Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor. He was a well known stage actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appeared in forty films between 1931 and 1965 and was a frequent broadcaster on radio from the 1930s to the 1990s, and on television from 1938 to 1964. His most prominent television role was the
Sheriff of Nottingham
The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, ...
in the 1950s TV series ''
The Adventures of Robin Hood
''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de H ...
'', with
Richard Greene
Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series '' ...
as
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...
; Wheatley played the sheriff in 54 episodes between 1955 and 1959. Earlier, he had played
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
in the first television series featuring the great detective.
In addition to acting, Wheatley was a radio announcer during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, broadcasting to occupied Europe, where he became a well known voice. Poetry was another of his interests: he translated the poetry of
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
and was a frequent reader of poems on air. In his later years he worked mainly in radio, as a narrator, a verse-reader and an actor.
Life and career
Early years
Wheatley was born in
Tolworth
Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wood, ...
, Surrey, on 19 April 1907, the son of William Henry Wheatley and his wife Rose Eva (née Towers). He was educated at
Tiffin School
Tiffin School is a boys' grammar school in Kingston upon Thames, England. It has specialist status in both the performing arts and languages. The school moved from voluntary aided status to become an Academy School on 1 July 2011. Founded in 1 ...
, and was then employed in
industrial psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...
.
[Herbert, p. 1243] He made his first appearance on the stage at the Festival Theatre,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
in October 1928, as Randall Utterword in ''
Heartbreak House
''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...
'', after which he was a member of the repertory company at that theatre and later in
Hull. In 1930 he toured as Sir Roger Fairfax in ''Sweet Nell of Old Drury'' with
Fred Terry
Fred Terry (9 November 1863 – 17 April 1933) was an English actor and theatrical manager. After establishing his reputation in London and in the provinces for a decade, he joined the company of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree where he remained for f ...
, and in 1931 in ''The Quaker Girl''.
[
In November 1931 Wheatley performed in London at the ]Embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
and St Martin's theatres, as the Journalist in ''Britannia of Billingsgate''.[ In other London productions in 1932–33 he played the Guide in ''Miracle at Verdun'', Master Klaus in ''The Witch'' and Godfrey Perry in ''Wild Justice''. He appeared at the Malvern Festival in August 1933,][ before returning to the West End, where his roles included Edgar in '']King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...
'' to the Lear of William Devlin.
For nine months in 1934–35 Wheatley was leading man at the Croydon Repertory Theatre,[ and in 1936 he made his first appearance with ]the Old Vic
The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...
company. He made his Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
debut in the same year, in the Old Vic's production of '' St Helena'', playing Las Cases to the Bonaparte of Maurice Evans. He subsequently toured in Scandinavia and adjoining countries, as Major Petkoff in ''Arms and the Man
''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin:
''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing").
The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Aven ...
'' and Arnold Champion-Cheney in '' The Circle''.[
After returning to London, Wheatley's last stage roles of the 1930s were Disraeli in ''Mr Gladstone'', with Devlin; Mosca in ''Volpone'', with ]Donald Wolfit
Sir Donald Wolfit, KBE (born Donald Woolfitt; Harwood, Ronald"Wolfit, Sir Donald (1902–1968)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008; accessed 14 July 2009 20 April 1902 ...
,; Frank Harris in ''Oscar Wilde'' with Francis L. Sullivan
Francis Loftus Sullivan (6 January 1903 – 19 November 1956) was an English film and stage actor.
Early life
Francis Loftus Sullivan attended Stonyhurst, the Jesuit public school in Lancashire, England, whose alumni include Charles Laughton ...
; Sebastian in ''Walk in the Sun'', with Terence de Marney
Terence Arthur De Marney (1 March 190825 May 1971) was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer.
Career
Actor
The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of n ...
; and Sir Patrick Cullen in '' The Doctor's Dilemma'', with Clifford Evans.[ He appeared in several films in the 1930s (see Filmography below), and, already a frequent broadcaster on ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio, he made his first television appearance in August 1938, playing Lane in ''
''. In the same year he played
''.
. From May to September 1940 he was an announcer on the
.