Richard Davies (actor)

Richard Davies
Born	25 January 1926 Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
Died	8 October 2015 (aged 89)
Residence	Conford, Hampshire, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Spouse(s)	Jill Britton Beryl Armstrong (divorced)
Children	3

Richard Davies (25 January 1926 – 8 October 2015) was a Welsh character actor. He was probably best known for his performance as the exasperated schoolmaster Mr. Price in the LWT popular situation comedy Please Sir!. He used a broad Welsh accent for much of his work, but had used other accents to play a wide range of characters, in addition to several Welsh stereotypes.^[1]

Biography

Davies was born in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. He played Idris Hopkins in Coronation Street between 1974 and 1975, and appeared in several science-fiction series, among them Robert's Robots, Out of the Unknown, and a well-received performance as Burton in the 1987 Doctor Who story Delta and the Bannermen. He played Mr. White in the Fawlty Towers episode "The Kipper and the Corpse" and also appeared in Yes Minister, Wyatt's Watchdogs, May to December, Whoops Apocalypse, 2point4 Children and One Foot in the Grave. In 1970, he appeared in an episode of Two In Clover as Victor Spinetti's character's brother when Spinetti was unavailable. His other main role was in the comedy series 'Oh no it's Selwyn Frogitt' where he played Clive.

Davies had a recurring role as Jim Sloan in Z-Cars between 1962 and 1965, returning to the series playing different characters in 1968 and in its sequel Softly, Softly. He also appeared in Dixon of Dock Green, The Sweeney and Van der Valk. He impersonated Clive Jenkins in a spoof edition of Question Time in a sketch on Not the Nine O'Clock News. He appeared in the Please Sir! spin-off series The Fenn Street Gang. In 1951, he made an uncredited appearance in the Ealing Studios comedy The Lavender Hill Mob. He had appeared in films such as Zulu (1964), the film adaptation of Please Sir! (1971), and Under Milk Wood (1972). In 1988, he played the schoolteacher in Queen Sacrifice. He died on 8 October 2015 at the age of 89, survived by his wife and two children, and a son from his first marriage.^[2] He had Alzheimer's disease.^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Roles	Notes
1949	A Run for Your Money	Rugby Fan	Uncredited
1951	The Lavender Hill Mob	Police Driver	Uncredited
1955	The Night My Number Came Up	Wireless Operator
1956	The Long Arm	Detective	Uncredited
1961	A Fever in the Blood	Bates	Uncredited
1962	Some People	Harper
1963	Critic's Choice	Spectator	Uncredited
1964	Zulu	Private 593 Jones
1966	Sky West and Crooked	Rick
1968	Twisted Nerve	'Taffy' Evans
1968	The Fiction Makers	Reporter
1969	Oh! What a Lovely War	Sergeant in Burial Party	Uncredited
1971	Please Sir!	Mr. Price
1972	Under Milk Wood	Mr. Pritchard
1973	Steptoe and Son Ride Again	Butcher
1974	The Mutations	Doctor
1974	Blue Blood	Jones
1988	Queen Sacrifice	Wil Bevan

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962–1965	Z-Cars	Jim Sloan
1968	Softly, Softly
1962	Z-Cars
1968–1972	Please Sir!	Mr. Price
1970	Two In Clover
1974–1975	Coronation Street	Idris Hopkins
1974–1977	Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt!	Clive
1979	Fawlty Towers	Mr. White
1980	Yes, Minister	Joe Morgan
1982	Whoops Apocalypse	Chancellor of the Exchequer
1987	Doctor Who	Burton
1988	Wyatt's Watchdogs
1992	One Foot in the Grave	Billy Whitney
1992	2point4 Children	Gareth

References

1. Anthony Hayward. "Richard Davies obituary". the Guardian.
2. Anthony Hayward. "Richard Davies obituary". the Guardian.
3. "Richard Davies - Welsh Character Actor - RIP 1926-2015". Toby Hadoke - Comedian, Actor, Writer (quite likes Doctor Who).

External links

• Richard Davies at the Internet Movie Database