John Phillips
Birthday: 1914-07-20 | Place of Birth: Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UKA 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).
Known For
Acting
Role
as Wintour
as Examining Judge
as Francis Urcombe
as Dr. Heuteufel
as Maitre Lacan
as Rev. Howard Whithead
as Pope Grigoris
as Eddie Storm (segment 2 "Terror Over Hollywood")
as Stanley Preston
as Major General Atkins
as Edward Gargan
as John Anthony
as Colonel Zapt
as Elzevir Block
as Bracewell - U.S. Delegate
as Col. Fowler
as Chief Superintendent Gault
as Hooper Moulsworth
as Trifonov
as Trifonov
as The Mayor
