Frank Middlemass

Lieutenant-Colonel Francis George Middlemass (28 May 1919 – 8 September 2006) was an English actor, who even in his early career played older roles. He is best remembered for his television roles as Rocky Hardcastle in As Time Goes By, Algy Herries in To Serve Them All My Days, and Dr. Alex Ferrenby in 20 episodes of Heartbeat. Middlemass was also active in the Royal Shakespeare Company, and was the fourth and final actor to play Dan Archer in The Archers.

Early life Middlemass was born in Eaglescliffe, County Durham, the son of a shipping company director. He was brought up in Newcastle upon Tyne, and educated in Stockton-on-Tees. He entered the army at the age of nineteen and was wounded in the Dunkirk retreat. He left the army when he was 30 and was by then a lieutenant colonel. During the 1960s, he toured with Ian McKellen's Actors' Company and performed at the Nottingham Playhouse. He performed opposite Peter O'Toole in Waiting for Godot.

Middlemass played Sir Charles Lyndon in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975).

Television Middlemass played the philandering butcher Mr. Lyon in the final episode of the third series of Upstairs, Downstairs in 1973, but it was not until 1980, when he appeared in the post-World War I drama To Serve Them All My Days, that he first took a leading role in a British series. He went on to play minor characters in Yes Minister; Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (as Lord Derby); Juliet Bravo; Only When I Laugh; All in Good Faith; Yes, Prime Minister; Oliver Twist (as Mr. Brownlow); Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady; and Miss Marple, in the 1989 episode "A Caribbean Mystery" (as Major Palgrave). Middlemass recorded a role as a choirmaster (similar to his role in the Children's Film Unit's A Swarm in May, listed below) for the Christmas ghost story Haunting Harmony; this was a co-production made chiefly for export and shown in Canada and Ireland at Christmas 1990, but not transmitted in Britain until 1993 in a late-night slot. From 1992 to 1993, he appeared in twenty episodes of the police drama Heartbeat as Dr. Alex Ferrenby.

Following that in 1993, Middlemass first appeared in the sitcom As Time Goes By as Rocky Hardcastle, a role that continued regularly until 2002, and then also in the 2005 two-part reunion specials, his final television appearance. He appeared in both British TV adaptations of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, "The Blue Carbuncle" playing Peterson in the BBC adaptation and Henry Baker on the Granada TV series.

Other work Middlemass also appeared on radio, most notably playing patriarch Dan Archer, the fourth actor to play the role, in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers.

Middlemass also made the BBC Radio appeal for Headway, the National Head Injuries Association. He raised a substantial amount of money; letters from admirers came along with some of the cheques.

Middlemass also appeared in films, including roles in Otley (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), Say Hello to Yesterday (1970), Madame Sin (1972), Barry Lyndon (1975), The Island (1980), as the voice of the Caterpillar in Dreamchild (1985), and Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (2002).

Middlemass joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984 and his Shakespearean roles included Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Holofernes in Love's Labour's Lost.

Later years Even in his eighties, Middlemass was still performing on stage, notably in The Importance of Being Earnest As Time Goes By returned for two reunion specials, aired at Christmas 2005, and they were his final television appearances. Middlemass never married, and for forty years he had a room in the house of his close friend, actor Geoffrey Toone, who died in 2005 after spending some time resident at Denville Hall. "To their general amusement", they were often mistaken to be lovers, but in fact were not. Middlemass died, aged 87, in Northwood, London.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1969 Otley Bruce 1969 Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed Guest - Plumber 1971 Say Hello to Yesterday Station Master 1972 Madame Sin Dr. Henriques 1975 Barry Lyndon Sir Charles Lyndon 1980 The Island Windsor 1983 A Swarm in May Dr. Sunderland 1985 Dreamchild Caterpillar Voice1991 The Lost Language of Cranes Alex 2002 Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War Bernard