Alan Wheatley

Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor and former radio announcer. He is perhaps best known for playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1950s TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, with Richard Greene playing Robin Hood. In 1951, Wheatley had played Sherlock Holmes in the first TV series about the fictional detective, but no recordings of it are known to exist.

Alan Wheatley
Born(1907-04-19)19 April 1907
Tolworth, Surrey, England
Died30 August 1991(1991-08-30) (aged 84)
Westminster, London, England
OccupationActor and radio announcer

Life and career

Born in Tolworth, Surrey, the son of William Henry Wheatley, a bank clerk, and his wife Rose (née Towers), Alan Wheatley was initially an industrial psychologist. Later, he worked as a radio announcer before turning to stage and screen acting in the 1930s, as a player during the black-and-white era of film and television. Wheatley made his film debut in Conquest of the Air (1936), which remained unreleased for four years. During the Second World War, he worked for BBC Radio, as both an actor and an announcer.

It was during this time as a newsreader for the BBC's European Service that he became interested in the work of Federico García Lorca after meeting a friend of the poet, Rafael Martínez Nadal, who was broadcasting a weekly programme to Spain. Wheatley subsequently made translations of Lorca's Spanish poetry; his performance of nine of these translations, released with Argo Records in 1953, became the first recorded collection of Lorca's work in English.[1]

Wheatley starred as Sherlock Holmes in the 1951 BBC TV series, which was the first such series though not the Holmes character's first appearance on television. The programme aired live for six episodes, and apparently no recordings were made. In the later Robin Hood series, Wheatley appeared regularly as the Sheriff in the first three seasons; in the fourth and final season, his role was mostly taken over by that of the Deputy Sheriff (John Arnatt) as a result of Wheatley's departure from the series. He also had roles in Danger Man and The Avengers. Wheatley played the first character to be killed on-screen by a Dalek in Doctor Who, when he appeared as Thal leader Temmosus in the 1963–64 serial The Daleks.

His film credits include: Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), The Rake's Progress (1945), Appointment with Crime 1946, Brighton Rock (1947), Calling Paul Temple (1948), The Pickwick Papers (1952), Spaceways (1953), Simon and Laura (1955), A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964) and Tomorrow at Ten (1964) among others. He also appeared in Inn for Trouble (1960), a film spin-off of the TV comedy The Larkins.

Wheatley was also a prolific stage actor. His theatre credits included Clifford Bax's The House of Borgia (1935), the lead in This Way to the Tomb, and the tormented soul, Harry, in The Family Reunion. He appeared in two versions of the thriller play Rope, in 1950 and 1953, and starred as Abanazar in the Cole Porter musical pantomime Aladdin at the London Coliseum in 1960. He also played the Abbé in a BBC radio adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, with Andrew Sachs (as Dantes) in 1987, and the High Lama in the 1981 BBC Radio 4 "Classic Serial" version of Lost Horizon, with Derek Jacobi as Hugh Conway.

Wheatley died in Westminster, London in 1991.[2]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1931 Out of the Blue Extra Uncredited
1931 The Love Race Extra Uncredited
1936 The Conquest of Air Borelli
1937 William Tindale William Tindale
1944 Love Story Partygoer Uncredited
1945 The Rake's Progress Edwards
Caesar and Cleopatra Persian
1946 Appointment with Crime Noel Penn
Spring Song Menelli
1947 Jassy Sir Edward Walker
The End of the River Irygoyen
Brighton Rock Fred Hale
1948 Corridor of Mirrors Edgar Orsen
Counterblast M.W. Kennedy
Calling Paul Temple Edward Lathom
Sleeping Car to Trieste Karl / Charles Pool
1949 It's Not Cricket Felix
For Them That Trespass Librarian Uncredited
1951 Home to Danger Hughes
1952 Whispering Smith Hits London Reith
The Pickwick Papers Fogg
1953 Spaceways Dr Smith
The Limping Man Inspector Braddock
Small Town Story Nick Hammond
1954 The Javenese Dagger Victor Short
The Diamond Thompson Blake
The House Across the Lake Inspector MacLennan
Delayed Action Mark Cruden
Elizabethan Express Narrator Voice
1955 Simon and Laura Adrian Lee
1958 The Duke Wore Jeans King of Ritallia
1960 Inn for Trouble Harold Gaskin
1961 Frederic Chopin Unknown short film
The Shadow of the Cat Inspector Rowles
1963 Master Spy Paul Skelton
Tomorrow at Ten Assistant Commisoner Bewley
1964 A Jolly Bad Fellow Epicene
Clash By Night Ronald Grey-Simmons

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1937 The Importance of Being Earnest Lane TV movie
1938 The Gaylord Quex Unknown TV movie
Bardell Against Pickwick Sam Weller TV movie
Julius Caesar Titinius TV movie
The Importance of Being Earnest Lane TV movie
1939 Edna's Fruit Hat Sid TV movie
The Tempest Alonso TV movie
Caesar's Friend Judas TV movie
Katharine and Petruchio Hortensio TV movie
Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress Schniedekind TV movie
The Chance of a Lifetime Joe Bessano TV movie
Magic The Stranger TV movie
Fiat Justitia Unknown TV movie
Mr. Jones Dines Out The waiter TV movie
The Circle Arnold Cheney TV movie
1946 A Phoenix to Frequent Tegeus-Chromis TV movie
Bardell against Pickwick Sam Weller TV movie
1947 Everyman Five Wits TV movie
Caesar's Friend Judas TV movie
The Little Dry Thorn Lot TV movie
The Round Dozen Ashenden TV movie
Edward II Gaveston TV movie
The Coventry Nativity Play Herod TV movie
1948 Volpone Mosca TV movie
King Lear King's fool TV movie
He That Should Come TV movie
1949 The Happiest Days of Your Life Mr. Billings TV movie
The Coventry Nativity Play Herod TV movie
1950 Mrs. Dot James Blenkinsop TV movie
Triple Bill Unknown TV movie
Treasures in Heaven Andrew Carne TV movie
The Tragedy of King Richard III King Richard III TV movie
1950

1951

 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre Rupert Cadell

Humphrey Rhodes

Roderigo

Richard de Beauchamp

Fainall

Lozovsky

Sire de Maletroit

 Season 1: (3 episodes)

Season 2: (4 episodes)

1951 Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes Season 1: (6 episodes)
The Inch Man Tommy Mitzner Season 1, Episode 6: "Moments so Few"
1952 The Twelfth Brother Pharaoh TV Short
1953 Rope Rupert Cadell TV Movie
Jesus of Nazareth Pilate TV MIni-series (uncredited)
1954 Prelude to Glory Marquis of Conygham TV Movie
1955-

1960

 The Adventures of Robin Hood Sheriff of Nottingham Season 1: (26 episodes)

Season 2: (26 episodes)

Season 3: (21 episodes)

Season 4: (8 episodes)

1956 Rheingold Theatre Nicolis Season 4, Episode 7: "Dimitrios"
Colonel March of Scotland Yard O'Brien Season 1, Episode 9: " The Second Mona Lisa"
Adventure Theater Victor Season 1, Episode 2: " The Javanese Dagger"
The Count of Monte Cristo Bennet

Colonel Michelle

 Season 1: (2 episodes)
1957

1958

 The New Adventures of Charlie Chan Professor Ambrose

Pietro Monti

 Season 1: (2 episodes)
1958 Tales from Dickens Mr. Murdstone Season 1: (2 episodes)
1958

1962

1965

 ITV Play of the Week Jonathan Brewster

Unknown

Cardinal of Palermo

 Season 3, Episode 50: "Arsenic and Old Lace"

Season 8, Episode 7: "When the Kissing Had to Stop"

Season 11, Episode 2: "The Successor"

1959 A Farthings Damages Marcus Dane TV Movie
1960 International Detective Colonel Duggan Season 1, Episode 14: "The Oakland Case"
An Arabian Night Jafar TV Movie
No Hiding Place Dandy Henderson Season 2, Episode 20: "Two-Time Loser"
1961 Danger Man Alexis Season 1, Episode 33: "The Hired Assassin"
You Can't Win Hearn Season 1, Episode 3; "Professional Status"
Gilbert and Sullivan: The Immortal Jesters Richard D'Oyly Carte Season 1: (3 episodes)
1961

1963

 Maigret UnknownJulien Chabot Season 2, Episode 6: "The Lost Sailor"

Season 4, Episode 2: "The Fontenay Murders"

1962 The Six Proud Walkers Oscar Lilywhite Season 1: (2 episodes)
1963 It Happened Like This Hastings Season 1, Episode 5: "The missing Line"
1964 Doctor Who Temmosus Season 1: (2 episodes)
The Protectors James Benson Season 1, Episode 12: "Channel Crossing"
The Midnight Men Prince Rohat Season 1, Episode 1: "The Man from Miditz"
1964

1965

 Crane Michaud

Dr. Hilfe

 Season 2, Episode 13: " Man Without A Past"
1965 Danger Man Solicitor Season 1, Episode 14: " Such Men are Dangerous"
1967 The Baron Lord Mountford Season 1, Episode 23: "The Edge of Fear"
Mystery Hall Alex Ramsey Season 1: (6 episodes)
1969 The Avengers Dangerfield Season 7, Episode 25: "Who Was That Man I Saw You With?"
1970 Department S Carter Season 2, Episode 19: "A Ticket to Nowhere", (final appearance)
gollark: It may actually be less than the current cost, even.
gollark: And that would also fix the price for some amount of captchas per hour to slightly more than $1/month, which is probably still affordable for some things.
gollark: That sounds like a bad monopolistic situation.
gollark: You'd presumably have to have a transfer mechanism since people don't keep the same devices forever, which could be exploitable.
gollark: Hmm, apparently I can't reading.

References
  1. "Alan Wheatley's Lorca". Alan Wheatley's Lorca. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  2. GRO Register of Deaths: SEP 1991 15 1514 WESTMINSTER - Alan Wheatley, DoB = 19 Apr 1907 aged 84
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