Roy Dotrice

Roy Dotrice (26 May 1923 – 16 October 2017) was a British stage and screen actor. He played the antiquarian John Aubrey in the solo play Brief Lives. He won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten, also appearing as Leopold Mozart in the film version of Amadeus, Charles Dickens in Dickens of London (1976), and Jacob Wells/Father in the TV series Beauty and the Beast.

Late in life, he narrated a series of audiobooks for George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, for which he holds the Guinness World Record for the most character voices by an individual for an audiobook.

Early life Dotrice was born in Guernsey, Bailiwick of Guernsey on 26 May 1923 to Neva (née Wilton; 1897–1984) and Louis Dotrice (1896–1991). He served as a wireless operator/air gunner with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and was imprisoned in a German prisoner of war camp from 1942 to 1945, after being shot down in an Avro Manchester R5840 of No.106 Squadron based at Coningsby, all seven airmen of the crew being taken Prisoner of War.

Career Radio Dotrice was the voice of "Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Gregory Pitkin" in the early episodes of BBC Radio's long-running comedy The Men from the Ministry. In 1968 it moved to the Criterion Theatre in the West End, where it ran for 400 performances before transferring to the Mayfair Theatre. He revived the role in 2008, again under Patrick Garland's direction.

These runs, combined with extensive international touring, earned Dotrice a place in the Guinness World Records for the greatest number of solo performances (1,782).

In 1984 he starred opposite Rosemary Harris in a production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever. He also appeared as Albert Haddock in the BBC television adaptation of A. P. Herbert's Misleading Cases in 1971. In 1972 he played the Curé Ponosse in the BBC2 TV adaptation of Clochemerle (1972).

Dotrice played "Father" in the 1980s TV series Beauty and the Beast and Father Gary Barrett, a Catholic priest, in the 1990s series Picket Fences. His acting career dates from 1945 in a revue called Back Home, performed by former prisoners-of-war in aid of the Red Cross.

Shortly after filming for the second season commenced it was confirmed that Dotrice would be returning to play "Wisdom Hallyne the Pyromancer", who is featured in the episodes "The Ghost of Harrenhal" and "Blackwater". The producer subsequently wrote that the serialisation was "without question the most popular serial I have ever done in the 500 or so I have produced in the last 21 years ...".

He subsequently performed "The Islander", a stage version of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, to critical success at the Theatre Royal Lincoln. In 2005, when he was replaced by John Lee for the fourth installment, A Feast for Crows, due to his health, fans petitioned and argued for a re-release with Dotrice once he was able to perform again. Random House, the publisher, relented and Dotrice's version was released in 2011. That same year, he was awarded the world record for most character voices in an audiobook for his recording of A Game of Thrones, which contained 224.

Dotrice also narrated many storybook adaptations for Disney Records, including The Little Mermaid and Pooh's Heffalump Movie, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award. They had three daughters—Michele, Yvette and Karen—all of whom have acted at various times in their lives. He was the father-in-law of actors Edward Woodward (Michele) and Alex Hyde-White (Karen).

The Heroes of Telemark (1965) – Jensen A Twist of Sand (1968) – David Garland Lock Up Your Daughters (1969) – Gossip The Buttercup Chain (1970) – Martin Carr-Gibbons Toomorrow (1970) – John Williams Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) – General Alexeiev Hændeligt uheld [One of those Things] (1971 Danish film) - Henrik Vinther Tales From The Crypt (1972) – Charles Gregory (segment 4 "Wish You Were Here") Hide and Seek (1972) – Mr Grimes Saturn 3 (1980, voice overdub of Harvey Keitel) – Benson (voice, uncredited) Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984) – The Evil Fuckaire/Ye Old Jailer Amadeus (1984) – Leopold Mozart Eliminators (1986) – Abbott Reeves Suburban Commando (1991) – Zanuck The Cutting Edge (1992) – Anton Pamchenko Swimming with Sharks (1994) – Cyrus Miles The Scarlet Letter (1995) – Rev Thomas Cheever Alien Hunter (2003) – Dr John Bachman These Foolish Things (2006) – Lord Carter Played (2006) – Jack Rawlings Go Go Tales (2007) – Jay Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) – King Balor

Television 1996 Picket Fences Father Gary Barrett 15 episodes 1994 Children of the Dark Dr Burnham TV movieWingsPeteEpisode: "The Faygitive"L.A. LawAlex VedderEpisode: "McKenzie, Brackman, Barnum and Bailey" 1995 Babylon 5 Frederick Lantz Episode: "The Fall of Night" Batman: The Animated Series Frederick Episode: "The Lion and the Unicorn"Murder, She WroteDr Myles PurcellEpisode: "School for Murder" 1996 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Mr Big 12 episodesTales from the CryptMajor NicholsonStory: "Escape" 1997 Spider-Man: The Animated Series Keene Marlow / The Destroyer 4 episodes 1998 Like Father, Like Santa Ambrose Booth TV movieHercules: The Legendary JourneysZeus3 episodes 1999 Sliders Archibald Chandler Episode: "Data World"2000Madigan MenSeamus Madigan12 episodes Sliders Marc LeBeau Episode: "The Seer" 2001 Touched by an Angel Micah Episode: "Holy of Holies" 2003 Angel Roger Wyndam-Pryce 1 episodeJust Shoot Me!Jarvis LeedsEpisode: "Just Shoot Me"DoctorsTomasz ZelinksyEpisode: "Roots" 2004 Life Begins Frank Buchanan 8 episodes 2006 La Femme Musketeer Commander Finot (uncredited) TV miniseriesHeartbeatMr CarterEpisode: "Give Peace a Chance" 2012 Game of Thrones Hallyne 2 episodes

Audiobooks Roy Dotrice's audiobook voice acting credits include:

Watership Down The Prince and the Pauper The Book of Ebenezer Le Page The Death Gate Cycle Vol. 4: Serpent Mage A Song of Ice and Fire