John Phillips
A tall, imposing character actor with a voice to match, John Phillips brought an authoritative manner and dignified military bearing to his many roles on stage and screen. A decorated veteran of the 1944 Normandy Campaign, Phillips frequently appeared on television as uniformed senior officers and police chief constables, from Frontier (1968) to Z Cars (1962). His piercing eyes and forthright manner made him equally suited to portraying magistrates, academics and clergymen. After a long innings with the Birmingham Repertory prior to 1945, he appeared post-war in Bristol and at the Old Vic in London, playing anything from Henrik Ibsen to Shakespeare. He was critically acclaimed for his roles as Henry VIII and Timon of Athens, Prospero and Tamburlaine the Great (in Christopher Marlowe's play)). Acting on screen from the early 1950's, he was insidious as lawyer Tulkinghorn in Bleak House (1959), and lent gravitas to his Norfolk in Richard III (1955) and Grand Duke Nicholas in Fall of Eagles (1974). He was not beyond parodying his screen personae, being droll and stereotypically stiff-upper-lip, as Colonel Harcourt Badger Owen in the uproarious Ripping Yarns (1976) episode 'Escape from Stalag Luft 112 B'. Phillips retired from the stage in the 1980's and made his celluloid curtain call in the eccentric, off-beat comedy Leon the Pig Farmer (1992).
Quadrophenia
(Magistrate)
Village of the Damned
(General Leighton)
Becket
(Bishop of Winchester)
Mission: Monte Carlo
(Koestler (archive footage))
Mrs. Lawrence Will Look After It
(Councillor Percival)
The Mummy's Shroud
(Stanley Preston)
Man in the Moon
(Professor Stephens)
We Joined the Navy
(Rear Admiral)
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
(Tom Stone)
Sky High
(Lt. Col. Turbojet)
Romanoff and Juliet
(Hooper Moulsworth)
Fortune Is a Woman
(Willis Croft)
Dial Red O
(Deputy Morgan)
A Prize of Arms
(Col. Fowler)
Dunkirk
(Boat Owner Spokesman (uncredited))
The Hallelujah Handshake
(Rev. Howard Whithead)
Escape from Stalag Luft 112B
(Colonel Harcourt Badger Owen)
Mrs. Amworth
(Francis Urcombe)
Ascendancy
(Wintour)
Three Dangerous Ladies
(Francis Urcombe)
The Shiralee
(Doctor)
Joey Boy
(Insp. Morgan)
I Accuse!
(Prosecutor at Esterhazy Trial)
Offbeat
(Chief Superintendent Gault)
The Executioner
(Examining Judge)
Angels One Five
(Engineer Officer)
The Devil's Eggshell
(Major General Atkins)
The Government Inspector
(The Mayor)
Strife
(John Anthony)
A Call on Kuprin: Part 1
(Trifonov)
A Call on Kuprin: Part 2
(Trifonov)
The Mouse on the Moon
(Bracewell - U.S. Delegate)
Torture Garden
(Eddie Storm (segment 2 "Terror Over Hollywood"))
The Avengers
(Nesbitt)
The Persuaders!
(Lanning Koestler)
Hallmark Hall of Fame
(Von Brondorff)
The Count of Monte Cristo
One Step Beyond
(Frank)
1990
Fall of Eagles
(Grand Duke Nicholas)
Sunday-Night Play
(Trifonov)
Jesus of Nazareth
(Naso)
The Caesars
(Piso)
Crime of Passion
Z-Cars
(Det. Chief Superintendent Robins)
Ripping Yarns
The Main Chance
(Arnold Bingley)
Days of Hope
(Josiah Wedgwood)
Manhunt
(Klintzch)
The Wednesday Play
(Councillor Percival)
The Onedin Line
(Mr. Frazer)
The Onedin Line
(Jack - Frazer Senior)
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
(Professor Dyne)
Danger Man
(Coyannis)
Dixon of Dock Green
(Magistrate)
The Wednesday Play
(Cardinal Runan)
The Wednesday Play
(Forbes-Wainwright)
Play for Today
(Examining Judge)
Sunday-Night Play
(Prince Galitzin)
The Old Men at the Zoo
(Dr. Charles Langley-Beard)
BBC Play of the Month
(Major General Atkins)
Crime of Passion
(Maitre Lacan)
Theatre 625
(Alfred Truelove)
Theatre Night
(Hooper Moulsworth)
Hazell
(DS Bull)
Dixon of Dock Green
(Mr. Parry)
Mystery and Imagination
(Colonel Gaillarde)
The Pallisers
(Sir Gregory Grogram)
Merlin of the Crystal Cave
(King Dafydd)
The Wednesday Play
(Sir Gilbert Hardacre)
W. Somerset Maugham
(Commandant)
Father Brown
(Brander Merton)
Smuggler's Bay
(Elzevir Block)
Thirty-Minute Theatre
(Mr. Tredgold)
Rupert of Hentzau
(Colonel Zapt)
Legend of Death
(Edward Gargan)
Man of Straw
(Dr. Heuteufel)
Christ Recrucified
(Pope Grigoris)
Out of Town Theatre
(Sir Howard Price)
Sergeant Cork
(Big Ben Lewis)
Bleak House
(Mr Tulkinghorn)
Mr Big
(Leopold Ruchworth)