Gerald Christopher Sundquist (6 October 1955 – 1 August 1993) was an English actor.

Early life

Sundquist was born in Chorlton and grew up there with his older brother and younger sister. He developed an interest in acting at primary school and joined the

Stretford Children's Theatre Stretford Children's Theatre is a youth theatre based in Stretford, England. It was founded in the 1940s by Bertram H. Holland, and ceased to exist in the late 1970s or early 1980s. An offshoot adult theatre company made up of former members of th ...

while still at school St. Augustine's R.C. Grammar School in

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approx ...

. On leaving school at 16 he worked briefly on the night shift at the Kellogg's factory in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, but keen to pursue his acting career he soon moved to London.

Career

He appeared in various film and television roles during the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably ''Soldier & Me'', ''

The Mallens ''The Mallens'' was a popular Granada Television adaptation of Catherine Cookson novels that ran for 13 episodes from 10 June 1979 to 3 July 1980. The series is based on ''The Mallen Streak'', ''The Mallen Girls'', and ''The Mallen Secret'' a ...

'' and '' The Siege of Golden Hill'', with guest appearances on shows such as '' Space: 1999'' alongside

Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor, acting coach, producer, and editorial cartoonist. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's ''North ...

and fellow guest star

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

(episode " The Dorcons"). He appeared as Alan Strang in '' Equus'' at the Albery theatre in the mid-1970s. His films included '' The Black Panther'' (1977), ''

Meetings with Remarkable Men ''Meetings with Remarkable Men, autobiographical in nature, is the second volume of the '' All and Everything'' trilogy written by the Greek- Armenian spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff started working on the Russian manuscript in 192 ...

'' (1979), ''

Passion Flower Hotel ''Passion Flower Hotel'' (also known as ''Leidenschaftliche Blümchen'', also known as ''Boarding School'') is a 1978 coming of age comedy film directed by André Farwagi. It is a liberal adaptation of the 1962 novel '' Passion Flower Hotel'' an ...

'' (1978), aka ''Boarding School'', playing Fibs alongside

Nastassja Kinski Nastassja Aglaia Kinski (; , ; born 24 January 1961) is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with ''Stay as You Are'' (1978). She then came to gl ...

, whom he dated for a while, and the 1979 British disco film ''

The Music Machine The Music Machine was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1966. Fronted by chief songwriter and lead vocalist Sean Bonniwell, the band cultivated a characteristically dark and rebellious image reflected in an untamed mus ...

''. He had a part in

Youssef Chahine Youssef Chahine ( ar, يوسف شاهين, Yūsuf Shāhīn ; 25 January 1926 – 27 July 2008) was an Egyptian film director. He was active in the Egyptian film industry from 1950 until his death. He directed twelve films that were listed ...

's acclaimed '' Alexandria... Why?'' (1978, Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear winner). He played Pip in '' Great Expectations'' (1981) and Gringoire in ''

The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story ...

'' (1982), and appeared to have a promising career, but after his appearances in ''

The Last Days of Pompeii ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' is a novel written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. The novel was inspired by the painting ''The Last Day of Pompeii'' by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan. It culminates in ...

'' (1984) and the horror film ''

Don't Open Till Christmas ''Don't Open Till Christmas'' is a 1984 British slasher film directed by Edmund Purdom, and starring Purdom, Alan Lake, Belinda Mayne, and Gerry Sundquist. Written by Derek Ford and Alan Birkinshaw, the film follows a mysterious killer murde ...

'' (1984), his career and personal life went into steep decline, with him later developing a drug problem. He played a character role in an episode of the TV police serial ''

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 o ...

'' in 1992, his first acting role in eight years.

Death

On 1 August 1993, Sundquist jumped under a train at Norbiton railway station in England.

Filmography

References

Tragedy Behind a Magical Fantasy
Daily Mirror interview with Geoffrey Sundquist, 27 November 1997. Retrieved from The Free Library, 10 January 2012.
IMDB biography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundquist, Gerry 1955 births 1993 suicides 1993 deaths 20th-century English male actors People from Chorlton-cum-Hardy Male actors from Manchester English male film actors English male television actors Suicides by train Suicides in England