Alan Wheatley

Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor. He was a well known stage actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appeared in forty films between 1931 and 1965 and was a frequent broadcaster on radio from the 1930s to the 1990s, and on television from 1938 to 1964. His most prominent television role was the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1950s TV series ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', with Richard Greene as Robin Hood; Wheatley played the sheriff in 54 episodes between 1955 and 1959. Earlier, he had played Sherlock Holmes in the first television series featuring the great detective.

In addition to acting, Wheatley was a radio announcer during the Second World War, broadcasting to occupied Europe, where he became a well known voice. Poetry was another of his interests: he translated the poetry of Federico García Lorca and was a frequent reader of poems on air. In his later years he worked mainly in radio, as a narrator, a verse-reader and an actor.

Life and career

Early years

Wheatley was born in Tolworth, Surrey, on 19 April 1907, the son of William Henry Wheatley and his wife Rose Eva (née Towers). He was educated at Tiffin School, and was then employed in industrial psychology.Herbert, p. 1243 He made his first appearance on the stage at the Festival Theatre, Cambridge in October 1928, as Randall Utterword in ''Heartbreak House'', after which he was a member of the repertory company at that theatre and later in Hull. In 1930 he toured as Sir Roger Fairfax in ''Sweet Nell of Old Drury'' with Fred Terry, and in 1931 in ''The Quaker Girl''.

In November 1931 Wheatley performed in London at the Embassy and St Martin's theatres, as the Journalist in ''Britannia of Billingsgate''. In other London productions in 1932–33 he played the Guide in ''Miracle at Verdun'', Master Klaus in ''The Witch'' and Godfrey Perry in ''Wild Justice''. He appeared at the Malvern Festival in August 1933, before returning to the West End, where his roles included Edgar in ''King Lear'' to the Lear of William Devlin.

For nine months in 1934–35 Wheatley was leading man at the Croydon Repertory Theatre, and in 1936 he made his first appearance with the Old Vic company. He made his Broadway debut in the same year, in the Old Vic's production of ''St Helena'', playing Las Cases to the Bonaparte of Maurice Evans. He subsequently toured in Scandinavia and adjoining countries, as Major Petkoff in ''Arms and the Man'' and Arnold Champion-Cheney in '' The Circle''.

After returning to London, Wheatley's last stage roles of the 1930s were Disraeli in ''Mr Gladstone'', with Devlin; Mosca in ''Volpone'', with Donald Wolfit,; Frank Harris in ''Oscar Wilde'' with Francis L. Sullivan; Sebastian in ''Walk in the Sun'', with Terence de Marney; and Sir Patrick Cullen in '' The Doctor's Dilemma'', with Clifford Evans. He appeared in several films in the 1930s (see Filmography below), and, already a frequent broadcaster on BBC radio, he made his first television appearance in August 1938, playing Lane in ''The Importance of Being Earnest''. In the same year he played Sam Weller in ''Bardell against Pickwick'', adapted from ''The Pickwick Papers''.

War and post-war

In September 1939 at the time of the outbreak of the Second World War Wheatley joined the BBC Drama Repertory Company. From May to September 1940 he was an announcer on the BBC Overseas Service
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