Anton Rodgers

Anthony Rodgers (10 January 1933 – 1 December 2007) was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas and sitcoms. He starred in several sitcoms, including Fresh Fields (ITV, 1984–1986), its sequel French Fields (ITV, 1989–1991), and May to December (BBC, 1989–1994).

In the 1960s and early 1970s, he appeared in many of the Lew Grade Incorporated Television Company classics. He was the memorable villain in the 1968 episode "One of Our Aircraft Is Empty" in the spy-fi Department S.

He also appeared in films, including Scrooge (1970) The Day of the Jackal (1973) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988).

Early life and career Rodgers was born on 10 January 1933 in London, the son of William Robert Rodgers and Leonore Victoria (née Wood). His early education was at Westminster City School. The family was evacuated to Wisbech, Isle of Ely, during the war, where his father worked for Balding and Mansell, printers of ration books, permits and passes; Rodgers is sometimes erroneously reported as having been born in Wisbech.

Personal life Rodgers married Morna Watson, a ballet dancer, in Kensington in 1959, having a son and a daughter and later divorcing. and Robert Browning, among others.

He was a patron of the Angles Theatre, Wisbech.

Rodgers died in Reading, Berkshire on 1 December 2007, aged 74. At the time of his death, he was a resident of Whitchurch-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Intimate Reflections (1975) – Michael White East of Elephant Rock (1977) – Mackintosh The Fourth Protocol (1987) – George Berenson Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) – Inspector Andre Impromptu (1991) – Duke D'Antan Son of the Pink Panther (1993) – Chief Lazar Secret Passage (2004) – Foscari The Merchant of Venice (2004) – The Duke The Last Drop (2006) – Churchill (uncredited) Go Go Tales (2007) – Barfly

Television

The Sky Larks (1958) – L.T. Gilmore, RN (16 episodes) One Step Beyond (1961) – Mark (1 episode) Compact (1962) – Phil (2 episodes) The Third Man (1962) – Fred (1 episode) Maigret (1962) – Radek (1 episode) The Old Curiosity Shop (1962–1963) –Dick Swiveller (12 episodes) Richard the Lionheart (1962–1963) – Sir Kenneth Stuart (4 episodes) The Sentimental Agent (1963) – Mr Fripp (1 episode) Danger Man (1964) – Attala (1 episode) Gideon's Way (1965) – Peter Slone (1 episode) Sherlock Holmes (1965) – Hugh Boone (1 episode) Out of the Unknown: The Eye (1966) – Julian Clay Blanding's Castle (1967) – Rupert Baxter (1 episode) Man in a Suitcase (1967) – Max Stein (2 episodes) The Prisoner (1967) – Number Two (1 episode) The Saint (1967) – Pierre (1 episode) The World of Wooster (1967) – Bicky Bickersteth (1 episode) The Champions (1968) – Jules (1 episode) Department S (1969) – Terrell (1 episode) The Elusive Pimpernel (1969) – Sir Percy Blakeney (10 episodes) Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969) – Calvin Bream (1 episode) Fraud Squad (1970) – Dr. David Matthews (1 episode) Upstairs, Downstairs (1971) – Scone (1 episode) Jason King (1971) – Philippe de Brion (2 episodes) The Organisation (1972) – Peter Frame (7 episodes) The Protectors (1972) – Alan Sutherland ( 1 episode) Affairs of the Heart (1974) – James Mallory (2 episodes) Justice (1974) – Frank Jarrot (1 episode) Zodiac (1974) –David Gradley (6 episodes) The Secret Agent (1975) – Mr Vladimir Nightingale's Boys (1975) – Izzy (1 episode) Village Hall (1975) – Hon. Gerald Napier (1 episode) The Duchess of Duke Street (1976) – Newdigate (1 episode) Crown Court (1977) – Thomas Haspburg-Jones QC (3 episodes) Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle (1977) – Detective Inspector Purbright (7 episodes) Disraeli (1978) – Bentinck (1 episode) Lillie (1978) – Edward Langtry (1 episode) Rumpole of the Bailey (1978) – Ken Aspen (1 episode) Return of the Saint (1978) – Geoffrey Connaught (1 episode) Play for Today: Coming Out (1979) – Lewis Duncan / Zippy Grimes Thomas & Sarah (1979) – Richard DeBrassey (1 episode) Something in Disguise (1981) – John Cole (3 episode) Pictures (1983) – Garfield Forbes-Lawson (6 episodes) Fresh Fields (1984–1986) – William Fields (27 episodes) Murder with Mirrors (1985) – Dr. Max Hargrove After the War (1989) – Samuel Jordan (7 episodes) Comeback (1989) – John French Fields (1989–1991) – William Fields (19 episodes) May to December (1989–1994) – Alec Callender (39 episodes) Performance (1992) – David Scott-Fowler (1 episode) The Queen's Nose (1996–1999) – Mr. Swingit (3 episodes) Noah's Ark (1997–1998) – Noah Kirby (12 episodes) Up Rising (2000) – Ronald Kegworthy (5 episode) Midsomer Murders "Market for Murder" (2002) – Lord James Chetwood (1 episode) C. S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia (2005) – C. S. Lewis Where the Heart Is (2006) – Fred (1 episode) Longford (2006) – William Whitelaw You Can Choose Your Friends (2007) – Ken Snell

Voice HST West (1986) & Far West (1990) – Narrator HST Great West (1993) – Narrator Old Bear Stories (1993–1997) – Narrator, Old Bear, Bramwell Brown, Little Bear, Rabbit and many others (41 episode) Brambly Hedge (1997–1998) – Lord Woodmouse (2 episodes) Wide-Eye (2003) – Wide-Eye, Great Grandma Toad and Father Natterjack (2 episodes) The Paz Show (2005) – Pappy (15 episodes)