You may not think you know English actor John Wood (1930-2011), but before his death, he was a stalwart supporting actor in numerous frock flicks playing iconic roles: the bishop in Ladyhawke, Jane Grey’s father-in-law in Lady Jane, and Rupert Everett’s hilariously grumpy father in An Ideal Husband. So, let’s take a look!
As always, there’s numerous films that I can’t find images of Wood in. These include:
- Archbishop Cranmer in A Man for All Seasons (1957)
- Dr. Doboobie in Kenilworth (1957)
- Malvolio in For Schools: “Twelfth Night” (1959)
- Sir Isaac Newton/Copernicus in Endless Adventure (1959)
- Edmund/Richard III/Mephistopheles in The Terrible Choice (1960)
- Lieutenant James (uncredited) in The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960)
- William – Prince of Orange in The First Gentleman (1961)
- Duty Officer – War Office in Invasion Quartet (1961)
- Lesable in Maupassant (1963)
- Lord Strangford/Narrator in Take a Sapphire (1966)
- Goya in Hondo (1967)
- Locke in Plays of Today: “Men of Iron” (1969)
- Ambrose Silk in Put Out More Flags (1970)
- Charles Leadbeater in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-93)
- Wetherby in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002)
- Sir Michael Waterford in Foyle’s War (2004)
Lewis, the Dauphin in Television World Theatre: “The Life of Henry V” (1957)
A British TV adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Barnaby Rudge in Barnaby Rudge (1960)
A BBC TV adaptation of the Charles Dickens-authored, 18th-century-set story.
Silver Jack/Sir Harcourt Courtly/Tom Stylus/Dalton/Caleb Deecie/John Mildmay/Jaikes/Dr. Delaney in The Victorians (1963)
“A series of 8 plays reflecting different aspects of life in Victorian Britain,” per IMDB — I guess that’s why he plays so many roles?
Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities (1965)
A BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens-authored, French Revolution-set story!
Finkel in Which Way to the Front? (1970)
A Jerry Lewis comedy set during World War II.
Col. Kobylinsky in Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
Kobylinsky was the Russian military commander at Tsarskoe Selo in 1917-18, where he oversaw the imprisonment of deposed Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family.
Edward the Confessor in Churchill’s People (1974-75)
“A historical anthology series based on ‘A History of the English-Speaking Peoples,’ Winston Churchill’s four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies,” per IMDB. It’s supposed to be terrible. Edward (c. 1003-66) was the last king of the House of Wessex who was later made a saint.
Jason in The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
A Woody Allen film set in 1935.
Bishop in Ladyhawke (1985)
He’s the villain plotting against star-crossed lovers in this medieval-set classic.
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland in Lady Jane (1986)
Dudley was de facto regent for the underage King Edward VI who plotted to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne after Edward’s death; he married Jane to his son Guilford.
Minos in The Storyteller: “Greek Myths” (1991)
A live action/puppet children’s TV series created by Jim Henson.
Archduke Harry in Orlando (1992)
He’s the lovesick nobleman who pursues Orlando unwelcomely in the late 17th century to mid-18th century portion of the film.
Christopher Riley in Shadowlands (1993)
The film is about the relationship between academic/author C.S. Lewis and poet Joy Davidman. I’m unclear exactly what role Riley plays in the plot as I haven’t seen it!
Thurlow in The Madness of King George (1994)
Thurlow was the lord chancellor of Great Britain, and in this film about King George III, he’s involved in breaking up the marriage of the Prince of Wales.
King Edward IV in Richard III (1995)
He’s the king in power before his brother, Richard III, in this 1930s-set adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Mr. Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre (1996)
Brocklehurts is the harsh director of the Lowood Institution, the school Jane attends as a child in this adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë novel.
Prime Minister Stolypin in Rasputin (1996)
Stolypin was the prime minister of Russia under Tsar Nicholas II, and in the film, is there to caution the tsar and family against Rasputin.
The General in The Gambler (1997)
A film about Dostoyevsky writing his novel The Gambler in 1866, and sadly not involving Kenny Rogers.
Lord Caversham in An Ideal Husband (1999)
He’s HILARIOUS as the constantly peeved father of rakish Lord Goring (Rupert Everett) in this adaptation of the 1890s Oscar Wilde play.
Sir Edmund Halley in Longitude (2000)
The story of John Harrison’s efforts to develop the marine chronometer and thereby win the Longitude prize in the 18th century; Halley was the Astronomer Royal of Great Britain.
Guillaume Blerot in Chocolat (2000)
It’s been too long since I’ve seen this film about a chocolate maker and her life in a French village in 1959, so I’ll let Wikipedia tell us that he “carries a long-time yearning for Madame Audel” (Leslie Caron).
Lord Merlin in Love in a Cold Climate (2001)
He’s the fabulously eccentric gay aristocratic neighbor of our key heroines in this BBC miniseries adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s novels.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in Victoria & Albert (2001)
Yes, that Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. He was prime minister and a leading politician afterwards, which is why he turns up in this Queen Victoria bio-series.
Pape Pie VII in Napoléon (2002)
AKA Pope Pius VII, head of the Catholic Church during Napoleon’s period.
Prince Peter Belinsky in The White Countess (2005)
He’s related to various key characters in this 1930s-Shanghai-set Merchant/Ivory film, but that’s all I’ve got as I shockingly haven’t seen it!
Which of John Woods’ many frock flicks roles is most memorable for you?
Honestly, the only frockflick I’ve seen him in is Ladyhawke!
The only other film I’ve seen him in is as the baddie in Jumpin’ Jack Flash :D
Well you clearly need to watch Lady Jane and An Ideal Husband, stat! Both are GREAT!
He was also great in the 1980s film “War Games”. Thanks for your collection of his best period pieces. He was always so good in those that I wish he would’ve done an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol”!
Thank you! I knew I recognized him for some film I liked a lot, but could not place it.
And I agree, he would have been a perfect Mr Scrooge!
I vaguely recall that when I first saw Orlando, the actor who played Harry looked somewhat familiar. Ladyhawke, Lady Jane, and Purple Rose of Cairo would be the reasons why.
Another one of those reliable character actors that Britain seems to grow in vats.
No, no, we grow them in stages, we MATURE them in vats.
HA!
His other outfit in Ladyhawke was an absolutely stunning spiral-wound robe with a heavy gold edging.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/293762005813
Nothing remotely medieval-European about it, and I could never figure out if it was even possible to wind any shape of fabric into a garment like that, but dang is is elegant!
Yes, that looks like something from Dune!
Great as Brocklehurst, an archetypal upper-middle-class villain.
I almost didn’t recognize his character in Chocolat- he was so charming in that role and it was so different from his usual, as you say, upper-middle-class villains which he also did very well in Shadowlands.
Was he the fellow professor who was snarky about Americans? It’s been a few years…
He had a big success playing Sherlock Holmes in a revival of William Gillette’s play ‘Sherlock Holmes’ in both London and NY. He was excellent!
Adored him for years; he was my number one choice to play Masterharper Robinton if they ever did a movie of the Dragonriders of Pern.
I second the love for “War Games” even though it is not a period film. He’s SO good in it; layers on layers.