William Squire

William Arthur Squire (29 April 1917 – 3 May 1989) was a Welsh actor of stage, film and television.

Career As a stage actor, Squire performed at Stratford-upon-Avon and at the Old Vic, and notably replaced his fellow-countryman Richard Burton as King Arthur in Camelot at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. One of his first film appearances was in the 1956 film Alexander the Great, which starred Burton in the title role.

Squire had many roles in television and movies over his career, including Thomas More in the 1969 film version of Maxwell Anderson's play Anne of the Thousand Days; Sir Daniel Brackley in the 1972 television adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Black Arrow; the voice of Gandalf in the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings; and the Shadow in the 1979 Doctor Who serial The Armageddon Factor. According to the website Television Heaven, Squire's best-known role was the spy chief code-named Hunter in the British series Callan. Squire's Hunter was the fourth, and longest-lasting, in the main series, taking over the role from Derek Bond.

In a set of Encyclopædia Britannica-produced educational films about William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Squire played the role of Macbeth. This was in keeping with his long career as a Shakespearean actor, which included roles in the classic 1960s TV series, An Age of Kings. Squire also played Leontes in the Marlowe Society recording of The Winter's Tale.

On 15 June 1967, the St. John's College choir at University of Cambridge recorded A Meditation on Christ's Nativity. Squire read several poems, including The Annunciation by John Donne and A Dialogue by George Herbert, and 1 John 1:1-10 from the New English Bible for the album.

In the late 1960s Squire narrated a series of radio advertisements for Findus Foods under the pseudonym Frobisher Collingwood. The advertisements were played on Radio Caroline. According to Squire's son Nick, the idea to use a pseudonym was a joke between Squire and his friend Hugh Bredin, who wrote the advertisements, with the name itself being a combination of two telephone exchanges in London at the time.

Personal life Squire was born on 29 April 1917 in Neath,Glamorgan, to William Squire and his wife Martha (née Bridgeman).

He was first married to the actress Betty Dixon. He later married the actress Juliet Harmer in 1967.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1951 The Long Dark Hall Sgt. Cochran 1956 The Man Who Never Was Lt. Jewell Alexander the Great Aeschenes The Battle of the River Plate Ray Martin 1958 Dunkirk Captain Uncredited Innocent Sinners Father Lambert 1967 A Challenge for Robin Hood Sir John 1968 Where Eagles Dare Capt. Lee Thomas 1969 Anne of the Thousand Days Thomas More 1978 The Lord of the Rings Gandalf Voice The Thirty Nine Steps Harkness 1988 Testimony Khatchaturyan

Television