// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Gabriel Woolf a good shepherd? Baah-d joke.
Gabriel Woolf | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 October 1932 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1951– |
| Notable work | Radio plays; Doctor Who (1975, 2006, 2024) |
| Spouse(s) | Zara E. Green (div.) |
| Children | 3 |
Gabriel Woolf (born 2 October 1932) is a British stage, film, radio and television actor.
Career
[edit]Woolf graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1951 with a RADA Diploma.[2] In the 1950s he worked in Stratford-upon-Avon in several Shakespeare plays, including Twelfth Night, Macbeth and Titus Andronicus with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh,[3] and at The Old Vic.[4]
Among Woolf's leading parts was his performance as the Apostle John in a frequently repeated BBC adaptation of The Man Born to Be King where he also introduced each play. His film roles include Sir Percival in the 1953 film, Knights of the Round Table.
In 1975, he played Sutekh in the Doctor Who serial Pyramids of Mars. Woolf renewed his association with Doctor Who in 1981 by reading three novelisations of Doctor Who stories for the Royal National Institute of Blind People. The books were The Three Doctors, Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters and Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster, all written by Terrance Dicks.[citation needed] He joined up with the Doctor again by performing in the Big Finish Productions audio play Arrangements for War and its sequel, Thicker than Water. He appeared on the Pyramids of Mars DVD in a sketch called Oh Mummy: Sutekh's Story and a documentary piece titled Osiran Gothic.[5]
In 2005, he returned to work with the writers of Oh Mummy, appearing in the Doctor Who DVD extra Eye On Blatchford as the demented Doctor Amadeus Gowel. In the Magic Bullet[6] Faction Paradox audio plays Coming to Dust[7] (2005), The Ship of a Billion Years[8] (2006) and Body Politic[9] (2008), all written by Lawrence Miles, Woolf reprises his role as Sutekh.
In 2008, Woolf played Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins in the third story in the Scarifyers series, For King and Country.[10] The play was broadcast on BBC7 in 2009.[11]
In the 2006 series of Doctor Who, Woolf returned to provide the voice of "The Beast" in the two-part story "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".[12] Eighteen years later, he reprised the role of Sutekh in the Series 14 two-part series finale "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" / "Empire of Death".[13][14]
His involvement with classical music has included narration on disc (Ferdinand by Ridout)[15] in the concert hall (for the Chelsea Opera Group's 1981 concert performance of Béatrice et Bénédict)[16] and taking part as reader in recitals at the Wigmore Hall - among them the memorial concert for Gerald Moore with the Songmakers' Almanac in 1987, French song in 1988, a Heinrich Heine programme in May 1990, a Brahms centenary concert in 1997, and Cara Clarissima: the story of Clara Wieck and Robert Schumann in 1999.
His many parts on BBC Radio include Shakespeare's Romeo and Inspector Charles Parker in the dramatisations of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. He was regular voice on Closedown and For Schools and Colleges. He also toured with the author Colin Dexter, performing readings to accompany Dexter's talks; the author stated that Woolf "was frequently said to be blessed with the finest speaking voice ever heard on the wireless".[17]
Woolf is a Vice President of the Joyful Company of Singers.[18]
Woolf has abridged and recorded all of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. He was also elected President of the Arthur Ransome Society.[19]
Personal life
[edit]He married opera singer Felicity Lott in 1984 and they have a daughter, Emily (b. 1984), and lived in Seaford and Paris.[20]
He also has two children from his earlier marriage to Zara E Green.
Filmography
[edit]Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Tom Brown's Schooldays | Big Brooke | Uncredited |
| The Boy with a Cart | Cuthman | TV movie | |
| 1953 | Knights of the Round Table | Percival | |
| 1961 | Rob Roy | Rashleigh Osbaldistone | 5 episodes |
| Emergency Ward 10 | Robert Emery | 20 episodes | |
| 1964 | Nothing but the Best | Man | Uncredited |
| 1968–1969 | Market in Honey Lane | Gervase Lorrimer | 8 episodes |
| 1971–1980 | The Boy From Space | Peep-Peep's Father | Episodes 7-10 |
| 1972 | The Brothers | Priest | Episode: End of the Beginning |
| 1975 | Doctor Who | Sutekh | 4 episodes; Pyramids of Mars |
| 1984 | The Prisoner of Zenda | Cardinal-Archbishop of Strelsau | Miniseries |
| 2004 | Oh Mummy: Sutekh's Story | Sutekh (voice) | Short |
| 2006 | Doctor Who | The Beast (voice) | Episodes: "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit" |
| 2012–2013 | Wizards vs. Aliens | The Stones (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Transmission from Mars | Sutekh (voice) | Short |
| 2024 | Doctor Who | Sutekh (voice) | Episodes: "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" / "Empire of Death" |
Audio
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Doctor Who: Arrangements for War | Justice Rossiter | |
| 2005 | Doctor Who: Thicker than Water | Justice Rossiter | |
| 2005–2009 | The True History of Faction Paradox | Sutekh | 5 episodes |
| 2015 | Bernice Summerfield: The Triumph of Sutekh | Sutekh | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures | Sutekh | 2 episodes |
References
[edit]- ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- ↑ Gabriel Woolf at the RADA website, accessed 25 July 2026.
- ↑ Robb Wilton Theatricalia - Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Stratford-upon-Avon, 1955-1960 Programmes and Season Books, accessed 25 July 2026.
- ↑ Theatricalia page for Gabriel Woolf, accessed 25 July 2026.
- ↑ "BBC - Cult - Doctor Who - DVD - Pyramids of Mars". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ↑ "Magic Bullet Productions: Home of Kaldor City and Faction Paradox Audios". kaldorcity.com. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ↑ "The True History of Faction Paradox: Coming to Dust". Kaldorcity.com. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ↑ "The True History of Faction Paradox: The Ship of a Billion Years". Kaldorcity.com. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ↑ "The True History of Faction Paradox: Body Politic". Kaldorcity.com. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ↑ "The Scarifyers: For King And Country". bigfinish.com. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ↑ "The Scarifyers". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ↑ "Doctor Who: The Impossible Planet". IMDb.com. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ↑ Mohamed, Stefan (14 June 2024). "The One Who Waits is done waiting. MAJOR SPOILERS for "The Legend of Ruby Sunday"". Den of Geek.
- ↑ Anderson, Kyle (14 June 2024). "Who is the Villain of Doctor Who Season 1". Nerdist. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ↑ The Classical Catalogue, Master edition 1992 No. 2. General Gramophone Publications Ltd, Harrow, 1992, p. 904.
- ↑ Peters, William. In Concert Beatrice et Benedict. Chelsea Opera Group at the Logan Hall, London, May 26. Opera, August 1981, Vol.32 No.8, p.860.
- ↑ Colin Dexter. Bleak House taught me about the good and evil in man. Guardian 12 August 2014., accessed 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "About Us". Joyful Company of Singers. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ↑ Gabriel Woolf profile Archived 2015-07-29 at the Wayback Machine, chichesterliterarysociety.co.uk; accessed 9 April 2016.
- ↑ Dame Felicity Lott - a Sussex songbird; Sussex Life, 22 October 2013, accessed 25 July 2026.
External links
[edit]- Gabriel Woolf at IMDb
- Magic Bullet's Coming to Dust Faction Paradox audio play.
- Magic Bullet's The Ship of a Billion Years Faction Paradox audio play.
- Joyful Company of Singers
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