Michael Goodliffe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts.
Goodliffe was born in Bebington, Cheshire (now Merseyside), the son of a vicar, and educated at St Edmund's School, Canterbury, and Keble College, Oxford. He started his career in repertory theatre in Liverpool before moving on to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. He joined the British Army at the beginning of World War II, and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in February 1940. He was wounded in the leg and captured at the Battle of Dunkirk. Goodliffe was incorrectly listed as killed in action, and even had his obituary published in a newspaper. He was to spend the rest of the war a prisoner in Germany.
Whilst in captivity he produced and acted in (and in some cases wrote) many plays and sketches to entertain fellow prisoners. These included two productions of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, one in Tittmoning and the other in Eichstätt, in which he played the title role. He also produced the first staging of Noel Coward's Post Mortem at Eichstätt. A full photographic record of these productions exists.
After the war he resumed his professional acting career. As well as appearing in the theatre he worked in film and television. He appeared in The Wooden Horse in 1950 and in other POW films. His best known film was A Night to Remember (1958) in which he played Thomas Andrews, builder of the RMS Titanic. His best known television series was Sam (1973–75) in which he played an unemployed Yorkshire miner. He also appeared with John Thaw and James Bolam in the 1967 television series Inheritance.
Suffering from depression, Goodliffe had a breakdown in 1976 during the period that he was rehearsing for a revival of Equus. He committed suicide a few days later by leaping from a hospital fire escape, whilst a patient at the Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Goodliffe, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acted in
To the Devil a Daughter
1976
as George de Grass
In Sickness and in Health
1975
as Dr David Muray
Sam
1973
as Jack Barraclough
Don't Be Like Brenda
1973
as Narrator (uncredited)
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
1973
as General Weidling
The Protectors
1972
as De Santos
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
1972
as Thomas More
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
1971
as Mr. Teevee (uncredited)
Hine
1971
Still Life
1970
as David
The Company Man
1970
as Mr. Lansing
Macbeth
1970
as Duncan
Cromwell
1970
as Solicitor General
The 5th Day of Peace
1970
as Snow
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
1969
as Arthur de Crecy
The Fixer
1968
as Ostrovsky
Inheritance
1967
as Mr. Oldroyd
Man in a Suitcase
1967
Callan
1967
The Jokers
1967
as Lt. Col. Paling
The Night of the Generals
1967
as Hauser
The Connoisseur
1966
as Rev. Adrian Tenterden
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
as The Minister
Von Ryan's Express
1965
as Captain Stein
Troubled Waters
1964
as Jeff Driscoll
The Gorgon
1964
as Professor Jules Heitz
The 7th Dawn
1964
as Trumphey
Woman of Straw
1964
as Solicitor
633 Squadron
1964
as Squadron Leader Frank Adams
Man in the Middle
1964
as Colonel Shaw
80,000 Suspects
1963
as Clifford Preston
The £20,000 Kiss
1962
as Sir Harold Trevitt
The Saint
1962
as Dr. Quintus
Zero One
1962
Jigsaw
1962
as Clyde Burchard
Number Six
1962
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
1961
as Jacko Jackson the Night Editor
No Love for Johnnie
1961
as Dr. West
The Avengers
1961
Maigret
1960
The Trials of Oscar Wilde
1960
as Charles Gill
Peeping Tom
1960
as Don Jarvis
Conspiracy of Hearts
1960
as Father Desmaines
The Battle of the Sexes
1960
as Detective
Testament of Orpheus
1960
as English Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Sink the Bismarck!
1960
as Captain Banister
Interpol Calling
1959
as Wolf Barstrom
The White Trap
1959
as Inspector Walters
Further Up the Creek
1958
as Lt. Commander Blakeney
Three Crooked Men
1958
as Shop Customer
A Night to Remember
1958
as Thomas Andrews
Up the Creek
1958
as Nelson
The Camp on Blood Island
1958
as Father Paul Anjou
Carve Her Name with Pride
1958
as Coding Expert
Chaucer's England
1958
as The Theif
The One That Got Away
1957
as R.A.F. Interrogator
Fortune Is a Woman
1957
as Detective Insp. Barnes
The Battle of the River Plate
1956
as Captain McCall, R.N., British Naval Attache, Buenos Aires
Wicked as They Come
1956
as Larry Buckham
Link Span
1956
as Narrator (voice)
Dial 999
1955
as John Moffat
Quentin Durward
1955
as Count De Dunois
Dixon of Dock Green
1955
as Garfield Fenton
The End of the Affair
1955
as Smythe
Front Page Story
1954
as Kennedy
Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue
1953
as Robert Walpole
Sea Devils
1953
as Ragan
The Hour of 13
1952
as Anderson
Plan for Coal
1952
Ocean Terminal
1952
as Narrator (voice)
Cry, the Beloved Country
1951
as Martens
Captain Horatio Hornblower
1951
as Col. Caillard - POW Escort
Family Portrait
1950
as Narrator (voice)
The Wooden Horse
1950
as Robbie
Stop Press Girl
1949
as McPherson
The Small Back Room
1949
as Till