Graham Armitage

Graham Armitage (24 April 1936 – 6 March 1999) was an English stage, film and television actor. From 1973 he lived and worked in South Africa, where he had spent part of his childhood.

Early life and education

Armitage was born in Blackpool in Lancashire, following which he made his début in the BBC television play Without The Prince, which was transmitted live.

Career

For the next twenty years Armitage regularly appeared on screen, mainly on television. He had roles in such shows as The Saint, The Avengers and made several appearances on The Dick Emery Show. In 1973 Armitage went to South Africa to appear in the Noël Coward revue Cowardy Custard and decided to stay there, becoming a familiar face on local television and stage.

In 1974 Olivia Manning adapted two of Arnold Bennett's works (The Card and The Regent) into an eight-part BBC Radio play: Denry - The Adventures Of A Card. Armitage played Denry, with Ursula O'Leary as the Countess of Chell. From 1979 to 1985 he portrayed Sherlock Holmes for Springbok Radio. His last appearance was in 1999 as a vicar in the South African family film Alec to the Rescue.

Personal life

In 1955 he married Carole Shirley England (1934–2017) at the Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, then part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The couple had three children.

Armitage died in Johannesburg in South Africa in 1999.

Selected filmography Film

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) - Pawson (uncredited) The Fiction-Makers (1968) - Carson Battle of Britain (1969) - Radar Officer (uncredited) The Fifth Day of Peace (1970) - Mark The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) - Wiggins (uncredited) Scrooge (1970) - Party Guest (uncredited) The Music Lovers (1970) - Prince Balukin Games That Lovers Play (1971) - Mr. Adams The Devils (1971) - Louis XIII The Boy Friend (1971) - Michael Take Me High (1973) - Boardman The New Spartans (1975) Spanish Fly (1975) - Perkins Zulu Dawn (1979) - Capt. Shepstone (uncredited) Game for Vultures (1979) - Harken Flashpoint Africa (1980) - Don The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980) - The Reverend (voice, uncredited) Die Groen Faktor (1984) - William Honiball Wie Laaste Lag... (1986) - Heart attack businessman Going Bananas (1987) - Gen. Smythe-Paget Jane and the Lost City (1987) - Cake Waiter Code Name Vengeance (1987) - Forrest (uncredited) Diamonds High (1988) - Bank manager Merchants of War (1989) - Gordon Circles in a Forest (1989) - Commissioner That Englishwoman: An Account of the Life of Emily Hobhouse (1990) - Minister Oddball Hall (1990) - The Grand Noble Master River of Diamonds (1991) - Judge Fei zhou he shang (1991) - Auctioneer Sweet 'n Short (1991) - Bryce Williams Fleshtone (1994) - Dr. Sydney Frye Cry, the Beloved Country (1995) - Judge Alec to the Rescue (1999) - Vicar (final film role)

Television Theatre 625 (1966) - Monsieur Bernard The Avengers (1966-1967) - Algernon 'Algy' Wynche / Huggins Doctor Who (1967) - Barney The Saint (1968) - Carson The First Churchills (1969) - Earl of Rochester Randall and Hopkirk (1970) - Young Stage Director From a Bird's Eye View (1971) - Johnstone Seven of One (1973) - Arthur (Episode "My Old Man") The Naked Civil Servant (1975) - Mr. Dunsmore Open All Hours (1976) - Man from Matlock Mutual Protection Society