Alexander Joseph Doré (28 August 1923 – 16 April 2002) was a British actor, director and screenwriter. He was best known for his appearance as the First Spy in the 1968 film ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film stars ...

.''Doré
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

He also co-starred in the 1968 TV series ''

Virgin of the Secret Service ''Virgin of the Secret Service'' is a British television series which ran for one season in 1968, produced by the ITV franchise, Associated Television. The series was created by Ted Willis. The show was a tongue-in-cheek adventure series set in ...

'' (as villain Karl Von Brauner) as well as playing Bertram Bright in ''

Bright's Boffins ''Bright's Boffins'' was a British children's television comedy about a team of eccentric inventors working for the British Government. It starred Alexander Doré as Group Captain Bertram Bright (referred to as "The Groupie" by his colleagues), " ...

'' (1970-1972). Doré's other screen appearances include ''

At the Stroke of Nine ''At the Stroke of Nine'' is a 1957 British crime film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Patricia Dainton, Stephen Murray, Patrick Barr and Dermot Walsh. The plot follows a high-flying female journalist who is kidnapped by a madman. He fo ...

'' (1957), ''Tales from Dickens'' (1958), ''ITV Television Playhouse'' (1958), ''

Emergency-Ward 10 ''Emergency Ward 10'' is a British medical soap opera series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like ''The Grove Family'', a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, ''Emergency Ward 10'' is considered to be one of British television's f ...

'' (1960), ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...

'' (1964), '' Casino Royale'' (1967), ''

ITV Playhouse ''Playhouse'' is a British television anthology series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour ...

'' (1968), and ''

A Very Peculiar Practice ''A Very Peculiar Practice'' is a surreal black-comedy drama set in the health centre of a British university, produced by the BBC, which ran for two series in 1986 and 1988. The two series were followed by a 90-minute made-for-television film, ...

'' (1986). His credits as a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

include ''Jungle Street'' (1961) and '' The Wind of Change'' (1961), while his directing credits include ''Hé... mag ik mĳn echtgenote terug?'' (1975), ' (1982) and ''Privé Voor Twee'' (1988) for

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

television. He directed the plays '' See How They Run'' at London's

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

, ''The Sunday Man'' at the

Morosco Theatre The Morosco Theatre was a Broadway theatre near Times Square in New York City from 1917 to 1982. It housed many notable productions and its demolition, along with four adjacent theaters, was controversial. History Located at 217 West 45th Stree ...

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 ...

in 1964, and the world premiere of ''We Who Are About To...'' (with

Anton Rodgers Anthony "Anton" Rodgers (10 January 1933 – 1 December 2007) was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas and sitcoms. He starred in several sitcoms, including ''Fresh Fields'' (ITV, ...

) in 1968 at the Hampstead Theatre Club. In 1988 he directed the Dutch-language version of the play ''Never Judge a Book by Its Cover'' which undertook a successful fifty-city tour of the Netherlands and Belgium.Doré on the Seymour Blicker website
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Personal life

Doré married actress Edna Gorring in 1946 in Pancras,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and the two of them ran their own company for five years at the Little Theatre in

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

.Edna Doré obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' – 14 April 2014 They had a son, Michael. Alexander Doré died in London in 2002, aged 78.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1957) – Carter * ''

The Ugly Duckling "The Ugly Duckling" ( da, Den grimme ælling) is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. Fir ...

'' (1959) – Shop Customer * '' Casino Royale'' (1967) – Extra (uncredited) * ''

'' (1968) – First Spy * ''Ik ben Joep Meloen'' (1981) – Dronken man

References

External links

Doré's credits on Fandango.comDoré
on the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Dore, Alexander 1923 births 2002 deaths English male film actors English male television actors English male screenwriters English television directors 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers