Laurence Stanley Payne (5 June 1919 – 23 February 2009) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actor and novelist.

Early life

Payne was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. His father died when he was three years old, and he and his elder brother and sister were brought up by their mother, a Wesleyan Methodist in

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms a maj ...

, London. He attended Belmont School and

Tottenham Grammar School Tottenham Grammar School (TGS) was a renowned grammar school in North London, with local football connections. History A Tottenham grammar school had existed for centuries. Its origins are unclear, possibly dating back to 1456 but in 1631 a le ...

, leaving at 16 to take a clerical job. After training at the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. I ...

in 1939, he was exempted from war service as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

on condition that he went on tour with the Old Vic during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

Career

Actor

Payne made his professional debut at the

Old Vic theatre The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

in 1939 and remained with the company for several years. He then performed at the Chanticleer and Arts theatres in London, also directing and broadcasting for the first times during this period. At Stratford-on-Avon he played, among other parts,

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

's 1947 production. After more work at London theatres, he played leading roles at the prestigious

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 fin ...

, and after that rejoined the London Old Vic company. At the Embassy Theatre in London he played ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. His film credits include: ''

The Trollenberg Terror ''The Trollenberg Terror'' (released in the U.S. as ''The Crawling Eye'') is a 1958 British science fiction drama film, produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman and directed by Quentin Lawrence. The film stars Forrest Tucker, Laurence Payn ...

'' (aka. ''The Crawling Eye''), ''

Vampire Circus ''Vampire Circus'' is a 1972 British horror film directed by Robert Young and starring Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters and Anthony Higgins (billed as Anthony Corlan). It was written by Judson Kinberg, and produced by Wilbur Stark and Michael ...

'', ''

The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the n ...

'' and '' Ben-Hur''. His

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

credits include: ''

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 debuted ...

'', ''

Moonstrike ''Moonstrike'' is a British television series produced by the BBC in 1963. The series was an anthology programme: a collection of self-contained stories about acts of resistance in occupied Europe during the Second World War. Producer Gerard Gla ...

'', '' Thriller'' (1 episode, 1974), ''

The Sandbaggers ''The Sandbaggers'' is a British spy drama television series about men and women on the front lines of the Cold War. Set contemporaneously with its original broadcast on ITV in 1978 and 1980, ''The Sandbaggers'' examines the effect of espionag ...

'', ''

Airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

'', ''Telephone Soup'' and '' Tales of the Unexpected''. See him also as Capulet in a 1976 version of Romeo and Juliet. He appears in three ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' serials: ''

The Gunfighters ''The Gunfighters'' is the seventh serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 April to 21 May 1966. The serial is set in and around the tow ...

'', ''

The Leisure Hive ''The Leisure Hive'' is the first serial of the Doctor Who (season 18), 18th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC One, BBC1 from 30 August to 20 September 198 ...

'' and ''

The Two Doctors ''The Two Doctors'' is the fourth serial of the Doctor Who (season 22), 22nd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC One, BBC1 from 16 February to 2 March 1985 ...

'', playing a different role in each. Perhaps his most famous role was as TV's ''

Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional character, a detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels and dramatic productions since 1893. Sexton Blake adventures were featured in a wide variety of British and international publications ...

'' (1968–71) on ITV in Britain. It was while filming an episode of ''Sexton Blake'' that he lost the sight in his left eye during rehearsal of a sword fighting scene with actor

Basil Henson Basil Henson (31 July 1918 – 19 December 1990) was an English actor. Henson had a lengthy career on stage and television. His stage performances included a number of parts in Shakespeare productions, including ''The Merchant of Venice'' oppos ...

, following a hard sword blow against the side of his head.

Peter Moffatt Peter Moffatt (15 April 1922 – 21 October 2007) was an English television director. His work includes '' Crane'' (1963), '' All Creatures Great and Small'' (1978) and ''The Gentle Touch'' (1980). He also directed the BBC science fiction tel ...

took him straight away to

Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacen ...

, and Payne was told that, if he could lie still for a week without moving his head, his retina would join up again so preserving his sight. Instead of doing this, Payne went back to work, got hit in a fist fight, and so lost his sight in that eye.

Writer

After retiring from acting, Payne continued to concentrate on writing crime/detective novels. His 1961 novel ''The Nose on my Face'' was filmed as ''

Girl in the Headlines ''Girl in the Headlines'' (AKA ''The Model Girl Murder Case'') is a 1963 British detective film directed by Michael Truman and starring Ian Hendry, Ronald Fraser, Jeremy Brett, and Jane Asher. It is based on the 1961 novel ''The Nose on my Fac ...

'' (1963). By 1993, he had published 11 novels, and he has been called "one of the great humorists of the world of crime fiction".

Personal life and death

Payne was an enthusiastic oil painter, a self-taught pianist and an excellent fight director. In later years he worked regularly on radio, but in the 1990s he contracted septicaemia and there was subsequent brain damage. Suffering from vascular dementia, he spent the last three years of his life in a nursing home near Berwick-upon-Tweed. He was married twice.

Selected filmography

* '' A Matter of Life and Death'' (1946) - Prosecuting Counsel (uncredited) * ''

Train of Events ''Train of Events'' is a 1949 British portmanteau film made by Ealing Studios and directed by Sidney Cole, Charles Crichton and Basil Dearden. It begins with a train that is heading for a crash into a stalled petrol tanker at a level crossing a ...

'' (1949) - Richard (segment "The Prisoner-of-War") * '' Glad Tidings'' (1953) - Clive Askham * ''The Face of Love'' (1954), BBC TV movie adaption of

Troilus and Cressida ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Meanwh ...

in the leading role as Troilus * ''

Ill Met by Moonlight ''Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe'' is a non-fiction partly-autobiographical book written by W. Stanley Moss, a British soldier, writer and traveller. It describes an operation in Crete during the Second World War to captu ...

'' (1957) - Manoli * ''

Dangerous Exile ''Dangerous Exile'' is a 1957 British historical drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Louis Jourdan, Belinda Lee, Anne Heywood and Richard O'Sullivan. It concerns the fate of Louis XVII, who died in 1795 as a boy, yet was pop ...

'' (1957) - Lautrec * ''

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 ...

'' (1958) - President of Tribunal (uncredited) * ''

'' (1958) - Philip Truscott * '' Ben-Hur'' (1959) - Joseph (uncredited) * ''

'' (1960) - Edgar Marsh * ''

The Singer Not the Song ''The Singer Not the Song'' is a 1961 British drama film based on the 1953 novel of the same title by Audrey Erskine Lindop that was directed by Roy Ward Baker and filmed in Spain. It stars Dirk Bogarde, John Mills, and Mylène Demongeot. Pl ...

'' (1961) - Pablo * ''

The Third Alibi ''The Third Alibi'' is a 1961 British thriller film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Laurence Payne, Patricia Dainton, Jane Griffiths and Edward Underdown. Plot Musicals composer Norman Martell (Laurence Payne) is having an affair wi ...

'' (1961) - Norman Martell * ''

The Queen's Guards ''The Queen's Guards'' is a 1961 military drama film directed by Michael Powell from a script by Simon Harcourt-Smith and Roger Milner. It stars Daniel Massey, Raymond Massey, Robert Stephens, and Ursula Jeans. ''The Queen's Guards'' was made ...

'' (1961) - Farinda * ''

The Court Martial of Major Keller ''The Court Martial of Major Keller'' is a 1961 British film directed by Ernest Morris and written by Brian Clemens. It stars Laurence Payne, Susan Stephen and Austin Trevor. The film recounts the court martial for murder of Major Keller, a Br ...

'' (1961) - Major Keller * ''

Barabbas Barabbas (; ) was, according to the New Testament, a prisoner who was chosen over Jesus by the crowd in Jerusalem to be pardoned and released by Roman governor Pontius Pilate at the Passover feast. Biblical account According to all four canoni ...

'' (1961) - Disciple * ''

Crosstrap ''Crosstrap'' is a 1962 British B-movie crime film, starring Laurence Payne, Jill Adams and Gary Cockrell, and marking the directorial debut of Robert Hartford-Davis. The screenplay was adapted from a novel by John Newton Chance. The film was ...

'' (1962) - Duke * '' Mystery Submarine'' (1963) - Lt. Seaton * ''

'' (1972) - Mueller * '' The Message'' (1976) - Of one major role (voice) * ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' (1976) (TV) - Capulet

References

External links

*
The Stage website

Obituary in ''The Guardian''

Obituary in ''The Times''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Laurence English conscientious objectors English male film actors English Methodists English male stage actors English male television actors People educated at Tottenham Grammar School People from Wood Green English male Shakespearean actors 1919 births 2009 deaths English male novelists 20th-century English novelists Deaths from vascular dementia