Anthony Valentine (17 August 1939 – 2 December 2015) was an English actor best known for his television roles: the ruthless Toby Meres in '' Callan'' (1967–72), the sadistic Major Horst Mohn in ''
Colditz
Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II.
Geography
Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of th ...
'' (1972–74), Bob in Tales of the Unexpected, the suave titular gentleman thief in '' Raffles'' (1977), and the murderous Baron Gruner in the ''
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
; he moved with his family to
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and F ...
Aged 9, Valentine was spotted tap-dancing in a stage version of ''Robin Hood'' at Ealing Town Hall. He made his acting debut at age 10 in the
Nettlefold Studios
Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.No Way Back'' (1949), and at age 12 he was a boy sleuth in ''
The Girl on the Pier
''The Girl on the Pier'' is a 1953 British crime film produced by John Temple-Smith, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Veronica Hurst, Ron Randell, Brian Roper, Campbell Singer and Anthony Valentine.
Plot
Inspector Chubb (Charles Victo ...
'' (1953). He worked regularly as a child actor for the BBC, most notably as Harry Wharton in the 1950s adaptation of '' Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School'', having initially played Lord Mauleverer in earlier episodes.
In 1958, he appeared in a television production of Ibsen's '' John Gabriel Borkman'', with
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
as Borkman and Irene Worth as his wife, as part of ITV's ''The Play of the Week'' series.
Valentine was best known for his striking performances in particular television roles: ruthless Toby Meres in the series '' Callan'' (1967–72), sinister
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
Colditz
Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II.
Geography
Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of th ...
'' (1974), the dashing eponymous role in
Yorkshire TV
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network. Until 1974, this was prima ...
Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site".
Design and construction
It was de ...
Sleuth
Sleuth may refer to:
*Detective
*Sleuth, collective noun for a group of bears
Computing
* The Sleuth Kit, a collection of forensic analysis software
*SLEUTH assembler language for the UNIVAC 1107
Entertainment and media
*Cloo
Cloo (stylized ...
'Art'
''Art'' is a French-language play by Yasmina Reza that premiered in 1994 at Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The play subsequently ran in London in 1996 and on Broadway in 1998.
Productions
The play premiered on 28 October 1994 at Com ...
'' (Wyndham's Theatre, 1999–2000); and he played Cardinal Monticelso in
Webster
Webster may refer to:
People
*Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname
*Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name
Places Canada
*Webster, Alberta
* Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario
United Stat ...
's '' The White Devil'' ( Lyric Theatre, 2000).
Valentine made his debut as a writer and director in 1998 at The Mill at Sonning with ''The Waiting Game''. He went on to direct regularly at the Mill, productions including: '' Separate Tables'' (2005), '' The Odd Couple'' (2009) and '' California Suite'' (2012). On 12 November 2005 Valentine became a patron of the Thwaites Empire Theatre in his birthplace, Blackburn.
He narrated three ''Wildlife Explorer'' documentary films: ''Powerful Predators'', ''Animal Defences'', and ''Weird and Wonderful''. He was also the voice of Dr. X on American heavy metal band Queensrÿche's 1988 album '' Operation: Mindcrime''. He narrated a 1980 NOVA documentary entitled ''It's About Time'', presented by Dudley Moore and featuring science fiction writer
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
, spouse =
, relatives =
, children = 2
, death_date =
, death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
, nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
. He also voiced a television commercial for Gordon's gin.
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 ...
. He had suffered from
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...
since 2012. He was survived by his wife, actress
Susan Skipper
Susan Valentine (born 27 January 1951 in London), known until 2015 as Susan Skipper, is a British television, film and stage actress. She is best known for playing the parts of Victoria Bourne in ''The Cedar Tree'', Tina in '' West End Tales'' a ...
. The couple married in 1982, having met during the filming of the successful ''Raffles'' television series, and later appeared together again in a television film of Ivor Novello's show ''
The Dancing Years
''The Dancing Years'' is a musical with book and music by Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall. The story takes place in Vienna, from 1911 until 1938. It follows the life of a penniless Jewish composer and his love for two women of dif ...
'' (1979).
Interviewed in 1995, Valentine recalled two earlier brushes with death. First, when he was dangerously ill with
meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...
at the age of 26; second in 1974, when caught up in the
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-s ...
, he holed up for two days in a holiday hotel as gunfire raged outside. "I've always felt that everything since has been an incredible bonus," he said.