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Photo of Ed Bishop

Ed Bishop

Actor
Died June 8, 2005 (72 years)
George Victor Bishop (11 June 1932 – 8 June 2005), known professionally as Ed Bishop or sometimes Edward Bishop, was an American actor. He was known for playing Commander Ed Straker in UFO, Captain Blue in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and for voicing Philip Marlowe in a series of BBC Radio adaptations of the Marlowe novels by Raymond Chandler.

Bishop made his film acting debut as an ambulance driver in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 movie Lolita. He played an American astronaut going to the Moon in the film The Mouse on the Moon (1963) and also appeared in The Bedford Incident (1965) and Battle Beneath the Earth (1967). He had small speaking roles in the James Bond films You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971), but was not included in the film credits for either. He appeared in a second Kubrick film, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), in which he played the Captain of the Aries 1B Moon shuttle. The role initially featured dialogue but this was later cut from his scenes.

Bishop appeared in various film and television projects created by producer Gerry Anderson. He provided narration, in addition to the voice of Captain Blue, for Anderson's Supermarionation puppet series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967), and appeared in Anderson's science-fiction film Doppelgänger (1969). Perhaps his most prominent screen role was that of Commander Ed Straker in Anderson's science-fiction series UFO (1970–71). Bishop's dark hair was initially dyed blond for the role, though he eventually wore a blond wig instead.

In later years, he appeared in films such as Twilight's Last Gleaming, Saturn 3, Silver Dream Racer, and The Lords of Discipline. He provided vocal work for the 1974 animated TV series of Star Trek, and appeared as Lieutenant Colonel Harrity in the final episode of the British World War II prisoner-of-war drama Colditz. In the 1980s, he made several appearances on The Kenny Everett Television Show, Whoops Apocalypse (he also appeared in the subsequent film), and had a role in the children's television series Chocky's Children.

He continued to act on film, TV and radio, usually in British and European productions, and was a frequent guest at science fiction conventions. He and fellow Anderson actor Shane Rimmer (a Canadian actor who often worked in the UK) joked about how frequently their professional paths crossed and termed themselves "Rent-a-yank". They appeared together as NASA operatives in the opening of You Only Live Twice and as United States Navy sailors in The Bedford Incident, as well as the 1983 film of the Harold Robbins novel The Lonely Lady. In 1989, Bishop was reunited with Rimmer and another Anderson actor, Matt Zimmerman, in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet. He and Rimmer also toured together in theatre shows, including Death of a Salesman in the 1990s, and they both appeared in the BBC drama-documentary Hiroshima (2005), one of Bishop's last TV projects.
Movies & Shows on Plex
  • Saturn 3
  • The Saint
  • Gorgo
  • French & Saunders
  • The Professionals
  • Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
  • Thriller (1973)
  • Silver Dream Racer
  • The Space Movie
Known For
  • UFO
  • Saturn 3
  • Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
  • The Saint
  • Pets
  • Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
  • Automania 2000
  • S.O.S. Titanic
  • Brass Target
  • The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
  • Whoops Apocalypse
  • Battle Beneath the Earth
  • UFO: Destroy Moonbase
  • Silver Dream Racer
  • Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
  • Turnaround
  • Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons
  • The Fifth Missile
  • The Portrait of a Lady
  • Stainless Steel and the Star Spies

Filmography

2015
2014
This Is Supermarionation · as Captain Blue (voice)
2005
Hiroshima · as Stimson
2001
500! · as Padre Jones
2000
Waking the Dead (TV Series) · as Tyler
1999
1999
1998
The American · as Gen. Packard
1996
Broken Glass · as Stanton Case
1996
The Demon Headmaster (TV Series) · as Tv Supremo
1995
1994
Funny Man · as Card Player
1994
1992
Highlander: The Series (TV Series) · as Edward Banner
1992
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV Series) · as Sentry
1992
Nudism: The Inside Story · as Narrator (voice)
1991
Performance (TV Series) · as Stanton Case
1991
2 Point 4 Children (TV Series) · as Chet
1991
Born to Ride · as Dr. Tate
1990
Chancer (TV Series) · as Elmer
1989
Out of Time · as Grant
1988
Judgment in Berlin · as Dyson Wilde
1987
Testimony · as American Commentator
1987
Turnaround · as Gerald
1987
French & Saunders (TV Series) · as Head Of Light Entertainment
1987
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (TV Series) · as Strasser
1986
Whoops Apocalypse · as Wink Persiman (tv Interviewer)
1986
Worlds Beyond (TV Series) · as Mr. Hitchcock
1986
The Fifth Missile · as Adm. Stewart Cullinane
1985
Restless Natives · as Reporter
1985
1985
Wynne and Penkovsky (TV Series) · as Alexander
1984
Threads · as Us President (voice) (uncredited)
1984
The Lenny Henry Show (TV Series) · as Various Characters
1984
The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (TV Series) · as Mr. Bogardus
1984
Master of the game (TV Series) · as Dr. Mattson
1984
The Master of Ballantrae · as Pinkerton
1983
The Lonely Lady · as Dr. Baker
1983
Just Good Friends (TV Series) · as Vernon
1983
The Mad Death (TV Series) · as Tom Siegler
1983
Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (TV Series) · as District Attorney
1983
The Lords of Discipline · as Commerce St. Croix
1982
Nutcracker · as Sam Dozier
1982
Whoops Apocalypse (TV Series) · as Jay Garrick
1981
The Kenny Everett Television Show (TV Series) · as Various
1981
Take a Letter Mr Jones (TV Series) · as Joe Bradley
1981
Amin: The Rise and Fall · as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
1981
1981
Stainless Steel and the Star Spies · as Stainless Steel (voice)
1980
Oppenheimer (1980) (TV Series) · as General Tom Farrell
1980
Silver Dream Racer · as Al Peterson
1980
Saturn 3 · as Harding (uncredited)
1980
Breakaway (1980) (TV Series) · as Scott Douglas
1980
1979
1979
Kelly Monteith (TV Series) · as Cast
1979
S.O.S. Titanic · as Henry Harris
1979
Running Blind (1979) (TV Series) · as Commander Nordlinger
1979
Butch Minds the Baby · as Voice Of Damon Runyon
1978
Brass Target · as Col. Stewart
1978
Butterflies (TV Series) · as Tony
1978
The South Bank Show (TV Series) · as Slampacker
1977
The Professionals (TV Series) · as Dr. Ernest Harbinger
1977
1990 (TV Series)
1977
Madame Claude · as Smith
1977
1976
The Cedar Tree (TV Series) · as Earl Mulligan
1975
The Day After Tomorrow · as Tv Announcer
1975
Two's Company (TV Series) · as Jack
1975
Anne of Avonlea (TV Series) · as Judson Parker
1974
The Bunny Caper · as Stuart Beard
1974
Rogue's Rock (TV Series) · as Cyrus T. Triphammer
1974
Invasion: UFO · as Cmdr. Ed Straker
1974
It Ain't Half Hot Mum (TV Series) · as Colonel Sol Zimmerman
1974
UFO: Take Them Alive · as Comandante Edward Straker
1974
1973
Pets · as Victor Stackman
1973
Star Trek: The Animated Series (TV Series) · as Asmodeus (voice) (uncredited)
1973
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries (TV Series) · as The Millionaire
1973
Warship (1973) (TV Series)
1973
Thriller (1973) (TV Series) · as Carson
1972
Colditz (TV Series) · as Lt. Col. Harrity
1972
The Adventurer (TV Series) · as Wayne
1972
The Protectors (TV Series) · as Colonel John Hunter
1971
Diamonds Are Forever · as Klaus Hergersheimer (uncredited)
1971
UFO: Destroy Moonbase · as Comandante Edward Straker
1971
The Two Ronnies (TV Series) · as Cast
1970
Play for Today (TV Series) · as American Reporter
1970
UFO (TV Series) · as Cmdr. Ed Straker
1970
Children and Cars · as Narrator
1969
Strange Report (TV Series) · as Moran
1969
1969
The Desperados · as Army Captain (voice)
1969
ITV Saturday Night Theatre (TV Series) · as David Beeston
1968
2001: A Space Odyssey · as Aries-1b Lunar Shuttle Captain
1968
The Portrait of a Lady (TV Series) · as Caspar Goodwood
1967
Battle Beneath the Earth · as Lt. Cmdr. Vance Cassidy (as Edward Bishop)
1967
1967
Man in a Suitcase (TV Series)
1967
ITV Playhouse (TV Series) · as Brother Bethlehem
1967
You Only Live Twice · as Hawaii Capcom (uncredited)
1966
The Baron (TV Series) · as Naval Officer
1965
The Bedford Incident · as Lieutenant Hacker U.s.n. - Communications
1965
Out of the Unknown (TV Series)
1965
Court Martial (TV Series) · as Law Officer
1965
You Must Be Joking! · as U.s. Air Force Soldier At Checkpoint
1965
The Troubleshooters (TV Series) · as Mr. Kramer
1964
1964
1963
The Mouse on the Moon · as American Astronaut
1963
The Cool Mikado · as Man
1963
Big City · as Narrator
1963
Big City · as Narrator (as Edward Bishop)
1963
Automania 2000 · as Narrator
1962
The War Lover · as Vogt
1962
The Saint (TV Series) · as George Felson
1962
Lolita · as Ambulance Attendant
1961
Gorgo · as Radar Operator
1956
Armchair Theatre (TV Series) · as Karl
1951
Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as Pinkerton

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