Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

David Halliwell David William Halliwell (31 July 1936, Brighouse, Yorkshire – c.16 March 2006, Charlbury, Oxfordshire)Alan Strachan & Janet Street Porte ''The Independent'', 5 April 2006 was a British dramatist. Early life Halliwell attended Huddersfield Col ...

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

Zigger Zagger ''Zigger Zagger'' is a 1967 play by Peter Terson which was the first work to be commissioned by the National Youth Theatre who revived it at Wilton's Music Hall in 2017 for its 50th anniversary.Strand Theatre, for which he was nominated for a Variety Award for most promising newcomer.

Career

In his first full-length film, he played the Young Poet in

Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Saturday Night and S ...

's ''

Isadora Isidora or Isadora is a female given name of Greek origin, derived from Ἰσίδωρος, ''Isídōros'' (a compound of Ἶσις, ''Ísis'', and δῶρον, ''dōron'': "gift of he goddessIsis"). The male equivalent is Isidore. The name surviv ...

'' (1968). Roles in TV, including ''

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' is the second and final novel written by English author Anne Brontë. It was first published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels, it had an instant and p ...

'' for the BBC and the Wednesday play ''

No Trams to Lime Street ''No Trams to Lime Street'' is a 1959 British television play, written by the Welsh playwright Alun Owen for the ''Armchair Theatre'' anthology series. Produced by ABC Weekend TV for transmission on the ITV network, the play was broadcast on 18 ...

'' (musical version), followed. Then a film in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, '' Michael Kohlhaas - Der Rebell'' (1969), with David Warner and

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; September 22, 1940 – December 14, 2019)

, directed by the Oscar-winning director

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s ...

. He starred opposite

Judy Huxtable Judy Huxtable (born 4 July 1942) is a British actress. Early life and career Born in Surrey, England, to wealthy parents, Huxtable was initially a society débutante and then became a fashionable figure in 1960s "swinging London" and, as a mode ...

in the 1968 cult short film ''

Les Bicyclettes de Belsize ''Les Bicyclettes de Belsize'' is a 1968 British musical short film (30 mins) starring Judy Huxtable and Anthony May. It was directed by Douglas Hickox, and played on cinemas as a supporting feature to Roy Boulting's controversial horror film ...

'', directed by

Douglas Hickox Douglas Arthur Hickox (10 January 1929 – 25 July 1988) was an English film and television director. Biography Hickox was born in London, where he was educated at Emanuel School. He started in the film industry at age 17, working at Pinewood ...

. The Soldier in

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English and ...

's ''The Hostage'', directed by Richard Eyre, was followed by a tour of the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

playing

Prince Hal Prince Hal is the standard term used in literary criticism to refer to Shakespeare's portrayal of the young Henry V of England as a prince before his accession to the throne, taken from the diminutive form of his name used in the plays almost ex ...

in ''Henry IV'', parts 1 and 2. He appeared as

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's deat ...

in ''

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

'' (1970) with

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

and

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1 ...

, as Pirie in

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...

's '' No Blade of Grass'' (1970), and had a guest star role in the children's hit series, '' Here Come the Double Deckers''. He was a director of Senta Productions who produced the 1972 film '' The Triple Echo'', which starred

Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for ...

and

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

, directed by

Michael Apted Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...

. He also appeared in British comedy films such as ''

The Sex Thief ''The Sex Thief'' is a 1973 British sex comedy film starring David Warbeck, Diane Keen and Christopher Biggins. It was an early film credit for director Martin Campbell. The film was released in North America (in January 1976) as ''Her Family J ...

'' (1973) and '' Three for All'' (1975). Playing Sloane in

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...

's ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'' at the Kings Head Theatre preceded tours with the London Shakespeare Group's ''Macbeth'' of Iraq, Bangladesh, South Korea, Japan and Africa, where they played to Maasai warriors in the foothills of Mt

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...

. He played Macduff at Frank Dunlop's Young Vic Theatre, where a long association over the years developed. This production was toured around Mexico, finishing at the Guanahato Festival. Other plays at the Young Vic included ''King Lear'', ''The Real Inspector Hound'', ''A Man for all Seasons'', ''Richard II'', ''Gloo Joo'' and

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

in ''Anthony and Cleopatra''. At the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

he played Leonidik in Arbuzov's ''The Promise'', and another production of ''Macbeth'', this time playing

Banquo Lord Banquo , the Thane of Lochaber, is a semi-historical character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play '' Macbeth''. In the play, he is at first an ally of Macbeth (both are generals in the King's army) and they meet the Three Witches tog ...

, directed by

Richard Cottrell Richard Cottrell (born 15 August 1936) is an English theatre director. He has been the Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company and the Bristol Old Vic in England, and of the Nimrod Theatre in Sydney, Australia. He has also directed for the Roy ...

. A film of Chekov's ''Zinotchka''. An Australian film ''They Ran Before the Wind'', filmed in the

South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, is used in several contexts. Most commonly it refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. In 1513, when Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term ''Mar del Sur'', ...

, in which Anthony played

Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was master's mate on board HMS ''Bounty'' during Lieutenant William Bligh's voyage to Tahiti during 1787–1789 for breadfruit plants. In the mutiny on the ''Bounty'', Christian se ...

in a story of what happened after the mutiny on the ''Bounty''. He then played Bobby in ''American Buffalo'' at the National Theatre, directed by Bill Bryden, and starred in an American drama documentary about

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

. Anthony was also in the Jack the Ripper film ''

Murder by Decree ''Murder by Decree'' is a 1979 mystery thriller film directed by Bob Clark. It features the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who are embroiled in the investigation surrounding the real-life 1 ...

'' (1979) with

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

and

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...

. He played Hamlet at the

Northcott Theatre The Northcott Theatre is a theatre situated on the Streatham Campus of the University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, England. It opened in 1967 and was run until 2010 by the Northcott Theatre Foundation, when the company ceased operating after a ...

. Other roles there included Captain Plume in ''The Recruiting Officer'' and Sir

Thomas Overbury Sir Thomas Overbury (baptized 1581 – 14 September 1613) was an English poet and essayist, also known for being the victim of a murder which led to a scandalous trial. His poem ''A Wife'' (also referred to as ''The Wife''), which depicted the ...

in a new play ''Favours''. Anthony also worked with

Mike Hodges Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include '' Get Carter'' (1971), ''Pulp'' (1972), ''The Terminal Man'' (197 ...

on the

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and polit ...

written film ''Squaring the Circle'' in 1984. There have been many TV appearances, including ''

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 deb ...

'', ''Casualty'', ''Juliet Bravo'', ''

Dickens of London ''Dickens of London'' is a 1976 television miniseries from Yorkshire Television based on the life of English novelist Charles Dickens. Both Dickens and his father John were played by British actor Roy Dotrice. The series was written by Wolf Mank ...

'', ''

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 o ...

'', '' London's Burning'', ''Anna Lee'', ''The Paradise Club'', ''El Cid'', ''Bulman'', ''Between the Lines'', ''Softly, Softly'', ''Rockliffe's Babies'', ''Minder'', ''All Quiet on the Preston Front'', ''Chandler and Co'', ''Boon'', ''Coronation Street'', ''The Dream Team'', ''The Hutton Enquiry'', ''The Ice House'' and ''Messiah'', working with directors Adrian Shergold,

Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella, (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He won the Academy Award for Best Directo ...

, Martin Campbell, Stephen Poliakoff and Tim Fywell. Other stage plays include ''Richard II'', ''Gloo Joo'', ''Withdrawal Symptoms'', ''A Chorus of Disapproval'', ''Marino Faliero'', ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'', ''The Launderette'', ''A Last Belch for the Great Auk'' and ''The Nuns'', which he also directed at the Roundhouse. May was the voice of the King of the Dead in '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''. In 2011 he played Bootstrap Bill in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' video game, Thompson in the ''Tin Tin'' video game and Dickson in ''

Xenoblade Chronicles is a series of action role-playing games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It is a part of the '' Xeno'' metaseries created by Tetsuya Takahashi, but was formed after Nintendo's acquisition of Monolith Soft in 2007. The seri ...

''. One of his last appearances was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall reading the poetry of Rumi, and also appearing as a nobleman in the 2014 fantasy film ''

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). She is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed " Mistress of All Evil ...

'' starring

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

. A sought-after voice artist, he produced and appeared in one-off poetry and music events, and released an album, Rumi in Love, featuring the poetry of

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

, the 13th-century Persian mystic.

Personal life and death

May married actress Vanessa Pett in 1992 and they had two children together, Harry and Lily. He also had two other children, Jack and Jessica from a previous marriage to Charlotte Panton. He died on 24 December 2021, at the age of 75.

Filmography

*''

Isadora Isidora or Isadora is a female given name of Greek origin, derived from Ἰσίδωρος, ''Isídōros'' (a compound of Ἶσις, ''Ísis'', and δῶρον, ''dōron'': "gift of he goddessIsis"). The male equivalent is Isidore. The name surviv ...

'' (1968) – Young Poet *''

Les Bicyclettes de Belsize ''Les Bicyclettes de Belsize'' is a 1968 British musical short film (30 mins) starring Judy Huxtable and Anthony May. It was directed by Douglas Hickox, and played on cinemas as a supporting feature to Roy Boulting's controversial horror film ...

'' (1968) – The Boy – Steve *''

Michael Kohlhaas – Der Rebell ''Man on Horseback'' (german: Michael Kohlhaas – der Rebell, link=no) is a 1969 West German drama film directed by Volker Schlöndorff based on the novel ''Michael Kohlhaas'' by Heinrich von Kleist. It was entered into the 1969 Cannes Film F ...

'' (1969) – Peter *''

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

'' (1970) – Richard Cromwell *''

The Breaking of Bumbo ''The Breaking of Bumbo'' is a 1970 British comedy film written and directed by Andrew Sinclair, a former Coldstream Guards National service officer that was updated from his 1959 novel of the same name that featured the Suez Crisis. It st ...

'' (1970) – Art Student *'' No Blade of Grass'' (1970) – Andrew Pirrie *'' The Triple Echo'' (1972) – Subaltern *''

The Sex Thief ''The Sex Thief'' is a 1973 British sex comedy film starring David Warbeck, Diane Keen and Christopher Biggins. It was an early film credit for director Martin Campbell. The film was released in North America (in January 1976) as ''Her Family J ...

'' (1973) – Barman *'' Three for All'' (1975) – Martin *''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' (1978) – Gendarme *''

Murder by Decree ''Murder by Decree'' is a 1979 mystery thriller film directed by Bob Clark. It features the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who are embroiled in the investigation surrounding the real-life 1 ...

'' (1979) – Lanier *'' McVicar'' (1980) – Billy *'' Sky Bandits'' (1986) – Guard No.2 *'' Hidden City'' (1987) – Burned Man *''

Xenoblade Chronicles is a series of action role-playing games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It is a part of the '' Xeno'' metaseries created by Tetsuya Takahashi, but was formed after Nintendo's acquisition of Monolith Soft in 2007. The seri ...

'' (2012) – Dickson *''

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). She is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed " Mistress of All Evil ...

'' (2014) – Nobleman

References

External links

*
Ottershaw School
{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Anthony 1946 births 2021 deaths Alumni of RADA English male film actors English male television actors National Youth Theatre members People from Reigate