David Davies

David Lewis Davies (3 April 1906 – June 1974), was a Welsh stage and film actor. At 6 feet 4 inches tall, he was often cast as a heavy, police officer or in a military or authoritarian role, such as Mr. Arrow, the first mate and enforcer outwitted by Long John Silver in Disney's 1950 Treasure Island. Davies appeared mainly in British film and television programmes, and was in demand for films set in Wales, such as The Three Weird Sisters, The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949), Tiger Bay (1959) and Only Two Can Play (1962).

Career Davies was born in the town of Brynmawr, Brecknockshire, South Wales, in 1906. He moved to Essex where he became a policeman in 1927 for the Southend Borough Constabulary, which later amalgamated into Essex Police in 1969. He was forced into medical retirement with a duodenal ulcer on 27 April 1937.

Davies took up acting soon after. In 1942 he appeared at the Stoll Theatre in London in the role of Sergeant Malone in the operetta Rose-Marie. At 6' 4" Davies, found himself often portraying authority figures, especially police officers.

By 1951 Davies was becoming a regular face in emerging British television, appearing in The Passing Show and as Ben in Midshipman Barney. He continued to appear in popular films of the time, but normally in walk-on character parts, such as a police officer in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951).

Between 1959 and 1960 Davies appeared as a regular character, Jim Blake, in the British television series Probation Officer, and followed this with guest roles in long-running shows such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1960), Gideon's Way (1964-1966), Richard the Lionheart (1963) and The Avengers (1963). In 1964 he appeared in Roger Corman's The Masque of the Red Death and a year later he took the part of the captain of Galtesund in The Heroes of Telemark. After a brief stint as Lt. Comm. Prince in the long running British soap opera Coronation Street (1972), he made his final screen outing in the 1971 adaptation of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood, playing the role of Utah Watkins. Ring of Spies (1964) - Inspector (uncredited) The Masque of the Red Death (1964) - Lead Villager The Heroes of Telemark (1965) - Captain of 'Galtesund' Under Milk Wood (1971) – Utah Watkins (final film role)