Ralph Nossek (August 1923 – 5 December 2011) was a British actor of stage, television and screen. He was born in August 1923 in the parish of St George in the East, London, England. He died in London on 5 December 2011. From 1953 until his last years he was a well known figure in British live theatre, adapted well to the new medium of television and over the years played in a considerable number of films. He was versatile, competent and confident in his different roles and in particular made a noticeable contribution to the emergence of British television drama.

Early years

In his late teens Nossek was called up for military service in World War II and as the war reached its end, in 1945 he found himself on an army base in Colombo, Sri Lanka. A determining moment for the rest of his life was the day his attempt to gain admittance to the base amateur theatre company was rebuffed on the grounds that this was reserved to officers. Nossek and friend Peter Coxhead set up a rival organization and on Friday, 13 April 1945 ''The Theatre Club'' was opened. The first production was of

Sutton Vane Sutton Vane (born Vane Hunt Sutton-Vane; 9 November 1888 – 15 June 1963) was a British playwright best known work for ''Outward Bound (play), Outward Bound'' (1923), which was filmed twice and was still being performed eight decades after its ...

's ''

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''. It was well received, as were other plays, revues, concerts and musical evenings. There was a sufficient air of success to ensure that a number of these early members opted to continue working together when the war ended and they were demobbed and returned to England. There Nossek and Coxhead founded in the North London suburb of

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, approximately from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described by the BBC as one of "a new breed of urban villag ...

the Mountview Theatre Club, an amateur repertory company, whose theatre opened officially in November 1947 with a production of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

. This was followed by a regular play each month until 1949, after which Coxhead bought the building outright from the leaseholders. Thereafter, for the next 25 years one new production after another was staged every two to three weeks. The club was later to become very successful as the

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production ...

, now located in custom-built premises in the South London suburb of

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

. For his part, Nossek went on in 1955 to pursue an independent professional acting career that endured for 56 years.

Career

While live engagements for the stage and film appearances were not lacking in Nossek’s professional career, the sheer bulk and regularity of his appearances in British television fiction is striking. While it may be an exaggeration to say so, there seems hardly to be a British television series over half a century in which he did not find a role in at least one or other episode. At very least it could be said that when he appeared on the TV screen it was hardly a surprise to a British viewer. Many of the TV and film roles he played tended to portray sinister or shady characters, but over the years of his career it is also remarkable how many times he played policeman, judges, ministers of state and even clergymen. Furthermore, especially in later years, he also handled convincingly roles as the Nazi Grand Admiral

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government follo ...

and the Romanian dictator

Nicolae Ceausescu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), a Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) *Nicolao Nicolao is an Italian given name and a surname. It may refer to the following: Given name *Nicolao Civitali ...

Live Theatre

Ralph Nossek played in a wide variety of theatrical productions. One of his early roles came in 1953 when he acted in

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...

's play, ''

Murder in the Cathedral ''Murder in the Cathedral'' is a verse drama by T. S. Eliot, first performed in 1935, that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral during the reign of Henry II in 1170. Eliot drew heavily on the writin ...

'', at the

Library Theatre Manchester Central Library is the headquarters of the city's library and information service in Manchester, England. Facing St Peter's Square, it was designed by E. Vincent Harris and constructed between 1930 and 1934. The form of the buildin ...

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, England, under the direction of

Stuart Latham Harry Stuart Latham (11 July 1912 – 31 August 1993) was an English theatre and film actor, director and television producer. Biography Latham was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey on 11 July 1912. After an apprenticeship in repertory thea ...

, with a cast that included John Brooking, John Saunders,

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, Peter Lambert, Frederick Bartman, Alec Gunn and Colin Trevor. He was active on the stage at least as late as 2003, when he acted in

Adrian Noble Adrian Keith Noble (born 19 July 1950) is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003. Education and career Noble was born in Chichester, Sussex, England. After l ...

's production of

's play, ''

A Woman of No Importance ''A Woman of No Importance'' by Oscar Wilde is "a new and original play of modern life", in four acts, first given on 19 April 1893 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirises English upper-class society. It ...

'' at

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Theatre Royal Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...

, where the cast included

Rupert Graves Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in ''A Room with a View'', ''Maurice'', ''The Madness of King George'' and ''The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he starred ...

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and Joanne Pearce.

Television

From an early date Nossek appeared in a wide range of TV series, including (in approximately chronological order) the following: ''The Children of the New Forest'', '' As I Was Saying'', '' Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!'', ''The Black Arrow'', '' Television Playwright'', ''

BBC Sunday-Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, p ...

'', ''Solo for Canary'', ''McFarlane’s Way'', ''

Hancock's Half Hour ''Hancock's Half Hour'' was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Galton and Simpson, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James, Sidney James; the r ...

'', ''The Blackness'', '' Boyd Q.C.'', ''

Citizen James ''Citizen James'' is a BBC sitcom that ran for three series between 24 November 1960 and 23 November 1962. The show featured comedian and actor Sid James and Sydney Tafler with Bill Kerr and Liz Fraser appearing in early episodes. It was initial ...

'', ''

Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...

'', '' The Avengers'', ''The Sword in the Web'', ''

Thirty Minute Theatre ''Thirty-Minute Theatre'' was a British anthology drama series of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, which was used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short running length, and which ...

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

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the ...

'', '' Undermind'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Object Z'', ''Mysteries and Miracles'', ''Object Z Returns'', ''

No Hiding Place ''No Hiding Place'' is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series ''Murder Bag'' (1957–1958) an ...

'', ''King of the River'', ''Blackmail'', ''

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 f ...

'', '' The Newcomers'', '' Virgin of the Secret Service'', ''Detective'', ''The Power Game'', ''

The Flaxton Boys ''The Flaxton Boys'' is a British historical children's television series set in the West Riding of Yorkshire and covering a timespan of almost a century. The series was made by Yorkshire Television and was broadcast on ITV between 1969 and 1 ...

'', ''Macbeth'', ''Fraud Squad'', ''

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'', ''

Poldark ''Poldark'' is a series of historical novels by Winston Graham, published from 1945 to 1953 and continued from 1973 to 2002. The first novel, '' Ross Poldark'', was named for the protagonist of the series. The novel series was adapted twice ...

'' (1975), '' Bill Brand'', ''

Little Lord Fauntleroy ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was published as a serial in '' St. Nicholas Magazine'' from November 1885 to October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's (the publisher of ''St. Nicholas'') in 1886. The ill ...

'', ''

ITV Playhouse ''Playhouse'' is a British television anthology series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour ...

'', ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

'', ''Whodunnit?'', ''

The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Ins ...

'', '' Telford’s Change'', ''

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'', ''

We, the Accused ''We, the Accused'' is a 1935 crime novel by the British writer Ernest Raymond. It is inspired by the Edwardian era Doctor Crippen case. The novel is written to engage the reader's sympathy for the murderous protagonists. Synopsis Schoolteacher ...

'', '' Flickers'', '' The Borgias'' (1981), ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

'' (1981), ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles ...

'', ''Theatre Box'', ''Jackanory Playhouse'', ''Jemima Shore Investigates'', ''

The Old Men at the Zoo ''The Old Men at the Zoo'' is a novel written by Angus Wilson, first published in 1961 by Secker and Warburg and by Penguin books in 1964. It was adapted, with many changes—nuclear bombing of London, not present in the novel, is added—into ...

'', ''Cockles'', ''

Chance in a Million ''Chance in a Million'' is a British sitcom broadcast between 1984 and 1986, produced by Thames Television for Channel 4. The series was co-written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen and starred Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn. The producer a ...

'', ''Them and Us'', ''

Screen Two ''Screen Two'' was a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1985 to 1998 (not to be confused with a run of films shown on BBC2 under the billing ''Screen 2'' between April 1977 and March 197 ...

'', ''

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'', ''

Mr Pye ''Mr Pye'' is a 1953 novel by English novelist Mervyn Peake. Plot Mr. Pye travels to the Channel Island of Sark to awaken a love of God in all the islanders. His landlady on the island, Miss Dredger, quickly becomes a devout follower of his teac ...

'', '' Worlds Beyond'', '' Drummonds'', '' Bergerac'', '' Behaving Badly'', ''

Screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

'', ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...

'', ''

Parnell and the Englishwoman ''Parnell and the Englishwoman'' is a British television miniseries which aired on BBC Two in four hour-long episodes from 9 to 30 January 1991, and RTÉ One from 10 to 31 January 1991. The story is based on an episode in the life of Irish politic ...

'', ''Strauss Dynasty'', ''

T-Bag ''T-Bag'' is a British television series about the eponymous witch-like character and her assistant, T-Shirt. The series ran from 1985 to 1992 on ''Children's ITV''. Written by Grant Cathro and Lee Pressman, each series adopted a different tit ...

'', ''

That's Love ''That's Love!'' is a British television sitcom about the domestic problems of a young married couple, lawyer Donald ( Jimmy Mulville) and designer Patsy ( Diana Hardcastle). The programme was produced by TVS and first broadcast on ITV betwee ...

'', ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series ''Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'', '' Kinsey'', ''

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'', '' The Blackheath Poisonings'', ''

'' (1992), ''

The House of Eliott ''The House of Eliott'' is a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC in three series between 1991 and 1994. The series starred Stella Gonet as Beatrice Eliott and Louise Lombard as Evangeline Eliott, two sisters in 1920s Lon ...

'', ''Under the Hammer'', ''

Dandelion Dead ''Dandelion Dead'' is a British TV mini-series produced by LWT for ITV that aired in two parts on 6 and 13 February 1994. It tells the true story of Herbert Rowse Armstrong, a solicitor in the provincial town of Hay-on-Wye, Wales, who was con ...

'', ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale—a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' The Life and Crimes of William Palmer'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', '' Urban Gothic'', '' Micawber'', '' Waking the Dead'', and ''20 Things to Do before You’re 30''.

Films

Nossek’s film engagements began already before he parted company with the Mountview Theatre Club in 1955, since in 1954 he took the part of 'The Leading Man', in a BBC TV film version of

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

's 1921 play ''

Six Characters in Search of an Author ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' ( it, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore, link=no ) is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written and first performed in 1921. An absurdist fiction, absurdist metatheatrical, metatheatric play about th ...

''. One of his last film roles (already in his mid-eighties) was as Barnaby in the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

romantic comedy film Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

My Life in Ruins ''My Life in Ruins'' (released as ''Driving Aphrodite'' in the United Kingdom) is a 2009 romantic comedy film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Alexis Georgoulis, Rachel Dratch, Harland Williams and Alista ...

'' (UK title: ''Driving Aphrodite''), starring

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Jaws'' (1975), ''Close Encounters of the T ...

Award

Nossek received the 1987 Drama Theatre Award (now called the

Critics' Circle Theatre Award The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, originally called ''Drama'' Theatre Awards up to 1990, are British theatrical awards presented annually for the closing year's theatrical achievements. The winners, from theatre throughout the United Kingdom, ar ...

s) for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in a production of Stephen Bill's play, ''

Curtains A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain), water. A curtain is also the movable screen or drape in a theatre that separates the stage from the auditoriu ...

'', directed by Stuart Burge at the

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

, with a cast that included

Sheila Ballantine Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish language, Irish name ''Síle'', which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name ...

and

Alfred Lynch Alfred Cornelius Lynch (26 January 1931 – 16 December 2003) was an English actor on stage, film and television. Early life Lynch was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of a plumber. After attending a Catholic school, he worked in a drawing o ...

Filmography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nossek, Ralph 1923 births 2011 deaths English male film actors English male television actors 20th-century English male actors British Army personnel of World War II