Terence Rigby
Terence Christopher Gerald Rigby (2 January 1937 – 10 August 2008) was an English RADA trained actor with a number of film and television credits to his name. In the 1970s he was well known as police dog-handler PC Snow in the long-running series Softly, Softly: Taskforce
Terence Rigby | |
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Born | Terence Christopher Gerald Rigby 2 January 1937 Erdington, Birmingham, England |
Died | 10 August 2008 71) London, England | (aged
Occupation | actor |
Early life
Terence Rigby was born in Erdington, Birmingham, and was educated at St Philip's School. He did his national service in the Royal Air Force.[1]
Career
Film roles included: Get Carter (1971), Watership Down (1978), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997),[2] Elizabeth (1998), Mona Lisa Smile (2003) and Colour Me Kubrick (2006).
Notable TV roles include Dixon of Dock Green, Softly, Softly: Taskforce; Z-Cars, The First Lady, Callan, The Saint, Public Eye, Edward & Mrs. Simpson, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; Airline, Rumpole of the Bailey, Boon, Lovejoy, Our Friends in the North, Born to Run, Holby City, Midsomer Murders, Crossroads, Kings Oak (playing the part of motel boss, Tommy Lancaster), The Beiderbecke Affair and The Beiderbecke Connection.
He was also Dr Watson to Tom Baker's Sherlock Holmes. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982) was known amongst the crew as the 'Tom and Terry show'.
Among his stage credits was Briggs in the première of No Man's Land by Harold Pinter, at the Royal National Theatre in 1975, alongside John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. His first work with Pinter was in the original Peter Hall production of The Homecoming (1965), when he created the role of Joey. He received considerable acclaim for his portrayal of Joseph Stalin in another National Theatre production, Robert Bolt's State of Revolution, opposite Michael Bryant.
Segments from Rigby's abbreviated autobiography, begun shortly before his death, are included in the book by his long-time friend, the television and radio dramatist Juliet Ace, Rigby Shlept Here: A Memoir of Terence Rigby 1937–2008. Along with correspondence and interviews with his friends and theatrical colleagues, Ace's memoir draws on her own diaries and shows much of the working actor and private man who remained a mystery to those close to him. It was published in November, 2014.
Death
Rigby died at home in London on 10 August 2008 of lung cancer.[1]
Partial filmography
- Accident (1967) – Plain Clothed Policeman
- Get Carter (1971) – Gerald Fletcher
- The Homecoming (1973) – Joey
- Watership Down (1978) – Silver (voice)
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979, TV Mini-Series) – Roy Bland
- The Dogs of War (1980) – Hackett
- Anyone for Denis? (1982, TV Movie) – Major
- The Sign of Four (1983, TV Movie) – Inspector Layton
- Testimony (1988) – Joseph Stalin
- Scandal (1989) – James Burge
- The Children (1990) – Duke of Mendip
- The Young Americans (1993) – Sidney Callow
- Funny Bones (1995) – Billy Man
- England, My England (1995) – Captain Henry Cooke
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) – General Bukharin
- Elizabeth (1998) – Bishop Stephen Gardiner
- Plunkett and Macleane (1999) – Harrison
- Simon Magus (1999) – Bratislav
- The Strange Case of Delphina Potocka of The Mystery of Chopin (1999) – Sydow
- Essex Boys (2000) – Henry Hobbs
- Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (2002) – Henry Caldicot
- Mona Lisa Smile (2003) – Dr. Edward Staunton
- Colour Me Kubrick (2006) – Norman
- Flick (2008) – Creeper Martin (final film role)
References
- Barker, Dennis. "Terence Rigby". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
- CORK, JOHN (1 January 2007). JAMES BOND ENCYCLOPEDIA. DORLING KINDERSLEY. p. 137. ISBN 978-1405334273.
External links
- Terence Rigby at IMDb
- BBC News, actor Terence Rigby has died
- Terence Rigby website – now archived
- Obituary in The Telegraph
- Obituary in The Guardian
- Obituary in The Times
- Obituary in The Stage
- Obituary in The Independent
- Terence Rigby interview, Theatre Archive Project, British Library
- Rigby Shlept Here: A Memoir of Terence Rigby 1937–2008, Amazon, 2014, ASIN: B00Q25491I