Pat Roach
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Francis Patrick Roach (19 May 1937 – 17 July 2004) was an English professional wrestler, martial artist and actor. During an acting career between the 1970s and the 1990s, he appeared in multiple films, usually cast as a support player strongman villain. He appeared in the '' Indiana Jones'' film series, as the
West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...
bricklayer Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in the 1980s British television series ''
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in ...
'', and in the role of Petty Officer
Edgar Evans Petty Officer Edgar Evans (7 March 1876 – 17 February 1912) was a Royal Navy officer and member of the "Polar Party" in Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated ''Terra Nova'' Expedition to the South Pole in 1911–1912. This group of five me ...
in the television production ''
The Last Place on Earth ''The Last Place on Earth'' is a 1985 Central Television seven-part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book ''Scott and Amundsen'' by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F. Scott (playe ...
''.


Early life

Roach was born and brought up in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, West Midlands, the son of Francis "Frank" Roach (born 1905). He was National Judo Champion in 1960, and Midland Area Black Belt Champion in 1962.


Sports career

Roach boxed as an amateur before becoming professional as a protege of
Jack Solomons Israel Jacob "Jack" Solomons (10 December 1900 – 9 December 1979) was a British boxing promoter who has been called "one of the greatest boxing promoters in history" and "England's greatest boxing impresario". Solomons was born in Petticoat L ...
. He began his
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
career under the name of "Judo" Pat Roach. After his acting career had begun, he continued to wrestle under the name of "Bomber" Pat Roach, having previously been billed as "Big" Pat Roach before receiving affectionate cheering from the audience. He was trained by Alf Kent, his first official wrestling match was against George Selko in 1960. Roach held both the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
and
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
heavyweight championships at one time.


Acting career

Roach made his acting debut as the red-bearded bouncer in the Korova Milkbar in Stanley Kubrick's ''
A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...
''. He worked on another Kubrick film, '' Barry Lyndon'', where he played a hand-to-hand brawler named Toole who engages Ryan O'Neal in a fistfight. Roach went on to play a number of strong-man supporting character roles in films in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, including the nonspeaking role of
Hephaestus Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter Burk ...
in '' Clash of the Titans''. Pat cameoed as a
SPECTRE Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
assassin in the 'unofficial'
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film '' Never Say Never Again'', and as bandit-warlord Lord Brytag in the sword-and-sorcery film ''
Red Sonja Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. Marvel Comics p ...
''. He appeared as the skull-helmeted General Kael in the film ''
Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
''; the evil wizard Thoth-Amon in '' Conan the Destroyer'' and as the Celtic chieftain in '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves''. In 1985 he played Petty Officer Edgar Evans in the Central TV serial ''
The Last Place on Earth ''The Last Place on Earth'' is a 1985 Central Television seven-part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book ''Scott and Amundsen'' by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F. Scott (playe ...
'' about Captain Scott's expedition to the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
. Roach was turned down as
Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...
in ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
''; however, its director,
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
, subsequently cast him as several burly villains in the ''Indiana Jones'' film series in the 1980s. In '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'', he played two roles: the first being a giant
Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...
who fights Jones in the bar in Nepal, the second being a German
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-Fliegerabtei ...
mechanic who fistfights with Jones before being killed by an aircraft's propeller blades on the airstrip in Egypt. In the next film, '' Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'', Roach played a
Thuggee Thuggee (, ) are actions and crimes carried out by Thugs, historically, organised gangs of professional robbers and murderers in India. The English word ''thug'' traces its roots to the Hindi ठग (), which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Rela ...
guard in a mine who fights with Jones before being killed in a rock crusher. His final appearance in the series was as a
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
officer in '' Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', he appears only briefly as the character's fight with Jones was cut because director Steven Spielberg considered the scene "too long" and served as a subplot. On television Roach played the down-to-earth and easy going Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in the long running comedy-drama ''
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in ...
''. He appeared in all four series, but was absent from the final two-part Christmas special.


Personal life

Roach married Doreen Harris in 1957. They had a son and a daughter. In the 1990s, Roach owned and co-managed a
scrapyard A wrecking yard ( Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard ( Irish, British and New Zealand English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are bro ...
in
Saltley Saltley is an inner-city area of Birmingham, east of the city centre. The area is part of the Washwood Heath ward, and was previously part of the Nechells ward. It is part of the Ladywood constituency in the city. History Saltley was originally ...
, Birmingham. He also ran a gym on Gravelly Hill North,
Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...
, in North-East Birmingham. Roach died on 17 July 2004 of esophageal cancer. His body was buried in Bromsgrove Cemetery,
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
.


Filmography


Film


Television


Championships and accomplishments

*
Joint Promotions Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom spans over one hundred years but became popular when the then new independent television network ITV began showing it in 1955, firstly on Saturday afternoons and then also in a late-night midweek slot. ...
:* British Heavyweight Championship ( once) :*
European Heavyweight Championship The European Heavyweight Championship is a name used for various top titles competed for throughout the European professional wrestling circuit. The title was recognised as official by UK national TV network ITV for the purposes of their coverage ...
(twice) *Premier Promotions, Premier Wrestling Federation :*Ken Joyce Trophy (1992)


Publications

* ''If'', Brewin Books (co-written childhood autobiography) * ''Pat Roach's Birmingham'', Brewin Books (2004)


References


External links

*
BBC Obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Pat 1937 births 2004 deaths English male film actors English male professional wrestlers English male television actors People from Bromsgrove Deaths from esophageal cancer Deaths from cancer in England Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands 20th-century English businesspeople English judoka