Michael Peter Staniforth (15 December 1942 – 31 July 1987), born in

Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harborne ...

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 ...

, was a British stage actor.

Life

Staniforth's father was a sergeant major in the Army and so Michael's childhood was spent with his family in Germany, Egypt and Libya. He emigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the age of 21 and two years later landed a role in '' South Pacific'' at The Menzies Theatre Restaurant in Sydney, where for the next few years he performed in a further 12 musicals, including '' Wonderful Town'' and Cole Porter's '' Out Of This World'', followed by a national tour of ''The Boy Friend''. He returned to England in late 1969 and first appeared in the West End in ''

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'' at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was d ...

. He also appeared in the ''Two Gentlemen Of Verona'' (Speed) and ''Winnie The Pooh'' (Tigger) at the Phoenix Theatre. In 1977 he played the role of Paul in the original British cast of '' A Chorus Line'', returning to the same venue (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane) three years later as the young Tobias in Sondheim's '' Sweeney Todd''. Staniforth's best-known role was as ghostly jester Timothy Claypole, a mischievous medieval

poltergeist In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...

, in the long-running

BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...

children's television comedy series ''

Rentaghost ''Rentaghost'' is a British children's television comedy show, originally broadcast by the BBC between 6 January 1976 and 6 November 1984. The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, which ...

''. Staniforth played Timothy Claypole from 1976, when the show first aired, until 1984, and was the longest-standing member of the cast. Claypole was a bearded medieval jester, dressed in

motley Motley is the traditional costume of the court jester, the motley fool, or the arlecchino character in ''commedia dell'arte''. The harlequin wears a patchwork of red, green and blue diamonds that is still a fashion motif. The word ''motley'' i ...

and bells. He caused mayhem for the rest of the ''Rentaghost'' cast. Danny Birchall at BFI Screenonline noted:

The sheer energy of Michael Staniforth (who also performed the theme tune) as Claypole made it one of the longer-lasting children's television series, if not always the most fondly remembered.

Staniforth also composed, played and sang the ''Rentaghost'' theme music, although he had to re-write it as "concern grew that it was too close to ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty W ...

''." In 1984, Staniforth had a significant role as

CB the Red Caboose ''Starlight Express'' is a 1984 British musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern engines in the hope of ...

in the original line-up in the long-running

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

stage musical '' Starlight Express''. Staniforth was openly gay. He died from an

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related illness on 31 July 1987, aged 44.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Staniforth, Michael 1942 births 1987 deaths English male stage actors AIDS-related deaths in England People from Birmingham, West Midlands 20th-century British male actors English gay actors 20th-century LGBT people