John Maurice Roëves (; 19 March 1937 – 14 July 2020) was a Scottish actor. He appeared in over 120 film and television roles, in both the United Kingdom and the United States. His breakthrough performance was as Stephen Dedalus in the 1967 film adaptation of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's ''Ulysses''. He was a regular fixture on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

programmes, often portraying what ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called "tough guys, steely villains or stalwart military figures with directness, authenticity and spiky energy".

Early life and education

Roëves was born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

to Rhoda (nee Laydon) and Percival Roëves. When he was six the family moved to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, where he was raised from then on. He left Hyndland Secondary School early to help his father, and undertook

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the Army of Scotland that became a regiment of the British Army in 1707 upon the Union of Scotland and England, continuing until 1971 when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of ...

, where he was a

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

mechanic. After he left the Army he studied at the College of Dramatic Art at the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

, where he won a Gold Medal for acting.

Career

Roëves took to the stage at the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and playwright in residence Paul Vincent Carroll is based in Glasgow, Scotland, as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat ...

in Glasgow in the 1960s in a production of ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

''. Roëves's first notable roles were in films. He played the leading role of Stephen Dedalus in the film adaptation of

's '' Ulysses'' (1967) and also appeared in ''

Oh! What a Lovely War ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a 1969 British epic comedy historical musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth Mo ...

'' (1969). Other films he acted in include '' A Day at the Beach'' (1970), '' The Eagle Has Landed'' (1976), '' Hidden Agenda'' (1990), ''

The Last of the Mohicans ''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is an 1826 historical romance novel by James Fenimore Cooper. It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder'', ...

'' (1992), ''

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of the British weekly anthology Comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977). He is the magazi ...

'' (1995), ''

The Acid House ''The Acid House'' is a 1994 book by Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of th ...

'' (1998) and '' Beautiful Creatures'' (2000). In 2003 he appeared in May Miles Thomas's film ''Solid Air''. His final film role was in Justin Kurzel's ''Macbeth'' (2015), playing Menteith. His first television role was in the series '' Scobie in September'' in 1969. Roëves played a schoolmaster in ''Out of the Unknown'', in the episode "Taste of Evil" in 1971. A short thriller series called ''The Scobie Man'' followed in 1972. He then went on to appear in ''

The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a British police drama television series focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective ...

'' (1975), ''

Danger UXB ''Danger UXB'' is a 1979 British ITV television series set during the Second World War. It was developed by John Hawkesworth and starred Anthony Andrews as Lieutenant Brian Ash, an officer in the Royal Engineers (RE). The series chronicl ...

'' (1979), '' The Nightmare Man'' (1981), the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' serial '' The Caves of Androzani'' (1984), ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' (1986), '' North and South'' (1985), '' Tutti Frutti'' (1987), '' Rab C. Nesbitt'' (1990), ''

The New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' (1990), ''

Spender ''Spender'' is a British television police procedural drama, created by Ian La Frenais and Jimmy Nail, that first broadcast on 8 January 1991 on BBC1. The series, which also starred Nail as the titular character, ran for three series between 1 ...

'' (1991), '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1993), the BBC adaptation of '' Vanity Fair'' (1998), ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' (2003), ''

A Touch of Frost ''A Touch of Frost'' is a British television detective mystery drama series starring David Jason produced by Yorkshire Television (later ITV Studios) for ITV from 6 December 1992 until 5 April 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. ...

'' (2003) and '' Skins'' (2008). He played Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield in the television film '' Hillsborough'' (1996). In 2006 he appeared in the BBC

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

''Surviving Disasters'', portraying Sir

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an E ...

in the story of the

Munich air disaster The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United F.C., Manche ...

. He starred as Robert Henderson in

's drama ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in ...

''. Roëves also appeared as a retired police superintendent in '' Southcliffe'' (episode 3, "Sorrow's Child").

Personal life

In 2014 he stated that he had moved to

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

with his wife, Vanessa Rawlings-Jackson. They also spent part of each year at a condo in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, United States.

Death

Roëves died on 14 July 2020 at the age of 83, after a period of ill health.

Partial filmography

* '' The Fighting Prince of Donegal'' (1966) - Martin * '' Ulysses'' (1967) - Stephen Dedalus * ''

'' (1969) - George Patrick Michael Smith * '' A Day at the Beach'' (1970) - Nicholas * '' When Eight Bells Toll'' (1971) - Lt. Williams - Helicopter Pilot * '' Young Winston'' (1972) - Brockie * '' The Eagle Has Landed'' (1976) - Maj. Corcoran * ''

'' (1979) - Sergeant James * '' S.O.S. Titanic'' (1979, TV Movie) - Leading Stoker: Fred Barret * '' Outland'' (1981) - First Victim (uncredited) * ''

Escape to Victory ''Escape to Victory'' (or simply ''Victory'') is a 1981 sports war film directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German ...

''(1981) - Captain Pyrie * '' Inside the Third Reich'' (1982, TV Movie) - Rudolf Hess * '' Who Dares Wins'' (1982) - Maj. Steele * '' North and South'' (1986, TV Mini-Series) - Shain * '' Tutti Frutti'' (1987) - Vincent Diver * ''

The Play on One ''The Play on One'' (''Play on One'' in the final series) is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC Nations and Regions in its studios outside London, and transmitted on BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air publ ...

: Unreported Incident'' (1988) - Jack Lawrence * '' Hidden Agenda'' (1990) - Harris * '' The Big Man'' (1990) - Cam Colvin * ''

'' (1992) - Col. Edmund Munro * ''

'' (1995) - Miller * ''Guardians'' (1996) - Sergeant Reed * ''

'' (1998) -

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

(segment "The Granton Star Cause") / Drunk (segment "A Soft Touch") / Priest (segment "The Acid House") * '' Forgive and Forget'' (2000, TV Movie) - Michael O'Neil * '' Beautiful Creatures'' (2000) - Ronnie McMinn * ''Solid Air'' (2003) - Robert Houston * ''

("Close Encounters", 2003) Mr. McIntosh * ''

William and Mary (TV series) ''William and Mary'' is an ITV romantic drama set in London, starring Martin Clunes as William Shawcross, an undertaker, and Julie Graham as Mary Gilcrest, a midwife. Its title refers to its two principal characters and is a cultural referen ...

'' (2004) - Ally Gilcrest * '' The Dark'' (2005) - Dafydd * '' Hallam Foe'' (2007) - Raymond * '' Fast Track: No Limits'' (2008) - Schmitty * ''

The Damned United ''The Damned United'' is a 2009 sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling 2006 novel '' The Damned Utd'' – a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Cl ...

'' (2009) - Jimmy Gordon * '' Brighton Rock'' (2010) - Chief Inspector * '' Harrigan'' (2013) - Billy Davidson * ''Luna (2014) - Jacob As The Doctor * ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' (2015) - Menteith

References

External links

*
2012 Interview with Maurice RoevesMaurice Roëves
(Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Roeves, Maurice 1937 births 2020 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel 20th-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Male actors from Glasgow Male actors from Sunderland Royal Scots Greys soldiers Scottish male film actors Scottish male television actors Scottish male stage actors