John Edwin Arnatt (9 May 1917 – 21 December 1999) was a British actor.

Early life and education

John Arnatt was born in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia on 9 May 1917. His parents were Francis and Ethel Marion (née Jephcott) Arnatt. He attended Epworth College. Arnatt trained for the stage at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...

Career

One of Arnatt's most high-profile roles was as "The Deputy Sheriff of Nottingham" in the fourth and final season of 1955-60 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 ...

'' starring

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 '' ...

. His character filled in for

Alan Wheatley 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 ...

, who played the regular sheriff. Arnatt's character was introduced and interacted with Wheatley's character in the episode "The Devil You Don't Know". In the 1962 film ''

Dr Crippen Hawley Harvey Crippen (September 11, 1862 – November 23, 1910), usually known as Dr. Crippen, was an American homeopath, ear and eye specialist and medicine dispenser. He was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London for the murder of his wife C ...

'', starring

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...

(who also had a recurring role in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" as Prince John), Arnatt played Chief Inspector

Walter Dew Detective Chief Inspector Walter Dew (17 April 1863 – 16 December 1947) was a British Metropolitan Police officer who was involved in the hunt for both Jack the Ripper and Dr Crippen. Early life Dew was born at Far Cotton, in Hardingstone ...

. Arnatt also played an imitation "M" to Tom Adams' imitation

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

in two films, '' Licensed to Kill'' and ''

Where the Bullets Fly ''Where the Bullets Fly'' is a 1966 British comedy spy film directed by John Gilling and starring Tom Adams as Charles Vine and John Arnatt reprising their roles from '' Licensed to Kill''. It also stars Dawn Addams, Tim Barrett and Michael R ...

'' (1966). In 1967, Arnatt got something of a promotion when he played the High Sheriff of Nottingham opposite

Barrie Ingham Barrie Stanton Ingham (10 February 1932 – 23 January 2015) was an English actor, performing on stage and "in a handful of films." He was perhaps most widely known as "a prolific television actor". His notable work includes '' A Challenge for ...

's Robin in the film ''

A Challenge for Robin Hood ''A Challenge for Robin Hood'' is a 1967 British adventure film directed by C. M. Pennington-Richards and starring Barrie Ingham, Peter Blythe and John Arnatt. Plot When the father of the De Courtenay family dies, the brothers argue about th ...

''. Never well known, he amassed numerous television credits in programmes such as ''

Steptoe and Son ''Steptoe and Son'' is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC in black and ...

'', ''

Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class s ...

'', '' Dangerfield'', ''

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 ...

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

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...

'', '' Thriller'' and ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted ...

''. He had a recurring role in the first two series of the ITV legal drama, ''

The Main Chance ''The Main Chance'' is a British television series first aired on ITV in four series between 1969 and 1975. It is a drama series that depicts the sudden transformation in the life of a solicitor, David Main (played by John Stride), after he ...

'' (1969–70) and in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' he was the second actor to play

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, is a memb ...

Cardinal

Borusa Borusa is a fictional character in the series ''Doctor Who'', a member of the race of Time Lords from Gallifrey. Within the context of the series, Borusa is a former teacher of the Doctor who appears in four serials. Notably, Borusa was portraye ...

in the serial ''

The Invasion of Time ''The Invasion of Time'' is the sixth and final serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 February to 11 March 1978. It features the fin ...

'' (1978). Later, in the television film, '' Marple: The Moving Finger'' (1985), he played Reverend Guy Calthrop. In 1995 he was elected Master of the Green Room Lodge no. 2957.

Death

John Arnatt died at the age of 82 on 21 December 1999.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnatt, John 1917 births 1999 deaths British male television actors 20th-century British male actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art British expatriates in the Russian Empire