Gary Peter Waldhorn (3 July 1943 – 10 January 2022) was an English actor and comedian known for his roles in British television and theatre. He is particularly remembered for his work in the main casts of several

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...

s. Notable roles and characters played by him included Councillor David Horton in ''

The Vicar of Dibley ''The Vicar of Dibley'' is a British sitcom which originally ran on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2007. It is set in a fictional small Oxfordshire village called Dibley, which is assigned a female vicar following the 1992 changes ...

'' and Lionel Bainbridge in ''

Brush Strokes ''Brush Strokes'' is a British television sitcom, broadcast on BBC television from 1986 to 1991. Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in south London, it depicted the (mostly) amorous adventures of a wisecracking house painter, Jacko (Karl Ho ...

''.

Early life

Waldhorn was born in London on 3 July 1943 to Liselotte ( Popper) and Siegfried Waldhorn. His parents were

Austrian Jews The history of the Jews in Austria probably begins with the Jewish diaspora, exodus of Jews from History of ancient Israel and Judah#Roman occupation, Judea under Roman occupation. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the ...

. He studied acting at the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

(graduated 1967) where he notably performed in new works written by playwright

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...

in 1966. While at Yale he met fellow student Christie Dickason, daughter of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

academic David Howard Dickason, who became his wife and an active theatre director and choreographer in London and later a published playwright and novelist. He is known for his work in West End theatre productions and for his collaborations with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

. In 1972 he toured Australia and New Zealand in Harry M. Miller's production of ''Sleuth'' playing opposite

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...

Career

Apart from appearing in ''The Vicar of Dibley'', Waldhorn also made many television appearances from the 1970s including '' Softly, Softly'', ''

The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Ins ...

'', '' Space: 1999'', '' The New Avengers'', ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles ...

'', '' The Professionals'', ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'', ''

Robin of Sherwood ''Robin of Sherwood'' is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In the ...

'', ''

Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, o ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', '' Heartbeat'', ''

Gallowglass The Gallowglass (also spelled galloglass, gallowglas or galloglas; from ga, gallóglaigh meaning foreign warriors) were a class of elite mercenary warriors who were principally members of the Norse-Gaelic clans of Ireland between the mid 13t ...

'' and ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

''. He also played Lionel Bainbridge in the first three series of ''

'' before the character was written out, and Richard Beamish in the first series of ''

All at No 20 ''All at No 20'' is a British sitcom that aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 10 February 1986 to 1 December 1987. Starring Maureen Lipman, it was written by Richard Ommanney, Ian Davidson (scriptwriter), Ian Davidson, Peter Vincent and Alex Shea ...

''. He also starred as Ralph Apsoland in the 1993 miniseries ''

''. His other notable television credits include several recurring roles: Caulaincourt in the mini-series ''

Napoleon and Love ''Napoleon and Love'' is a 1974 British television series originally aired on ITV and lasting for 9 episodes from 5 March to 30 April 1974. The series stars Ian Holm in the title role as Napoleon and depicts his relationships with the women who f ...

'', Greville in ''

The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs ''The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs'' is a 25-minute British television comedy series created by Bernard McKenna (writer), Bernard McKenna and Richard Laing and produced by Humphrey Barclay for London Weekend Television, LWT. It was transmitte ...

'',

Henry Channon Sir Henry Channon (7 March 1897 – 7 October 1958), often known as Chips Channon, was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. Channon moved to England in 1920 and became strongly anti-American, feeling that Amer ...

in '' Edward & Mrs. Simpson'', Teddy Lupus in '' Enemy at the Door'', John Fearnley in '' Moving'', Gordon Lochhead in ''Campaign'', Cllr. Alec Radcliffe in '' The Chief'', Sergeant Bob Pulver in ''

'', and Cmdre. Forrest in ''

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...

''. His film credits include the roles of Harlich in ''

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

'', Max in '' Sir Henry at Rawlinson End'', Hauptmann Rainer Mueller in ''

Escape to Victory ''Escape to Victory'' (stylized as ''Victory'') is a 1981 American-British-Italian sports war film directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of wa ...

'', and Tornado in ''

The Chain "The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album '' Rumours''. It is the only song from the album with writing credits for all five members ( Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John ...

''. On stage he was particularly active with the

Personal life and death

Waldhorn was a patron of Malawi Dream, a British registered charity working to help the people of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

in Africa. He married Christie Dickason on 2 April 1967; together they had one son, Joshua. Waldhorn died on 10 January 2022, at the age of 78.

Selected filmography

Television

Films

* ''

'' (1971) – Harlich * '' Hanover Street'' (1979) – 2nd German Clerk * ''

Dirty Money Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...

'' (1979) – Ministry Man * '' Sir Henry at Rawlinson End'' (1980) – Max * ''

'' (1981) – Hauptmann Rainer Mueller * ''

'' (1984) – Tornado

Radio

* "The Carrara Cherub", BBC Radio 4, ''Saturday Night Theatre'', 21 August 1982 - Ray Damon (Private Detective)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waldhorn, Gary 1943 births 2022 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors British male comedy actors English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Male actors from London Royal Shakespeare Company members Yale School of Drama alumni English people of Austrian-Jewish descent People from Paddington Jewish English male actors 20th-century British Jews 21st-century British Jews