Frederick Piper

Frederick Piper (23 September 1902 – 22 September 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Piper studied drama under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Never a leading player, Piper was usually cast in minor, sometimes uncredited, parts, although he also appeared in some more substantial supporting roles. Piper never aspired to star status, but became a recognisable face on the British screen through the sheer volume of films in which he appeared. His credits include a number of films which are considered classics of British cinema, among them five 1930s Alfred Hitchcock films; he also appeared in many Ealing Studios productions, including some of the celebrated Ealing comedies.

Stage career

Born in London, England, in September 1902, Piper worked as a tea merchant before starting his acting career on the stage in the 1920s, playing in London productions and also touring as far afield as Canada. He continued to appear in theatrical productions in the West End alongside his screen roles. These included appearances in the original runs of Barré Lyndon's The Man in Half Moon Street, Vernon Sylvaine's Nap Hand, N.C. Hunter's A Day by the Sea, Robert Bolt's Flowering Cherry, and Home at Seven and The White Carnation, both by R.C. Sheriff.

Film career

His first film appearance came in the 1933 production The Good Companions.

An unassuming man with no trappings of ambition or conceit, Piper rapidly earned a reputation as a reliable, congenial presence on set and became a first choice for directors with smaller roles to cast, accumulating screen credits at the rate of up to six a year through to the 1960s. He appeared in a small role in Hitchcock's 1934 film The Man Who Knew Too Much (credited as 'Policeman with Rifle'), and the following year was cast again by Hitchcock in the role of the milkman in the famous scene with Robert Donat in The 39 Steps. Piper was only on screen for seconds, but the iconic nature of the scene ultimately made this probably his most famous film appearance.

Later minor roles for Hitchcock were Sabotage (1936 – as the doomed bus conductor), Young and Innocent (1937) and Jamaica Inn (1939 – as Charles Laughton's agent).

Piper's services were always in demand, and he is said to have once joked that he had cornered the market in unnamed police officers and barmen. From the late 1930s he became associated with Ealing Studios, appearing in dozens of their productions, from cheaply shot programmers through to the company's most prestigious films such as In Which We Serve (1942). Most of Piper's roles were fleeting and his name rarely appeared in promotional material, but there was an occasional more substantial part in films such as Nine Men (1943), The October Man (1947) and Hunted (1952). Other films include Hue and Cry, Passport to Pimlico (1949) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951).

From the early 1960s film work began to dry up, but Piper continued to find work in television, a medium in which he had first appeared as early as 1938 in a production of J. B. Priestley's play Laburnum Grove for the fledgling BBC. His TV credits during the 1960s included popular series such as Danger Man, Dixon of Dock Green and cult favourite The Prisoner. Piper's last credit, however, was in a film, a minor role in the 1971 production Burke & Hare.

Personal life

Piper lived in Windsor, Berkshire from the 1940s and was married to the theatre director Joan Riley; their son, Mark Piper, also became a theatre director. Frederick Piper died on 22 September 1979, one day short of his 77th birthday.

Filmography

1933: The Good Companions - Ted Ogelthorpe 1934: Red Ensign - Mr. McWilliams (uncredited) 1934: The Man Who Knew Too Much - Policeman with Rifle (uncredited) 1935: The 39 Steps - The Milkman (uncredited) 1935: The Guv'nor - Gendarme (uncredited) 1936: Fame - Press Representative 1936: Everything Is Thunder - Policeman Denker 1936: Crown v. Stevens - Arthur Stevens 1936: Where There's a Will - Joe, Detective Taking Fingerprints (uncredited) 1936: Sabotage - Bus Conductor (uncredited) 1936: Jack of All Trades - Jimmy (Employment Clerk) (uncredited) 1937: Feather Your Nest - Mr. Green - The Recording Engineer (uncredited) 1937: Farewell Again - Minor Role (uncredited) 1937: Non-Stop New York - Barman (uncredited) 1937: Oh, Mr Porter! - Mr. Leadbetter - Railway Official (uncredited) 1937: Young and Innocent - Minor Role (uncredited) 1938: Climbing High - Official in Asylum Car (uncredited) 1938: They Drive by Night - Bartender (uncredited) 1939: Jamaica Inn - Davis - Sir Humphrey's Agent 1939: The Four Just Men - Pickpocket (uncredited) 1941: East of Piccadilly - Ginger Harris 1941: 49th Parallel - David 1942: The Big Blockade - Malta official (uncredited) 1942: In Which We Serve - Edgecombe 1943: Nine Men - Banger Hill 1943: The Bells Go Down - Police Sergeant (uncredited) 1943: San Demetrio London - Boatswain W.E. Fletcher 1944: It Happened One Sunday - (uncredited) 1944: Champagne Charlie - Learoyd 1944: Fiddlers Three - Auctioneer 1944: The Return of the Vikings - Sgt. Fred Johnson 1945: Johnny Frenchman - Zacky Penrose 1945: Pink String and Sealing Wax - Dr. Pepper 1947: Hue and Cry - Mr. Kirby 1947: The Loves of Joanna Godden - Isaac Turk 1947: The October Man - Det. Insp. Godby 1947: Master of Bankdam - Ben Pickersgill 1947: It Always Rains on Sunday - Det. Sergt. Leech 1948: Escape - Brownie - convict 1948: Penny and the Pownall Case - Policeman 1948: My Brother's Keeper - Camp Caretaker 1948: To the Public Danger (Short) - Labourer 1948: Fly Away Peter - Mr. Hapgood 1948: Look Before You Love - Miller 1949: The History of Mr. Polly - Mr. Wintershed (uncredited) 1949: Vote for Huggett - Mr. Bentley 1949: Passport to Pimlico - Garland 1949: It's Not Cricket - Yokel 1949: Don't Ever Leave Me - Max Marshall 1950: The Blue Lamp - Alf Lewis 1951: The Lavender Hill Mob - Cafe Owner (uncredited) 1952: Hunted - Mr. Sykes 1952: Home at Seven - Mr. Petherbridge 1952: Brandy for the Parson - Customs Inspector 1952: Escape Route - Inspector Reid 1953: Cosh Boy - Mr. Easter (uncredited) 1953: Deadly Nightshade - Mr. Pritchard 1954: Devil on Horseback - Miner 1954: Conflict of Wings - Joe Bates 1954: The Rainbow Jacket - Lukey 1954: Lease of Life - The Jeweller 1955: Doctor at Sea - Sandyman 1955: Value for Money - Broadbent Snr. in photograph (uncredited) 1956: The Man in the Road - Medwood Inspector Hayman 1957: The Passionate Stranger - Mr. Poldy 1957: Suspended Alibi - Mr. Beamster 1957: Doctor at Large - Ernest (uncredited) 1957: Second Fiddle - Potter 1957: The Birthday Present - Careers Officer 1957: Barnacle Bill - Barman 1958: Dunkirk - Small Boat Owner (uncredited) 1959: Violent Moment - Jenkins 1960: A Touch of Larceny - Hall Porter (uncredited) 1960: Evidence in Concrete - Hall Porter (uncredited) 1960: The Day They Robbed the Bank of England - Policeman (uncredited) 1960: Dead Lucky - Harvey Walters 1961: Very Important Person - 2nd Scientist in Corridor 1961: The Monster of Highgate Ponds - Sam 1961: The Frightened City - Ogle 1961: What a Carve Up! - Hearse Driver 1961: Return of a Stranger - Fred 1962: Only Two Can Play - Mr. Davies 1962: Reach for Glory - Policeman 1962: The Piper's Tune - Gonzales 1963: Ricochet - Siddall 1964: Becket - Monk (uncredited) 1965: One Way Pendulum - Usher / Office Clerk 1965: Catacombs - Inspector Murcott 1965: He Who Rides a Tiger - Mr. Steed 1971: Burke & Hare - Lodger (final film role)