John Carlisle (6 September 1935 – 7 December 2011) was an English television and stage actor.

Early life

Carlisle was born in London and named John Roxburgh Clark. He decided in his early teens that he wanted to become an actor. He started acting in amateur productions until he was called up for

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

. Upon his release he worked odd jobs, determined to finance an acting course at

RADA 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 Senat ...

. Eventually he found himself with enough money, only to discover all his hard work had been unnecessary, for he had been entitled to a council grant all along. On completion of his training at RADA, Carlisle joined Harrogate Repertory and subsequently appeared in repertory all over the country, including at Ipswich, Birmingham and Liverpool. ''Grand Theatre Wolverhampton: Relatively Speaking'', Programme April 1968. http://www.grandmemories.co.uk/Memory.aspx?MemoryId=238&FileId=2666#Images

Television and film

While appearing in repertory at Birmingham, Carlisle was spotted by an ATV casting director and asked to audition for the hospital drama series ''

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 fi ...

''. Carlisle first assumed the role of the young doctor Lester Large in episode 533, in 1962. His character became a regular in the show, and Carlisle made numerous appearances including in the final episode of the long-running series in 1967. He starred alongside

John Woodvine John Woodvine (born 21 July 1929) is an English actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles. Early life Woodvine was born in Tyne Dock, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, Englan ...

in the

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

crime series ''

New Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

'' from 1972 to 1973. He played the opinionated and sometimes callous Detective Inspector (later Sergeant) Alan Ward and referred to having played the role "in kind of a

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

way, beating up criminals and things like that". The portrayal led to letters of complaint, so that the character was toned down in subsequent series."British TV soap actor switches to Shakespeare" in ''Record Journal'', 30 November 1984, p. 17. In 1979, Carlisle appeared in the

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. ...

...

Later work in theatre

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 ...

He then performed extensively on stage (see 'Selected stage work'). He appeared on Broadway in the RSC productions ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (both 1985) and ''

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...

'' (1986) as well as ''A Doll's House'' (1997). As an Associate Artist with the RSC he appeared in a great number of plays, including ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''Love's Labour's Lost'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''The Seagull'' and ''Per Gynt''. In later years he worked prominently at the National Theatre.

Selected stage work

*1970 – ''The Boys in the Band'' (as director and actor) *1978 – ''Every Good Boy Deserves Favour'' *1980 – ''Timon of Athens'' *1980/1981 – ''Richard III'' *1981 – ''The Maid's Tragedy'' *1981 – ''The Fool'' *1981 – ''Troilus and Cressida'' *1982 – ''The Taming of the Shrew'' *1982–85 – ''Much Ado About Nothing''"Much Ado About Nothing: RSC Staging History 1960–2007" *1983 – ''Molière'' *1984 – ''Softcops'' *1984 – ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' *1984 – ''Love's Labour's Lost'' *1984–1985 – ''Henry V'' *1984–1986 – ''Richard III'' *1986 – ''

'' *1987 – ''Hyde Park'' *1987 – ''The New Inn'' *1987/1988 – ''The Jew of Malta'' *1987/1988 – ''The Merchant of Venice'' *1987–1988 – ''Twelfth Night'' *1988 – ''A Question of Geography'' *1989 – ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' *1989 – ''Cymbeline'' *1990 – ''Two Shakespeare Actors'' *1990 – ''The Seagull'' *1990/1991 – ''Much Ado About Nothing'' *1991/1992 – ''A Woman of No Importance'' *1993 – ''Elgar's Rondo'' *1994 – ''Ghosts'' *1994/1995 – ''Alice's Adventures Underground'' *1995 – ''Cain'' *1996 – ''The Painter of Dishonour'' *1997 – ''A Doll's House'' *1997/1998 – ''The Invention of Love'' *1999 – ''King Lear'' *2000 – ''Semi Monde'' *2002 – ''The Coast of Utopia'' *2003/04 – ''His Dark Materials'' *2005 – ''Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2'' *2005 – ''As You Desire Me''

Audio work

*1994 – ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' (abridged, Naxos AudioBooks) *1994 – ''Fast Coach To Gneixendorf'' (BBC) *1995 – ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (BBC) *1996 – ''Framely Parsonage'' (BBC) *1997 – ''A House By The Sea'' (BBC) *1998 – ''The Birds Fall Down'' (

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

) *1999 – ''The Invention of Love'' (

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

) *2001 – ''King Lear'' (BBC R3) *2002 – ''His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife'' (BBC R4) *2002 – ''Wife To Mr. Milton'' (BBC R4) *2003 – ''Our Kath'' (BBC R4) *2003 – ''Strangers and Brothers'' (BBC R4) *2004 – ''Miracle Postponed'' (BBC R4) *2005 – ''Fragments'' (BBC R4) *2006 – ''Street And Lane'' (BBC R4) *2007 – ''Felix Holt, The Radical'' (BBC) *??? – ''Byron'' (ballet by Paul Reid) (BBC)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlisle, John English male television actors English male stage actors 1935 births 2011 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art