
Mr. Justice Way
- Mute of Malice (1997) - Mr. Justice Way
1996
Rasputin (TV Movie) as
Prime Minister Stolypin
1996
Jane Eyre as
Mr. Brocklehurst
1995
Sabrina as
Fairchild
1995
Richard III as
King Edward IV
1995
Citizen X (TV Movie) as
Gorbunov
1994
The Madness of King George as
Thurlow
1994
Uncovered as
Cesar
1993
Shadowlands as
Christopher Riley
1993
The Young Americans as
Richard Donnelly
1993
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV Series) as
Charles Leadbeater
- Benares, January 1910 (1993) - Charles Leadbeater
1992
Screen Two (TV Series) as
Robert / Ex-Inspector Henry Mortimer
- The Clothes in the Wardrobe (1993) - Robert
- Memento Mori (1992) - Ex-Inspector Henry Mortimer
1992
My Little Eye (Short) as
Rabbi
1992
Orlando as
Archduke Harry
1991
Thatcher: The Final Days (TV Movie) as
Michael Heseltine
1991
The Storyteller: Greek Myths (TV Series) as
Minos
- Daedalus & Icarus (1991) - Minos
1987
At Mother's Request (TV Mini Series) as
Richard Behrens
- Part 2 (1987) - Richard Behrens
- Part 1 (1987) - Richard Behrens
1986
Jumpin' Jack Flash as
Jeremy Talbot
1986
Heartburn as
British Moderator
1986
Lady Jane as
John Dudley, Duke of Nothumberland
1985
Ladyhawke as
Bishop
1985
The Purple Rose of Cairo as
Jason
1983
WarGames as
Falken
1982
Warren Zevon (Video)
1981
BBC2 Playhouse (TV Series) as
Councillor Podkolyossin
- Marriage (1981) - Councillor Podkolyossin
1978
Somebody Killed Her Husband as
Ernest Van Santen
1975
Churchill's People (TV Series) as
Edward the Confessor
- The Saxon Dusk (1975) - Edward the Confessor
1974
Omnibus (TV Series documentary) as
Franz Kafka / K / Reader
- Kafka's Castle (1974) - Franz Kafka / K / Reader
1972
Slaughterhouse-Five as
English Officer (as Tom Wood)
1971
Nicholas and Alexandra as
Col. Kobylinsky
1971
Rules, Rules, Rules (TV Series) as
The Psychiatrist
- Can You Choose Your Own Role? (1971) - The Psychiatrist
1971
Doomwatch (TV Series) as
Nigel Waring
- No Room for Error (1971) - Nigel Waring
1970
Put Out More Flags (TV Movie) as
Ambrose Silk
1970
Which Way to the Front? as
Finkel
1970
One More Time as
Figg
1970
NBC Experiment in Television (TV Series) as
Penciller
- The Engagement (1970) - Penciller
1969
Plays of Today (TV Series) as
Locke
- Men of Iron (1969) - Locke
1967
Hondo (TV Series) as
Goya
- Hondo and the Gladiators (1967) - Goya
1963
ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) as
Mikie / Dr. Gilbert Canning / John Cronin / ...
- Top of the Ladder (1967) - Mikie
- Person Unknown (1967) - Dr. Gilbert Canning
- A Drug on the Market (1967) - John Cronin
- Convalescence (1966) - Neville
- A Choice of Coward #4: Design for Living (1964) - Otto
- The Lovers of Florence (1964) - Martin
- Three Sisters (1963) - Kouligin
1967
Armchair Theatre (TV Series) as
Brian
- Poor Cherry (1967) - Brian
1967
NET Playhouse (TV Series)
- London Assurance (1967)
1967
Thirty-Minute Theatre (TV Series) as
Bone / Harry Dunn
- Another Moon Called Earth (1967) - Bone
- Teeth (1967) - Harry Dunn
1960
Emergency-Ward 10 (TV Series) as
Dr. Squires / George Beringer
- Song Without Words (1967) - Dr. Squires
- Shadow of a Clown (1966) - Dr. Squires
- Episode #1.370 (1960) - George Beringer
1967
Just Like a Woman as
John Martin
1967
The Avengers (TV Series) as
Twitter
- The Bird Who Knew Too Much (1967) - Twitter
1966
Out of the Unknown (TV Series) as
Brenner
- Too Many Cooks (1966) - Brenner
1966
A Touch of Don Juan (TV Movie documentary) as
Don Juan
1966
The Government Inspector (TV Mini Series) as
Lestakoff
- Part 3 (1966) - Lestakoff
- Part 2 (1966) - Lestakoff
- Part 1 (1966) - Lestakoff
1966
The Liars (TV Series) as
Cadwaller
- Episode #1.8 (1966) - Cadwaller
1966
Take a Sapphire (TV Movie) as
Lord Strangford / Narrator
1965
A Tale of Two Cities (TV Series) as
Sydney Carton
- Episode #1.10 (1965) - Sydney Carton
- Episode #1.9 (1965) - Sydney Carton
- Episode #1.8 (1965) - Sydney Carton
- Episode #1.7 (1965) - Sydney Carton
- Episode #1.6 (1965) - Sydney Carton
- Episode #1.5 (1965) - Sydney Carton
- Episode #1.4 (1965) - Sydney Carton
- On Trial for Treason (1965) - Sydney Carton
1965
Thursday Theatre (TV Series) as
Max
- Anatol (1965) - Max
1964
Room at the Bottom (TV Series)
- A Job with the Other Lot (1964)
- It Came from Outer Hollywood (1964)
1964
Benbow Was His Name (TV Movie) as
Captain Kirkby
1964
Detective (TV Series) as
Richard Cadogan
- The Moving Toyshop (1964) - Richard Cadogan
1964
Espionage (TV Series) as
Douglas
- A Free Agent (1964) - Douglas
1963
Festival (TV Series) as
The Speaker / Robert Emmet / Laevsky
- The Old Lady Says No! Or Who Wounded Maud McCutcheon? (1964) - The Speaker / Robert Emmet
- The Duel (1963) - Laevsky
1963
Maupassant (TV Series) as
Lesable
- The Inheritance (1963) - Lesable
1962
Drama 61-67 (TV Series) as
Alec / Kincaid
- Drama '63: The Hooded Terror (1963) - Alec
- Drama '62: The Frightened Sky (1962) - Kincaid
1963
The Victorians (TV Mini Series) as
Dr. Delaney / Jaikes / John Mildmay / ...
- Sweet Lavender (1963) - Dr. Delaney
- The Silver King (1963) - Jaikes
- Still Waters Run Deep (1963) - John Mildmay
- Two Roses (1963) - Caleb Deecie
- The Ticket-of-Leave Man (1963) - Dalton
- Society (1963) - Tom Stylus
- London Assurance (1963) - Sir Harcourt Courtly
- The Rent Day (1963) - Silver Jack
1963
That Kind of Girl as
Doctor
1963
The Mouse on the Moon as
Countryman
1963
Love Is a Ball as
Julian Soames
1963
Just for Fun as
Official
1961
Tales of Mystery (TV Series) as
George Sandfield / Billy Field
- Egyptian Sorcery (1963) - George Sandfield
- The Promise (1961) - Billy Field
1962
Live Now - Pay Later as
Curate
1962
Saki (TV Mini Series) as
Mr. Blenkinthrope
- Episode #1.3 (1962) - Mr. Blenkinthrope
1962
Postman's Knock as
P.C. Woods
1961
Invasion Quartet as
Duty Officer - War Office
1961
The First Gentleman (TV Movie) as
William - Prince of Orange
1961
Wings of Death (Short) as
Photographer
1961
Jango (TV Series) as
Lord Alfred
- Seven Swords of Haversham (1961) - Lord Alfred
1961
Call Me Genius as
Poet
1961
Gorgo as
Sandwich-Board Man (uncredited)
1960
Barnaby Rudge (TV Series) as
Barnaby Rudge
1960
The Herries Chronicle (TV Series) as
Pedlar
- Rogue Herries - 1762 (1960) - Pedlar
- Rogue Herries - 1756 (1960) - Pedlar
- Rogue Herries - 1739 (1960) - Pedlar
- Rogue Herries - 1731 (1960) - Pedlar
- Rogue Herries - 1730 (1960) - Pedlar
1960
It Takes a Thief as
School Inspector
1960
The Day They Robbed the Bank of England as
Lieutenant James (uncredited)
1960
Let's Get Married as
Ice Cream Man
1960
The Army Game (TV Series) as
William The Conqueror
- The Good Old Days (1960) - William The Conqueror
1960
Jazz Boat as
Benson, jeweller's assistant (uncredited)
1960
The Terrible Choice (TV Series) as
Mephistopheles / Edmund / Richard III
- Confound All Unity (1960) - Edmund
- Knavery's Plain Face (1960) - Richard III
- Dr. Faustus Part 2: In Danger to Be Damned (1960) - Mephistopheles
- Dr. Faustus Part 1: A Deed of Gift (1960) - Mephistopheles
- The Castle of Perseverance (1960)
1960
Two Way Stretch as
Captain
1959
Endless Adventure (TV Series documentary) as
Copernicus / Sir Isaac Newton
- Episode dated 23 November 1959 (1959) - Sir Isaac Newton
- Episode dated 16 November 1959 (1959) - Copernicus
- Episode dated 2 November 1959 (1959) - Copernicus
1959
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (TV Series) as
Sandor Horvath
- Shadow of Heroes (1959) - Sandor Horvath
1959
Idol on Parade as
Jeremy
1959
For Schools: Twelfth Night (TV Movie) as
Malvolio
1958
Theatre Night (TV Series) as
The Wall
- Brouhaha (1958) - The Wall
1957
Television World Theatre (TV Series) as
Lewis, the Dauphin
- The Life of Henry V (1957) - Lewis, the Dauphin
1957
Kenilworth (TV Series) as
Dr. Doboobie
- Episode #1.4 (1957) - Dr. Doboobie
- Episode #1.3 (1957) - Dr. Doboobie
- Episode #1.2 (1957) - Dr. Doboobie
1957
A Man for All Seasons (TV Movie) as
Archbishop Cranmer
1956
ITV Television Playhouse (TV Series) as
Doctor Jack Wilson
- Stolen Face (1956) - Doctor Jack Wilson
1956
The Gambler (TV Movie) as
Croupier
1955
Strange Experiences (TV Series)
- Queer Customer (1955)
Thanks
2007
Boxes (thanks)
Self
1984
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Computers... But Were Afraid to Ask (Video documentary) as
Self - Host
1976
The 30th Annual Tony Awards (TV Special) as
Self - Winner
1975
The 29th Annual Tony Awards (TV Special) as
Self - Nominee
1972
Music on 2 (TV Series) as
Self - Reader
- In a Minor Key (1972) - Self - Reader
1968
The 22nd Annual Tony Awards (TV Special) as
Self
1967
Seeing and Believing (TV Series) as
Self
- What Is Prayer? (1967) - Self
1966
The Long Cocktail Party (TV Movie) as
Self - Speaker
1964
The Long Garden Party (TV Movie) as
Self
1961
They Made History (TV Mini Series documentary) as
Lieutenant Hole
- Ronald Ross (1961) - Lieutenant Hole
Archive Footage
2012
18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (TV Special) as
Self - In Memoriam
2011
TCM Remembers (TV Series short) as
Self / actor
2008
Premio Donostia a Antonio Banderas (TV Special) as
Cardinal Pesci
2000
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Journey of Radiance (Video) as
Charles Leadbeater

References

John Wood (English actor) Wikipedia