John Morley Shrapnel (27 April 1942 – 14 February 2020) was an English actor. He is known mainly for his stage work with the
Royal Shakespeare Company and the
National Theatre in the United Kingdom and for his many television appearances. One of his well-known roles was Mr. Skinner in the 1996 live-action film ''
101 Dalmatians''.
Early life
Shrapnel was born John Morley Shrapnel in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
Warwickshire (now
West Midlands) on 27 April 1942, the son of journalist / author
Norman Shrapnel and Mary Lillian Myfanwy (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Edwards).
Shrapnel was brought up in
Stockport
Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.
Most of the town is withi ...
and
London, and was educated first at Mile End School, Stockport, where he started acting as a member of the school's drama society, and then at the
City of London School
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Boys' independent day school
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Alan Bird
, chair_label = Chair of Governors
, chair = Ian Seaton
, founder = John Carpenter
, special ...
, an
independent school for boys in the
City of London, where he played Hamlet in the school play; he then attended
St Catharine's College,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge becam ...
, from which he received an
MA.
Career
As a stage actor, Shrapnel was a member of
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
's
National Theatre Company
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. In ...
and the
Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in ''
The School for Scandal
''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777.
Plot
Act I
Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...
'' (directed by
Deborah Warner
Deborah Warner (born 12 May 1959) is a British director of theatre and opera, known for her interpretations of the works of Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Benjamin Britten and Henrik Ibsen.
Early life
Warner was born in Oxfordshire, England, to ...
) at the
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...
in 2011.
Shrapnel also appeared extensively on television in roles from the 1960s onwards. He played
the Earl of Sussex in ''
Elizabeth R
''Elizabeth R'' is a BBC television drama serial of six 85-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I of England. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the ABC in Australia and broadcast in Amer ...
'' and
Alexander Hardinge in ''
Edward & Mrs. Simpson''. He appeared in ''
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 debute ...
'', ''
Space: 1999'', ''
Inspector Morse'', ''
GBH'', ''
Coogan's Run
''Coogan's Run'' is a 1995 UK TV series featuring Steve Coogan as a series of odd characters living in the fictional town of Ottle. It was written by various people including Coogan, Patrick Marber, David Tyler, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews, ...
'', ''
Foyle's War'', and many other dramas. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series ''
Great Little Railways''. He performed in three of the ''
BBC Television Shakespeare
The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...
'' plays and as
Creon in the
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. ...
's productions of the ''Three Theban plays'' (1986) of
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
. He also played Pompey in the second episode of ''
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire'' and the Jail Warden in ''
The 10th Kingdom
''The 10th Kingdom'' is an American fairytale fantasy miniseries written by Simon Moore and produced by Britain's Carnival Films, Germany's Babelsberg Film und Fernsehen, and the US's Hallmark Entertainment. It depicts the adventures of a young w ...
''.
His film career included roles in ''
Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971), ''
Pope Joan
Pope Joan (''Ioannes Anglicus'', 855–857) was, according to legend, a woman who reigned as pope for two years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The s ...
'' (1972), ''
Hennessy
Jas Hennessy & Co., commonly known simply as Hennessy (), is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France.
It is one of the "big four" cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvoisier, and Rémy Martin, who together ...
'' (1975), ''
Personal Services'' (1987), ''
Testimony'' (1988), ''
How to Get Ahead in Advertising'' (1989), ''
England, My England
''England, My England'' is a 1995 British historical film directed by Tony Palmer and starring Michael Ball, Simon Callow, Lucy Speed and Robert Stephens. It depicts the life of the composer Henry Purcell, seen through the eyes of a playwri ...
'' (1995), ''
101 Dalmatians'' (1996) as Mr. Skinner, ''
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road ...
'' (1999), ''
The Body'' (2001), ''
K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), and ''
Alien Autopsy'' (2006). He has also appeared in historical films such as ''
Gladiator'' (2000) as Senator Gaius,
and in ''
Troy'' (2004) as
Nestor
Nestor may refer to:
* Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology
Arts and entertainment
* "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses''
* Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...
. In ''
Elizabeth: The Golden Age'' (2007), he played
Lord Howard and ''
The Duchess'' (2008) as
General Grey.
Shrapnel had the rare distinction of appearing in two episodes of ''
Midsomer Murders
''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels o ...
'' as two characters in "Death in Chorus" and "Written in Blood." He appeared in ''
Jonathan Creek'' episode "The Omega Man" as Professor Lance Graumann. He appears in ''
Chemical Wedding'' alongside
Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
. He played John Christie (from a 1980s case) in "
Solidarity" of ''
Waking the Dead''.
He also had experience in the field of
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. ...
radio drama: He played
Colin Dexter
Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his ''Inspector Morse'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, ''Inspector Morse'', fr ...
's
Inspector Morse (opposite
Robert Glenister
Robert Lewis Glenister (born 11 March 1960 in Watford, Hertfordshire) is an English actor. The son of the television director John Glenister and the older brother of actor Philip Glenister, his roles include con man Ash "Three Socks" Morgan ...
as
Sgt. Lewis) and starred in
William Gibson's ''
Neuromancer''. Shrapnel played the character
Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Felsham in the ''
New Tricks'' episode ''The Fourth Man'' (2010). He also narrated episodes of ''
Wild Discovery''.
Shrapnel was the son-in-law of
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
During her international film career, Kerr won a ...
and
Tony Bartley
Anthony Charles Bartley, (28 March 1919 – 18 April 2001) was a British film and television executive, and fighter pilot. As a Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfire pilot, Bartley was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during the ...
through his 1975 marriage to their younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. He and Francesca had three sons, the writer Joe Shrapnel (b. 1976) and the actors
Lex Shrapnel
Alexander Carey Shrapnel (born 6 October 1979) is an English actor and voice actor.
Early life
Shrapnel was born on 6 October 1979 in London, the second of three boys for actor John Shrapnel and Francesca Ann (née Bartley). He is the brother of ...
(b. 1979) and Tom Shrapnel (b. 1981). Shrapnel lived the last years of his life with his family in
Highbury
Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington
in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads.
The manor house was situ ...
,
north London. His ancestor
Henry Shrapnel gave the name
shrapnel to the English language.
Death
Shrapnel died at his home in Suffolk on
St Valentine's Day, 14 February 2020.
He was 77 years old.
Filmography
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrapnel, John
1942 births
2020 deaths
Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
English male film actors
English male Shakespearean actors
English male stage actors
English male television actors
Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands
People educated at the City of London School
Royal Shakespeare Company members