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Michael Goodliffe
Actor
Died March 20, 1976 (61 years)
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.
Filmography
| 1976 | To the Devil a Daughter · as George de Grass |
| 1974 | The Man with the Golden Gun · as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner |
| 1973 | Hitler: The Last Ten Days · as General Weidling |
| 1973 | Sam (TV Series) · as Jack Barraclough |
| 1972 | Henry VIII and His Six Wives · as Thomas More |
| 1972 | The Protectors (TV Series) · as De Santos |
| 1971 | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory · as Mr. Teevee (uncredited) |
| 1971 | The Johnstown Monster · as McNeil |
| 1971 | Jason King (TV Series) · as President Pargos |
| 1971 | Hong Kong Style · as Commentator |
| 1970 | Cromwell · as Solicitor General |
| 1970 | The Fifth Day of Peace · as Snow |
| 1970 | The Roads to Freedom (TV Series) · as Chamberlain |
| 1969 | Special Branch (TV Series) · as Gillard |
| 1969 | Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969) (TV Series) · as Arthur de Crecy |
| 1969 | Softly Softly Task Force (TV Series) · as Grenville |
| 1968 | The Fixer · as Ostrovsky |
| 1967 | The Night of the Generals · as Hauser |
| 1967 | The Jokers · as Lt. Col. Paling |
| 1967 | Callan (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1967 | Man in a Suitcase (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1965 | Von Ryan's Express · as Captain Stein |
| 1965 | Play of the Month (TV Series) · as Duncan |
| 1964 | Woman of Straw · as Solicitor |
| 1964 | 633 Squadron · as Squadron Leader Frank Adams |
| 1964 | The 7th Dawn · as Trumphey |
| 1964 | The Winston Affair · as Colonel Shaw |
| 1964 | The Wednesday Play (TV Series) · as Mr. Douglas |
| 1964 | The Gorgon · as Professor Jules Heitz |
| 1963 | A Stitch in Time · as Doctor on Children's Ward |
| 1963 | 80,000 Suspects · as Clifford Preston |
| 1962 | Jigsaw · as Clyde Burchard |
| 1962 | Number Six · as Unknown |
| 1962 | The Saint (TV Series) · as Dr. Quintus |
| 1962 | Z Cars (TV Series) · as Chief Insp. Parker |
| 1962 | Zero One (1962) (TV Series) · as Peter Elkinson |
| 1961 | The Day the Earth Caught Fire · as Jacko Jackson the Night Editor |
| 1961 | No Love for Johnnie · as Dr. West |
| 1961 | The Avengers (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1960 | Testament of Orpheus · as English Narrator (voice) (uncredited) |
| 1960 | The Battle of the Sexes · as Detective |
| 1960 | The Trials of Oscar Wilde · as Charles Gill |
| 1960 | Peeping Tom · as Don Jarvis |
| 1960 | Maigret (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1959 | The White Trap · as Inspector Walters |
| 1959 | Edgar Wallace (TV Series) · as Det. Supt. Hallett |
| 1958 | A Night to Remember · as Thomas Andrews |
| 1958 | Carve Her Name with Pride · as Coding Expert |
| 1958 | Further Up the Creek · as Lt. Commander Blakeney |
| 1958 | H.G. Wells' Invisible Man (TV Series) · as Crompton |
| 1957 | The One That Got Away · as R.A.F. Interrogator |
| 1956 | Wicked as They Come · as Larry Buckham |
| 1956 | Pursuit of the Graf Spee · as Captain McCall, R.N., British Naval Attache, Buenos Aires |
| 1956 | Armchair Theatre (TV Series) · as David |
| 1955 | The Way Out · as John Moffat |
| 1955 | Quentin Durward · as Count De Dunois |
| 1955 | The End of the Affair · as Smythe |
| 1954 | Shop Spoiled · as Eve's Husband |
| 1954 | Front Page Story · as Kennedy |
| 1954 | John Wesley · as actor |
| 1953 | Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue · as Robert Walpole |
| 1953 | Sea Devils · as Ragan |
| 1951 | Captain Horatio Hornblower · as Col. Caillard - POW Escort |
| 1951 | Cry, the Beloved Country · as Martens |
| 1950 | The Wooden Horse · as Robbie |
| 1950 | Family Portrait · as Narrator (voice) |
| 1949 | Hour of Glory · as Till |
| 1949 | Stop Press Girl · as McPherson |