Hilary Wontner
Hilary Wontner | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 October 1912 Brentford, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 25 June 1984 (aged 71) Seaford, East Sussex, England |
| Occupation | Television actor |
| Parent | Arthur Wontner |
| Relatives | Hugh Wontner (brother) |
Hilary Wontner (3 October 1912 – 25 June 1984) was an English television actor. He appeared in many British and American television series and films, which include Crossroads, No Hiding Place, The Avengers, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), All Creatures Great and Small, We'll Meet Again and others.
Biography
[edit]Wontner was born in Brentford, the son of actor Arthur Wontner and actress Rose Pendennis, and the brother of politician and hotelier Hugh Wontner.[1] He appeared in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan[2] and other plays[3][4] at the Malvern Drama Festival in 1936. "Mr. Wontner imparts as much naturaless as can be into his asides, and strenuously keeps the action going by his own inaction," a newspaper reviewer wrote in 1936, of his performance in The Clandestine Marriage, also at the Malvern festival.[4] He played Hare in James Bridie's The Anatomist in 1937, and in Trumpeter, Play! on the London stage in 1938.[5] Later in life he was in Ben Travers' farce Thark, in Coventry.[6] He had a long career playing character roles in film and television.
Wontner died in 1984, at age 71, in Seaford.
Screen credits
[edit]| Production | Yeat | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wandering Jew | 1947 | Godfrey, Duke of Normandy | Film |
| The Naked Edge | 1961 | 1st Customer in Clay's Bookshop | Film, Uncredited |
| Decision at Midnight | 1963 | Forbes | Film |
| A Comedy Tale of Fanny Hill | 1964 | Short film | |
| Dr. Kildare | 1964 | Lionel Grant | "A Hundred Million Tomorrows" |
| The Bill Dana Show | 1964 | Hilary Winkley / Mr. Bardley | "A Tip for Uncle Sam" / "Master of Disguise" |
| The Rogues | 1964 | Mr. Beamer | "The Day They Gave Diamonds Away" |
| Crossroads | 1964 | Sir Geoffrey Yuillw | 1 episode |
| Orlando | 1965 | "Load of Bilge Water" | |
| A World of Comedy | 1965 | C.I.G.S. | "The Enormous Ear" |
| Sherlock Holmes in the Singular Case of the Plural Green Mustache | 1965 | Narrator | Short film |
| No Hiding Place | 1965-1966 | Mr. Pollock / Parfitt | "The Hunted and the Hunters" / "The Fit-Up" |
| The Trygon Factor | 1966 | Man at Hotel | Film, Uncredited[7] |
| The Avengers | 1965-1967 | Minister / Dumayn | "Silent Dust" / "The Winged Avenger"[8] |
| Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) | 1970 | 1st Man in Steamroom | "The Ghost Talks" |
| Scoop | 1972 | Sir Algernon | 2 episodes |
| Murder Must Advertise | 1973 | Mountjoy | 2 episodes |
| The Pallisers | 1974 | Member of Parliament | "Part Twenty-three" |
| Days of Hope | 1975 | Lord Reading | "1926: General Strike" |
| Shades of Greene | 1976 | Henry MacDougall | "The Case for the Defence" |
| Two's Company | 1979 | 3rd Member | "The Club" |
| Suez 1956 | 1979 | Marquess of Salisbury | TV movie |
| All Creatures Great and Small | 1980 | Major Headingley | "Be Prepared" |
| BBC2 Playhouse | 1980 | Colonel | "Fatal Spring" |
| We'll Meet Again | 1982 | Sir Arthur Maylie | "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back", (final television appearance) |
References
[edit]- ↑ "Totnes Bridegroom". Herald Express. 6 January 1936. p. 6. Retrieved 25 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Malvern Drama Festival; The Opening Performance; Mr. Shaw's 'St. Joan'". Berrow's Worcester Journal. 1 August 1936. p. 5. Retrieved 25 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Cedric Hardwicke's Triumph; Brillian Acting at Malvern". Worcester Evening News. 31 July 1937. p. 28. Retrieved 25 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "Malvern Dramatic Festival; Good Acting in 'The Clandestine Marriage'". The Birmingham Post. 29 July 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 25 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Wearing, J. P. (15 May 2014). The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. p. 685. ISBN 978-0-8108-9304-7.
- ↑ "'Thark'--a supreme example of pure farce". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 17 January 1961. p. 4. Retrieved 25 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Lentz, Harris M. III (29 December 2009). Feature Films, 1960–1969: A Filmography of English-Language and Major Foreign-Language United States Releases. McFarland. p. 487. ISBN 978-1-4766-0934-8.
- ↑ Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (31 October 2013). The Avengers Dossier. Orion. ISBN 978-0-575-13321-1.