Maurice Denham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maurice Denham (born as William Maurice Denham on December 23 1909 at Beckenham, Kent; died July 24 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 television programmes and films throughout his long career.

Originally trained as an elevator engineer, Denham eventually became an actor in 1934 and appeared in live television broadcasts as early as 1938. He would continue to perform in that medium until 1997.

He first made his name in radio series such as ITMA and Much Binding in the Marsh, and later provided all the voices for the 1955 animated version of Animal Farm. His other film credits include Night of the Demon (1957), Two-Way Stretch (1960), Sink the Bismarck! (1960), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), The Day of the Jackal (1973) and 84 Charing Cross Road (1986).

Among his television appearances were Talking to a Stranger (1967), Inspector Morse (1991) and the Sherlock Holmes story The Last Vampyre (1993).

He made a guest appearance in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who in a serial called The Twin Dilemma (1984). His character, Professor Edgeworth, was revealed to be the Time Lord Azmael. A later association with Doctor Who was his performance in the radio serial The Paradise of Death in 1993 alongside Jon Pertwee.

In further radio work, he starred in a BBC Radio 4 version of the Oldest Member, based on stories by P. G. Wodehouse, from 1994 to 1999, and also as Rumpole in Rumpole: The Splendours and Miseries of an Old Bailey Hack.