John Bown

John Bown (1 July 1934 – 5 November 2017) was a British actor, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Commander Neil Stafford in the final season of the television series Doomwatch.

Life and career John Bown was born on 1 July 1934 in Corfe Mullen, Dorset and educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wimborne Minster. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and some time after went into repertory in Salisbury and Birmingham. they had married in 1960.

From 1974 to 1975 he played Colonel Maurel in the play Grand Manoeuvres by A. E. Ellis at The Old Vic, London. Also in 1975, he appeared with the Oxford Playhouse Company in The Caretaker Among them was the play Half an hour please! which he wrote and acted in, with the production designed by Judi Dench. One reviewer described it as "a jewel of a piece [that] would lend itself superbly to television."

Selected stage performances Year Title Author Theatre Role Company 1955 Both Ends Meet Arthur Macrae Spa Theatre, Whitby 1956 The Spring Pattern Margaret Luce Playhouse, Salisbury 1956 The School for Wives Molière Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham Horace Alexandra Repertory Company 1957 The Touch of Fear Dorothy and Campbell Christie Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham Michael Stanham Alexandra Repertory Company 1957 Plaintiff in a Pretty Hat Hugh Williams and Margaret Williams Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham Lord Plynlimmon Alexandra Repertory Company 1958 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams New Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool Brick New Shakespeare Theatre Company 1958 The Deserters Norman Thaddeus Vane Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool Eddy 1958 Bus Stop William Inge New Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool Beauregard "Bo" Decker New Shakespeare Theatre Company 1958 The Rose Tattoo Tennessee Williams New Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool Jack Hunter New Shakespeare Theatre Company; British premiere 1959 The Rose Tattoo Tennessee Williams New Theatre, London Jack Hunter Donmar Productions Ltd, Gilda Dahlberg and Sam Wanamaker Productions Ltd, and New Shakespeare Theatre Club 1960 A Man for All Seasons Robert Bolt Gielgud Theatre, London Richard Rich Premiere 1961 The Bird of Time Peter Mayne Savoy Theatre, London Captain Alan Craig Allan Davis Company 1962 In the Jungle of Cities Bertolt Brecht Theatre Royal Stratford East George Garga 1966 The Birdwatcher Georges Feydeau, translated and adapted by Richard Cottrell Hampstead Theatre Club Duchotel Hampstead Theatre Club 1966 The Clandestine Marriage Colman and Garrick Chichester Festival Theatre Lovewell 1973 A Winter's Tale Shakespeare Ludlow Festival Leontes 1974 The Front Page Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney; Comedy Theatre, Melbourne; Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide Royal National Theatre 1975 Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller Greenwood Theatre, King's College London; Arts Theatre, London Biff Loman Oxford Playhouse Company 1975 The Caretaker Harold Pinter Warwick Arts Centre Aston Oxford Playhouse Company 1976 Macbeth Shakespeare The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon Lennox Royal Shakespeare Company 1977 Half an Hour, Please John Bown Gulbenkian Studio, Newcastle upon Tyne Dresser Royal Shakespeare Company (Bown wrote and performed in this play as part of the Newcastle 'Fringe') 1977 Macbeth Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Lennox Royal Shakespeare Company 1977 The Alchemist Ben Jonson The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon Royal Shakespeare Company 1977 Macbeth Shakespeare RSC Warehouse, London; Young Vic, London Lennox Royal Shakespeare Company 1979 Every Good Boy Deserves Favour Tom Stoppard Oxford Playhouse Alexander Oxford Music Theatre 1987 This Savage Parade Anthony Shaffer King's Head Theatre, London Ophir

Filmography

Actor

Asmodée (1959) as Harry Fanning Quatermass and the Pit (1967) as TV Interviewer (uncredited) The Devil Rides Out (1968) as Receptionist (uncredited) Vampire Circus (1972) as Schilt Fear in the Night (1972) as 1st Policeman Macbeth (1979) as Lennox Dark Corners (2006) as Old Man

Director and screenwriter

North West Confidential (1969) Monique (1970)