Patrick Wymark

Patrick Wymark (11 July 1926 – 20 October 1970) was an English stage, film and television actor.^[1]

Early life

Wymark was born Patrick Carl Cheeseman^{[citation needed]} in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. He was brought up in neighbouring Grimsby and frequently revisited the area at the height of his career. He was educated at St Mary's Catholic School and Wintringham Boys' Grammar School in Grimsby, before joining the Royal Navy and serving as a midshipman in the Mediterranean. On leaving the navy, he received a government grant to study at University College London, where he read English and performed in the university's dramatic society.^[2]

Career

Wymark dropped out of university to train at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and making his first stage appearance in a walk-on part in Othello in 1951. He toured South Africa the following year and then directed plays for the drama department at Stanford University, California.

After moving to the

In 1960, Wymark appeared in the Danger Man television series episode entitled "An Affair of State" as the corrupt police commissioner Ortiz. http://danger-man.co.uk/episodeDetails.asp?episodeID=10&seriesNo=1

Wymark's film appearances included: Children of the Damned (1964), Operation Crossbow (1965), Repulsion (1965), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Witchfinder General (1968), Battle of Britain (1969), Doppelgänger (1969), The Blood on Satan's Claw (1970) and Cromwell (1970)

Personal life

Wymark married American playwright Olwen Buck (known as Olwen Wymark) in 1953; the couple met while both were students at University College, London. He took his acting name from his wife's paternal grandfather, the writer William Wymark Jacobs. The couple lived near Parliament Hill in Hampstead, London, and had four children, including the future actress Jane Wymark. Wymark died suddenly in Melbourne, Australia on 20 October 1970, aged 44, of a heart attack in his hotel room. He had been due to star in the play Sleuth at the Comedy Theatre three days later. On the night of his death, he was to appear on the TV variety programme In Melbourne Tonight.^[4] He, guest Richard Deacon and host Stuart Wagstaff had just appeared together in a TV production of Hans Christian Andersen stories and his non-appearance led to several jokes by Wagstaff and Deacon.^[5] Host Wagstaff was informed of Wymark's death mid-way through the programme and announced it at the end.

Wymark was a Roman Catholic. He was buried at

• The League of Gentlemen (1960) as Wylie
• The Criminal (1960) as Sol
• West 11 (1963) as Father Hogan
• Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963) as Joseph Ransley
• Children of the Damned (1964) as Commander
• The Secret of Blood Island (1964) as Major Jocomo
• Operation Crossbow (1965) as Prime Minister Winston Churchill
• Repulsion (1965) as Landlord
• The Skull (1965) as Marco
• The Psychopath (1966) as Inspector Holloway
• Woman Times Seven (1967) as Henri (segment "At The Opera")
• Tell Me Lies (1968) as Guest
• Witchfinder General (1968) as Cromwell
• Where Eagles Dare (1968) as Colonel Wyatt Turner
• Doppelgänger (1969) (alternative title: Journey to the Far Side of the Sun) as Jason Webb
• Battle of Britain (1969) as Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory
• Cromwell (1970) as The Earl of Strafford
• The Blood on Satan's Claw (1970) as The Judge
• Chelovek s drugoy storony [sv] (1972) as Christian Holm (final film role)

References

External links

• Patrick Wymark at
  IMDb