Leslie Sands (19 May 1921 – 9 May 2001) was a British actor and writer of TV and film. Born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, Sands usually specialized in dour types in authority, often

policemen A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

. He was married to Pauline Williams (1950 - 9 May 2001) (his death). According to the Guardian obituary, 'From school in Bradford, he went to Leeds University to read English, ndcaught the acting bug in student productions'https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/may/23/guardianobituaries. In 1941, Sands had his theatrical debut at the Lyceum Theatre in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. He was a member of 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 ...

and appeared in several

Royal National Theatre 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. I ...

productions, among others. His many TV roles included the lead character role of '' Cluff'', ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'', '' The Avengers'', ''

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 ...

'' (where he also wrote several episodes), ''

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 ...

'', '' Department S'', ''

Juliet Bravo ''Juliet Bravo'' is a British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC1. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over con ...

'', ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

'', ''

Murder Most English Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

'', ''

Boon Boon may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Boon (game), a trick-taking card game * ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells * ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick * The Ultimate Boo ...

'' and ''

Stay Lucky ''Stay Lucky'' is a British television comedy-drama series ran from 8 December 1989 to 6 August 1993. Made by Yorkshire Television and screened on the ITV network, it starred Jan Francis and Dennis Waterman. Plot Drama about a small-time gan ...

''. The first TV adaptation of Johnny Speight’s ''If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have To Invent Them'' screened in 1968 (b&w) starred Sands in the role of the blind man. The revised colour version in 1974 starred Leonard Rossiter in the same role. He also appears with Leonard Rossiter in

The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. It is based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs and produced from 1976 to 1979. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the first series ...

(series 3, episode 3). His film roles included appearances in ''

The Deadly Affair ''The Deadly Affair'' is a 1967 British spy film based on John le Carré's first novel, ''Call for the Dead'' (1961). The film stars James Mason and was directed by Sidney Lumet from a script by Paul Dehn. As it is a Columbia Pictures productio ...

'' (1966), ''

Danger Route ''Danger Route'' is a 1967 British spy film directed by Seth Holt for Amicus Productions and starring Richard Johnson as Jonas Wilde, Carol Lynley and Barbara Bouchet. It was based on Andrew York's 1966 novel ''The Eliminator'' that was the work ...

'' (1967), '' One More Time'' (1970), ''

The Ragman's Daughter ''The Ragman's Daughter'' is a 1972 British romantic crime–drama film directed by Harold Becker and adapted by Alan Sillitoe from his short story of the same name. It was Becker's first film during the 1970s and stars Simon Rouse and, in her ...

'' (1972), ''

Escape from the Dark ''Escape from the Dark'' (American title: ''The Littlest Horse Thieves'') is a 1976 family drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Alastair Sim (in his final film role), Peter Barkworth and Mauric ...

'' (1976) and ''

Bloodline Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

'' (1979). Leslie's TV writing credits include ''

Van Der Valk ''Van der Valk'' is a British television crime drama series produced for the ITV network. The first series ran from 1972 to 1992; followed by a remake in 2020. Created by Nicolas Freeling and based on his novels about a detective in Amsterd ...

'' and ''

A Family at War ''A Family At War'' is a British drama Television program, series that aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 1970 to 1972. It was created by John Finch and made by ITV Granada, Granada Television for ITV. The original producer was Richard Doubled ...

'' as well as ''

''. Leslie Sands also wrote a number of plays, the most notable being ''Intent to Murder. His play, Deadlock, was adapted into the movie, Another Man’s Poison, starring Bette Davis and Gary Merrill. His grandson is actor Devin Stanfield, known for his leading role in cult TV series ''

The Box of Delights ''The Box of Delights'' is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield. It is a sequel to ''The Midnight Folk'', and was first published in 1935. Also known as "When The Wolves Were Running" Plot Kay Harker is returning from boarding school ...

'' (1984), and guest star in ''Chocky'' (1984).

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sands, Leslie English male television actors English television writers 1921 births 2001 deaths Male actors from Bradford British male television writers 20th-century English screenwriters