John Barrett (actor)

Jack Elvyn Barrett (18 February 1910 – 22 May 1983) was a British actor on film, television and stage, best known for his roles as Smellie Ibbotson in The Dustbinmen and Hylda Baker's father in Not On Your Nellie.

John Barrett
Born	Jack Elvyn Barrett[1] 18 February 1910 Rochdale, Lancashire, England
Died	22 May 1983 (aged 73)[2] London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1958–1983

Biography

Born in Rochdale in 1910, Barrett worked in a family business there, and in the 1930s began working in the theatre.[3] He started as an assistant stage manager, and at different times worked as an actor, stage manager, director and actor-manager.[3] Before and during World War II he produced and acted in local productions in Rochdale.[4][5][6] Following the war, he joined weekly repertory companies across England, working in places such as Birmingham,[7] Rugby,[7] Bexhill-on-Sea[8] and Hastings[9] in Sussex, Portsmouth in Hampshire,[10] Bournemouth in Dorset,[11] and Burnley in Lancashire.[12]
In the mid 1950s, he made his first appearances on screen and thereafter had frequent roles on television and in films. In the 1960s and 1970s, he acted in London at the Royal Court Theatre,[3][13] Savoy Theatre[14] and the National Theatre[15] under directors like William Gaskill,[16] Michael Wearing,[17] Lindsay Anderson,[13] Richard Eyre[18] and Bill Bryden.[15]

The Daily Mirror wrote in 1976 that Barrett, then aged 63, "has the sort of career that makes him the envy of many younger actors".[19] In 1968, he played the lead role in a revival of D. H. Lawrence's play A Collier's Friday Night, with reviewers saying, "The director, Peter Gill, elicits admirable style and even ensemble from a first-rate cast including John Barrett as the collier, Anne Dyson as his wife, Victor Henry as the son, and Jenifer Armitage as Maggie."[20] "The characters have the ring of truth about them. Old Lambert (John Barrett) is marked physically and mentally by his work at the coalface. ... All are excellently portrayed in this first-rate production."[21] In 1970, Barrett played the lead role in Barry Hines's play Billy's Last Stand. One reviewer wrote, "Both John Barrett as Billy and Ian McKellen as Darkly give powerful performances, each sombre, thoughtful, balanced and real, though, by the end, the melodrama seems even to have seeped through to their performances." [17] Another said, "The acting is first-rate. ... John Barrett is wonderfully solid and self-satisfied at the start as an innocent faced by capitalism; and in his final gritty resignation to his fate the actor never puts an eyelid wrong."[22]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Jack the Ripper	Onlooker at 2nd Murder Scene	Uncredited
1960	Saturday Night and Sunday Morning	Man in Cafe	Uncredited
1965	City Under the Sea	Third Fisherman	Uncredited
1966	The Witches	Mr. Glass	Uncredited [1]
1966	The Trygon Factor	Guide	[1]
1967	Far from the Madding Crowd	Joseph Poorgrass	[1]
1968	Star!	Speaker at Hyde Park	Uncredited
1972	Up the Chastity Belt	1st Peasant	[1]
1972	Nearest and Dearest	Joshua Pledge	[1]
1973	O Lucky Man!	Bill
1973	Malachi's Cove	Polwarth
1974	Smokey Joe's Revenge	Bill Bassett
1976	Robin and Marian	Jack	[19]
1976	It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet	Crump	[23]
1976	The Eagle Has Landed	Laker Armsby
1979	Porridge	Hedley
1979	Tess	Old Dairyhand
1979	The Quiz Kid	Old Man
1981	The French Lieutenant's Woman	Dairyman
1982	Remembrance	Jimmy
1982	The Missionary	Old Man outside Hotel
1988	Rikky and Pete	Barracks Man
1989	Options	Bob	(final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Quatermass and the Pit		[1]
1964	The Massingham Affair		[1]
1966–1970	Mystery and Imagination		[1]
1969–1970	The Dustbinmen	Smellie Ibbotson (main role)	[1][19][24][25]
1971	Play for Today	Billy (main role)	Billy's Last Stand [26][27]
1971	One More On Top		ITV play by Jonathan Hales [28]
1973	The Jensen Code	Mr. Buckle
1974–1975	Not On Your Nellie	Jed Pickersgill (main role)	Series 1 and 2, 13 episodes [1][19]
1976	Play for Today	Ben Packman (main role)	Packman's Barn [19]
1976	Shadows	Eli (main role)	The Inheritance [29]
1978–80	All Creatures Great and Small	Kitson / Mr. Dent
1980	God's Wonderful Railway	Robbie Grant (main role)	Clear Ahead, 3 episodes [30]
1980	Juliet Bravo	Mr.Israel Smethurst (Lollipop man)	(Series 1, Ep. 5 – 'Trouble At T’Mill')
1961,1980	Coronation Street	Mr. Stark / Monty Shawcross
1982	Objects of Affection (Alan Bennett plays)	Mr. Joey Wyman (main role)	Rolling Home [1][31][32]

Selected stage performances

Year	Title	Author	Theatre	Role	Director
1939	The Bear	Anton Chekhov	The Curtain Theatre, Rochdale		Jack E. Barrett [4]
1939	Laodice	Wallace B. Nichols	The Curtain Theatre, Rochdale	Euphorion, Lord of the Syrian Court	E. Nuttall Butterworth [5]
1942	The Two Gentlemen of Verona	William Shakespeare	The Curtain Theatre, Rochdale		Jack E. Barrett [6]
1946	While the Sun Shines	Terence Rattigan	De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea	Duke	[8]
1952	A Streetcar Named Desire	Tennessee Williams	White Rock Pavilion, Hastings		[9]
1953	Charley's Aunt	Brandon Thomas	Theatre Royal, Portsmouth	Brassett	Carl Clopet [10]
1954	Grand National Night	Campbell Christie and Dorothy Christie	Victoria Theatre, Burnley	Morton (the butler)	John Barrett [33]
1954	White Sheep of the Family	John Hay Beith and L. du Garde Peach	Victoria Theatre, Burnley	James Winter	John Barrett [12]
1954	Piccadilly Alibi	Guy Paxton and Edward Hoile	Victoria Theatre, Burnley		[34]
1954	When We Are Married	J. B. Priestley	Victoria Theatre, Burnley		John Barrett [35]
1954	Dial M for Murder	Frederick Knott	Victoria Theatre, Burnley		John Barrett [36]
1954	Babes in the Wood (pantomime)		Victoria Theatre, Burnley	Robber	Morris Parsons [37]
1968	A Collier's Friday Night	D. H. Lawrence	Royal Court Theatre, London	Old Lambert, collier (main role)	Peter Gill [20][21]
1969	Saved	Edward Bond	Royal Court Theatre, London	main role	William Gaskill [16]
1969	Early Morning	Edward Bond	Royal Court Theatre, London	Gladstone	William Gaskill [16]
1970	Billy's Last Stand	Barry Hines	Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court, London	Billy (main role)	Michael Wearing [17][22]
1971	The Changing Room	David Storey	Royal Court Theatre, London	Harry	Lindsay Anderson [13][38]
1972	Lloyd George Knew My Father	William Douglas-Home	Savoy Theatre, London	Robertson	Robin Midgley[14]
1974	Bingo	Edward Bond	Royal Court Theatre, London	Old man	Jane Howell & John Dove[39]
1978	Lark Rise	Flora Thompson	Cottesloe, National Theatre		Bill Bryden and Sebastian Graham-Jones [3][15]
1980	Hamlet	William Shakespeare	Royal Court Theatre, London	Gravedigger	Richard Eyre [18]
1981	The Crucible	Arthur Miller	Comedy Theatre, London		Bill Bryden [3][40]

References

1. Maxford, Howard (2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. pp. 36–37. ISBN 9781476670072. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
2. "Deaths". The Stage (5328): 22. 26 May 1983. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
3. "Obituaries – John Barrett". The Stage (5331): 8. 16 June 1983. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
4. "The Crompton Stage Society – A Four-Play Bill". Rochdale Observer. Rochdale, Lancashire. 25 February 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
5. R.H. (4 March 1939). "The Curtain Theatre. "Laodice"". Rochdale Observer. Rochdale, Lancashire. p. 10. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
6. "The Shakespeare Society. "Two Gentlemen of Verona"". Rochdale Observer. Rochdale, Lancashire. 9 May 1942. p. 4. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
7. "Rugby Repertory Season". Rugby Advertiser. Rugby, Warwickshire. 16 March 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
8. ""While the Sun Shines". Gay Rattigan Comedy at the De La Warr Pavilion". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. 21 September 1946. p. 3. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
9. "Calls for next week". The Stage (3702): 2. 27 March 1952. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
10. "Ubiquitous". Portsmouth Evening News. Portsmouth, Hampshire. 20 January 1953. p. 5. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
11. "Advertisement: John Barrett, Producer/Stage Director". The Stage (3883): 9. 15 September 1955. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
12. A.H. (3 February 1954). "'Rep.' company display their versatility". Burnley Express. Burnley, Lancashire. p. 4. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
13. Roberts, Philip (2015). The Royal Court Theatre (Routledge Revivals): 1965–1972. CRC Press. ISBN 9781317515463. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
14. L.G.S. (2 November 1972). "Celia Johnson takes over". The Stage (4777): 9. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
15. Say, Rosemary (2 April 1978). "Lark's eye view". The Sunday Telegraph (887). London, England. p. 14.
16. Hastings, Ronald (25 January 1969). "Twelfth Night Rock". The Daily Telegraph (35379). London, England. p. 17.
17. P.W.B. (9 July 1970). "At the Theatre Upstairs". The Stage (4656): 13. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
18. "Theatre Week". The Stage (5163): 12. 27 March 1980. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
19. "A Journey Into the Past". Daily Mirror. London, England. 27 January 1976. p. 16. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
20. Samuel, Graham (9 March 1968). "London Theatre. Some rot in this Under Milk Wood". Reading Evening Post. Reading, Berkshire. p. 4. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
21. Thirkell, Arthur (1 March 1968). "Theatre by Arthur Thirkell". Daily Mirror. London, England. p. 18. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
22. Shorter, Eric (1 July 1970). "Barry Hines' triumph with 'Billy'". The Daily Telegraph (35818). London, England. p. 14.
23. Shorter, Eric (9 April 1976). "Something of a dog's breakfast". The Daily Telegraph (37594). London, England. p. 13.
24. Towler, James (2 April 1970). "Has its moments". The Stage (4642): 11. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
25. "Dustbinmen and BBC girl". The Stage (4623): 12. 20 November 1969. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
26. "BBC1". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, England. 4 February 1971. p. 2. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
27. "BBC1 Highlight". Reading Evening Post. Reading, Berkshire. 20 April 1972. p. 2. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
28. M.H. (1 August 1971). "Look out for . . ". The Sunday Telegraph (545). London, England. p. 13.
29. "TV and Radio". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, England. 11 August 1976. p. 2. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
30. "What is the BBC offering children this autumn?". The Stage (5135). 13 September 1979. p. 19. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
31. "BBC2 highlight: Wall watch". Aberdeen Evening Express. Aberdeen, Scotland. 3 December 1982. p. 2. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
32. Day-Lewis, Sean (4 December 1982). "Making their last exits". The Daily Telegraph (39649). London, England. p. 10.
33. "Gratitude on both sides of the footlights". Burnley Express. Burnley, Lancashire. 27 January 1954. p. 6. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
34. "Mystery of an unusual kind". Burnley Express. Burnley, Lancashire. 7 April 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
35. "Yorkshire comedy is first of 'request' plays". Burnley Express. Burnley, Lancashire. 17 April 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
36. "New thriller at the Vic". Burnley Express. Burnley, Lancashire. 3 July 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
37. "Pantomime Fun at the Victoria". Burnley Express. Burnley, Lancashire. 29 December 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
38. Trewin, J.C. (11 November 1971). "Arts Review: The Changing Room at the Royal Court Theatre, London". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, England. p. 2. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
39. "Production of Bingo | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
40. "Theatre Week". The Stage (5211): 30. 26 February 1981. Retrieved 29 August 2019.

External links

• John Barrett at IMDb